I love fruit. All fruit. I could survive on it if it was nutritionally complete.
I am also surprised at how many women with PCOS avoid fruit, because they've been told it's too high in carbohydrates. And then they tell me about what they binged on late at night after a full day of avoiding fruit.
Fruit isn't just carbs. It's fiber. And vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants! Lots and lots of antioxidants! This word should be tattooed backward on all of your foreheads so that every time you look in the mirror you are reminded that PCOS is oxidizing you faster than your body normally would allow itself to be…and your best defense is…fruits and vegetables!
Fruit is best eaten with a protein, so that its glycemic effect is lessened. I thought, while fruit was in high season, I'd post a weekly fruit idea and see how it gets you started.
I'm really in love with this tea and fruit idea I recently wrote about. It's really just decaffeinated tea with sliced fruit in the bottom, like you'd see in sangria. This really adds so little sugar to the batch that you can have it without worrying too much about the carbs. The tea itself has antioxidants, especially if you use decaffeinated green tea, which gives you a potent double whammy that is far better for your body than any soda ever canned.
You can make tee-gria with any kind of fruit that's cheap. So I've just been going to the store, buying a bunch of fruit on sale, and making decaffeinated tea. It's just sweet enough, without being too sweet, and a nice change from water. Right now I have peaches in my tea. I am curious how the cherries are going to taste!
The combinations of fruits and teas out there, could keep you busy experimenting for years! If you came up with a great combination in your own kitchen…please share with us!
Not long ago a woman with PCOS handed me a diet diary for analysis. She had eaten a burger without the bun and a sweetened ice tea for breakfast. Lunch didn't happen until 2 pm, and it was a brownie with ice cream. And finally, she recorded a bowl of cereal for dinner.
One of the things that jumped out at me was that there were no fruits or vegetables in her meal plan. When I asked her about it…she told me she was avoiding carbs!
Fruits have somehow gotten a bad rap because of their carbohydrate content. But they're not the culprit in an unhealthy diet. In fact, fruits are very high in antioxidants, which can help to repair the damage that life stress and the stress of having a chronic disease can create. In my opinion, you can't afford NOT to have fruit.
I chose oranges this week, because I live in Arizona and I have an orange tree off of my patio. It is the most wonderful treat to wake up, pick a few oranges, and have a glass of fresh squeezed juice. Or, when I need a break in the afternoon, to pick a fresh snack for myself. Nothing tastes better than fruit right from the source. I recently made a great salad vinaigrette using orange juice and olive oil as the base. Even with all these oranges, I'm not making a dent in my supply!
If your diet diary mimicks the one I described above, challenge yourself to try the following. Be sure to have a serving of fruit the size of a tennis ball at each meal, or the total equivalent of 3 servings that size of fruit in the course of a day. Challenge yourself to not eat any sources of refined sugar until you've met your daily quota of fruit. See if, when you focus on fruit, your appetite for other sugars diminishes. And in the process, if changing the kind of sugar you eat doesn't help stabilize your energy levels and help you to feel better.
I have had a stressful week. Lots going on in my life, as well as the lives of others I care about. Deadlines. Disappointments. Good news! And long hours.
Sound familiar? Are those the reasons you use to not make healthy choices?
I carved out time this afternoon to get my groceries for the week. One of my favorite stores is Fresh and Easy, as they always mark perishables down to 50% off their original price when they get close to expiration. There is often a mango-pineapple salsa on the discount shelf, as there was today.
I bought the salsa, came home, pulled a frozen salmon filet out of the freezer, and thawed it. Then I brushed it with some olive oil, sprinkled on some jalapeno salt, and broiled it. When it was finished, I topped it with the mango salsa.
It was yummy…and boy did it hit the spot!
Fruit salsas can be used with any kind of meat, even with beans on Mexican food if you're going veggie. I just Googled"fruit","salsa" and"recipes" and found quite a few links. Here is one with almost 100 different variations.
If you've got fruit that hasn't been eaten that you want to do something with, or a plain piece of meat you're not sure what you want to do with…or you just love fruit, think about fruit salsa as an easy and tasty way to get in that nutrient-packed food group.
Yesterday was our traditional grilling holiday. Now that it's the heat of summer, you might as well take advantage and keep the heat outside of the kitchen!
Fruit is not something traditionally thought of as a grilling food, but it is a great accompaniment to grilled meats.
I Googled"grilled fruit" recipes to get you started thinking. Many of the recipes have some sort of sweetened glaze, but I think if you have fruit that is truly ripe, you can often get away without adding sweetener.
The photo in today's blog is of the Grilled Watermelon Tomato Salad that was featured in today's New York Times. It's worth reading the blog post, which I've linked to with the recipe below.
Whatever is in season, it gives grilling a reason!
I recently had a client ask me if she needed to avoid "tropical" fruits for better health. The woman was told by a friend, who's doctor told her, to stay away from any "tropical" fruits because of the "palm" fruit oil that they contain, and that they would raise her blood cholesterol. I assured the woman that"tropical" fruits do not contain oils and would not raise her blood cholesterol. I wondered to myself, how did this doctor come up with something like this? Today I read an article that may help explain the misinformation.
"Both palm and palm kernel oil come from palm plants (often called “oil palms”) and are categorized as “tropical oils”. These two types of oils come from different parts of the palm plant. Palm oil, which is sometimes called “palm fruit oil,” comes from the fruit; palm kernel oil comes from the seed (a.k.a. the kernel)." The words "tropical oils" and "palm fruit oil". Could it be that the doctor simply assumed this meant"tropical fruit"? Please read on to better understand more about palm oil.
One of my litmus tests for how healthy a vegan's diet truly is, is to listen to how they describe what they eat. If they focus on telling me what they DON'T eat, and have a limited list of what they DO eat, I start to consider that what we're describing is an eating disorder, not a vegan eater.
Here's a challenge to encourage you to be more vegan and less disordered. It comes from the blog http://www.lunchboxbunch.com/., and it's a list of 100 vegan foods. I've been instructed to italicize foods I'd never try, and bold face foods I have eaten. And to encourage you to share the challenge on your own blogs.
I'm a pretty adventurous eater so there are no italics. I did better than I thought I would, actually, since I am not 100% vegan myself. I now have some great items to add to my own list!
Have fun! 1. Molasses
2. Cactus/Nopales 3. Scrambled Tofu 4. Grilled Portobella Caps 5. Fresh Ground Horseradish 6. Sweet Potato Biscuits 7. Arepa 8. Vegan Cole Slaw 9. Ginger Carrot Soup 10. Fiddlehead Ferns 11. Roasted Elephant Garlic 12. Umeboshi 13. Almond Butter Toast 14. Aloe Vera 15. H and H Bagel NYC 16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash 17. White truffle 18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes 19. Freshly ground wasabi 20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream (not store bought) 21. Heirloom tomatoes 22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider 23. Organic California Mango (in season Sept-Oct only) 24. Quinoa 25. Papaya Smoothie 26. Raw Scotch Bonnet (habanero) pepper (just a bite!…hot! 27. Goji Berry Tea 28. Fennel 29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie 30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread 31. Starfruit 32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread 33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices 34. Sauerkraut 35. Acai Smoothie 36. Blue Foot Mushrooms 37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes nyc 38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo 39. Falafel 40. Spelt Crust Pizza 41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms 42. Jicama Slaw 43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings 44. Hemp Milk 45. Rose Champagne 46. Fuyu 47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup 48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich 49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne fresh-pressed juice…with Extra Ginger 50. Grilled Seitan 51. Prickly pear 52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk 53. Concord Grapes off the vine 54. Ramps 55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut 56. Organic Arugula 57. Vidalia Onion 58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics 59. Honeycrisp Apple 60. Poi 61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores 62. Grape seed Oil 63. Farm fresh-picked Peach 64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus 65. Chestnut Snack Packs 66. Fresh Guava 67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies 68. Raw Mallomar from One Lucky Duck, NYC 69. Fried plantains 70. Mache 71. Golden Beets 72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles 73. Liquid Smoke 74. Meyer Lemon 75. Veggie Paella 76. Vegan Lasagna (raw optional) 77. Kombucha 78. Homemade Soy Milk 79. Lapsang souchong 80. Lychee Bellini 81. Tempeh Bacon 82. Sprouted Grain Bread 83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh 84. Vanilla Bean 85. Watercress 86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself 87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie 88. Flowers 89. Corn Chowder 90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate 91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi 92. White Flesh Grapefruit 93. harissa 94. Coconut Oil 95. Jackfruit 96. Homemade Risotto 97. Spirulina 98. Seedless 'Pixie' Tangerine 99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought 100. Fresh Plucked English Peas
Do you tend to think of salads as a place to use vegetables? Or do you categorize salads as"those with vegetables" and"those with fruit"? Start mixing things up! In my kitchen, a salad is always started with veggies, but then I always add some type of seed or nut, and some type of fruit.
What's in your fruit bin? Peaches, grapes, berries? Toss them with the lettuce and tomatoes. They'll add color, antioxidants, and flavor.
We have this mentality about food. If it's healthy, it has to mean work and sacrifice. I am soooo against that way of thinking! For me, food is art, and it's creative energy, and thinking up ways to make it healtthy is part of the process.
I shop a lot at Fresh and Easy, and they have a sale shelf. It's one of my favorite things to do, see what's cheap and see what I can concoct from unexpected combinations.
Here's an example of what can happen when you decide to have fun with food. At last month's Places, Spaces, and Faces dinner here in Phoenix, the theme was fusion. inCYSTer Ivonne Ward, whose heritage is Cuban, started out with a basic Cuban ingredient, plantain bananas.
She called me from the store asking for some inspiration for a savory dish. I suggested Moroccan couscous.
Ivonne found a pre-mixed version, as well as some chicken curry salad. We decided to make what we ended up calling"Cous-chettas y Brus-curry de Havana"…a bruschetta-like appetizer, using broiled platano rounds instead of bread.
Here's how to replicate it.
Cous-chettas y Brus-curries de Havana 1 bag of plaintain chips 2 plaintain bananas 1 bag Mediterranean dried fruit mix 1 container guava jelly 1 salad container prepared couscous salad 1 salad container prepared chicken curry salad Mint leaves Olive oil
1. Separate the plaintain chips, setting aside all of the whole ones. Grind the broken ones into crumbs in a food processor.
2. Chop the dried fruit mix.
3. Slice the mint leaves into thin ribbons.
4. Cut the plantain into 1-1/2 inch slices. Stand them upright and smash them from top to bottom, to make what looks like mini pancakes. Spray them on both sides with olive oil and broil them on both sides until browned.
5. Take a few squares of guava jelly, add a bit of water, and heat over medium heat until it melts into a syrup. Set aside.
6. Spoon a small amount of salad on top of the plantain rounds, then spoon a small bit of chopped dried fruit mix on top of the salad.
7. Sprinkle crushed plantain chips on top of the salad, then drizzle a bit of guava syrup over the salad.
8. Lay a mint strip on top, and insert a whole plaintain chip for decoration.
9. Give yourself a pat on the back for having fun with food!
You can use any topping you have, really. What I liked about this creation is that we used ready-made salads to save some time and took a cultural favorite, fried plantains, and figured out a healthy way to cook them.
Did you know that vitamin C is necessary for collagen formation? And since PCOS ages skin as radically as it ages the rest of your organs, you need this vitamin more than ever?
If you've gone on a drastic low-carbohydrate diet, you may be depriving yourself of many great vitamin C sources, as they tend to come from fruits:
Whenever I make a salad, I throw in some kind of fruit and some kind of seed/nut. Turns out, if I do that and add the vinaigrette with the 2 parts vinegar/1 part oil ratio, it helps to moderate the influence of the sugar in the fruit. And some of the fruits, strawberries, for example, help to keep blood sugar from spiking as well.
Vegetables also have vitamin C:
broccoli bell peppers kale cauliflower mustard and turnip greens brussels sprouts chard, cabbage spinach snow peas tomatoes zucchini asparagus celery lettuce fennel peppermint parsley
As long as you're eating fruits and vegetables, preferably in their whole form, on a regular basis, it's not hard at all to get enough vitamin C. If you're looking for some ideas, PCOS Diva has put together a week's worth of menus focusing on vitamin C.
One of the things I love about doing demos at Whole Foods is that they always have great food to sample! This past weekend I learned about baby kiwis. (I am always surprised at how, just about the time I think, at my age, and with my profession, I've encountered every kind of fruit and vegetable there is to eat…that something new pops up in the produce section!)
If you like kiwi fruit, these are the mini version. They're about the size of grapes, but they taste like kiwi fruit. They are very high in vitamin C, and they have a bit of calcium, vitamin A, and iron as well.
They'd be a great snack food to have in the refrigerator--be sure to store them at eye level instead of in the produce bin so you don't forget you have them!
As it gets hotter, it's tempting to drink more sweet beverages. We hope you have an opportunity to try Solixir, the functional, herb-containing beverage we profiled on our radio show last week.
Here are a few other ways to spice your water up a bit without adding unnecessary sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
1. Mix a little bit of Hint Essence Water in with regular or mineral water. Just a little changes the flavor enough to remove the monotony.
2. Throw some mint leaves and cucumber slices in your water. I've learned, the longer it sits, the better it gets!
3. Freeze fruit juice in your ice cube trays and drop in your drink.
4. Freeze whole fruit or fruit chunks and do the same thing.
5. Try Sweet Leaf flavored stevia drops. inCYST intern Sarah Jones' favorite cooler is a few drops of vanilla creme in mineral water for an instant sugar-free cream soda.
I'm all for local eating. But another endeavor I enjoy is helping other cultures find worthwhile products to produce that encourage preservation of the rainforest and farming of products other than coca. So I was excited to see the country of Peru have such a beautiful and informational pavilion at Expo West.
We all know about quinoa and I've written about purple corn…here are some other foods you might be seeing more of that could be fun to try!
Maca Most of us think of maca as a supplement to enhance sexual prowess. It's actually been studied in the laboratory and been found to enhance libido and semen quality. It may also help alleviate sexual dysfunction related to antidepressant use. It may also help reduce enlarged prostate glands.
That being said, Americans have a really bad habit of taking something they think is"good", grinding it up, concentrating it, and using it in larger quantities than would be possible in nature. In this case, there is some thought that excessive maca consumption may negatively affect thyroid function. In addition, there are several varieties of maca, and only the red was found to have significant hormonal effect. Labeling on supplements may not contain this information and you may be wasting your money.
Bottom line, if you see it on a restaurant menu or a fun international market, take it home and cook it like a turnip! Be careful, however, about the supplement version.
Amaranth Gluten-free enthusiasts love this grain, but like quinoa, it's not actually a grain…it's a seed. It can be toasted and eaten like popcorn, or cooked like a grain. Here is more information on how to use amaranth in your kitchen. In other parts of the world, such as Asia and Africa, amaranth leaves and roots are also culinary specialties.
Regular consumption of amaranth seed may help regulate hypertension and cholesterol, and the leaves and roots are very high in vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese.
Both Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills sell amaranth flour, but if you can't find it in your store, here are amaranth options on amazon.com.
Aguaymanto This fruit is related to one of my local favorites, the tomatillo (you can see the similar husks in the photo). It is currently being researched for its potential as an antioxidant source, and it has been found to contain melatonin.
Locals like to use it in jams, syrups, and pastries, but it is also seen in fruit salads and salsas.
Lucuma, or eggfruit, if you Google it, will pop up quite frequently as the next big superfood, and ground powders are available online. (As with maca, I am not providing links, as I am not telling you about these foods to encourage a superfood or supplement mentality.) This fruit tree can grow in warmer US climates such as Florida or Arizona. It's a Peruvian favorite, as illustrated by the blog Peru Food. It is described as tasting a little bit like maple syrup ice cream.
It is a favorite of raw food enthusiasts. They promote it as low-glycemic, though I was not able to find the actual scientific reference for it in my search; most references circle back to the same video. If anyone out there can direct me to that, I'm happy to post for everyone.
Nutritionally, lucuma is high in fiber, iron, and as you might guess from its beautiful color, beta carotene.
Sacha Inchi, or the Peruvian peanut, comes from the rainforest. I actually tried this at Expo West; it was prepared like corn nuts and there was also a version coated with fair-trade chocolate (isn't that the best way to get Americans to try anything new and different?) It's pretty high protein, and it contains ALA, the vegan omega-3 fatty acid. (With respect to the omega-3's it's an option to flaxseed.) In Peru, its oil is used for cooking so I imagine some day it will show up in US markets as well.
Again, American marketing reps are trying to capitalize on the superfood craze when selling this food. It's fine to eat, and its nutritional value is nice, but no need to abandon everything else you're doing for it. Try it when you can, enjoy it when you find it, and know it fits well into a hormone-friendly lifestyle.
One of the reasons I put this blog post together is to illustrate why closing out food choices can deny you some food fun, not to mention nutrition! If you're locked into a top ten list of foods, you may miss some great culinary experiences…that can be healthy as well! Sometimes when you're focused on"fixing" a disease it can take the fun out of food. The more enjoyable it is, the more likely it is you'll have a healthy relationship with it. Every culture has its gems, even if they're not salmon, blueberries, and broccoli!
I admit, I had a personal reason for writing this blog post. My Peruvian friend Denise has told me she wants to share her favorite local Peruvian restaurant with me sometime soon. I wanted to be sure I knew what I would be seeing when I looked at the menu. Now that I've done my homework, I'm hungry and looking forward to what the menu has in store.
Gonzales GF, Miranda S, Nieto J, Fernández G, Yucra S, Rubio J, Yi P, and Gasco M. Red maca (Lepidium meyenii) reduced prostate size in rats. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2005; 3: 5.
Dording CM. Fisher L. Papakostas G. Farabaugh A. Sonawalla S. Fava M. Mischoulon D. A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction.
Czerwiński J, Bartnikowska E, Leontowicz H, et al. Oat (Avena sativa L.) and amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) meals positively affect plasma lipid profile in rats fed cholesterol-containing diets". J. Nutr. Biochem. 15 (10): 622–9, 2004.
Wu, SJ; Tsai JY, Chang SP, Lin DL, Wang SS, Huang SN, Ng LT (2006). Supercritical carbon dioxide extract exhibits enhanced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Pysalis peruviana. J Ethnopharmacol 108 (3): 407–13
Kolar J., Malbeck J. Levels of the antioxidant melatonin in fruits of edible berry species. Planta Medica 2009 75:9
Last inCYST class, a student mentioned that more and more often, when she tries to special order items in order to eat in a more PCOS-friendly fashion, she is asked,"Is this a preference, or is this a medical issue?"
I was floored. I eat in restaurants fairly frequently with a male friend, who is very specific about what he eats. And he is very assertive about asking for substitutions that are not all that different from what I would encourage any of you to make.
Never once has he ever been questioned about his requests. They are gladly accommodated.
You can spend time being angry about how differently the two genders are treated in every day situations, or you can channel that energy into productive thinking.
Here are my thoughts.
1. It is possible to ask for alternatives, and you should not ever feel guilty about making such requests. The more often people ask for a fruit dish, or asparagus on the side, the more likely it is that restaurants will decide to make these readily available. It's all about demand and what will sell. If they know fruit and asparagus sell, they will put it on the menu.
2. If you are questioned about whether your request is a preference or a medical issue, tell them the truth. It is a medical issue.
3. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where lots and lots of businesses stay alive as long as we buy into the belief that their products, be they cookies, french fries, diet pills, etc., are things we need to spend money on. The kiss of death for a lot of these companies, is when we decide to live our lives in ways that don't include them. You might even say there are some drug companies that are more interested in your needing certain medications than they are in figuring out ways to get off of them.
--Who says it's normal to eat chocolate, every single day? The people who sell chocolate and who need you to believe that. --Who says a 2,000 calorie high fat, primarily fried meal at the local restaurant is something you should be pressured into eating because the waitress doesn't want to give you half a plate with a side of fruit? The waitress who doesn't want to haggle with the chef in the kitchen who has to take a few extra steps to accommodate the request. --Who says taking a handful of medications every day is the only way to manage PCOS? A caregiver who may not know enough nutrition to give different advice and is offering what his/her vendors have encouraged him to offer first.
My take? Business always figures out ways to meet demands. If all of the people making cookies, french fries, diet pills, and medications, perceive that there is more money to be made in organic foods, healthy menu items, and exercise equipment, they'll gravitate toward the industries that are more likely to line their own pockets.
I'm not saying you all should throw out all your pills and defy your doctors. But if you've never been encouraged by your doctors to work hard on nutrition, activity, and stress avenues, and have only been offered procedural or pharmaceutical options, you have likely not been served in a way that prioritizes YOUR needs.
If all of us routinely inconvenience waitresses and physicians and advertisers who don't get our attention anymore…what we might collectively achieve is to encourage the availability of products and services that we'd rather spend our money on. Let's not do it to be annoying, but to tell them we'll work with them when they get onto the same page as we are.: )
It's been super hot around the country. It's that time of year when hydration is extra important. But water can get boring, and many of the options are just too full of sugar to be realistic in large quantities. Here is a great beverage option that is lower in sugar but more interesting than plain water--the Arnold Palmer.
The classic Arnold Palmer is a half and half mix of lemonade and iced tea. But with the many fruits in season and all of the great non-caffeinated teas on the market, there's no reason to stop there! I spent the afternoon Google searching and found some great, creative lemonade recipes. I've altered them a bit to cut the sugar even more, and asked Kerstin Wingert, a local tea purveyor and copfounder of Souvia Tea, to pair them with some of their offerings to get you thinking about what potential your own local farmer's market holds. I got Kerstin's suggestions back and immediately wanted to head to my own kitchen! Who would want to drink soda when you've got these incredible alternatives?
A think-ahead suggestion, when juicing your fruit, and making the tea, make a little extra for ice cubes to add to your final beverage!
Note: In the lemonade recipes, I've cut the sugar by half from the original recipe, (except in the cucumber and ginger versions) and doubled the fruit. I encourage you to start at this point and then sweeten to taste, rather than oversweetening. Remember that even those these beverages are lower in sugar than soda and juice, they still contain sugar. They will be best tolerated when enjoyed with a meal, to help you tolerate the sugar.
Here is the general link to Souvia's online store. For your convenience, I've also linked each of the individual teas below in case you'd like to try them.
Watermelon Arnold Palmer (lemonade recipe courtesy of Whole Foods Market) Lemonade: 10 cups 1-inch cubes seedless watermelon, 1 bottle (10-ounce) 365 Everyday Value® Organic Lemon Juice, 6 cups water. If you use real sugar, start with 1/4 cup and increase to taste. Iced tea: Honey-Do, a fruit blend of melon, apples and a touch of hibiscus
Raspberry Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 2 cups rinsed fresh raspberries, mashed with 1/3 cup sugar, 1 cup lemon juice, and 2 cups water. Add more sugar if desired. Iced tea: Raspberry Honeybush – a naturally sweet tasting infusion that is caffeine free
Peach Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 4 peaches peeled and cubed, 4 C water, 1/2 C sugar, 3/4 C Fresh Lemon Juice Iced tea: Black Peach – a blend of black teas with the taste of ripe peaches. Or…Cranberry Peach – a black tea that combines flavors of sweet peaches with the tartness of cranberries.
Blueberry Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 6 cups blueberries, 1/3 cups sugar, 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 cups cold water Iced tea: Blueberry Yoghurt – Rooibos from South Africa with blueberries. Freeze-dried yoghurt pieces add to the smooth flavor.
Pomegranate Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 cup pomegranate juice, 2 1/2 cups water Iced tea: Pomegrante/Grape – White and green tea blend with pomegranate and grapes – light and refreshing
Cucumber Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 1 cucumber, peeled and cubed, 1 lemon, 5 c water, sugar to taste Iced tea: Lemon Souffle– Rooibos with a creamy lemon taste
Strawberry Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 2 pints mashed fresh strawberries, 1 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups water Iced tea: Strawberry Fields – A mélange of black and green teas with strawberries and pineapple pieces
Basil Hibiscus Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 1/2 cup rinsed, lightly packed fresh basil leaves, chopped, 3 tablespoons sugar, 4 cups water, 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice Iced tea: Lemon Basil Oolong – Formosa Oolong combines the savory taste of basil with sweet citrus note
Mango Mint Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 4 large mangoes, 2 1/2 cup(s) water, juice from 6 medium lemons), 1/4 cup(s) sugar Iced tea: Moroccan Mint Organic
Lavender Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 1/4 cup dried lavender, 2 cups boiling water, 1/3 cup white sugar, 8 lemons, 5 cups cold water Iced tea: Quiet Mind – Rooibos with coconut and lavender
Green Apple Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 3 green apples, cored and juiced, juice from 2 lemons, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 cup cold water Iced tea: Apple/Mango Rooibos
Ginger Arnold Palmer Lemonade: 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 4 quarts water, 14 slices fresh ginger root, 4 cups fresh lemon juice In an 8-quart saucepan combine sugar, water and ginger root. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Cool 15 minutes. Remove ginger. Refrigerate lemonade at least 1 hour, or until chilled. Iced tea: Georgia Peach – Black tea with ginger and peach pieces
The other day it was brought to my attention that amazon.com had a pretty extensive grocery section on their website.
I liked a lot of the items they were selling and it occurred to me that highlighting some of them from time to time would be a way to provide a virtual grocery store tour for those of you who do not have the ability to attend one of our live classes or counseling options.
I also wanted to create options for the many people reading this blog who live outside of the United States who do not have access to many of the shopping options we have here in our own country.
I did, in the process, become an Amazon associate, but truthfully, I have done an equally good job of providing this new service if you only click through to look at the photo and don't buy. It's about becoming more confident in your food choices, and this seemed like a fun way to promote that.
I do, as a small business, have more of a desire to promote other small businesses, so the emphasis will be on products created by companies who have put as much of themselves into what they do as I have with inCYST.
From time to time I'll post some suggestions for your consideration. There are some great options out there, and I hope you enjoy learning about them!
Bergin Nut Company Almonds Whole Raw, 16-Ounce Bags (Pack of 2) All nuts are great, and you'll get the best benefit if you vary the types that you eat.
KIND Bar Fruit & Nut Delight, 1.4-Ounce Bars (Pack of 8) Kind Bars are one kind that are as bare and natural as you'll be able to find.
Amish Country Baby White Popcorn — 2lb. Be sure to pop this in olive or canola oil.
Traverse Bay Dried Cherries, 4-Pound Box Tart cherries contain melatonin, which you'll read about a lot on this blog. Great to throw into your oatmeal or trail mix.
Traverse Bay Dried Cranberries, 4-Pound Box Another high antioxidant option for snacking!
KIND Bar Macadamia & Apricot, 1.4-Ounce Bars (Pack of 8) Of the kind bars, this is the one with our favorite nut--very high in monounsaturated fats and very high on the"healthy" scale.
Just Tomatoes Just Strawberries, 4-Ounce Tubs (Pack of 2) I love these snacks! Again, use for trail mix or keep in your desk to eat right out of the container.
Mary's Gone Crackers, Original, 6.5-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) Crackers are the hardest category to find PCOS-friendly options in. Here is one of my favorite brands.
Bare Fruit 100% Organic Bake-Dried Apples, Fuji, 1 Pound Bags (Pack of 2) If you like dried fruit, take advantage of it!
Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame, Lightly Salted, 4-Ounce Units (Pack of 12) Edamame is one of four kinds of soy that is best for PCOS. It's a great, high protein snack or salad topping.
Last week I was invited to speak to Arizona's Indian Health Services dietitians at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center. One of the dietitians from Navajo Country, brought a book along that was a compiled, translated glossary of words the Navajos use when describing food. It was designed to help better communicate with a population of people plagued with insulin resistance and diabetes.
Some of the translations made me chuckle:
Biscuit — round bread baked and placed in an oven French bread — bread that reclines White bread — bread from the grocery store, White People's bread Barbecued/grilled — breeze beneath it Green beans — beans that lay down Broccoli — bronchial tube-like vegetable (they have a word for bronchial tube but not broccoli?) Carrots — rabbit food Cucumber — slender canteloupe Coconut — large seed with milk inside Dates — sticky tree fruit Pear — apple with a tail Tofu — coagulated Asian peoples' beans Sugar substitute — female sugar (I have to say this one with its cultural commentary is definitely my favorite!)
What really caught my attention was the way some of our common processed foods were described. When the marketing pizzazz is taken away and the food is described for exactly what it is…suddenly it doesn't sound so appealing any more. I got to thinking if we as dietitians stopped even using chemical mumbo jumbo and told it like the Navajos do…there likely wouldn't be such a demand for some of these foods anymore.
Cold cereal — flakes with sugar placed upon them Donuts — sweet bread consumed with coffee Canned fruit — canned sweets Chocolate — oily candy Hydrogenated fat — coagulated oil Vegetable oil — smelly fat
Sweet bread fried in coagulated oil, anyone?
If you're interested in learning more about this book and project, click here. I was impressed with the thoroughness and attention to detail. Kudos to all IHS nutrition professionals for the challenging and important work that they do!
I love blueberries. And recently they've gotten a lot of press, making practically every nutritional top ten list for their antioxidant content. Even so, it's always bothered me a little that they're not the most sustainable choice for someone like me, living in the desert, far from any blueberry farm. So I've been in search of alternatives that might be more logical choices when blueberries are not in season, and for people who do not live where blueberries are cultivated.
A few weeks ago I was excited to learn that hibiscus contains the same anthocyanins as blueberries. It's a popular tea here in the desert, and I've begun to ask for it in coffeehouses and restaurants.
Yesterday, on behalf of a reader living in the Netherlands who posted that she was looking for good teas over there, I looked up rosehips, a popular tea in Europe. And bingo! They contain anthocyanins as well. They also contain twice the daily recommendations for vitamin C, another powerful antioxidant.
Rosehips are readily available in Europe and the United States. They were popular with Native Americans in their cooking. Supports my"big picture" theory that if you are knowledgeable about local foods, you can often find the essentials right in your backyard. No need to import expensive foods from exotic locations in order to eat completely.
Plus, you can use hibiscus and rosehips teas while managing the overall carbohydrate content of your diet more effectively than you could eating large amounts of fruit. (Not that fruit is bad, it just needs to be consumed with respect.)
Interestingly, one reference I found described a rosehips-hibiscus tea that I'm interested in…that would definitely be a find for my suntea collection!
An interesting note, several places on the Internet mentioned that rosehips contain vitamin D, but I have not been able to find credible references to verify that. You'll best insure good vitamin D balance if you include other foods for that nutrient.
And that is because I'm a strawberry nut. It's my absolute favorite fruit. I learned while researching this blog post that the average American eats 156 lbs. of added sugar a year…and only 8 lbs. of strawberries in the same time period.
Of course, the fact that you all are not eating enough strawberries means there's more for ME! Ha!
Seriously, though, this fruit is a wonderfully easy food to add to any diet. Put them in your cereal. In a smoothie. On waffles or pancakes. On top of ricotta cheese, sprinkled with almonds, on a Bran Crispbread. On a salad. Freeze them to eat like candy on a hot summer night. (That last one is my favorite.)
Strawberries are high in vitamin C, which is an important antioxidant. It's also important for the production of collagen, which keeps your skin looking young. As far as antioxidants go, it's the third best source of antioxidants when compared to the same serving size of other fruits.
And…did you know…even though they contain sugar, strawberries can also help reduce blood sugar spikes caused by other foods? I wouldn't recommend eating strawberries to counter a carbohydrate binge, but you certainly may want to consider including more strawberries in your overall diet as a way to make it easier for your body to handle carbohydrates. If you're enjoying the sweetness of the berries, you are likely going to want to eat less sugary food anyway, reducing your insulin load even more.
For those of you with high cholesterol, strawberries have also been shown to decrease markers of atherosclerotic disease. The benefits these tasty fruits provide far outweigh the sugar content many of you are concerned about.
One last thing, a recent study reported that organic strawberries are actually higher in antioxidants. So it may be worth it to spend a little extra, avoid the pesticides, and get the extra metabolic boost. If you don't have access to a farmer's market, look for the Driscoll's brand in your grocery store.
Basu A, Fu DX, Wilkinson M, Simmons B, Wu M, Betts NM, Du M, Lyons TJ. Berries modify the postprandial plasma glucose response to sucrose in healthy subjects. Br J Nutr. 2010 Apr;103(8):1094-7. Epub 2009 Nov 24.
Törrönen R, Sarkkinen E, Tapola N, Hautaniemi E, Kilpi K, Niskanen L. Strawberries decrease atherosclerotic markers in subjects with metabolic syndrome. Nutr Res. 2010 Jul;30(7):462-9.
I had a bag of really sweet plums this week, as well as a few frozen chicken breasts. So I Googled both of these with the word"salad"…and found this really nice recipe from the Northwest Cherry Growers:
I didn't use the rice, and I bet if you like quinoa, as shown in the picture and in this second recipe, you could substitute that to further improve the protein content and glycemic index. I also used only half of the canola oil, and threw in a handful of sliced almonds instead.
Fruit and protein are a great combination for an easy summer dinner. And an easy way to get ideas, is to do what I did, Google the fruit and protein you have along with the word"salad". There's a pretty good chance someone has posted a recipe somewhere!
PLUM GINGER CHICKEN SALAD
Makes 4 servings, each serving equals three 5 A Day servings.
Ingredients
• 1 (4-to 6-ounce) package long grain and wild rice mix • 2 cups cooked boneless chicken breast cubes • 1/2 cup sliced green onions • 4 plums, sliced • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil • 2 Tbsp lemon juice • 1 Tbsp soy sauce • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Prepare rice mix as directed; cool to room temperature.
Combine rice, chicken, green onions and sliced plums in large mixing bowl.
To prepare dressing, combine oil, lemon juice, soy sauce and ginger; pour over rice mixture and toss lightly.
Network member Dori Zerlin posted this as a comment to a post and I wanted to be sure readers didn't miss it. Thanks for taking the time to write, Dori!
I also would love to share my daily eating habits and recipes since I feel that my diet is pretty tasty even though it is quite healthy too. However, I do practice what I preach quite closely. And what I mean by that is as a dietitian working at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, consulting with pre-and post-op lapband and gastric bypass patients, I teach them the importance of planning their meals ahead of time and eating balanced meals that contain a lean source of protein, a complex carbohydrate, and some heart-healthy fats. I do plan out most of my meals ahead of time and prepare them over the weekend or the night before since my weekly work schedule is tight and I have very little time for preparation let alone petty cash to spend on eating out. Therefore, this meal plan is what works for me and my lifestyle and my body type. I would not expect everyone to follow it or to enjoy it. My menu varies from day to day as well, but I am going to give 2 variations of what I might eat on any given day. I also take the following supplements with my meals spread out over the day: Krill Oil (contains omega 3-fatty acids), Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin D (2000 IU), Basic Multivitamin, and Vitamin C.
Here is a sample with a variation for each meal or snack:
Breakfast 1 cup of nonfat plain sugar-free Greek Yogurt (by Trader Joe’s brand) 1/2 cup high fiber cereal (Organic Heritage Heirloom whole grains) or 1/3 cup of Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal. 1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries or strawberries Cinnamon and stevia to taste 1 tablespoon of Salba seeds ground
or
1/2 cup yogurt (same brand as above) 1/2 cup organic non-fat cottage cheese (by Nancy’s) 1/4 cup of raw oat bran hot cereal + a little bit of water to moisten it 1 Tbl. Salba 1/2 cup strawberries I use liquid stevia vanilla flavor to add a natural sweet vanilla flavor (Let this chill in the fridge over night and it is delicious the next day!)
Lunch 2 slices Turkey Bacon on 2 slices of Ezekial bread 2 slices of tomato or roasted red peppers spinach mustard With a salad on the side
or
Egg-white omelet w/ spinach, onions, and mushrooms, hot sauce I cook it with 1/2 cup of wild rice or two corn tortillas and salsa and a ranchero sauce
Snack A sugar-free dark chocolate protein bar called a Paleobar/or 10 raw nuts (almonds, pistachios, brazil nuts, etc.) with an apple or 1 cup of strawberries
Pre-workout snack 1 cup of the greek yogurt with 1/2 cup of cereal or fruit
Dinner (I don’t measure that much during dinner since I always end up taking double or more of the serving size on days I workout, so I go with my hunger here) Usually is a large stew made up of the following ingredients: Steamed veggies (asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms, cabbage, etc.) Some sort of protein (fish, chicken, turkey, etc.) Either Corn tortillas, wild rice, brown rice, or ezekial bread I use marinara sauce a lot to season my stews or salsa or other spices for variation I also have a large salad with it and use some store bought salad dressings from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.
Snack 1 cup yogurt 1/2 cup of frozen berries 1 oz. of raw nuts Sometimes I will also have a cup of unsweetened non-fat almond milk (vanilla or chocolate) and mix in some stevia, cereal, fruit, and nuts.
I generally do weight training 4 days a week and use the elliptical machine at the gym for about 30 minutes as well. I do a pilates class once a week if I can make it. Staying active and physically fit help me to stay in shape and is very important to me. I schedule it into my days the same way that I schedule my meals ahead of time. Therefore it goes to show you that it does take consistent hard work for even myself to get the results that I have achieved thus far. (Although it does become second nature after awhile: ).)
