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Showing posts from September, 2016

Cars as a metaphor for understanding obesity

If we want to understand the accumulation of excess body fat, it's tempting to focus our attention on the location that defines the condition: adipose tissue.  Ultimately, the key question we want to answer is the following: why does fat enter adipose tissue faster than it exits? It follows that if we want to understand why obesity occurs, we should seek to understand the dynamics of fat trafficking in adipose tissue, and the factors that influence it.  Right? I don't think this is right, and here's a metaphor that explains why. The speed of a car depends primarily on the force that its wheels exert on the asphalt below them.  If we want to understand why cars move quickly sometimes, and slowly at other times, we should seek to understand the dynamics of how force is transferred from the wheels to the asphalt, and the factors that influence it, right? As you may have already surmised, that wouldn't be a very effective way of understanding car speed. To understan

Seven Years Primal: Healthier, Stronger, and Wiser Than Ever

Nutrition News: Best Metabolism Booster; Sleep, Stress and Belly Fat; and Gardening and Kids’ Health

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Reaping What We Sow Want to raise kids who are lifelong healthy eaters? Hand them a trowel, some seeds and a watering can, and point them to the garden. A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Florida suggests that college kids who either gardened when they were kids or currently garden consumed more fruits and vegetables — 2.9 cups daily, on average, about a half-cup more — than those who did not. “We found that if your parents gardened but you did not, just watching them did not make a difference in how much fruits and vegetables you eat in college,” lead author Anne Mathews told HealthDay News. “Hands-on experience seems to matter.” Why Your Metabolism Is So Slow If you have a sinking feeling that your metabolism is slowing, you’re probably right. In a U.S. News article, health and wellness writer K. Aleisha Fetters notes that our metabolism — the base number of calories our bodies burn each day — decreases gradually beginning at age 20 . (Yes, that young.

Perfectly Crisp Breakfast Potatoes

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Hey, hey! Happy Friday! Just popping in real quick to share with you an awesome recipe to add to your meal plan for next week! As you know, we love Breakfast Potatoes in our house and make a big ol’ batch just about every week. But, over the years, the recipe has changed and become better and better and better . Our current version is actually made with unflavored coconut cooking oil, which is the best thing ever because 1) it’s already liquid (no melting required) and 2) it makes the potatoes, ooooh, so crispy. They’re really the best potatoes (even not for breakfast), so I just had to share the recipe. I hope you love them as much as we do! Ingredients: 2 pounds of white potatoes (~ 4 to 5 medium) 1.5 tablespoons unflavored coconut cooking oil kosher or sea salt Directions: Cut potatoes into 1-inch-ish chunks. Toss oil and salt. Bake potatoes for 20-25 minutes, tossing after 10 minutes or so. After 20-25 minutes, turn the oven up to broil and then cook for another 5-

September: What’s New?

All the Ways to Eat Cauliflower

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Many people claim they don’t enjoy the taste of cauliflower — that it’s too bland or too crumbly, especially when served raw. If you’ve only encountered the firm white bundles as a component on a crudite platter, we can’t argue with you there. Maybe you’ve tried it boiled; sadly, this does nothing to enhance the flavor either. But roasted, pureed or worked through a ricer? The cream-white florets take on a whole new identity. Thanks to their mild taste, they’re an excellent canvas for all varieties of sauces and spices. Now that cauliflower is abundant at the farmers market, there’s even more incentive to use this nutritional powerhouse as the base for hearty fall meals. Here are a few of our healthiest ideas. Roast It Even meat eaters will flock to the table for a taste of these roasted cauliflower bundles. The Dijon mustard rub concentrates in flavor as it roasts, resulting in a heady dose of umami. In order to really lock in the flavor, prep and brush your cauliflower ahead of

7 Ways to Deal with Food Anxiety

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People frequently wax sentimental for what they call “simpler” days—presumably times when the rules were fewer and clearer, when choices weren’t so overwhelming, when demands were less and common sense was more prevalent. Eating, of course, is no exception to this. If you listen to the dominant voices in the social-media-marketing-medical culture, it’s enough to ruin your dinner and make you feel guilty for skipping breakfast ( Don’t buy the guilt trip ). We’re fed contradictory studies, warned of the latest threats lurking in our food supply, told every bite squashes the life out of another ecosystem, and led through fluorescent-lit warehouses filled with more food options and label claims than one person should ever be reasonably expected to handle. It’s exhausting, frustrating and on certain days defeating. So what’s a reasonable approach in an age when anxiety too often overtakes enjoyment of eating? Of course, the problem here isn’t the intention for healthy eating itself. In o

Pumpernickel Salmon Red Pepper Sandwiches

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When I was little every Christmas Day, after the presents were all unwrapped, we drove from my grandmother’s house in Lakewood, New Jersey down to my other grandparents’ house in Towson, Maryland for Christmas dinner. For lunch we often stopped at a bagel shop that split the three-hour drive in half. And every single time I got a pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese. Both of my grandparents served excellent sandwich bars with delicious pumpernickel bread – it has always been a favorite of mine. I still think that Great Harvest bread is the healthiest and freshest tasting bread around, but I have been having fun branching out a bit now that I don’t have unlimited loaves at my fingertips. Pitas, english muffins, pumpernickel! This sandwich is the bridge between two of my favorite dishes: smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, and cream cheese smothered in red pepper jelly. I love the sweet-spicy combo! Red peppers and spinach add some healthy veggies to the mix. For this recipe I

Clean Eating Thursday Recipe Linkup – Chicken Dinners

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Meat is very often the main course at the dinner table and many clean eaters turn to the old, traditional chicken recipes they’ve made over and over again. And yes, it can get boring. Even I’m… Read more → from The Gracious Pantry http://ift.tt/2cDe7FY

Morning Iced Coffee Date: Chicago Edition

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Good morning and a happy, happy, HAPPY Thursday to you! My first iced coffee date was a big hit with you guys, so I thought it might be fun to include it as a regular feature on CNC. I really love hearing from you guys and hope you’ll chime in again this week! 🙂 So, I was in Chicago earlier this week for an event with Star Market  to learn more about their organic line, O Organics . It was a great event (recap coming soon), and I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to work with the brand again. (You guys might remember the trip where I met Tiffani Thiessan , the brand’s spokesperson for their Signature line. So cool.) Anyway, I arrived in Chicago with a few hours to spare before the event kicked off, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and ran along the lakefront. If we were drinking (iced) coffee together this morning, I would tell you that it was awesome. Like, truly awesome. Like, I haven’t been that happy on a run in awhile. The scenery was, of course, incredib

My Favorite Healthy Pregnancy Foods!

I’m in the home stretch of my first pregnancy and I thought it would be fun to give you a little insight into what I’ve been eating! If you’ve been following me on social media (Instagram: thefoodbabe & foodbabemama), you know … Continued The post My Favorite Healthy Pregnancy Foods! appeared first on Food Babe . from Food Babe http://ift.tt/2d9I4kW

How Should You Balance Your Fat Intake?

Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Skillet Cake

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Fall is in the air! And what better way to celebrate than with a slice of healthy and delicious Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Skillet Cake? Start by choosing your favorite variety of in-season fresh apples. I’m partial to “sweet-with-a-hint-of-tang” Honeycrisp apples, but it’s always fun to see what new varieties are popping up in grocery stores, farmers markets and CSA boxes this time of year. In addition to naturally sweet apples, other nourishing ingredients in this Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Skillet Cake include Omega-3-rich walnuts, along with a duo of fiber-rich flours: whole-grain buckwheat and brown rice. Cinnamon takes the flavor up a notch, and with no eggs or dairy, this cake is perfect for anyone following a vegan diet. Even better? It’s totally acceptable to pair a slice of this Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Skillet Cake with some protein-rich Greek yogurt and happily declare “Breakfast is served!” Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Skillet Cake Serves 8 1 cup buckwheat flour 1 cup sorghum or br

Mal’s First Experience with Stitch Fix Men

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If you haven’t heard already, Stitch Fix now offers styling services for guys!! Obviously, my husband was pumped to learn this fun fact be he actually has a sense of style! Ha! But, really, Stitch Fix is for those of us who have zero sense of fashion as well as those who love it! Stitch Fix Men just launched earlier this month, so, to celebrate, they contacted me to see if the special guy in my life would want to test it out. Mal loves fashion and actually pays attention to it (I mean, he looks at the J.Crew catalogs that come to our house instead of just throwing them out), so I knew he’d be alllllll about Stitch Fix Men . Stitch Fix also offered to waive Mal’s styling fee, so he really had nothing to lose. Plus, Mal is already a fan of these box-type clothing subscriptions because he likes owning the newest, most in-style pieces, so he was totally game! Like Stitch Fix’s women’s clothing, all fixes are tailored to your guy’s budget and style. Stitch Fix Men  offers the exact

Lately

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^^Green smoothie blend! I’ve been making them with banana, milk, oats, Vega Coconut Almond , peanut butter, and lots of spinach. I’ve been having lots of luck with Mazen’s eating. I think the increase in effort is paying off. I made chicken noodle soup and he ate a deconstructed version. He still needs a lot of nudging to try something, but I am very pleased with the amount of foods he has tasted lately. (Celery!) He ate the bread first (duh), then one noodle, then one bite of chicken, and then we had to talk about the veggies which eventually all got eaten. Just.Keep.Trying. I am fairly confident in a year he will be a pretty good eater. (Knock on wood!) The little rascal! Another night we had Cook Smarts baked ziti with broccoli. This meal was actually a huge success after an initial protest. [My broccoli has some blue cheese dressing on top!] For lunch the next day I had leftover ziti with a kale and feta salad. This dinner was enjoyed during Karen’s visit. We made steak