Black Rice

     The new word is that black rice is even better for your body than blueberries. "Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants," Zhimin Xu, PhD, of Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, says in a news release.

     Black rice takes a little longer to cook than white rice. It must be soaked in water for about an hour before cooking at a boil for about 35 minutes. It has a slightly nutty flavor and is said not to be that expensive.

     It sounds like an incredibly healthy food to include in our diets. photo credit: nebulux76 via photopin cc

Chocolate May Help With Stroke Risks

     We've heard all this before, but it's nice to hear it again, especially for us chocolate lovers!. A study has indicated to some researchers that eating a little but of chocolate every week could not only decrease of odds of having a stroke but can also decrease the risks of dying from one.

     They looked at three large studies and concluded in the first that studied 44,489 who had eaten one serving a week were 22% less at risk of having a stroke than those who did not eat it.

     The next smaller study said that 1,169 people who had 50g of chocolate weekly were 46% less likely to die from a stroke as compared to those who did not.

     The third study showed nothing.

     Dark chocolate especially has a high amount of flavonoids which are antioxidants. These antioxidants have many health benefits.

Photo by RVacapinta

Low Everything Broiled Chicken

     This recipe is flavorful and low in everything. It makes 4 servings and each serving has only about 142 calories, 3g fat, 66mg cholesterol, and 240 mg sodium.

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, about 1lb
• 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbls. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. lemon peel, grated
• vegetable oil

     You're going to combine all ingredients except for the chicken and oil and use to marinate the chicken for about a half hour, turning the chicken once.
     Put chicken on broiler pan and brush it lightly with the oil, broil about 5 inch from heat for about 4 minutes, turn chicken over and brush with marinade then oil and broil that side another 4 minutes till chicken is done.

     I always use my meat thermometer to test doneness. I let mine get to 170 - 180 degrees and make sure meat and juices are not pink.

     Goes great with a green salad, low starch steamed vegetable, and a dinner roll or slice of garlic bread.

Photo by J.Godsey

Introducing the Healthy Snacks

     I have a 16 month old grandson. He's loved fruits and veggies as baby food since we've been able to start him on real foods from just formula.

     At his age now though he's got teeth and really enjoys using them. My daughter started giving him whole apples which he loves. He spits out the skin though and just eats the inside which is fine with us.

     The other day I made a pork roast and put in some baby carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. The vegetables were somewhat softened but still on the crisp side. We handed him whole baby carrots and large pieces of the other vegetables. He loved them and ate most of them. Part of it is that he is feeding himself which makes him feel like a big boy, second he loves using his new teeth, and third he really seemed to like the taste. Most important we didn't force them on him.

     If you want healthy eating habits, start them young, make it their choice and let them see you enjoying them.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

     Some of you may be asking what is so healthy about baked ham since I have a site about healthy foods with a ham on the front of it. The answer is that while I don't believe ham is actually good for you, I just love a good ham and this one looks appetizing to me.

     Ham to us is a little expensive so we only have it once or twice a year but it's drowned in maple syrup glaze and is delicious. So there you have it. I don't condone it I just eat it!

Is Ketchup a Vegetable?

     I realize that tomatoes are a wonderful vegetable, but I'm having a little trouble with the recent series of commercials from Chef boy ardee making a big deal over the fact that they say a serving is the same as a serving of vegetables.

     That may very well be, however it just seems on the surface that pointing that out now the way they are is as if they've changed their product. I don't think they did. I think they just changed their label because now getting your family to eat the five servings a day is a big nutrition deal. What say you?

Too Much Salt

      A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine says that we can cut as much as $24 billion dollars in health care costs and save thousands of people from strokes and heart disease.

     Researchers say though that about 75% of our salt intake comes from processed foods, and without those that make those foods cutting down the amount, we won't be able to see such benefits.

      The American Heart Association is now saying that we should reduce our sodium to about 1500mgs a day, rather than the old standard of 2300mg. Of course salt producers say there's no proof that salt causes high blood pressure and heart disease as well as strokes.

     I can of course only speak for myself and tell you that I personally have a horrible intolerence to too much sodium or salt in my diet. My husband however is just the opposite he has low blood pressure but puts salt on everything he eats, and he eats nothing but processed, fast, and fried foods. He will shake plain salt into his mouth as if it were candy.

     All of our bodies are different and what affects one may not affect another. Just remember not to make a major changes without consulting your health care provider.

How Can We Get Our Veggies?

     It seems to me that we are not eating enough fruits and vegetables for either of two reasons. Either we don't like them or we can't afford them.

     I've been thinking a lot about those two reasons, and I agree that they are good reasons and not just excuses. Let's look at affordability.

     If you're well off it's not a problem. If you buy a lot of junk food you can cut out some of that and replace it with fruits and veggies. If you are poor and out of work you can go to food pantries, but most of the time the fresh produce is anything but, and you will probably just end up with rotted food, and no one wants to eat that, even if you're poor. Most food pantries will offer a good selection of canned fruits and veggies. You may want to rinse them of some of the added sodium before eating though.

     Maybe doctors should just start writing reduced cost prescriptions for fresh fruits and veggies every month. I'm sure someone out there would reimburse for the reduced cost, since in the long run it would save in health care costs.
  
     Another answer would be to get on a government food program. They pay the farmers already to grow them. Maybe they could also pay you to eat them.

Let's look at the second reason we don't eat our produce on my other blog, Fruits and VeggieVille.