Here is a great recipe for “power” muffins from Cooking Light magazine. The muffin are loaded with B vitamins from whole wheat flour, calcium from milk and yogurt, antioxidants from the blueberries, and heart-friendly monounsaturated fat from almonds and canola oil. You can freeze the muffins for up to a month, then thaw them at room temperature, or microwave each muffin at High 15 to 20 seconds. I tested the recipe using greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt and the muffins came out great, very tender and tasty. When I made the recipe it actually made almost 60 mini-muffins so I had to make additional streusel topping.
Muffins:
1 and ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups vanilla low-fat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt which is a bit thicker than regular yogurt)
½ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 and ½ cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen and did not defrost them)
Cooking spray
Dr. Oz just posted an article talking about the benefits of cranberries. Though we think of them of as a holiday treat Dr. Oz says for the following reasons we should eat them all year round: They’re high in antioxidants -
Cranberries have more of these disease-fighters than do apples, red grapes, strawberries, oranges, bananas, pears, grapefruit, pineapples and peaches. Cranberries all contain resveratrol, the heart protector in red wine, which is now being tested against breast, skin, prostate and liver cancer.
Cranberries are heart healthy –
Cranberries have antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and anticlotting agents, a combo that helps prevent fats and cholesterol from sticking to artery walls and seems to lower bad LDL cholesterol and boost good HDL cholesterol.
Cranberries help protect your teeth -
Compounds in cranberry juice appear to reduce decay-causing mouth bacteria and dissolve clusters of unhealthy germs. Just be sure to buy sugar-free juice or rinse well with water afterward. Do the same with any sweetened drink.
Cranberries help prevent ulcers and soothe upset tummies -
Scientists suspect that the berries keep ulcer-causing H. pylori bugs from hanging around the stomach and flush other harmful bacteria out of your digestive system.
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Healthy Herbs
Just found in Parade Magazine a list of healthy herbs. If you can incorporate these herbs into your weekly menus you will be doing a lot toward preventing some of today’s common illness such as diabetes, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Parsley – Parsley is a good source of vitamin C, iron and flavonoids, which the American Institute for Cancer Research says may help protect cells from cancer. Fresh parsley can be added to salads and fresh or dried parsley is a good addition to chicken and fish dishes. Chimichurri sauce used on beef uses a whole cup of fresh parsley.
I was always told to avoid grapes in my diet. Nutritionists routinely warned people off of grapes because of their high sugar content. Then it was discovered that red grapes were very high in anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are defined as flavonoid pigments found in many varieties of vegetables and fruits. They’re a good source of antioxidants. You probably heard about anthocyanins in relation to the Acai Berry.
Anyway I just saw a blurb in our paper (in the Dr. Mehmet Oz section) that says eating grapes can help prevent clogged arteries. A study showed that just three hours after eating the equivalent of 1 and 1/4 cups of grapes, people had better blood flow through their arteries than did people who drank a sugar solution. Blood-flow benefits were even better after three weeks of daily grape-eating.
Grapes have only 75 calories in a 1 and 1/4 cup serving.
Grapes may even help protect your blood vessels from fatty meals – something that normally does immediate damage. Early research suggests that grapes may help protect your blood pressure from salty foods too.
I read a really good article in Woman’s Day Magazine about which fruits and vegetable are the best to eat. Some fruits and vegetable are better than others at preventing disease. According to the article, Italian researchers put a group of adults on a produce rich diet with participants eating a high antioxidant diet for two weeks and then a low antioxidant diet for two weeks. After being on the high antioxidant diet the participants had significantly improved liver function and lower blood levels of key inflammatory markers which help cut the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Here are the fruits and vegetable you should eat more of to get the benefit of antioxidants:
Fruit
Berries
Black Grapes
Grapefruit
Oranges
Pineapple
Plums
Rooibos is an herbal tea, made with the leaves and stems of the rooibus plant. It has been used for centuries in South Africa, where it is grown, as an anti-inflammatory. Research has shown that rooibus tea is a unique mix of healthy antioxidants, including a few rare ones. Human studies are currently being conducted to test whether or not rooibos is helpful in preventing heart disease. Rooibos contains rutin and quercetin both thought to protect the cardiovascular system.
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