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Try It Out Tuesday


Over the course of the next few months, we're going to be adding a series to the blog called "Try It Out Tuesday," which, along with Work On It Wednesday is all about adding new things to your life and trying out new steps to take to work towards a healthier you.

 I will have a post each Tuesday with some information on a food (or food group) that I am going to be trying to work on adding into my diet for the week. This could range from things as broad as dairy products (which would actually be a real struggle for me) or as specifically as something like pomegranates (how the heck do you eat them?!) Whereas Work On It Wednesday is about all sorts of things in life - stress management, fitness, nutrition, time management, etc., Try It Out Tuesday is going to focus solely on food (yuuum!) and incorporating new foods or food groups to my overall diet.

Personally, I am really working towards cleaning up my diet and focusing on getting the most nutrient rich foods that I possibly can while still staying in a healthy calorie range for my height and age. I'm not a total believer in the idea of eating super fat items like lard, so I would consider this a fairly moderate nutritional make over - although as you all know from my ideas on the definitions of healthy, I do aim to eventually be more open to more "fattening" foods). But for now, you can just call me Middle Of The Road Lauren. ☺ Regardless, I am a firm believer in baby steps and making small changes towards greater good, so I am working toward implementing more nutritious foods in my diet, and really trying out new food options, particularly since summer is just around the corner and there should be a plethora of available choices! 

I would love for you to join me in Try It Out Tuesday. I want to hear about the changes you've made to your diet, whether you think they have had any effect on you, the changes you are still wanting to make, etc. How are you incorporating Try It Out Tuesday into your diet?







Photo Credit: David Grunfield

We'll be starting off the Try It Out Tuesday series with Power Foods, so I wanted to give you a little background information about what those entail.

Power foods (or power nutrients, super foods, or whatever you prefer to call them) are those foods that pack the most bang for your buck, so to speak. These foods are full of phytochemicals, which are chemicals (such as beta carotene) that occur naturally in plants. They can also be fruits or vegetables which have an abundance of antioxidants in them. Personally, I think that the idea that antioxidants are going to save the world is a little over emphasized, but the foods do have valuable nutrients in them that are good for you, not to mention that most are packed with flavor (so they will be included in my trying it out series).




Our first Try It Out Tuesday will focus on the Allium family of foods. The allium family contains foods such as onions, shallots, leeks, scallions, garlic and chives.

By consuming members of the allium family, you stimulate your body to produce more glutathione, which is a an antioxidant that is present in your body (particularly in your liver, where is can help your body get rid of chemicals). Glutathione also helps to eliminate toxins and carcinogins in your body, which can help to prevent cancer (reference here).

Other benefits of the allium family include:

  • Lowering total cholesterol
  • Raising HDL cholesterol 
  • Lowers blood pressure
  • May enhance testosterone levels (this is a good thing, even for women!)
  • Lowers the risk of blood clots
  • Can prevent and fight the common cold 
  • Can help to regulate blood sugar (see article here)


If you are only going to add one member of the Allium family to your diet, garlic would be the best choice, as it has the most known beneficial side effects. Crushing or chopping garlic before using it helps to release the enzymes in it (allinase) which are responsible for the benefits, so if you are going to use it in a dish, at least chop the top off of the garlic clove before using it to allow for some activation of the enzymes.

Throughout the upcoming week, I will have a variety of dishes that feature (or at least include) members of the allium family to help to help to inspire you to integrate this important group into your diet.

I would love it if you would join me on this Try It Out Tuesday. What are you planning on making this week? How are you going to incorporate alliums into your diet (or if you already do, what are some of your favorite dishes?)




Photo Credit


Yesterday we talked about saving money by eating foods that are in season and locally grown in your area. Today, going hand in hand with that idea, we are going to talk about adding berries to your diet. Since many fruits and vegetables begin to lose some of their nutritional value after they are picked, eating locally picked (ie. most recently picked) fruit allows you to get the most bang for your buck, nutritionally speaking (and, more often than not, financially speaking as well!) Many berries, particularly strawberries, are in season in the mid spring to early summer (depending on where you live) so now is a great time to try and experiment and find ways to add them into your diet.


Benefits

Berries have a variety of different health benefits (in addition to being delicious!) According to HeathCastle, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries all have very high ORAC scores, which is an indication of the antioxidant content of these fruit.  Additionally, these are four of the top 20 most concentrated food sources of antioxidants. 

As we talked about in Try It Out Tuesdays - Alliums, fruits and veggies are often filled with chemicals called phytonutrients (or phytochemicals), which are naturally occurring beneficial compounds found in plants, and berries are no exception. Often times these phytonutrients are found in the skin of fruit and vegetables, so berries are a great concentrated source, since you always eat the skin! Some of the phytochemicals that are present in berries are polyphenols, which are the same phytochemicals that make both wine and chocolate beneficial to your health. However, unlike wine and chocolate, berries are not fattening or alcoholic, they contain very few calories, and they are full of natural fiber. Overall, they are a win-win food!

In addition, blueberries have the highest ORAC score of the berries. This means they are literally packed full of antioxidants, and have a great capacity to destroy free radicals in your body (a good thing!)  According to the World's Healthiest Foods, blueberries are bursting with the phytochemical anthocyanidins, which help to "neutralize free radical damage to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues that can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, ulcers, heart disease, and cancer." Additionally, these same phytochemicals help to reduce blood glucose levels after carbohydrate heavy meals, which can help to prevent the insulin spike the eventually causes your body to become insulin resistant, which results in diabetes. 

Finally, in a recent study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they found that eating around one cup of berries every day for eight weeks helped to increase levels of "good" HDL cholesterol while also lowering blood pressure, which are both good news when it comes to keeping a healthy heart.


Ways to Incorporate Them In Your Diet

All in all, berries are a great choice, and can be added to you diet in a multitude of ways. Here are some suggestions:


My only caveat about berries would be that since many berries fall in the dirty dozen produce list, it would be a good idea to try and get them organically grown if at all possible. 


How are you going to try and add berries to your diet this week? I'm going to a Memorial Day Celebration, and I plan on brining a berry trifle. I am also going to get some fresh, organic strawberries and snack on them!




We all have heard varying opinions about eggs - they raise your cholesterol, or maybe they lower it, back and forth.  Common research these days believes that the cholesterol found in real foods such as eggs (as opposed to processed foods or powdered eggs) doesn't have a correlation with the "bad" cholesterol in the blood. I'm certainly not a doctor, so if you have concerns about this or other medical issues please talk to your specific doctor.

For the week's Try It Out Tuesday though, we will be trying to incorporate more eggs into our diets. Eggs have a variety of ways that they are good for you, from being a great, cheap source of protein, to having individual amino acids that your body needs.

Egg Benefits

Eggs contain the amino acid tyrosine, which helps to reduce your appetite and supports the ability of your thyroid, pituitary, and adrenal glands to function properly.  They also contain leucine, which is another amino acid, responsible for helping the body to produce human growth hormone, regulate blood sugar levels (very important!) and grow muscles in your body, which helps your overall system to work better. Eggs also contain choline, selenium, B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, and lutein, which help with mental function, memory, preventing birth defects if you are pregnant, cell growth, healthy skin, preventing free radical damage, and preventing macular degeneration.

Where to Buy 

The best eggs to eat would ideally be from a farmer that you know, who you know allows his animals to wander around in the yard and eat whatever bugs and everything else they find. Conventional eggs found in the grocery stores usually come from chickens that are fed grains - mostly corn. Since we already have such an overabundance of corn in our diets, this isn't really another source where we need to get more Omega 6 (which is found in corn and corn products, and we have way too much of in our American diets).  If you know of a farm or farmer's market where you can get fresh, local eggs, this would be a great option, and have even more nutritional benefits including higher levels of vitamins A and E, more beta carotene, and more Omega 3 fatty acids. In addition to all the nutritional benefits, you would also be supporting a local farmer, which is great for your regional economy.

If you cannot find a local farmer the next best bet would be to buy organic eggs at the grocery store. Organic eggs come from chickens that are fed organic feed, which may very well still be corn but at least it isn't genetically modified, pesticide laden corn. In addition, chickens that lay organic eggs are not given any antibiotics, which is in start contrast to conventional chickens who are often bathed in antibiotics to ward off diseases.  For me, this is a big selling point, as I don't want any additional antibiotics in my food or my body that I don't personally need to take care of an ailment. Since they are not given antibiotics, often times (though not always) organic chickens have more room to roam and are treated more humanely than conventional chickens. Overall, if you don't have a local farmer who supplies you eggs, organic eggs from the supermarket can be a good alternative.

Ideas for Incorporating

There are literally an endless number of possibilities for incorporating eggs into your diet, but here are a few of my favorites.


Get creative! There are so many easy ways to use eggs, from french toast to hard boiled eggs, that you can incorporate them so easily into your diet. Just this morning for breakfast I had three scrambled eggs with some sauteed onions in them (see another week's Try It Out Tuesday for onion benefits). I look forward to hearing about how all of you added eggs to your diet, and would love it if you would leave me your favorite eggs recipes. Remember that every comment you leave (up to 4) adds another entry in the giveaway! See the giveaway rules for details.

Happy Egg eating!


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