Why You Should Cook and Eat What is in Season

Have you ever gushed over asparagus or gone weak in the knees for fresh ripe heirloom tomatoes? Have you ever waited all year for the season’s first crop? Well perhaps you should. Building your diet around foods as they come into season can help get you excited about good-for-you ingredients and help propel you towards a healthier diet.  There are many reasons to design your daily menu around what is abundant, ripe, and available locally. Historically, eating foods when nature produces them was the only option because that is all that was available. There were no supermarkets carrying produce imported from all over the world, so if you wanted strawberries in December you were just out of luck. Now it may seem like an advantage or a luxury to have any food we want, anytime we want it, eating foods in season offers many benefits.

Seasonal eating means building meals from foods that have been harvested naturally ripe and ready to eat.  You can find fresh seasonal produce at a grocery store, at a farmers market, or you can become a part of a CSA.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and when you join a CSA, you're purchasing a “share” of vegetables from a regional farmer. Most regions have limited growing seasons, so it’s virtually impossible to eat locally and in season 100% of the time. You can however come pretty close. Most people only think about spring and summer when they think of gardening and fresh produce, but there is actually a great variety of stuff to grow and eat in winter too. Here are some of the advantages of cooking and eating seasonal produce.

Seasonal Produce is Cheaper

This is simply about supply and demand. When something is in season, it can be purchased locally in abundance for relatively cheap in comparison to it’s cost out of season.  A great example of this are the tiny packages of herbs you see in a grocery store during the winter, you know the ones I’m talking about. They usually consist of a few sprigs of basil, usually limp, and cost upwards of $3-4. When you compare that to the large bundles of freshly picked, crisp, and bright green basil you can get at every farmers market in the summer for $1-2 its pretty clear that going with what is in season will save you cash. Of course if you can grow it yourself, you will be saving even more money and have the freshest possible fruits and veggies.

Seasonal Foods Taste Better

There is nothing quite as delicious as a vine-ripened tomato still warm from the summer sun plucked fresh from your back yard. Now think about the last tomato you got in the winter from a grocery store. It was likely a  hothouse tomato that was barely orange, perhaps mealy, and flavorless.  Not nearly as dream worthy right? This is because unfortunately, when produce isn’t in season it must be imported from far off lands, and in order for the crops to make that journey they must be harvested early and refrigerated so they don’t rot during transportation.  They aren’t going to ripen naturally and most times they are not able to develop their full flavor. Foods that have had the chance to fully, naturally ripen before they’ve been picked will taste how they’re supposed to, fresh and delicious!

More Home Cooked Meals

When you buy fresh, in-season, local produce you have to cook more and eat less processed foods. Yes it is more work, but it is of course the best thing you can do for your health. I say have some fun with this and try not to think about meal prep as a chore. It’s a great activity to do with your partner or your kids, and there are practically endless recipes to try for absolutely anything edible.  I like to Google recipes or go on Pinterest for inspiration. Challenge your creativity to come up with unique, fun, and delicious dishes based around something new you found at the farmers market. Cooking seasonally can be an adventure for the whole family.

Add More Variety to Your Diet

Variety is healthy for our bodies and eating a variety of foods can help ensure that we care getting the most complete combination of nutrients possible. According to current nutritional studies we all should be “eating from the rainbow”, or eating many different colored foods every day. This is because different colors equate to different nutrients, and consuming a variety of colors with insure you are getting enough essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.  Eating from the rainbow can also help protect against chronic disease, digestive issues, loss of bone density, and of course help with weight management. 

It’s Better for the Environment

Seasonal produce grows well naturally and without needing to be genetically modified or sprayed with tons of pesticides, which can seep into our soil and contaminate our drinking water as well.

If you are craving something out of season, don’t forget about frozen fruits and veggies.  Produce is picked at its peak and flash frozen, locking in all the vitamins and minerals. This makes frozen produce more nutritious, flavorful, and often less expensive than out-of-season produce imported from other countries. To find out what’s harvested seasonally in your area, go to www.localharvest.org to find farmers’ markets near you and seasonal produce guides.

Nutrition Evolution

Photos by Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography

Cauliflower is the New Kale

One of the biggest nutrition trends of 2015 is cauliflower. It has even been deemed the new kale. Yes along with turmeric, bone broth, coconut butter, grass fed dairy, tigernuts (an earthy root vegetable), and spiralizing (cutting vegetables into strings), cauliflower has become a staple of the nutritionally conscious person’s dietary staple. Shape Magazine

Cauliflower is an excellent source of many vitamins such as C, K, B6, B2, B1, niacin, foliate, and magnesium. It is also a solid source of choline, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, phosphorus, and biotin. It’s no real surprise that this cruciferous vegetable tops the charts as one of the latest super foods because of its many amazing health benefits and it’s versatility in the kitchen.

So what else can cauliflower do for you? Well there is much evidence that consumption of cauliflower can help fight cancer, boost your heart health and brain health, promote digestive health, help with detoxification, and it has anti-inflammatory properties. Wow,so you are probably wondering how a rather balnd looking veggie can do all that right?

For starters, cauliflower contains sulforaphane, a sulfur compound that has also been shown to kill cancer stem cells, thereby slowing tumor growth. Some researchers have claimed that the combination of cauliflower with curcumin (the active compound in the spice turmeric) can even help to treat or even prevent aggressive cancers like prostate cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, cauliflower may have other compounds as well that can boast anti-cancer effects. WebMd even put their two-cents in on cauliflower’s health benefits, reporting that cruciferous vegetables, especially cauliflower, kale, and collard greens, provide high amounts of vitamin K, which may have benefits for fighting cancer and inflammation

The sulforaphane in cauliflower has also been proven to increase heart health by significantly improving blood pressure and kidney function. It’s a good source of choline, a B vitamin known for its role in brain development, and it may even play a role in diminishing age-related memory decline. Cauliflower can be a termendous source of dietary fiber, which is essential for proper digestive health. According to the World's Healthiest Foods: "Researchers have determined that the sulforaphane made from a glucosinolate in cauliflower (glucoraphanin) can help protect the lining of your stomach. Sulforaphane provides you with this health benefit by preventing bacterial overgrowth of Helicobacter pylori in your stomach or too much clinging by this bacterium to your stomach wall." The World’s Healthiest Foods.

The glucosinolates in cauliflower also activate detoxification enzymes Cauliflower contains a surplus of anti-inflammatory nutrients to help keep inflammation under control, like indole-3-carbinol or I3C, an anti-inflammatory compound that may operate at the genetic level to help prevent inflammatory responses at the foundational level.

         Sadly, most of us are lacking many nutrients that our bodies need to function efficiently and at their highest level. Eating cauliflower regularly is a great way to introduce these much-needed nutrients into your body. One serving of cauliflower contains 77 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C. More excitingly, 100 calories' worth of cruciferous vegetables can provide you with up to 40 percent of your daily fiber requirement and can contain as much as 25 percent of the daily value of protein.

So you have decided to give cauliflower another try, but maybe you are wondering how do you pick out a fresh cauliflower at the store? The best way is to look for a clean, creamy white, compact head. Be aware and avoid a cauliflower if it has spots, is dull and brownish-colored, or if small flowers are beginning to appear. Uncooked, it will store for a week in the fridge if it is covered with a plastic or paper bag.

     Like I said earlier, cauliflower is very versatile in the kitchen and can be utilized in even the most restricted diets. It can be "riced", turned into couscous, roasted, steamed, grilled, sautéed, or practically any other way you can think of preparing anything. Whole Food's Market has a great list of 10 Best Ideas for cook cauliflower that I highly recommend perusing. Their Bison and cauliflower chili recipe is amazing, here check it out!

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 pound ground bison 
• 1 large onion, finely chopped 
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped 
• 1/2 head cauliflower, stemmed and cut into small florets (about 3 cups) 
• 1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped 
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped 
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin 
• 2 tablespoons no-salt-added chili powder 
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes 
• 1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes 
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added kidney beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped 

Method: 

Heat a large Dutch oven or pot over high heat. When the pot is very hot, add bison and brown it, stirring often for 5 minutes. Add onion and carrot, and cook, until both begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water to deglaze the pan, scraping brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the water evaporates. 

Add cauliflower, bell pepper and garlic and cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, chili powder, vinegar, tomatoes and beans along with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are fork tender, about 45 minutes. 
Serve garnished with chopped cilantro.

Nutritional Info: 

Per Serving:250 calories (25 from fat), 2.5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 35mg cholesterol, 180mg sodium, 36g carbohydrate (13g dietary fiber, 12g sugar), 24g protein

If cauliflower isn't your favorite vegetable, don't worry. You can get many of these same benefits by eating other members of the cruciferous vegetable family. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, and Bok Choy all boast the same magical super powers…or at least “super food” powers.

For some great tips on how to prepare cauliflower check out The World’s Healthiest Foods website.

Nutrition Evolution

The Most Ridiculous Diet Trends in American History

Americans have not always had the soundest ideas about how to lose weight and stay fit. Actually many other cultures don’t either. Japan has their own weird banana diet thing going on right now, but that is for another blog. Here are just some of my favorite diet trends many of you may remember circulating around in American magazines or whispered in beauty parlors over the years.  Warning, many of these trends will leave the nutritionally minded among us scratching their heads and wondering who even came up with these ideas?

1. Pray that weight away. Yes, in the 1950s, there were actually whole swaths of women across the US who were praying the weight away. Let’s not even get into the lack of scientific proof, but instead focus on just how ridiculous the concept is. The diet was based on the idea that God wanted women to be slim, and that if participants only prayed hard enough, divine intervention would prevent them from overindulging and snacking. No matter what you believe, you’ve got to admit that this is more than a little silly.

2. Smoke it off. Anyone who has ever struggled with an addiction to tobacco already knows that it suppresses your diet. In the 1930s, tobacco companies were actually marketing smoking as a good way to lose weight and keep it off. Many women glommed onto this trend and it still persists today. Sure, smoking curbs your appetite, but it also pumps your lungs full of tar and the thousands of other nasty chemicals present in cigarettes.

3. Chew it up. Also known as “Fletcherism,” this was one of the first true fad diets in history. Essentially, adherents would chew their food 100 times per minute, liquefying it and then spitting out any solid remains. Horace Fletcher, the man who came up with this ridiculous idea, even said that liquid needed to be chewed. Any nutritionist (or sensible person) will tell you that you need to chew your food and even that chewing slower and more is good for you, but they’ll also tell you that spitting that food out or chewing liquid are silly and even harmful ideas, plus they may not be the best person to invite to a dinner party…

4. Swallow a tapeworm. It sounds like a great deal: all you have to do is swallow a tapeworm and you don’t even have to alter your eating habits to lose weight! To be clear: tapeworms do far more harm than good, resulting in seizures, dementia, and even meningitis. Sure, you lose weight, but you also grow a parasite in your intestinal track. This is not just ridiculous, it’s also dangerous.

5. The Last Chance Diet: Yup it's as bad as it sounds. In the 1970s, there was an extreme routine called “The Last Chance Diet”. It was concocted and prescribed by Robert Linn, M.D., and he promised weight loss to people who ate nothing but a liquid protein elixir called Prolinn at scheduled intervals throughout the day. This smoothie was created from pre-digested animal hides, tendons and slaughterhouse byproducts combined with sweeteners and artificial flavors to make it more palatable. Thankfully the FDA made it illegal after a few of the Last Chance dieters died.

6. Ear Stapling: Ok, so this one is especially bizarre to me. It reminds me of a cross between stomach stapling and having your jaw wired shut. So stomach stapling or "gastric banding", makes sense for treating extreme cases of obesity, but a "ear stapling" is being promoted as new and less invasive diet method than gastric banding. Astonishingly, it is even gaining popularity. The ear stapling diet involves a practitioner inserting a staple into the inner cartilage of the ear to target a pressure point, which is said to suppress appetite.Then you leave this staple in your ear for about two months. People claim this procedure takes away feeling of hunger and cravings for sugar. Not surprisingly, I could find no research supporting scientific evidence of ear stapling being effective for weight loss, I did find that it caused ear infections, and there was a report from Texas, that 4 people experienced jaw pain following the procedure, likely leading to the inability to eat...and then weight loss!!! Yay!

7. Sleeping Beauty Diet: “if you aren't awake, you aren't eating”. Obviously it works, but it requires users to take heavy sedation and sleep for days at a time in order to lose weight, a kin to being in a coma. Clearly insane and unhealthy to slip into a self induced coma to lose weight.

8. Breatharianism Diet (eating sunlight): The Breatharian Diet is based on the inedia principle, which claims that food and water are not necessary to sustain life and that the human body can very well subsist on air, sunlight and Prana (life force) alone. Most Breatharians preach that food and water are not needed to stay alive. Yeah ok, sure. I am guessing that is why in the 90s, a few European disciples actually died of starvation and dehydration when trying to abide by the diet. My favorite example actually comes to us from the founder of the Breatharianism Institute of America, Wiley Brooks. He insists that he subsists solely on “air and sunlight”. However like most Breatharians he refuses to be examined by a doctor to prove that he has consumed no solid foods and is occasionally seen eating a McDonald's burger and a Diet Coke. Umm, what? When questioned about it, he explains that junk food provides a “specific energetic balance needed to contrasts the clean state he maintains the rest of the time.” The Breatharian Diet. Sounds like a bunch of hog wash to me.

So why would anyone ever consider any of these seemingly insane weight loss schemes? Well, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Americans spend billions of dollars on weight loss products, books, and programs every year. “The CDC reports that women are twice as likely to diet as men, and that on any given day 45% of women are dieting. women experience much more social pressure to be in shape, and often use events such as weddings or class reunions as deadlines. That makes them more apt to try quick fixes.” World's Weirdest Diets.  Again most of fad diets are not sustainable in the long run at best, and at worst they can be nutritionally unsound, or even unsafe. Keep to the tired and true, execise,  healthful food choices, and watch your portion control!

The Weirdest Diet Trends Of  2015     Nutrition Evolution

To Juice or Not to Juice, That is the Question

     There is a lot of mixed opinions about juicing, which is unfortunate because whenever I drink juice I feel healthy.  Recently, I came across an article on how juicing was bad for you.  This, of course, is juxtaposed with all of the articles saying that juicing is good for you.  Given my recent addiction to cucumber-lime-mint-honey juice I felt I needed to dig deeper into the problem so that I could continue getting my fix and share with you good readers the real deal on juicing.

     Fun fact...95% of the vitamins and enzymes our bodies need are found in the juice of raw fruits and vegetables. That means you would need to eat 2 lbs of carrots, 10-12 apples, or 8 lbs of spinach to get the same amount of nutrients that you could get from just 16 oz juice. Sheesh, right? Well that is because when you drink juice, the highly concentrated vitamins, minerals and enzymes rapidly enter your bloodstream, are absorbed easily, and you keep all the nutritional benefits of the fruits and vegetables, while giving your digestive organs a much-needed rest.

     There is tons of research showing the healing properties of juicing. You can just google it and find article after article from reputable sources like WebMD.WebMD.   Juicing will facilitate weight loss, increased energy levels, strengthened immunity, build and keep strong bones, give you a glowing complexion, and it may also reduce chances of heart disease, cancer and strokes, three of the leading causes of death. A growing body of research suggests that most vitamin supplements don’t help prevent chronic disease. A synthetic vitamin or mineral is a laboratory simulation of the real thing and is not processed or absorbed by your body in the same way. Natural, plant-based vitamins and minerals are more easily and completely absorbed by the body, especially when they enter in juiced form.

Sugar is bad, mmkay

     According to some very well known, fit (ie “skinny”) experts, we're all getting too much sugar in the juice coming out of our juicers and not enough of all the other good stuff in the fruits and vegetables that we need to get the maximum benefit from them.  If I say “duh” does that sound rude?  Okay, we all get that too much sugar is bad, and if we're honest we also get that when juicing fruits results in juice that tastes a lot better than juicing wheat grass.  However, there are workarounds to this. 

Broccoli, celery, gotta be...Healthy Right!

     Vegetables.  So, yeh, no getting around it, vegetables must go in your juicer.  I know, I know, you're thinking: Easy-peasy, I'll just throw in a tomato and a carrot. That's my first thought, too.  V-8 style juice with a hint of pepper makes a great juice.  It also makes a healthy drink if you add in broccoli, celery, collard greens, and other non-sweet items into the juice.  Now, certainly, this can be done and should be done.  The problem comes with the purchase of cheap juicer's where you can't really throw in high fiber vegetables en masse.  If you're gonna juice, juice it right, juice it right, you can juice it, baby... (I just drank 3 glasses of fruit juice, of course I'm going to sing).  If we're going to get the maximum value from juicing we need to invest in a good juicer, and put items in it that aren't the whole food equivalent of Gummy Bears.

     Find the perfect mix. Warning: Vegetable juice might not knock your socks off at first, or at least your tastebuds. It can take a little getting used to, so you’ve got to experiment with different fruit and veggie combos and have fun with it. The hardest part is that you'll have to keep your fridge stocked with a variety of fresh produce. I always start with two cups of greens, which can taste bitter, so I balance balanced it by adding some fruit. Then, I just play around with the ratio,  you can even cayenne pepper or cinnamon for some extra heat or a little zing. One of my favorite combos is  a grapefruit-orange-kale-cucumber smoothie or a carrot-apple-ginger one. 

Supplementing

     If you cannot buy a super-juicer(cuz duh, they are super expensive), then there are mega green powders that can be purchased and added to your drink as a supplement. I personally love the Perfect Food Raw Green Super Food. It's kinda pricey, but you can't beat the list of goodies packed into that powder.

 In fact, other items can be added like protein, bee pollen, and calcium to maximize what we're getting out of our juicers.

OR...I suppose you can could just eat a salad.

* Living andRaw Foods has a great article you can read to learn about the benefits of phytochemicals and research showing their connection to fighting cancer. 

Nutrition Evolution