Quick Bites Nutrition • Issue 3
Welcome to the 3rd issue of Quick Bites, my New Nutrition Newsletter! Today I will give you a couple tools to make healthier food choices. Let’s dig in! - Trilety
1. Carbs & Whole grains
2. A recipe for Pumpkin Pie Dip
3. A link to a long read by Michael Pollan
1. CARBS & WHOLE GRAINS!
While low carb fad diets have found patterns of popularity, I was surprised to learn in class last week how essential carbohydrates are to good health!
Carbs provide energy for your cells and brain, and they help metabolize fat. Living without carbs, or with too few, is like driving your car on fumes.
When people adhere to low-carb/no-carb diets, their bodies rob their liver and muscles of glycogen to provide what energy carbs normally would - this is why people often feel like shit on super low carb diets.
So instead of cutting carbs from your diet, just be smart about where they come from! Try to make sure HALF of your grains are WHOLE grains, instead of refined grains.
As our textbook explained, “Because whole grains are typically high in fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants, consumers who eat more whole grains tend to have healthier diets and reduced risks for heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.”
Whole grains come in their whole form or ground into flour, whereas refined grains are milled to have the germ and bran removed, and along with it a bunch of nutrients and fiber. Most refined grains are enriched with nutrients, but it’s better for your overall health to consume whole grains rather than enriched refined grains.
Popular whole grains include:
old fashioned oats
steel cut oats
quinoa
bulgur
rice
wild rice
corn
millet
Check out the Whole Grains Council website for a complete list of whole grains as well as a bunch of recipes.
An easy way to tell if an item includes whole grains is to look for the Whole Grains Stamp (see below).
Aim for purchasing items with the 100% stamp, and check out this article, Deciphering Whole Grain Food Labels - Separating Fact From Fiction, from Today's Dietician (2012) for more info.
2. WHATCHA EATIN'!?
Every week I will share a recipe - either one of my own, or one sent in by a reader (reply to this email with a recipe submission)!
This week’s original recipe, Vegan Powerhouse Pumpkin Pie Dip (my name, but not my recipe) is sent in by Elisabeth Percival!
She had told me she'd made a dip with chickpeas, pumpkin puree, sweet potato and a little sugar, and I thought “yuk, I don’t know about that!” But it is shockingly AMAZING!! Not only did I love it, but I watched as two non-vegan dudes also devoured it.
The texture is smooth, the flavor is warm, and sweetness is just right. 1/2 cup of the pumpkin dip contains:
57% of your Vitamin A needs
4% of your iron needs
170 mg of potassium
25 grams of carbs
3 grams of fiber
3 grams of protein
165 calories
The coconut oil adds saturated fat, but as a seasonal treat, this dip is a delicious, nutritional powerhouse! Here's the recipe:
Elisabeth Percival's Vegan Powerhouse Pumpkin Pie Dip
Ingredients:
1-1/2, 15 oz cans garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
1, 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 cup cooked sweet potato
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 T pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
1 T dark maple syrup
Directions:
Puree the beans, pumpkin, and cooked sweet potato in a food processor until smooth.
In microwave, melt the coconut oil, spices, sugar, and syrup.
Pour the oil/spice/sugar mixture into the food processor with the beans/pumpkin/potato mixture and process until smooth.
Elisabeth said this tastes best after letting the flavors blend and mellow in the refrigerator for a day. After that, serve with apples or 100% whole wheat graham crackers!
3. UNHAPPY MEALS
I will leave you with a long read, "Unhappy Meals," written years ago by the esteemed Michael Pollan. He's a delightful writer and knows his nutrition. The article begins, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." That pretty much says it all, but the article is still a stellar read!
NEXT WEEK we'll be talking LIPIDS and the chemistry origins of CIS and TRANS!
Thanks so much for reading, and send in your recipes!
~ Trilety, the Aspiring Nutritionist