Peppermint to Enhance Memory

Freshman year of high school my professor of English Lit (can't remember her name) passed out candy canes the morning of the final. She instructed us to eat the candy while we took her test. When the exam was over she dismissed us, letting us know that the candy helped us perform better. I had no idea what she was talking about, but appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

Well, today I know that she was on to something. Peppermint has immense health benefits, one of which is increasing mental alertness and enhancing memory. Research shows strong correlation between peppermint consumption and high test scores on experimental subjects. 

So with finals rapidly approaching, I'm going to load up on peppermint- I'll take all the help I can get. 

*Peppermint is also known to reduce nausea and calm gastrointestinal distress. Not that anyone plans on getting sauced off the 'nog, but just in case. 

Foods to Boost Your Mood

We all know that eating our sorrows away, or stuffing our faces full of crap to make ourselves feel better, is a really bad idea. But there are certain foods known to boost your mood. Try incorporating some of these as you battle holiday traffic and end of the year work stress.
Here are a few:

I always do this when I get veggies from the fridge.

1. Whole grains: Sorry paleos, but whole grains are fantastic. Not only do they boost dietary fiber intake, but they're known to help improve your mood. Studies show that people who suffer from whole-grain-aphobia and avoid grains generally have more anger and depression. Why? Whole grains help release serotonin (the feel good chemical in our brain).
2. Dark Green Leafys: So, all fruits and veg are packed full on anti oxidants which reduce depression. The bonus with the dark greens is their high folate content. Folate is also known to increase serotonin levels, making us feel great!
3. Fish: It's all about omega-3, which fish is a fantastic source. Beyond the immense benefits of heart health, omega-3 also works with happy brain chemicals such as dopamine. 
Moral of the story? We CAN eat our way to feeling good. Use some of these tips to make sure you're making the right choices.

Giving Thanks for Good Health

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday: delicious food, family togetherness, and the promise of Christmas on the way. At some point today between the football games and carving of the turkey, take a moment to give thanks for your health. We have so much to be thankful for, but it's all for naught if we aren't healthy. It is our health and the energy our health gives us that allows us to be a part of all of those things for which we are grateful.
And if, perhaps, your health is not at the level that you would want it to be, now is the time to make a change! (I know this great blog that can help...) It's never too late to make positive change.

Have a healthy, happy Thanksgiving!

Finding time for family dinners

In one of my classes I had to write a paper about a current issue in child nutrition. I decided to write about the benefits of nightly family dinners. The information I found was astounding, so I thought I would share...

Norman Rockwell made it look so picturesque.

The foods we eat and the way we eat them have changed dramatically over the last one hundred years.  This can hardly be considered surprising, given the way the modern lifestyle has changed. The on-the-go life of the parent is rivaled only by the practically busier lifestyle of the child. Between soccer practice, ballet class, math tutors, and play dates, finding time to educate children about healthy nutrition is scarce. The frantic nature of our lifestyles is mirrored in a dramatic change in the food industry. Ready made meals now have an entire aisle dedicated to them in the grocery store. Pizza restaurants offer drive by pie pickups without even calling in an order. Countless restaurants will deliver food to the front door. Fast food chains continue to thrive and seem to pop up on every corner. It is SO EASY to eat poorly.
Parents can make a huge impact in the child's nutrition practice by having a family dinner. The term ‘family dinner’ or ‘family meal’ means a meal cooked at home by a parent and consumed in the household while sitting around a table with the absence of cell pones, television, and other modern distractions. Eating at home around the table encourages many healthy behaviors, such as cooking with a parent, weekly meal planning, and an active education about what goes into food we eat. Learning to understand what real food looks like, tastes like, and where it comes from is essential for a fundamental background in proper nutrition.  In addition to these benefits, parents who insist on family dinners at home offer a support system in which members of the family discuss their day, offer advice, and spend quality time with each other. Likewise, children who have regular meals with their parents are 42% less likely to drink heavily, 50% less likely to smoke and 66% less likely to smoke marijuana. Children who eat a family dinner at home also display higher grades and healthier relationships than children who do not. Families, including both the children and the parents, who eat dinner at home have statistically lower body mass indices than families who do not. Not a huge surprise as take out and restaurant meals are often 2 to 3 times the recommended portion size and far more calorie dense than home cooked meals. 
I don't have kids and can still hardly find the time to cook for myself every night, so it's hard to imagine how tough it would be for a parent of a couple kids. But these are some pretty crazy stats. At all costs, try to find the time. And even if you don't have kids, try to find the time cook dinner with the people you care about and sit down around a table to enjoy it. Maybe even with the cell phones off.

Cranberries- A Seasonal Superfood

Thanksgiving is just a week away! I'm so excited because I love any excuse to get together with family and friends and enjoy good food and drink. This year I'm on for bringing the cranberry sauce (not the most adventurous side dish, but every Thanksgiving table needs it). As I've been searching for the most appetizing and healthy cranberry sauce recipe, it got me thinking about the awesome health benefits that cranberries offer.
Cranberries are incredibly high in nutrient and antioxidant content. They are a great source of vitamin C, vitamin E, and fiber and are also very low in calories. They are a known anti inflammatory, help prevent urinary tract infections, colon cancer, and heart disease. For these reasons and more they are often called a "superfood." Cranberries are something we should try to incorporate into our diets on a regular basis, not just around the holidays. Don't forget to be an informed consumer: look out for cranberry foods and drink with copious added sugar. Many dried cranberries and cranberry juice drinks have a ton of added sugar, so avoid those at all costs.

Making cranberry sauce and making a mess!

AHA Study finds kids less fit than their parents

A study published yesterday by the American Heart Association found that kids are less physically fit than their parents were at the same age. This worldwide study found that it takes a child today an average of 90 seconds longer to run a mile than it took their parent's generation. The worst part is that this study is hardly shocking, as kids today are far less active and childhood obesity (and the diseases with which it comes) is at an all time high. An increase in video game playing, TV watching, and other sedentary activities, coupled with PE classes getting the axe from budget cuts make some easy culprits. But a healthy diet goes hand in hand with the need for daily physical activity in both adults and children.
This is the first generation ever to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. If that doesn't send chills down your spine, there's something seriously wrong with you. Science has taken us so far in regards to increasing our lifespan and eradicating disease and problems that historically would have shortened it. Now finally, we have done so much damage to ourselves that science can't save us anymore. We have to help ourselves. And it all starts with what we put in our bodies. As upsetting as research and findings such as this are, it's motivating too. We have complete power to change this stuff. It can start today.

Fall's Favorite Vitamin

Carrots are also high in vitamin E

Fall is by far my favorite season. I love everything about it. The anticipation of the holidays, the cloudy cool weather, the clothes (I live for boots), and of course the food! We all feel the desire for warm comfort food during the chilly months, but did you know that many fall favorites have one essential vitamin in common?
Beta-carotene, or vitamin A, is everywhere this time of year. It's basically found in everything orange, from sweet potatoes, to pumpkins, to carrots, and bell peppers. The list of beta-carotene rich foods does go far beyond orange veggies, but during fall take advantage of all those that come into season.

Beta-carotene can help us build immunity and fend off the common cold and flu. It is an essential nutrient that our bodies cannot function properly without. Naturally, combining any of these delicious veggies with heaps of butter, sugar, or cheese will reduce the amplitude of vitamin benefits, so avoid the coma inducing sweet potato casseroles and stick to baking, steaming, or roasting your veg. And this season may we eat our way to great health and enjoy every second of it!

Roasted Rosemary Sweet Potatoes- one of my fave dishes of the season!

Real Food Daily and the Vegan Diet

Real Food Daily is an organic, vegan SoCal restaurant chain with three locations in the Los Angeles area. Yesterday my Dad and I lunched at the WeHo location and indulged in clean nutritious food that tantalized the taste buds.
A vegan diet includes fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes and the avoidance of all animal products. People follow vegan diets for a variety of reasons ranging from plant based health to animal rights concerns. Health benefits associated with plant based living are immense. As cholesterol is only found in animal products, vegans often benefit from lower cholesterol levels. Saturated fats found in meats and cheese are known to increase risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
I'm not a vegan myself, but believe strongly in predominately plant based living. Not only does eliminating or reducing animal products lower cholesterol and decrease your risk of disease, it allows you to dramatically increase your intake of legumes and veggies.
Moderation is they key- if nothing else, consider making at least one meal a week vegan to vary your diet and nutrient intake. If you need help, visit Real Food Daily!

RFD Mediterranean Bowl

RFD Southwest Salad

Juicing Frenzy

Juice from 'Juice is Served Here'

Juicing is clearly the new hot trend in nutrition. Juice stores are everywhere (at least here in LA) selling $8 juices that fly off the shelves. Other than exorbitant prices, the juicing trend is a great step towards nutritional wellness. Juicing, especially juices that contain high vegetable content, increase our intake of fruits and veg in an easy and portable way. While nutrient dense foods are always a plus in my book, are we looking at the whole picture when we embrace juices into our diets?
There are different kinds of juicing. Using some juicers, natural cellulose fibers of the plant are a byproduct of juicing. If you've ever juiced at home, this is all of the left over dry stuff that you throw out or use as compost when you're done juicing. All of that leftover stuff is the fiber of the plant, something you'd definitely want to consume. Some juicers (think Nutri Bullet) use the entire plant when fine blending it into juice. It's important to be aware of which kind of juice you're drinking... fiber or no fiber.
Likewise, a study published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that the antioxidant content of certain fruits are significantly higher in the whole fruit than they are in the juice of the same fruit. Following this idea, while eating whole fruit can lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, consuming high amounts of fruit juice can raise your risk.
Knowing this data, I'm going to stick to predominantly vegetable based fruit juices and drink them when I need a nutrient boost, not as a staple in my diet. While juicing is a great mainstream trend, nothing can replace whole, raw fruits and veg.

Veggie Variety

Sometimes I notice that I get stuck in a rut when walking down the produce aisle. Week after week the same  fruits and veggies appear in my shopping cart. While it's great to have go-to veggies that you enjoy and find easy to include in your weekly meal plan, all fruits and vegetables have a different variety of vitamins and nutrients. By adding one or two fruits or veggies that are slightly outside your comfort zone each week, you increase your chances of consuming a complete range of necessary nutrients. A professor once told me that a good way of thinking about varied fruit and vegetable consumption is to "eat the rainbow." Every day try to eat at least one fruit or veg that's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. I wish I could say that I do that everyday! Nutritious AND beautiful!

Taste the Rainbow...no, not Skittles.

This week I picked up fennel (so out of my comfort zone). I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. Maybe a huge success, maybe an epic fail but it's worth a shot!

Steering Clear of Trans Fats

Most of us are aware that trans fats are unhealthy. But do we understand just how detrimental trans fats are to our health and how often they creep into our diet?
Trans fats are created when hydrogen is chemically added to fatty acids, making them more solid. Food producers add hydrogen to make packaged products more stable, creating longer shelf life. Unfortunately for us consumers, solid fats (such as the fat from animal products) are known to increase our bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease our good cholesterol (HDL). More so, trans fats have been removed from the "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) list. No amount of trans fat is safe for consumption. But it's in so much of our food!!!
What's worse is that a listing of 0 grams trans fat on a food label doesn't necessarily mean 0 grams. By law companies do not have to list any trans fat if the product contains less than 0.5 grams per serving. So hypothetically, we could be eating food all day that contains trans fats but has no trans fat listed, and our chances of contracting heart disease, high cholesterol, and cancer will be skyrocketing.
Personally I find this terrifying. The good news is, you can see if a product contains trans fat by reading the ingredients on the label. Trans fats will be listed as hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil. So read your food labels and stay away from trans fats!

Coffee Debunked

Stumptown Cold Brew, Seattle WA

The controversy surrounding coffee has gone on for decades. Does anyone else remember being told growing up that coffee will stunt your growth? How about that coffee consumption can lead to cancer and heart disease? For a coffee lover such as myself, such news would be devastating, IF it were true. Studies conducted by the Mayo Clinic not only debunk these coffee myths, but point out many benefits from your morning cup of joe. Organic coffee consumed in moderation can actually aid in disease prevention. The tricky part is that copious amounts of cream and sugar added to coffee beverages negate these benefits. Moral of the story?
Enjoy one to two cups of coffee a day with a little low fat milk or soy milk and learn to love the flavor without all the added sugar.
Unless of course, we're talking Irish Coffee?

Sipping on a real Irish Coffee in Dingle, Ireland

A little physiology...

Fuel your body AND
indulge your taste buds!

The human body is so brilliant. We are programmed to maintain a constant, stable environment inside our bodies and every second millions of neurons are sensing and correcting tiny changes in this equilibrium. This constant state of the body is called homeostasis.
Our bodies are working hard enough without us consuming toxic food. Food and drink that raise our blood glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc are forcing our bodies to work over time to maintain balance.
The next time you're going to eat something, think about how your body will react to it. After all isn't fueling our bodies the point of eating?

Hi! I'm Amylee...

Welcome to Food Glow!

'An apple a day'? Fact or fiction?

I'm thrilled to finally start this blog, which will be dedicated to the power of food to keep us healthy, happy, and literally glowing from the inside out. I believe in this philosophy so much that have dedicated my life to food and nutrition- recently starting graduate school to achieve a Master's in Science and the credential of Registered Dietician (MS, RD). Throughout this 5 year process, I will use this blog to share the information I learn, as together we use food and knowledge of nutrition to prevent disease, reverse health complications, and glow our way through life.
Let's get healthy!