Eggplant?

Do you like eggplant?

I must admit, I wasn't a big fan. That is, until now. I recently tested a recipe for Golden Eggplant from Bal Arneson, Spice Goddess on the Food Network. I am hooked!

These eggplant sliced are coated with a lovely batter made from yogurt, chickpea flour and spices including cardamom, coriander, paprika and garam masala. (You can find all of these items at your local bulk food store.) They are then lightly pan fried in grapeseed oil and are a lot like a savory pancake. The eggplant becomes soft and almost tastes like banana. They are yummy!

Here is the link to the website: http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/recipe.html?dishid=11269

Eggplant is high in dietary fibre, potassium, manganese, vitamin C, vitamin, K, B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus and copper. It is also high in phytonutrients that act as powerful antioxidants, protecting your cells from damage by free radicals.

I hope you try the recipe. Let me know what you think!

Food and Mood

Did you know that food can affect your mood?

If you are really stressed or are having trouble relaxing, you may need more serotonin- a neurotransmitter that helps you feel calm, content and perhaps sleepy. The best way to increase the level of serotonin in your brain is to eat carbohydrates, such as a piece of whole grain toast with jam, some organic popcorn or herbal tea with a tablespoon of honey. It takes about 30 minutes to feel the effects of increased serotonin, so be patient.

There is a theory that some people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, in the dreary winter months, may be lacking serotonin. Adding some healthy carbohydrates (without protein or fat) may help improve mood. Of course, unhealthy carbohydrates like cake and cookies can do the same thing, but they also spike your blood sugar and then cause it to quickly drop, leading to fatigue and sugar cravings.

If you want to feel more alert and focused, it's better to eat protein, with or without some carbohydrates. Examples include chicken with vegetables, beef stir fry with veggies, protein smoothie or apple slices with nut butter. This allows the proper amino acids to get to your brain to create neurotransmitters that lead to mental alertness.

So if you're having a bad day or need some extra help staying awake through a business meeting, try using healthy food choices to improve your mood or get focused!

Layered Green Smoothie, Christmas Style

What's a green smoothie, you ask?

A green smoothie is a blended drink of 40% greens like kale, spinach, collards, dandelion, romaine, etc. and 60% fruit like bananas, strawberries, kiwi, etc. You add a bit of water to get the consistency you like and voila! A yummy, healthy drink. The fruit flavour dominates and covers up the taste of the greens. Add a bit of protein powder, and you have the makings of a meal in a glass. It looks a bit like liquefied grass clippings but it tastes great.

You can find lots of recipes online but my favourite is kale, banana and mango. I add a tablespoon of hemp protein powder, especially if I've just finished working out.  My kids love green smoothies, although, if I send it to school with my older daughter, I need to add something to make it a little less green so no one looks at her strangely. I usually put in a bit of pureed beets or frozen berries and this does the trick.

My latest recipe is a layered Christmas smoothie.
I make the green part as usual, but layer it in a glass with vanilla yogurt and pureed fresh strawberries. Stirring it with a straw makes lovely and interesting designs that will fascinate kids and adults alike.

Green smoothies are a great way to get more leafy green vegetables into your diet. The nutrients are much easier to digest because the blender does all the chewing for you - in fact, your teeth couldn't do such a thorough job!
Try one today - you'll be surprised at how great a green smoothie tastes. If you decided to take the challenge, let me know how it goes, and share your fabulous greens and fruits combination.

Exercise and What to Eat

I am often asked about what to eat before and after exercising so I thought it might be a good idea to blog on this topic.  The following rules are guidelines only. If they don't seem to work for you, try something else (or make an appointment with a nutritionist!).

•  If your cardio workout is 30 minutes or less, you don't really have to eat anything beforehand, but drink some water.
• If your cardio workout is longer, it would be best to eat first, about an hour beforehand. 
• Always eat before doing weight training.
• Before a workout: eat a combination of protein and complex carbohydrates such as whole grain bread and nut butter, oatmeal with berries and milk or a protein shake with some healthy oil/fat.
• After a workout: protein and carbohydrates with little or no fat such as a smoothie with protein powder. It's important to eat within 45 minutes of finishing your workout to make the most of the protein's ability to help you recover and repair your muscles. It also helps you burn fat.
• Avoid sugar before and after a workout since this can dampen the fat burning and muscle building capacity of your exercise.

And of course, drink water before, during and after your workout.
Happy exercising!

Sugar Fast

Have you ever taken the time to read labels and see how much sugar is in many processed foods? You might be surprised.
Here is an interesting article about one family's week of avoiding sugar and what they learned:
The Sugar Fast

Would you be up to the challenge?

Book Review: Eat Your Way to Happiness

I just finished reading an interesting book called Eat Your Way To Happiness by Elizabeth Somer, a registered dietician. She discusses 10 diet and 1 lifestyle secrets to improve your mood, curb your cravings and maintain a healthy weight. The book also includes a 2 week menu plan with recipes.

Elizabeth offers a lifestyle, not a restrictive diet, that's basically about eating whole foods and limiting processed foods and sugar. She talks about how carbohydrates affect our mood and how eating the right kind of snack before bed can help with sleep, which helps with weight control, and mood. Carbohydrates, when eaten alone, have a calming and relaxing effect on your body which is great when you want to sleep, while combining carbohydrates with protein and water help to boost your mood and your energy which is best in the morning.

This book is filled with useful information including what to look for and avoid when buying pre-packaged foods, how to choose good quality carbs, how much sugar we can safely eat per day, which supplements can help with mood and why exercise is so important.

I agree with most of what Elizabeth has to say. However, she does recommend the use of Splenda in some of her recipes. Splenda is an artificial sweetener. Yes, it's made from sugar but... chlorine atoms are added to sucrose to make sucralose or Splenda. Most of the artificial sweetener goes through the digestive system unmetabolized, but there is some evidence which shows that Splenda does some damage on its way through by disrupting the bacteria balance in the intestines. This means fewer 'good bacteria' and more 'bad bacteria'. This can lead to a multitude of problems including food allergies and digestive problems.  So, I would suggest that you use a natural sweetener like honey, agave or sucanat, even though they are not calorie free. There are other natural, calorie free sweeteners such as Organic 0 or stevia that could be substituted.

Elizabeth also mentions that coconut oil is bad for you but there is lots of research to suggest that coconut oil is a healthy saturated fat, composed mainly of short and medium-chain saturated fat which is easily digested, is anti-inflammatory and may contribute to weight loss.

I am also a little confused about the snack ideas. Elizabeth talks about how carbohydrates, when eaten alone, help with sleep, but then she makes suggestions about all-carb snacks that can be eaten either before bed or in the afternoon. Based on what she is saying about carbohydrates, I wouldn't want to eat an all-carb snack in the afternoon when I still need to stay awake for several more hours!

Generally, I like the book and would recommend it to anyone struggling with issues related to weight, sleep, mood and energy levels.

Should you take wheat out of your diet?

Many people are sensitive to wheat and may not know it. 1 in 7 people are gluten (the protein in wheat) intolerant. You may experience symptoms such as:

• bloating, cramping, diarrhea, flatulence, constipation
• headache, memory loss, behavioural difficulties, depression
• resistance to infection, arthritis
• skin rashes, psoriasis, dry skin, eczema
• fatigue, lethargy, feeling unwell

The best way to determine if you're gluten intolerant, which is not the same as a gluten allergy, is to do an elimination diet. Gluten is found in grains such as wheat, spelt, barley, rye and kamut. It seems that oats may have gluten if they are processed in the same plant as gluten-containing grains. You need to stop eating any foods containing gluten for at least 1 week and notice any changes in how you feel. Then introduce a gluten-containing food for one day and see how you feel then.  Many people find that they feel great when they take gluten out of their diets, or at least reduce the gluten.

A nutritionist can help you through this process and give you meal ideas to help you get through the elimination diet.

Here is a link to a recent CBC article about wheat: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/15/f-gluten-free-parents.html