Green Options

The Mediterranean diet is not only good for its more well-known reasons — protecting against heart disease and cancer. According to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the Mediterranean diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, and fish, may decrease risk of depression.

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited by the Grain Council to join Bob Harper in a Yoga class.

Yes, I know, I won the jackpot on that one!

We had a few quiet moment with Bob before the yoga began, and he offered some very sound advice to the room. Bob is all about balance, and he talked about whole grains being an important part of everyone’s diet. I’ve never been much of a dieter, so much of the diet (to lose weight) talk is off my radar. According to Bob we should have six servings of grains a day, with at least three of them being whole grains.

Breakfast time is usually a big deal at our house. I try to make sure the little guy gets a healthy nutritious meal to start the day.  I also try to stay away from cereals due to their high sugar content but occassionally a bowl of cereal makes it’s way onto the table.

Since having a child I’ve made breakfast important. I mostly make meals from scratch and make the best attempt to stay away from anything packaged. The chickens have been such a blessing. We’re able to cook eggs most days any which way you can think of and have them for breakfast or “breakie” (what we call it here).

Pancakes are the biggest hit for breakie…just ask my son, he’ll tell you he wants *pancakes*! Before I knew about this recipe I’m going to share; I’d always thought I was making pancakes from scratch.

Did you know that whole grain products, such as whole grain cereals and popcorn, are extremely healthy and not only for their high fiber content? These common breakfast and snack foods are rich in antioxidant substances, of which fruits and vegetables were generally considered to be our only really significant source until now. These antioxidants, called “polyphenols,” can also be found in wine, tea leaves, coffee, olive oil, walnuts, and chocolate. However, not to the same degree as in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These polyphenols may be the leading way to reduce risk of cancer and heart disease.

Studies have shown that many illnesses (including several types of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease) are largely influenced by chronic inflammation in the body.

Prolonged inflammation causes the immune system to become off balance, and can result in damage to healthy tissue.

Poor diet is a main contributor to chronic inflammation, but several lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise, and excessive stress can promote inflammation as well.

Many health and nutrition experts are now starting to emphasize the importance of following an anti-inflammatory diet.

Here are a few tips to get you started on your way to less inflammation and better health:

Every year more than 500,000 people die from cancer in the United States alone.

Many researchers and cancer specialists believe that up to 60% of those deaths can be prevented if Americans adopt healthier lifestyles.

According to Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute,

“The easiest and least expensive way to reduce your risk for cancer is just by eating a healthy diet.”

Here is an overview of ten important cancer fighting foods to include in your diet on a regular basis:

Parents have a tremendous influence over how their children eat.

To emphasize this, researchers at Saint Louis University have determined that families who eat out often are more likely to skimp on fresh fruits and vegetables compared to those who eat more meals at home.

After focusing their study on young families in southeastern Missouri, it was found that close to 73% of parents don’t consume the minimum recommended amount of fruits and vegetables each day.

Researchers also discovered that families who eat out frequently are less likely to have fresh produce on hand at home.

Stress… it’s something we deal with on a daily basis.  Some of us take it all in stride, others let it build up to the breaking point.

When we experience stress too often, our autonomic nervous system rarely has a chance to activate the relaxation response.  This can eventually lead to physical or emotional illnesses such as high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, and depression to name just a few.

Making simple diet changes can help reduce stress, here are a few tips to get you started:

(Remember to always use organically grown foods when possible, it’s healthier for you and for the planet.)

We eat a lot of organic brown rice in our family, which sometimes gets boring. That’s when we remember quinoa!  Quinoa is a “sacred, super crop“:  sacred to the Incas, super crop to the United Nations for its high protein content.  My family likes its nutty flavor, as well as its quick cooking time.  It accompanies almost any meal, and it provides a complete protein containing all nine essential amino acids, which is important to a vegetarian family. Quinoa contains the amino acid lysine and is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous.

Quinoa is actually not a grain, but is related to beets, chard, and spinach. Quinoa is the seed from chenopodium quinoa, and I love it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is good in porridge, served in soup, or by itself as a side dish.  We buy it in bulk and eat it weekly.

Cooking Instructions for Organic Quinoa

To make three cups of cooked quinoa:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 1/2 cups water

Half the world is starving and many are becoming hungrier and angrier. Millions more are impoverished daily. Many of these are poor mothers and children in poor nations of Africa and other developing countries.

The New Face of Hunger is not a stark picture of battered and malnourished children in Ethiopia. It is the rise of commodity prices and super inflation now biting all across the globe.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation predicted in October 2007: “If prices continue to rise, it would not be surprising if we began to see food riots.” World food prices have risen 45 percent in the last nine months and there are serious shortages of rice, wheat and maize, according to FAO.

Some of the most wonderful aspects of eating a plant-based diet is choosing from the huge variety of foods at your disposal and experiencing a change in your palate. My favorite foods today were definitely not my favorite foods 25 years ago (my father owned ice cream stores), or 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. It’s so exciting to continually eat better, learn more, and feel healthier all the time. It just

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