Fresh or Frozen?

Ever wonder if the frozen vegetables you are eating are as nutritious as fresh? If you are busy and don't have time to shop or prepare fresh veggies and are feeling guilty over not using the fresh, listen up!

Studies show that the nutrients in frozen vegetables are "locked in" following the freezing process. Fresh vegetables lose nutrients from the time they are harvested to when they are purchased, brought home, and sit in your crisper drawer until they are eaten. Frozen vegetables are picked at the peak of perfection, or at optimal maturity. They are picked, flash boiled, and frozen soon after harvest to lock in the nutrition and flavor.

Many frozen vegetables have no added sodium, or may have just a small amount added. Many frozen veggies are plain and can be used in a variety of recipes or side dishes, but some already have low fat sauces on them, so they are easy to microwave and serve! My favorite are the Green Giant boxed veggies. They are perfect for my husband and me to share. Green Giant also just came out with a Just For ONE! pack of veggies that provide just one serving. Make sure you read the labels of the veggies with sauce added to make sure the sodium or fat is not too high for your personal needs.

When it comes right down to it, any vegetable is good! Whether it is raw, cooked, frozen, canned, they all still have lots of health benefits. Eat your veggies!

For an interactive game for kids about vegetables, visit www.mightygiants.com
Photo courtesy of Green Giant

Labels: convenience, Tara Gidus, vegetables

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Low Calorie, High Cost

I was reading a new study out in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association that I found really interesting. The researchers looked food costs and found that lower calorie foods like fruits and vegetables are getting more expensive! As if eating right wasn't hard enough!

General inflation rates for food is about 5%, but the inflation rate for fruits and vegetables has gone up 20% in recent years. Foods that are rich in refined grains, sugar, and fat hardly went up at all in price. Unfortunately this is making it more difficult to follow the advice of health professionals. This kind of news is what is leading Americans to be undernourished from a perspective of nutrients but overfed from calories from sugar and fat. The result is a population suffering from overweight and obesity and not having the energy to get ourselves out of this dilemma!

The obesity epidemic in this country has been happening for many reasons. It always comes down to eating too many calories and not moving enough. But now we have an economic cause that plays into the equation. If someone does not have the financial resources to buy healthy, low calorie foods it is going to be near to impossible to eat right and maintain a healthy weight.

The solution? We need to make farming more economical and support our farmers. Please talk to your congressmen about the Farm Bill!

What do you think? Have you been buying fewer fruits and vegetables because of the cost?

Labels: food costs, fruit, low calorie food, Tara Gidus, vegetables

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Pea in a Pod

I dressed Basil up as a Pea in the Pod for Halloween. My husband thought it was kind of a lame costume, but I thought it was pretty darn cute. I mean, what dietitian doesn't want to dress her first born as a green vegetable?

The Pea Pod baby inspired me to write about the nutritional aspects of peas. I am not a huge fan of regular green peas, but I absolutely LOVE sugar snap peas.

The nutritional profile of sugar snap peas is pretty impressive. They are only 40 calories per cup with 2.5 grams of fiber. As far as green vegetables go, they are high in protein at 2 grams for sugar snap peas and 4 or more grams per half cup for shelled garden peas.

Very high in iron, thiamin, Vitamin A, Vitamin C High in manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and Vitamin B6

If you are thinking about growing peas, check out this link. Peas like cool, moist weather with soil at least 45 degrees. I guess that means I will not have much luck growing them in Florida. Good thing because I have yet to start a garden here.

I love sugar snap peas raw. One of my favorite healthy snacks is a pile of fresh sugar snap peas dipped in some hummus. They are so naturally sweet, though, that you don't even need anything to dip them into.

My other favorite use of sugar snap peas is in a good stir fry. They are especially good stir fried with mushrooms and a few Tablespoons of sesame seeds.

In honor of my son, here is a recipe for Basil Sugar Snap Peas.

I always love to see the history of different vegetables, too. If you are a history buff or just a food lover like me, click here to read about the history of the green pea.

Labels: Tara Gidus, vegetables

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More Matters

Did you know that it is estimated that 90% of us are not getting enough fruits and vegetables? I know you have heard it all before, but mom was right! We DO need to be eating our fruits and vegetables every day!

Why eat them?

• Because your mom told you to
• Low in calories
• High in fiber
• High in antioxidants (prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes)
• Loaded in essential vitamins and minerals
• Low in fat, saturated fat, and sodium naturally
• Fruits are naturally sweet and can be eaten in the place of a high sugar dessert
• Help us control our weight due to low calories and high fiber
• They taste good!

How much to you need?

Children 2-3 years: 1.5 cups veggies and 1 cup fruit = 2.5 cups total

Children 4-8 years: 2 cups veggies and 1.5 cups fruit = 3.5 cups total

Teen girls, children 9-13, adult women: 2.5 cups veggies and 2 cups fruit = 4.5 cups total

Teen boys and adult men: 3.5 cups veggies and 2 cups fruit = 5.5 cups total

How much is a cup? Click here to find out!

How are you supposed to get all of those cups in each day? Click here for some tips on incorporating more fruits and veggies into each day. It can be as easy as having a piece of fruit with breakfast, enjoying a salad with lunch, some dried fruit as a snack, and some cooked veggies with dinner.

All forms of fruits and veggies count: fresh, canned, frozen, dried, raw, cooked, etc. Make sure you get a variety from the different color groups: green, yellow, orange, red, blue/purple, and white. Different colors have different nutrients, so mix it up as much as possible!

Fruits and veggies usually don’t have a food label, so it can be difficult to know calories, carbs, protein, etc. I found an awesome website that tells you everything you would want to know and more about storage, handling, and nutrition information for the most common produce.

Click here to search through the fruit database

Click here to search through the vegetable database

Ever wonder which fruits and vegetables are in season at certain times of the year? Click here to find out!

Want to know how to get your kids involved? Get them to go grocery shopping with you, help you plan meals, and cook with you. Click here for some more tips on getting them involved.

And of course, I would not leave you without a source for some recipes. Click here to search for tasty recipes that include fruits and veggies.

For more information, visit the Produce for Better Health Foundation

Also check out www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov

Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com

Labels: fruits, Tara Gidus, vegetables

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Asparagus Urine

This might be kind of a weird blog today, but it is a question I actually get asked fairly often. Have you ever noticed that when you eat asparagus your urine smells different? Some of you may think I am crazy writing this because you have never experienced it and others are nodding your head and saying, “YES, I have always wondered why that is!” I finally did the research when I was asked yet again this week.

The reason for the smell is a sulfer compound called mercaptan. This compound is also found in rotten eggs, onion, garlic, and the secretions of skunks. When you eat asparagus, your digestive tract breaks down the mercaptan and the resulting by-products cause the smell. It happens quickly, and you may even be able to notice the smell as early as 15 minutes after eating it! Mercaptan and the resulting odor is not harmful in any way.

I figured that it had to be some kind of enzyme or compound, and now I know the exact name to tell people. What I find fascinating, though, is that not everyone has the gene to break down the mercaptan, so some people have no idea what you are talking about when you say your pee smells funny after eating asparagus! The studies vary, but it seems that certain ethnic populations have it more than others. This has not been highly studied, so don’t ask me exactly which people, but studies have been done on small groups of British, French, and Israeli Jews. It seems that all of the French had it and only about half of the Britains produced the odor. The Israeli Jews were also mixed, but some of them who did produce the odor could not smell it. Interesting…..

Fun Info on Asparagus:

• Member of the lily family along with onions, leeks, and garlic
• Can be eaten raw or cooked and can be canned or frozen for storage
• Asparagus can grow 10 inches in a 24 hour period under ideal conditions
• The larger the diameter, the better the quality
• Asparagus was first cultivated 2500 years ago in Greece
• Asparagus comes from the Greek word meaning stalk or shoot
• Once planted, it must go through 3 growing seasons before it can be harvested
• Asparagus is very low in calories at less than 4 calories per spear
• It is the leading vegetable source of folic acid
• It is a good source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin A, vitamin C, and thiamin
• Contains no fat or cholesterol and very little sodium naturally

Click for more information on Asparagus or for some tasty asparagus recipes

Photo courtesy of Laurel Fan

Labels: Tara Gidus, vegetables

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