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 The FDA recommends 2-3 servings of oily fish, such as salmon, per week. If you’re making this happen you may have wondered whether you should serve your salmon with or without the skin. Let’s take a look at why you might keep the skin on and why you might avoid it:
🐟 Salmon skin is safe to eat, as long as you consider where the fish was sourced. 🐟 The skin is highly concentrated in omega-3 fatty acids since it kept the fish warm in cold waters. 🐟 However, the skin also absorbs toxins from the water the fish lived in. 🐟 Wild-caught salmon is safer than farm-raised. 🐟 Wild Alaskan salmon is typically the safest, with coastal wild salmon being the next best choice, but toxins are usually somewhat higher. It’s best to avoid salmon skin from farm-raised fish. 🐟 Cooking salmon with the skin on can help keep it from drying out. 🐟 You can also separate the skin and cook it in a skillet on its own like bacon.
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 Fall has officially begun and the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks but this year it’s got another pumpkin-flavored pal - the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. So what’s the deal with this new drink and how does it compare to the PSL? Read on!
🎃 The Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (PCCB) is comprised of cold brew coffee, vanilla syrup, pumpkin cream cold foam, and pumpkin spice topping. 🎃 When compared to a Grande PSL with 2% milk and whipped topping it’s lower in calories by 130. 🎃 Lower in fat by 2g 🎃 Lower in carbs by 21g 🎃 Lower in sugar by 19g 🎃 Even though it’s not as bad as the PSL, it’s still not a health food. Think of these drinks as dessert. 🎃 An easy way to take the numbers even lower is to reduce the number of pumps of syrup in the drink. The PSL comes with 4, but see if you can get by with 2. The PCCB comes with 2, but try 1. It’ll still be sweet from the pumpkin foam.  Apologizing for the things you said when you were hungry is a part of life for some people. Other than lashing out at loved ones, what else should you avoid when you’re famished and running on empty?
1. Buy Groceries You’re more likely to buy things you don’t need and high calorie foods if you shop while you’re hungry. Stick to the plan and don’t let your grumbling stomach make all the decisions. 2. Drink Coffee Coffee on an empty stomach can lead to a stomachache due to its acidity. 3. Drink Alcohol Yeah, you’ll get a buzz real quick imbibing on an empty stomach but you’ll also lower your blood sugar to dangerous levels that can lead to passing out. 4. Eat Spicy Foods With nothing else in your stomach as a buffer, spicy foods can lead to an extra intense burning in your stomach. 5. Make Big Decisions Hunger makes you impatient, impulsive, and choose things that offer quick fixes, so avoid making important decisions on an empty stomach.  Some days it doesn’t seem to matter what you eat - you’re always hungry and it never ends. What causes this insatiable hunger? There are actually quite a few things it could be. Let’s get into some reasons why:
• Not enough fiber - Fiber takes longer to digest and will help you feel fuller for longer than low-fiber foods. • Not enough protein - Protein has hunger-reducing properties and increases the production of hormones that signal fullness and reducing the levels of hormones that stimulate hunger. • Lack of sleep - Sleeping enough helps regulate an appetite-stimulating hormone called ghrelin. Lack of sleep leads to higher ghrelin levels, which makes you feel hungrier. • Diet is low in fat - Fat takes a while to digest and increases the hormones that help you feel full. • Lots of refined carbs - Refined carbs include white flour used in pasta and white bread. They’ve been stripped of most of their fiber and vitamins and are processed by your body quickly. Additionally, they cause blood sugar spikes and crashes that then send a signal for you to eat something else to help even out blood sugar. • Drinking your calories - If most of your calories come from things like smoothies and meal-replacement shakes, you’re more likely to be hungry often because your body can process liquids faster than solid foods. • Not drinking enough water - Feelings of thirst are sometimes mistaken as hunger. Next time you feel hungry but don’t think you should be, drink a glass or two of water and see how you feel in a bit.  It’s no surprise that for optimal health, you need to make sure to get plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet. To help make this happen, some people turn to juice to get it all in, but it’s important to know that fresh juice packs more of a punch than store-bought, packaged juice. Let’s see how:
1. More Fiber - Fresh juices are packed with soluble fiber that has been shown to lower cholesterol. Store-bought juice doesn’t usually contain any fiber. 2. Digestion - Drinking fresh juice can help if you’re having digestion problems since it’s easier for our bodies to digest than whole fruits and veggies and the previously mentioned fiber can help. 3. Less Sugar - While the fruits themselves contain sugars, fresh juice allows you to know there’s no added sugars like there are in store-bought juice. 4. More Nutrients & Antioxidants - Compared to commercial juice, fresh juice contains more vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, antioxidants, and antiviral properties. 5. Detox - Most fresh fruit juices contain an amino acid compound called glutathione that helps our bodies detoxify things like pesticides and lead. Store-bought juice doesn't contain this compound.  Peanut butter is a marvelous creation. It doesn’t require refrigeration, is salty and sweet, and can transform something like saltines into a delicious snack. There are countless varieties to choose from but one key category that’s made its way to shelves in recent years is natural peanut butter. So what makes natural peanut butter different? Let’s take a look:
🥜 According to the FDA, for something to be called “peanut butter” it has to contain 90% peanuts. The only other ingredients allowed are salt, sweeteners and hydrogenated vegetable oils. This applies for regular and natural peanut butter. 🥜 If anything else is added (such as palm oil to help avoid separating) then it must be labeled as “peanut butter spread” but be aware it can still be called “Natural Peanut Butter Spread” as well. 🥜 Natural peanut butter typically only contains peanuts and salt. 🥜 Natural peanut butter (not spread) is prone to separating as it sits untouched. Oils rise and sit on the top and the product needs to be stirred before using. The texture is somewhat more grainy, but also creamier. 🥜 Nutrition values between regular and natural are typically very similar but with less sodium and trans fats in natural. 🥜 This reduction in sodium and trans fats is why natural peanut butter can have the nutritional advantage between the two. 🥜 Natural usually has less or no added sugar.  If there’s one thing we know, it’s that meal prepping saves time and makes life easier. If you’ve got dinner handled but want to make sure your kids are taking awesome lunches with them to school, we can help. Here are 5 tips for packing school lunches:
1. Supplies Have a set of good lunch packing supplies in a place that makes sense and is organized. This will help increase efficiency and reduce frustration. 2. Plan It Out The plan doesn’t have to be too detailed but have a basic idea of what you’ll be packing each day of the week. Something like “Mon-Pasta, Tues-Leftover quesadilla, Wed-Soup, etc” is enough to have a basic outline that you can even repeat with small variations each week. 3. Follow a Healthy Formula To make this part real simple, go with this combo: protein + fruit + veggies + carb. This will ensure you create a balanced and satisfying meal that you and your kids can be happy about. 4. Pack Lunch Early Pack lunches ahead of time every time. Try and make it a habit whether it’s as soon as you get home each day, before you go to bed, or while dinner is cooking. Reduce the morning insanity by at least having lunch ready to go. 5. Shop and Prep Ahead of Time Buying everything you need for the week at one time will make packing lunches easy. Additionally, you can do things like portion out grapes or cut celery sticks ahead of time to make things even easier.  It’s not often that science discovers a new nutrient, but Choline is one of them. In 1998, the Institute of Medicine acknowledged it as an essential nutrient. But what is it and why does it matter? Let’s find out:
- Choline is an essential nutrient - which means it’s required by your body to function properly but must be obtained through diet. - While it’s often grouped with Vitamin B, choline is neither a vitamin nor a mineral - it’s a compound. - Key functions of choline include liver function, nervous system and brain development, muscle function, and metabolism. Deficiencies can have negative effects on many key systems of the body. - Adequate intake amounts of choline are around 425mg/day for women and 550mg/day for men, but it’s noted that intake amounts vary quite a bit based on individual needs and with more required during pregnancy and breastfeeding. - This vital nutrient can be found in eggs, fish, meat, and dairy. One egg contains 113mg and 3oz of cod contains 248mg. - Those on a plant-based diet will want to ensure they’re getting enough choline. Foods such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, wheat germ, peanuts, and beans have some choline, but amounts are low and may warrant supplementation. One half cup of broccoli contains 31mg of choline. |
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