FitSugar

What Counts Toward Your Daily Fruit and Vegetable Intake?

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:30:00 PDT

Several fruits and vegetables come into their prime during the Spring and Summer seasons, making it cheaper and easier for us to reach our daily requirements. Striving to eat five colors a day is a fun way to meet your nutritional needs, but do you know what size portions you should be eating to fulfill your daily five? Take the quiz to find out!

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Take the Quiz

Healthy Eating Tip: Add Up Your Fruits and Veggies First

FitSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:00:00 PST

It is National Nutrition Month and time for us all to rededicate ourselves to eating right. One simple way to improve your diet is to make sure you're eating five or more servings of fruits and veggies a day.

Before eating, I like to add up how many servings of fruits and veggies I have eaten already for the day. This tally inspires me to eat more produce. If I am out for dinner, taking inventory of my earlier meals reminds me to order a salad. If I am in a veggie deficit, when at home, I might make a stir-fry for dinner. A couple of Cuties clementines, my favorite mandarin oranges, make a tasty dessert and often push me over my daily quota of fruit and veg.

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Healthy Eating Tip: Add Fruit to Your Cereal

FitSugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:00:00 PDT

I've been working really hard to get in my five-a-day and one of the easiest ways for me is with breakfast. Usually, I like to have a big bowl of cereal in the mornings and lately I've been buying tasty blueberries and raspberries and tossing them into my cereal. They're both in season and cheaper than usual. I know that a lot of people may already do this strictly for taste, but it's also a fabulous way to sneak in another serving (or two) of fruit into your day.

Do you have any sneaky ways to get in a few more servings of fruits and vegetables into your day?

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Get Your Five-a-Day In-Season

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:00:00 PDT

I usually figure out what fruits and veggies are in season when I shop at the farmers market. Unfortunately, that is not the only place I buy food. Since I prefer eating locally grown and seasonal produce it is a little problematic when I am trying to eat my five a day. You can imagine my excitement when I recently stumbled across the Seasonal Ingredient Map from Epicurious that makes figuring out which fruits and vegetables are in season each month for each state painless. It's easy to use, very helpful, and not to mention fun, so check it out here.

Five-a-Day Lowers Risk of Lung Cancer

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:00:00 PDT

If you're not already eating your five servings of fruits and vegetables a day then you may want to start, especially if you're a smoker.

New research has found that people who ate three servings of vegetables a day were 1.6 times less likely to develop lung cancer than those who didn't eat three servings. People who ate three or more servings of fruit were one-fold less likely to develop lung cancer. Researchers think that this is due to the fact that fruits and vegetables contain flavonoids, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that stop the development of blood vessels that feed tumors.

Now that's not to say that if you are a smoker that eating fruits and vegetables can enable you to continue smoking and still be protected against lung cancer. The absolute best defense against lung cancer (not to mention a whole slough of other health risks associated with smoking) is to quit smoking altogether.

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Fruit & Vegetable of the Month Club: Cactus

FitSugar — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:45:00 PDT

If you are getting bored with the same old fruits and veggies you're eating with your five-a-day plan, then you may want to start learning about some more unusual items that you may want to add to your diet now and again.

The FDC's Fruit & Vegetable of the Month Club is a great reference for trying out new stuff. There is a new featured fruit or vegetable each month complete with a recipe. One of this month's featured veggies is cactus, something I would have never thought to add to my diet. However cactus pads actually contain beta carotene, iron, some B vitamins, and are good sources of both vitamin C and calcium.

Want to learn an easy recipe for making cactus? Then

Sautèed Nopales, Peppers and Corn
Makes 4 servings
Each serving equals 2 cups of fruit or vegetables

Ingredients

1 large red bell pepper
1 large green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 Tbsp trans-fat free butter
4 small ears of small summer corn
½ lb fresh, firm edible cactus, deprickered, cut in ¼ to ½-inch dice
finely minced cilantro or parsley

Halve peppers, then remove seeds and stems. Cut into ¼–½ inch squares. Cut onions the same size. Cook both vegetables in butter in a heavy pan over moderate heat until just softened.

Shuck corn, than cut from cob. Add edible cactus and corn to peppers and onion; stir over high heat until vegetables are cooked through, but firm-tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with herbs and serve hot.

Nutritional analysis per serving: Calories 184, Protein 6g, Fat 4g, Calories From Fat 20%, Cholesterol 8mg, Carbohydrates 32g, Fiber 4g, Sodium 29mg.

(via FruitsandVeggiesMatter.com)

Print recipe with images | without images

Now I'm going to have to go ask YumSugar where the heck I need to go to buy edible cactus...

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To Refrigerate or Not: That is The Question

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:00:00 PDT

Maybe you're on a quest to get your five fruits and vegetables in a day, but the darn things go bad before you even get a chance to enjoy them. What gives?

According to VegetarianTimes.com, some fruits emit ethylene, an odorless, colorless gas that speeds ripening and can lead to the premature decay of nearby ethylene-sensitive vegetables. So the first trick to keeping produce fresh is to separate produce that emits ethylene from produce that's sensitive to it and know which to refrigerate and which not to refrigerate.

REFRIGERATE these gas releasers
Apples
Apricots
Cantaloupe
Figs
Honeydew

What shouldn't you refrigerate and what shouldn't be kept in contact with others? Then

DON'T REFRIGERATE these gas releasers
Avocados
Bananas, unripe
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Plums
Tomatoes

KEEP THESE AWAY from all gas releasers
Bananas, ripe
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Lettuce and other leafy greens
Parsley
Peas
Peppers
Squash
Sweet potatoes
Watermelon

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5 Fast, Easy, and Grill-Friendly Meals to Make This Week

Lizzie Fuhr — Sun, 27 May 2012 04:15:37 PDT

Even though all the Memorial Day festivities have come to a close, that's no excuse to put your grill away! There's no better way to welcome the warm weather than a special weeknight supper cooked outdoors. Whether you choose to eat al fresco or you just love to hit the grill, here are five easy meals that you can enjoy even when you're short on time!

Why You Should Marinate Your Meat

Leta Shy — Sat, 26 May 2012 19:29:02 PDT

Barbecue season is upon us, so let's celebrate by grilling, since it's an easy and low-fat way to cook. If you're grilling, protect your health by marinating your meat. Here's why marinating is good for your health and tips on how to keep it safe.

Marinating meat, fish, and poultry significantly decreases the amount of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when the meat is cooked at high temperatures, like in grilling. Marinades can reduce HCAs by as much as 99 percent. Adding rosemary to the marinade may even up the anticancer potential of your marinade even more. While research is unclear why marinades protect meat so much, the belief is that they act as a barrier against the high heat, or may reduce chemical precursors of carcinogens from the meat.
The acid in marinades may slow the growth of harmful bacteria, like listeria.

Learn a few more tips about marinades after the break.

Foodie Friday Link Time: Low-Calorie Grilled Veggie Wrap Recipe

Michele Foley — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:23:34 PDT

Relax on a hot day with this cooling vegetarian wrap - Vegetarian Times
Cheers! Here are four skinny cocktails to start your Friday the right way - Self
The weird stuff lurking in your milk, olive oil, and other "good-for-you" foods - Prevention
It's National Burger Month; here are healthy ways to celebrate - Daily Spark
Are you getting these eight essential nutrients in your diet on the daily? - Shape
Get on board with protein pancakes - it's the new trend, y'all - Eating Bird Food
A firsthand account of the brand-new Larabar line; yummy or not? - The Fitnessista
Skip the store: five reasons to make your own popsicles - Blisstree