On My Plate: Taste the Rainbow

It's not important to just eat your veggies for healthy body benefits, you have to eat your colors too. For me, that's always meant eating with the Rainbow Method, or adding a rainbow of colors to my salads and sides. I perk up leafy greens with tomatoes and yellow peppers, for example, or add cauliflower to a broccoli plate. 

Now, the Rainbow Method has grown to be much more than my healthy habit. Researchers and nutritionists agree that a veg plate in a variety of colors can give a boost to everything from our bones to our brains, improve heart health and give us glowing skin.

"Every hue - green, yellow, orange, red, purple and even white - signifies a different class of nutrients, each of which offers a unique benefit," explains USDA research chemist Ronald Prior, PhD, who was among the first researchers to measure antioxidants in food.

The colorful chemicals that carry a vegetable's good stuff are called phytochemicals. These natural compounds act as a neon sign of sorts for vegetables. Those with the most phytochemicals glow in the brightest hues, and are the richest in vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. 

Eating the bright along with the lighter shades of vegetables ensures your body gets a well-rounded shot of nutrients. One of my favorite dishes to do this with is my Warm Rainbow Quinoa Salad with chicken and veg. It serves a crowd, and also works for weekly lunchboxes. I made it this week for my sister and baby niece, and it was a hit. Try it yourself!

Laura's Warm Rainbow Quinoa Salad

2 chicken breasts (optional)

1 green pepper

1 yellow or orange pepper

1/2 spicy red pepper

1 small red onion

grape tomatoes

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 clove garlic

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

Prepare chicken. (I like pulled meats in my dishes, but some people like chunks. To each their own!)

Set aside cooked chicken.

Finely chop all peppers, the garlic and onion.

Warm a good lug of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. 

Add onions and garlic and let simmer for a few minutes.

Add cooked chicken and mix well. 

Add peppers and let simmer over medium heat for about 10 mins stirring occasionally.

Add sliced grape tomatoes and the juice from 1/2 lemon.

Add salt and pepper as you please.

Let simmer for 5 mins more.

Prepare quinoa. (I used the box directions: Add 2 cups chicken stock to 1 cup quinoa and bring to the boil. Then, bring down heat and let simmer for 10-15 mins. This method always comes out a bit on the moist side, but I like how it works in this dish).

Pour quinoa into large serving bowl.

Fold in cooked chicken and veg

Serve in bowls, topped with finely grated Parmesan cheese.

Finish bowl, return for seconds! 

Eating Late Without Gaining Weight

We already know that watching what you eat leads to weight loss. Now, it looks like watching when you eat plays a part as well. According to new research from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, getting tiny is all about timing.

"This is the first large-scale prospective study to demonstrate that the timing of meals predicts weight-loss effectiveness," said senior study author, Frank Scheer, PhD, MSc.

Scheer and his colleagues divided 420 overweight study participants into two groups: late-eaters, who ate their biggest meal after 3pm, and early-eaters, who ate before 3pm.

"Our results indicate that late-eaters displayed a slower weight-loss rate and lost significantly less weight than the early-eaters, suggesting that the timing of large meals could be an important factor in a weight loss program," said Scheer.

Apparently, breakfast was the one link that all the late-eaters had in common, or rather, the missing link. Skipping breakfast, or eating too few calories at a morning meal, can set your body up for failure later in the day. Not only is breakfast the boost you need to rev up your daily engines, it is also proven to help you keep down the calorie count later in the day.

But, we all know what it's like to wake up late and dash out the door without a good meal. And for many of us, life is a bit too roller coaster-esque to time a solid meal before 3pm. So, how can we get the most out of this new research in our busy lives?

Adopting some general guidelines for good eating is essential. The University of California, Los Angeles’s Student Nutrition Action Committee says you should grocery shop with your daily duties in mind. For example, if you know you run late most mornings, hard boil some eggs or stock up on protein bars.

Their second biggest tip is to keep eating throughout the day. "Your body burns calories 24/7. You need to refuel at least every 4‐5 hours," they write.

If dinner is around 6pm, and you don't go to bed before midnight, your body's going to need a snack. As long as it's not right before bedtime, "that late‐night snack will not be considered excess food by your body - unless you eat too much over the course of the whole day."

To help avoid nasty nighttime eating habits, the UCLA committee outlines two key rules for midnight munching:

H.A.L.T.
Ask yourself first: "Am I physically hungry" If so, ask yourself why: "Am I hungry out of Habit? Out of Anxiety? Out of Loneliness? Because I'm Tired? If you answer yes to any of these questions, put down that spoonful of peanut butter and focus your energy elsewhere!

Snack Smart
If you're really hungry at night, it can be a recipe for waistline disaster. In the evening, you've already cooked and those delicious pre-packaged snacks are devilishly tempting. Stop right there! Late night hunger pangs mean your body needs fuel, not empty calories. Snack smart and go for a midnight mini-meal rich in protein, and free of sugars and carbos.

Need suggestions? Here's a few great nighttime snacks that will fill you up with the good stuff, and not weigh you down on the scale!

Rice cakes and peanut butter

A small whole wheat pita spread with hummus

Canned tomato soup

A small dish of low‐fat cottage cheese

It's True: Chicken Soup Fights the Flu

This year's flu season has hit epidemic levels. According the Center for Disease Control, 7.3 percent of the country has come down with the bug, and it doesn't look like we're out of the sickhouse yet.

The speed of this year's flu "has been pretty much unparalleled," John Hick, an emergency physician in Minneapolis told USA Today last week. "My general sense is that we have not peaked. We've probably got a few weeks to go on this."

While we can repeat the rounds of obsessive hand washing, steering clear of sickies and even wearing surgical masks, there's no sure fire way to escape the flu. And once you've got it, it can take up to three weeks to get better.

But, you can speed that up by eating. Good food can give your immune system a much needed jolt, and the most beneficial is a bowl of chicken soup.

Lovingly known as Jewish Pennicillin, chicken soup has been hailed as a cure-all thoughout history. Greek medics used to prescribe the broth, and the Egyptian physician and philosopher Moshe ben Maimonides wrote volumes on it's flu fighting abilities in the 12th century.

Today, science has started to back what these ancient healers have known for centuries. Research shows chicken soup actually has a mild medicinal effect. The heat, salt and hydation work to inhibit inflammation of cells in the nasal passage, reducing stuffy symptoms. The soup has also been found to root out and kill virus-carrying cells, while stoping the growth of new ones.

Another extra benefit of chicken soup is the food itself. When you're barely able to get out of bed for a new box of tissues, eatting anything can be a challenge. But, if you get down some of the lean, protein-rich chicken and nutritious veg, you'll give your body the energy it needs to do battle with the bug.

So, if you fall ill this season, heat up a cup of good ol' chicken soup. Any brand will do, but if you want to make the same soup scientists used to prove it's flu fighing power, try Grandma's Chicken Soup Recipe from the University of Nebraska Medical Center's own research team.


Grandma's Chicken Soup Recipe:

1 5- to 6-pound stewing hen or baking chicken
1 package of chicken wings
3 large onions
1 large sweet potato
3 parsnips
2 turnips
11 to 12 large carrots
5 to 6 celery stems
1 bunch of parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Clean the chicken, put it in a large pot and cover it with cold water. Bring the water to boil.
2. Add the chicken wings, onions, sweet potato, parsnips, turnips and carrots. Boil about 1 and a half hours. Remove fat from the surface as it accumulates.
3. Add the parsley and celery. Cook the mixture about 45 min. longer.
4. Remove the chicken. The chicken is not used further for the soup. (The meat makes excellent chicken parmesan.)
5. Put the vegetables in a food processor until they are chopped fine or pass through a strainer. Both were performed in the present study.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Coca-Cola Blames Calories for Making us Fat

Today, everyone's favorite soda maker, Coca-Cola released their first-ever response to obesity in America. Addressing the "issue of our times," as they call it, Coca-Cola means to show that their products aren't the baddies in the war on fat. It's the calories.

"It comes down to one simple fact: all calories count, no matter where they come from, including Coca-Cola and everything else with calories," says the benign female voice over in the avert. The commercial then hails Coke's 650 beverage options that are low or no-calorie.

At a time when New York City is gearing up to ban super-sizes soft drinks, and Massachusetts sounds ready to follow suit, it only makes sense for Coke to pipe up about their product's nutrition facts. And, of course, they're absolutely right with their message. Calories do create fat. But It's not just the calories in beverages that are unhealthy, and more importantly, low- and no-calorie beverages aren't altogether better.

"Drinking sweetened beverages, especially diet drinks, is associated with an increased risk of depression," said scientists at last week's American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. Diet soda has also been linked to increased risk of stroke and - strangely enough - higher rates of obesity.

According to Katherine Zeratsky from Mayo Clinic, "Although switching from regular soda to diet soda may save you calories in the short term, it's not yet clear if it's effective for preventing obesity and related health problems."

If we really want to decrease our beverage calories, the most obvious choice would be that staple from the sink, water. But not everyone like the 'bland' taste of tap-water, so other options like coffee, tea and skim milk would suffice.

Now, Coca-Cola doesn't sell any of those drinks, so they're obviously not going to tell you about them. Especially not when all the growth they've seen over the past 15 years has come from their low- and no-calorie line, according to the Associated Press.

But the take-home from this new ad may not need to be all about Coke. Instead, it may be more of a public service announcement. We need to remember what really drives obesity in this country, and not vilify food and drink. Obesity comes down to each of us as individuals and what we choose to put in our bodies. As Coca-Cola rightly reminds us, "If you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you gain weight."

Coffee Boosts Productivity - and Positivity

As if I needed another reason to drink my morning Joe, a new study has sent me for a Venti refill. Apparently, coffee not only gives you a morning jolt, but it also boosts positivity.

Researchers from Ruhr University in Germany found caffeine helps people recognize positive words quickly and more accurately. But, it has no effect on how people perceive negativity.

The results are chalked up to coffee's effect on dopamine, particularly in the brain's language center. But I beg to differ. I don't know if you've ever met me prior to my morning cup, but I'm the opposite of cheery, even on the best of days.

That being said, this study may actually be a wake up call to all of us non-morning people. The boosted response to positive language only happened after about 200 mg of caffeine - or about three cups of coffee. Drink up!