Keep Your Health Tips

Seeds have been the staple of the human diet for millions of years. Humans and other animals who can gather and store their food have an advantage over those who can only graze. Our ancestors found that the easiest, most abundant foods to gather, carry and store are seeds.

Seeds come in many sizes and shapes, but they share the same basic design: a tiny germ, or baby plant; an energy supply of carbohydrates or fat to fuel the first stages of growth; and a protective outer skin, husk or shell. Everything necessary to start a new life is packaged in each seed, so for humans and other animals, seeds are nutritional powerhouses. They have the vitamins, minerals, protein and essential fatty acids we need, as well as fiber to provide bulk and calories to give us energy.

Grains, beans and nuts have nourished the human race throughout our evolution. Only in our recent history have we adopted the unfortunate practice of stripping seeds of most of their nutritional value and consuming only the energy sources (the starch and the fat). North Americans eat huge amounts of refined flours and vegetable oils. A diet that includes lots of refined grains and extracted oils is likely to be deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Eat lots of seeds the way nature provides them: whole grains, such as wheat, barley, corn, rye and oats; legumes, such as beans, peas and lentils; and other seeds and nuts — preferably whole and prepared by you so you know nothing has been removed. Some seeds, such as flaxseeds, are particularly rich sources of omega-3’s, but you don’t need to seek them out. An unhealthy diet sprinkled with a tablespoon of flaxseeds is still an unhealthy diet. If you eat lots of different whole seeds and make them the staple of your diet, you will get plenty of omega-3’s, vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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Ribollita is a delicious low fat Italian soup, a bit similar to the famous minestrone, but instead of pasta, you cook it with beans.

Ribollita is very filling, as you serve it on top of 2 bread slices and a cooking spoon of slightly fried spinach, and top all that with a tablespoon of low fat Parmesan cheese.

You can add bacon bits if you want, but you don’t really need it. This delicious Italian soup is full of flavour and goodness.

Ribolita yields 3 WW points, but you may want to have a double ration and go for a sixer! You won’t go for seconds or dessert after that! (and if you are… you shouldn’t!).

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 Tbsp crushed garlic

2 celery sticks

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped

2 large courgettes, thinly sliced

1 X 425 g (14 oz) can chopped tomates (with onion and basil, or any other combination you want)

1 Tbsp pesto

1 lt (4 cups) vegie stock

1 X 425 g borlotti beans, drained

Salt and pepper

8 slices of white bread

1/2 kg spinach

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp low fat grated Parmesan cheese

This is what you do:

Ok, first you heat one tsp of olive oil in a large pot, and add the onions, carrots, garlic, celery and fennel and stir for about 10 minutes.

After that, add the courgettes and keep stirring for another 2 minutes.

Next, add the tomatoes, pesto, stock and the beans and stir till boiling, and then simmer for about 30 minutes or so. By then, the vegies will be soft and tender.

Add salt and pepper.

Now prepare your seving dishes by placing a slice of bread in the bottom of the saucers.

Heat a frying pan, and add 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil, and fry the spinach for about 2 minutes.

Spoon equal portions of spinach on the bread slices, and then laddle the soup on top of the bread and spinach.

Garnish with a Tbsp of low fat Parmesan cheese on each portion.

Ahhhhh! Magnifico!

For more of these delicious low fat recipes visit http://www.Jeff-The-Skinny-Chef.com. You’ll find a growing collection of free delicious low fat recipes, articles on healthy eating, and weight loss.

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Many of the foods available to us when we are ‘out and about’ and ‘in a hurry’ are exactly the kinds of foods we should be avoiding if we want to lose fat and stay slim. Think sandwiches, baguettes/subs, wraps, pastries, cakes, biscuit, even soups. Highly modified, stripped of nutrients and packed with what we call the ‘Deadly 3′ (white sugar, white flour and ‘white’ salt), these foods are perfect for fat gain! We should all aim to avoid refined carbohydrates, but if you really want to be successful at losing weight (and keeping it off), you absolutely MUST avoid them.

The best way to avoid having to choose these foods (or go hungry) is to plan ahead and take your own food with you. There is a misconception that living this way requires extra time and work which is simply not true. All it takes is a little forethought and planning, and the end result - a slimmer, healthier, happier you - makes it so worth it. Here are our Top 10 Practical Planning Tips for healthy eating ‘on the hoof’: