by Denice Moffat | Foods-Nutrition
Pineapples are second only to bananas as America’s favorite tropical fruit. One cup of pineapple has 82 calories and provides the following nutrients—many of which act as natural antioxidants to help in the prevention of oodles of diseases. I’ve had good luck with pulling out the center leaf. If it pulls out easily with a gentle tug, you’re probably going to get a great tasting, sweet pineapple (although I noticed someone had pulled the center leaves out of a whole table of pineapples on purpose at the grocery store the other day and none of them were ripe. It’s a gentle tug, not a yank! They even put the leaf back so the next person would be fooled!)
by Denice Moffat | Foods-Nutrition
CoQ10, a powerful antioxidant which helps to process food, converting it into cell energy (called ATP). Virtually every cell in the human body contains Coenzyme Q10 (especially the heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas.) The mitochondria within each cell–those powerhouse work factories that make energy in the form of ATP—contain the most CoQ10.
by Denice Moffat | Foods-Nutrition
Xanthan gum is purchased in a powdered form. The fine powder has the ability to create a cloud in the air when being handled. This powder may accumulate in your lungs resulting in respiratory distress. It clogs the alveoli so makes it difficult for the oxygen to exchange within the lung. Be sure to handle it carefully and dump it slowly into recipes so it doesn’t poof up.
by Denice Moffat | Recipes
Green Beans Roasted Recipe: For this oven-roasted green beans recipe use garden fresh or the freshest beans you can purchase. These beans are sweet, crisp and tender. Roasting can also be used for the somewhat older beans. When roasted they are deeply caramelized with full-flavor. Roasting also encourages the Maillard reaction—a chemical response that creates flavor through browning. Cook’s Illustrated (Rebecca Hays is the Chef for this recipe) says this recipe disappears ‘faster than a tray of french fries’. This recipe uses half the fat you’ll find with the same bean recipe served in places like China Buffet. If you line the pan with foil it makes for easier cleanup. Enjoy!
by Denice Moffat | Foods-Nutrition
FOS is commonly extracted from chicory roots and Jerusalem artichokes (as it occurs in relatively large quantities in these items,) but it is also found in onions, leeks, garlic, common artichokes, bananas, rye, barley, dandelion leaves, burdock roots and honey. Some presence of FOS has been noted in over 36,000 plants worldwide. FOS cannot be broken down by the human digestive system, but they can be broken down and consumed by the bacteria in the digestive tract. For this reason, FOS is considered to be a prebiotic-a substance which provides nourishment for the good gut flora.
by Denice Moffat | Foods-Nutrition
Butter is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium, a powerful antioxidant. Ounce for ounce, butter has more selenium per gram than either whole wheat or garlic. Butter also supplies iodine, needed by the thyroid gland (Vitamin A is also needed by the thyroid gland.) Margarine is very high in trans-fatty acids which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. The US federal government requires the labeling of all food in such a way as to disclose amounts of trans-fat in products. Many brands label their products legally now as “zero grams” trans-fat, which in fact means less than 500 mg trans-fat per serving. I don’t know how they get away with this one.
