Choosing the Right Salad Greens

Posted on October 16, 2011

If you’re like me, you eat a salad everyday, either with lunch or dinner. My standard lunch consists of greens with a light, homemade vinaigrette http://catherinejonescooks.com/pages/?s=Catherine+Classic+Vinaigrette accompanied by a bowl of soup, and whole wheat bread or crackers with cheese or hummus http://catherinejonescooks.com/pages/2009/09/.

One thing I’ve learned from researching my health-cookbooks is that not all greens are created equal. Here are four common greens listed in order of nutrients found in a 1-cup serving. It’s quite clear that romaine packs the biggest nutritional punch and iceberg the least. (Source: Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today’s Mothers-to-Be)

Romaine: 8 Calories, 1,456 IU Vitamin A, 13 mg Vitamin C, 76 mcg Folic Acid

Boston, Bibb or Butterhead: 7 Calories, 534 IU Vitamin A, 4 mg Vitamin C, 40 mcg Folic Acid

Loose-leaf: 10 Calories, 1,064 IU Vitamin A, 10 mg Vitamin C, 28 mcg Folic Acid

Iceberg: 7 Calories, 182 IU Vitamin A, 2 mg Vitamin C, 30 mcg Folic Acid

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Getting Juiced Up!

Posted on April 23, 2011

Today’s juices come in seemingly endless varieties, each offering a spectrum of benefits from which to choose. Some are fortified with calcium and antioxidants, others have low acid and extra pulp, while still others are juice combinations that offer a blast of vitamins and calories. To control your calorie intake, it is advisable to to limit juice consumption to 8 ounces per day. To give you an idea of the calories and benefits of an 8-ounce serving, following is a list of fruit juices with their primary vitamin content and calorie values based on the recommended daily allowances for a 2,000-calorie diet. (This information comes from Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today’s Mother’s-to-Be.)

After you choose your juice, here’s my simple health tip: add water. I always water down my juice, usually a half-half ratio (I add more for high-calorie juices, and less for vegetable ones ), and whenever I serve juice to my kids I do the same for them. No complaints, and since they’ve gotten used to the watered-down version, they agree with me that undiluted fruit juice is way too sweet. In this photo I show two glasses: the light one is pink guava juice, loaded with vitamin C and A, and the other is mangosteen-pomegranate juice, super high in vitamin C. Having these delicious varieties so readily available is one of the many perks of living in Malaysia. Makes me thirsty just looking at them.

Orange:         C = 207%   111 cals
Grapefruit:   C = 156%   96 cals
Carrot:           A = 539%, C = 35%   98 cals
Mango:         C = 130%   130 cals
Tangerine:   C = 128%  106 cals
Pineapple:    C = 45%   140 cals
Cranberry:    C = 149%  144 cals
Tomato:        C = 74%, A = 27%   41 cals
V-8 Juice:    C = 100%, A = 40%   50 cals

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Top 17 High Antioxidant Fruits and Vegetables

Posted on October 2, 2010

Beet vegetable

The more colorful (inside and out) the better! Carry this list with you next time you go to the grocery store! As a rule, the degree of color in fruits and vegetables corresponds to the amount of antioxidants they contain. These foods are listed in alphabetical order. Try to include some of them in every meal. For example: Grapefruit or papaya for breakfast, spinach salad for lunch, and broccoli for dinner. Fresh fruit/vegetable juice is another great way to get antioxidants into your diet any time of day.

Top 15 High Antioxidant Fruits and Vegetables

  1. Beets
  2. Blackberries
  3. Blueberries
  4. Broccoli
  5. Brussels sprouts
  6. Cherries
  7. Kale
  8. Kiwifruit
  9. Mango
  10. Oranges
  11. Papaya
  12. Pink grapefruit
  13. Prunes/Plums
  14. Red grapes
  15. Red peppers
  16. Spinach
  17. Strawberries

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Vitamin D Deficiency

Posted on August 21, 2009

Vitamin D is on everyone’s lips these days. The big question is, do we get enough? The short answer is, most of us do from sunshine, fortified milk, certain fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines), and some dairy products. But if you do not drink vitamin-D-fortified milk, are home-bound, over fifty, use sun-block excessively, are dark skinned, obese, or suffer from malabsorption, you may not be getting enough.

Vitamin D is critical for calcium absorption, bone development, and preventing osteoporosis. The older you are, the more you need. An Adequate Intake (AI) of 200 IU (5 mcg) is needed from birth to 50 years old; from 50 to 70 years the requirement is 400 IU (10 mcg), and 71 and older is 600 IU (15 mcg). If you feel you may need a supplement, talk to your doctor. Read more http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

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