In this issue:
Meow,
Winning High-Fiber Recipes
I hope you all ordered
Fiber Fit
when it was on sale in October.
Me thinks that too few of you are eating enough fiber and too many of you
don’t think “high-fiber” when you are looking for good recipes.
My reasoning? Simple. We have a noisy bunch of members and the lines went
practically dead when I put out the request for high fiber recipes. Pffssst!
Oh well, never mind, no use preaching.
Here’s what we did with the few recipes we received. We assessed each recipe
for high-fiber ingredients and estimated the total amount of dietary fiber per
serving.
Muffins and soup recipes seem to be the favorites, with the following recipe
submissions winning.
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins from member Donna Miles
- Beverly's All-Bran® Muffins from member Beverly Allen
- Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup from member Caesar Fiorini
- Asparagus and Tomato Minestrone from member Kathy Gray
Congratulations to you all! Don’t forget to claim your free product and
pillbox on your next order!
Meanwhile, all four recipes are listed on our website at:
http://www.ourhealthcoop.com/coop_corner_fiber_recipes.htm
A Word on Whole Grain and Folic Acid
More and more Americans are substituting whole grain products for refined
grains. This is good news, since whole grains have multiple benefits.
According to an article in October’s Nutrition Today, there are many
studies that have identified benefits in various whole grain products,
including:
- Promoting digestion
- Diluting calories
- Supporting healthy weight
- Lowering blood glucose
- Lowering serum cholesterol and blood pressure
- Promoting heart health
- Protecting against some cancers
The Nutrition Today article points out an important implication of
consuming all these good, whole grain products: they are not fortified with
folic acid, which is sorely missing in most American diets.
Fast fact: Folic acid fortification of grain products is
required by law for refined flour products, but not for whole grain products.
Folic acid is a vitally important B vitamin, as many of our members well
know. For those of you who haven’t thought much about folic acid any time
recently, here are some things of interest:
- There has been a 19 percent decline in neural tube defects of newborns
in the United States since the initiation of mandatory folic acid
fortification.
- Humans who consume at least 300 micrograms of folic acid per day have a
20 percent lower stroke risk and a 13 percent lower risk of heart disease.
Some whole grain producers are voluntarily adding folic acid to their
products, but this is not common.
So, if you’re favoring the “whole wheat” and “brown rice” options, but still
not getting enough veggies, you may want to remember to supplement (see our
products below for folic acid choices):
Pumpkin: A Superfood, Not Just Decoration!
Halloween is over. The pumpkins you’ve been decorating your doorsteps and
tables with aren’t going to make it until Thanksgiving.
So what to do with pumpkins that made it through Halloween without being
sacrificed as Jack-o-lanterns?
You might want to consider eating them!
As it turns out, pumpkin is packed with various nutrients and carotenoids,
particularly alpha and beta carotene. Carotenoids are orange, yellow, and red
colored, fat-soluble compounds occurring in a variety of plants.
According to Steven Pratt, M.D. and author of SuperFoods Rx, these
carotenoids help to protect you from free radicals, enhance cell-to-cell
communication, and modulate your immune response. They also protect your skin
and eyes from damage caused by ultra violet light.
Alpha carotene and beta carotene have been tied with multiple
health-promoting and disease-fighting benefits. Dr. Pratt makes the case for
these nutrients in his book, noting that they:
- Reduce inflammatory arthritis
- Decrease the risk of various cancers (such as breast, lung and colon
cancers)
- Lower the rate of heart disease
Beyond nutritional support, pumpkins are also rich in fiber. A one-half cup
serving provides 5 grams of fiber.
Although pumpkin is a squash that’s best between late summer and autumn,
canned pumpkin is readily available year-round.
Fast fact: Canned pumpkin puree, which is not the same as the
canned pie filling, is cooked down in order to reduce the water content that is
still present in a fresh pumpkin. Because of this condensation, canned pumpkin
is actually more nutritious than fresh pumpkin!
With only 83 calories in a cup, pumpkin contains 400 percent of the
recommended daily allowance of alpha carotene, along with close to 300 percent
of beta carotene.
If you’re wondering how on earth you’ll be able to incorporate this unique
fruit into your daily diet routine, start by trying one of our winning recipes,
Black
Bean and Pumpkin Soup, from member Caesar Fiorini. Thanks Caesar – quite
timely !
Health in the News
Kat's Notes: Another Love Story
It is like a soap opera around the Co-op this year. A wedding (Stephen and
Kelly), a big engagement (Teri and Harley), and now “the rest of the story” on
our other Kelly. It’s a good thing we have devotees of this gossipy section of
this kat’s newsletter.
Anyway, not too long after Teri’s engagement,
Kelly
McKibbin (our Marketing Director), accepted a marriage proposal from her
long-term boyfriend, Steve Moynahan.
Yes, I know, another Kelly and another Steve (just in case you are counting,
this is the third “Steve” in our Co-op family)!
One might hypothesize that it’s something in the products we’re selling,
‘cause it’s the only correlated factor in the coincidental timing of these Co-op
romance stories.
Perhaps we should start a rumor here: “Co-op products increase the likelihood
of romance.” It’s not exactly a double-blind study, only anecdotal evidence at
this point, but it’s still a pretty good story, don’t you think?
Anyway, back to Kelly’s story.
Steve proposed in early fall on a trail not far from their home in the
mountains of Park City, Utah. Kelly and Steve were hiking with their black
Labrador Retriever, Zeke, under the changing colors of the aspens.
Steve slowed down at one point, pretending to fumble for a camera in his
backpack. He suggested that Kelly sit down on a log beneath the aspen trees
while he prepared “the camera.”
Steve then knelt down in front of Kelly and asked, “Would you and Zeke be my
family for life?” Awww. The dog was included in the proposal (it’s so “Park
City,” which is definitely “dog country” and not so fascinated with felines).
There was no question about the answer from Kelly. Yes, yes, of course, yes!
Sigh. All this goopy good news is hard on an irreverent soul.
Nevertheless, plans are in the works for a wedding in tropical Costa Rica.
Nothing dull here -- these two are adventurers and are gathering their family
and friends at a simple beach setting for the big event. Big congratulations to
Kelly and Steve in our “western” office out in Utah!
Meanwhile, let me know what you think of my hypothesis about “it’s something
in the supplements?!” ^..^
Still purringly yours,
Guido
Guido Housemouser
Chief Kat and Community Manager
Our Health Co-op
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