Healthy Tips for Leftovers

Many of us are likely to have leftovers this week. The question is other than simply reheating them what else can we do to spice things up? We're here to help with some tips to add some interest.

•Leftover pasta - try adding fresh or frozen vegetables to create a whole new meal
•Leftover protein such as turkey can be given a second chance such as adding it to stir fries, tacos with beans, lettuce, tomatoes and low-fat cheese or sour cream for a quick quesadilla, or even add...ing it to soup
•Leftover turkey, chicken or pork can be added to grain dishes like couscous, rice or quinoa along with some vegetables
•Leftover turkey has always found a home in sandwiches, but try giving it new life by adding a salad along with it. To keep it healthy try a whole-grain bread, top with lettuce and tomato and keep the condiments light.

By using your leftovers you will be doing your part to avoid waste! Enjoy!


Reference: Health & Nutrition Letter, Tufts University, Make Your Leftovers Healthier the Second Time Around, p. 1 & 3.

The Truth About Agave Nectar

Agave nectar is a sweetener with a health halo that's not necessarily justified. It's not that agave nectar is worse for you than sugar, but then again, it's probably no better.

Agave nectar is derived from Agave plants grown in Mexico. There are several processing methods used to obtain the syrupy sweetener. It's not as simple as tapping into the plant and draining it, like maple syrup.

Agave nectar has the same number of calories as sugar, honey and maple syrup: 4 calories per gram. However, agave nectar is one and a half times sweeter than table sugar, which means you can use less to reach the same sweet point. This means slightly less calories for the same level of sweetness as sugar.

The reason agave nectar is sweeter is its makeup: 23 percent water, 55 percent fructose, and 12 percent glucose. The fructose accounts for 82% of the sugar content in agave, compared to just 50% in table sugar. Fructose is sweeter than glucose, hence a sweetener with a higher fructose content will be sweeter.

Agave nectar has a lower glycemic index than table sugar, which makes it popular in some circles of people with diabetes or prediabetes. However, this is slightly misleading: the glycemic index only measures glucose levels, and agave nectar has far less glucose than sugar. Additionally, recent research suggests that fructose may be more harmful than glucose because of the way it is metabolized by the liver.

Bottom line: Agave nectar, like all sweeteners, it is best consumed sparingly.

Reference:  Fooducate, October Newsletter, The Truth About Agave Nectar.

8 Ways to Reduce Your Sugar & Salt Dependency

People who try to lose weight often revert to their old habits. When asked why, one of the answers always revolves around the complaint that healthy food is not tasty.

We'd like to share some good news. It's not that healthy food lacks flavor. The truth is that our taste buds have simply forgotten the flavor of real food. Clever food manufacturers have spent decades optimizing their products for the right mix of fat, sugar and salt to reach a "bliss point" that keeps us hooked.

You can break free of the processed food chains, but it's not easy. Here are some suggestions that can help you reduce your sodium and sugar dependency.

Tip #1 Eat more home cooked meals
About 70 percent of the sodium in a Western diet comes from processed food (restaurants, fast food, snacks and prepared supermarket food). The rest is found naturally in some foods or is added when cooking or serving. If you really want to cut down on your sodium, just eat food you prepare.

Tip #2 Choose frozen, not canned
Salt and freezers are both food “preservers”. Choose frozen over canned veggies because they don’t need the salt to protect the food. They usually have a higher level of the original vitamins preserved, compared to canned. When you do use canned vegetables, try rinsing them to remove some of the salt.

Tip #3 Delay salting
When cooking, add salt just before serving, and in a smaller amount than called for in the recipe. Each diner can then add salt to taste from a shaker at the table.

Tip #4 Gradual salt detox
Train your taste buds to enjoy less salty foods. Over the course of weeks and months, slowly reduce the amount of salt you add to food. Your salt comfort zone will adjust. If you keep at it, within a few months, you’ll actually start to dislike fast foods because they will taste too salty!

Tip #5 Gradual sugar detox 
You can train your taste buds to crave less sweet. Do it with your coffee / tea. Reach zero sugar in your coffee as follows: At the start of a new week, add just one quarter teaspoon less sugar to your drink than you normally do. The difference in flavor will barely be noticeable. After a week, it will even feel normal. The next week, try to reduce another quarter teaspoon, and so forth. Within a few months, you’ll discover you are drinking your coffee without any added sugar! If you are used to drinking 3 cups a day with 2 teaspoons of sugar, your daily saving of 6 teaspoons of sugar is worth 100 calories. That’s the equivalent of one pound of weight loss every 5 weeks!!!

Tip #6 Chewing gum
Low calorie chewing gum may help you resist the urge for sweet calories. Choose gums that don’t include artificial sweeteners. We like Glee and Pür brands because they don’t use artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and acesulfame-k.

Tip #7 Eat every 3 hours
If you wait too long between meals (or snacks), your brain will signal that it craving a fat / sugar / salt combo; your willpower won’t be strong enough to say no. If you never get to that stage, you’ll have an easier time making the healthier choices.

Tip #8 Get more sleep
A well-rested person has better chances of refusing the many food temptations she comes across during the day.

Reference:  Fooducate, October Newsletter, 8 Ways to Reduce Your Sugar & Salt Dependency