Healthy Recipe Doctor

Rondele Reduced Fat Spinach & Garlic  Spreadable Cheese

Need to assemble an appetizer in five minutes? Want to jazz up a sandwich or grilled cheese? Want to spread something new and flavorful on your toasted whole wheat bagel or English muffin? I did all of these with a tub of Rondele’s Reduced Fat Spinach & Garlic spreadable cheese.

I needed to bring a snack to an evening class and had literally 10 minutes to do it in. I went to the market and grabbed a tub of this Rondele cheese, a box of reduced fat Triscuits or other whole grain cracker (don’t forget to bring a plastic knife for spreading). I had several people ask me what the spreadable cheese was because they liked it so much. (more…)

Oh good…significantly underfeeding yourself may not lead to living longer.

I would have a tough time purposely underfeeding an animal let alone myself. But there was some research using mice, rats and a few other species, published over recent years, that suggested that chronically restricting food might lengthen the lifespan of animals. When I read the first research announcement about this I remember thinking — you lost me at “restricting.” (more…)

In some ways women are their own worst enemies. I’m 50 and I still hear women my age body bashing and obsessing about their looks or what they are or aren’t eating. I think to myself, really? Don’t you all have something more important to talk about? (more…)

Most Americans are taking in too much sodium and Subway decided to do something about it. They thought reducing sodium would be the natural next step in their healthy line of sandwich offerings.

Subway mainly focused their sodium cutting efforts on their breads and then took on many of their deli meats that were part of the lowfat sandwich line — turkey, ham, roast beef, and chicken. Over recent months they were able to lower the sodium by about 28% in their lower fat sandwiches and by 15% in the rest of their sandwich options. The best part is, you didn’t even notice this was happening. Their aim was to reduce the sodium without sacrificing flavor and my guess is they accomplished it. (more…)

It all started with seven cows and a passion for organic yogurt. Today, Gary Hirshberg’s company, Stonyfield Farms, tops 380 million in sales.

At a recent lunch seminar with Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farms, he explained the company’s emphasis on sustainability with programs toward achieving zero waste, reducing emissions and packaging, etc… (more…)

Are you better off nutritionally with the Weight Watchers Ice Cream Candy Bar than a Snickers Candy Bar?

When you bite into this ice cream bar you can’t help but think, Yep…this is exactly what a Snickers candy bar should taste like if it was an ice cream bar. Weight Watchers makes this ice cream bar described as “low fat peanut butter ice cream topped with caramel and peanuts covered in milk chocolate flavored coating.”  I’ve got to say…I would rather enjoy one of these ice cream bars than a Snickers bar. I think it has something to do with the creamy peanut butter ice cream. (more…)

Why You Should be Eating Berries

Berries are brimming with nutrients and phytochemicals. Blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, for example, contain several types of bioflavonoids and — along with blueberries — some phenolic acids. Both of those phytochemical families have powerful antioxidant duties in the body and help protect against disease in several different ways. (more…)

Although ancient Egyptian royalty didn’t gobble down bacon cheeseburgers or doughnuts dripping with trans fats, smoke cigarettes or spend hours each night in front of the TV, they did share a similar health consequence with people who do these things today: Their coronary arteries were clogged too. (more…)

There’s something about Saturday mornings that just screams pancakes! In case you don’t want to use a mix, here’s a honey wheat pancake recipe I’ve played with recently. I use lowfat buttermilk, half whole wheat flour (you could use 3/4 whole wheat or all whole wheat if you prefer), and a little canola oil is used instead of more than twice the amount in melted butter. For added color and/or flavor, stir in some dried or fresh blueberries or some dark chocolate chips.

Feel free to embellish these pancakes as desired! Sprinkle what your heart desires over the top of the pancakes while the first side is turning golden brown. (more…)

It’s better to consume plant sterols in smaller amounts throughout the day.

You know those margarines with the plant sterols added that have been around for five years or so? Have you noticed plant sterols are now popping up in other products, like orange juice and a new brand of tortilla chips?

Some new research found that LDL “bad” cholesterol is lowered most when these plant sterols are consumed in smaller amounts more often throughout the day, rather than in one large amount each day. In the group of people who received plant sterols three times per day, their LDL cholesterol decreased by 6%, which was attributed to a significant reduction in cholesterol absorption in the small intestine.

Keep in mind you get plant sterols naturally in…wait for it…plants! (more…)