Most of us know that we should not have too much fat, sugar or sodium in our diets, but we often don’t know how to compensate for the loss of flavor. Next time, try some of these flavorings instead. Not only will you spice up your dishes, but you will also gain additional health benefits.

1. Citrus juice

2. Vinegars

3. Dried Fruits

4. Chopped or diced aromatic vegetables such as:
– Onions
– Garlic
– Shallots
– Leeks
– Peppers
– Celery

5. Herbs and spices such as:
– Freshly ground black pepper
– Cayenne pepper
– Oregano
– Cumin
– Garlic powder (not to be confused with garlic salt)
– Onion powder (not onion salt)
– Bay leaf
– Curry powder
– Thyme
– Paprika
– Clove
– Chili powder
– Italian herb seasoning blend
– Cinnamon
– Nutmeg

For more ideas on how to cook with herbs and spices, click here.

Americans tend to eat a light breakfast or skip it altogether. Then we grab lunch on the run and end up eating the bulk of our calories in the evening — not generally a healthy pattern.

Louis Aronne, physician and professor of metabolic research at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center specializing in weight management, says: “People may have a rapid rise in blood glucose after eating, which in turn causes a rise in their insulin levels. This may be followed by a greater than normal drop in blood glucose. If glucose levels get down to normal or below normal too rapidly, glucagon will be produced and can cause increased hunger.”

If you have this problem, the key is what and how much you eat for breakfast. You need to eat sufficient amounts of the right combination of foods. “Foods with protein and fiber are the most satiating,” says Anne Wolf, registered dietitian.

A few suggestions:

?Combine one egg with egg whites and sauteed vegetables (onions, mushrooms, peppers, spinach). Or combine one egg with a part-skim cheese or cottage cheese and vegetables.

?Mix a high-fiber cereal like All Bran or Fiber One with other low-sugar cereals and fat-free milk or mix into plain regular or Greek yogurt. (Greek yogurt has a bit more protein.)

?Make a smoothie with fat-free milk or plain yogurt, fruit or vegetables and a small amount of protein powder.

?Have a bowl of oatmeal with the addition of a high-fiber cereal.

?Top a bowl of cottage cheese with a high-fiber cereal and berries.

?Spread peanut butter (or any nut butter) on whole grain toast with a glass of fat-free or low-fat milk.

Try a few of these combinations and determine which ones keep you sated during the morning. Then be sure to have the foods in your house and set the alarm clock to allow time to eat them before you fly out the door.

To curb your hunger between meals, you may find having small snacks in the midmorning and midafternoon, or on the way home from work, helps immensely. Wolf suggests a guidepost for snacks of 200 calories each, with food pairings that provide rapidly available energy from healthy carbohydrates, along with enough protein and fat for satiety. Try fruit and cheese, or a handful of nuts, or high-fiber whole grain crackers and cheese or nut butter. Make your snacks count nutritionally: Use them as opportunities to eat more of the foods you’re missing, whether they be vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy foods, nuts or seeds.

There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. It’s important to have both in your diet, and, luckily, most fiber–rich plant foods contain a mixture of both, although they are not usually differentiated on food labels.

Soluble fiber dissolves or swells when it is put into water. Think of the way oatmeal becomes soft and a bit “gooey” in water, unlike, say, wheat flakes. That softness is a sign that oats are rich in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber reduces cholesterol levels and helps keep blood–sugar levels stable. Beans, fruits, and oats are especially good sources of soluble fiber.

Insoluble fiber gets its name from the fact that it does not dissolve in water. Like soluble fiber, it is not readily broken down by the bacteria in your intestinal tract. Insoluble fiber increases fecal bulk and is great for preventing constipation. All plants, especially vegetables, wheat, wheat bran, rye, and brown rice are full of insoluble fiber.

Fiber is only found in foods from plants, such as beans, grains, vegetables, and fruit. It passes through the digestive system with very little change. That means that fiber provides few or no calories, in addition to having many health benefits. While maintaining the health of the digestive tract, it also lowers the risk of certain cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. It can help to control appetite, making it easier to keep weight in check.

Other benefits include:

• Increasing fiber can help decrease the risk of colon and rectal cancers.
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• Diets high in fiber help control blood sugar levels and have also been shown to decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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• Fiber can reduce blood cholesterol levels. Diets high in fiber have also been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease.
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• Fiber decreases the risk of diverticulitis, a painful intestinal condition.
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• Fiber helps prevent constipation.
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• Fiber is filling, has almost no calories, and helps maintain blood sugar—all factors that help control hunger and body weight

How much fiber do you need?

Men 50 and younger: 38 grams per day Men 51 and older: 30 grams per day
Women 50 and younger: 25 grams per day Women 51 and older: 21 grams per day

The average American gets less than 15 grams a day.

Sources of Insoluble and Soluble Fiber

Insoluble:

Whole grains:
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Barley
Brown rice
Bulgur
Rye
Whole–grain breakfast cereals
Whole–grain pasta
Whole–wheat breads

Nuts and Seeds

Vegetables:

Carrots
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Celery
Tomatoes

Soluble:

Oatmeal

Bran

Fruit:
Apples
Blueberries
Nectarines
Strawberries

Legumes:

Beans
Lentils
Peas

Tips to increase your fiber intake:

• Choose oatmeal or a whole–grain cereal every day for breakfast.
• Eat fruit for dessert.
• Use beans in chili and soups.
• Snack on raw vegetables.
• Replace refined grain products such as white bread, rice and pasta with whole–grain varieties, such as brown rice and whole–grain pastas and breads.
• Beans are also loaded with fiber. If you are using canned beans, you can reduce their sodium content by choosing reduced–sodium brands or draining the liquid and rinsing the beans before serving them. If you use dried beans, you’ll avoid added sodium, although cooking is usually more time–consuming.

Vitamins are organic compounds (they contain carbon) that are necessary in small amounts for good health. The body can break vitamins down, but it cannot produce them, so vitamins have to be supplied in the diet. Vitamins are either water-soluble or fat-soluble.

Water soluble vitamins include Vitamin C and Vitamin B complex. They are present in the watery components of food, distributed in the fluid components of the body, excreted in the urine, needed in frequent small doses, and unlikely to be toxic except when taken in very large quantities.

Fat soluble vitamins include Vitamins A, D, E, and K. They are found in the fat and oily parts of food. Because they cannot be dissolved and absorbed in the bloodstream, these vitamins must be absorbed into the lymph with fat and transported in lipoproteins (protein combined with fat). When consumed in excess of the body’s need, fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fat cells. Their storage makes it possible for a person to survive months or years without consuming them. Large doses of these vitamins should be avoided.

The safest way to get your vitamins is by consuming good food sources. Check out the table below to get a better idea of how you can get more vitamins in your diet.

For those of you not familiar with our local Farmers’ Market, it is now a year round market open on Wednesdays rain or shine. You can find it:

May-Oct
3:00-6:00
Franklin & Laurel Streets

And

Nov- Apr
3:00 – 5:00
Old Recreation Center Gym – Franklin & Laurel Streets (Indoors)

The farmer’s market features seasonal fruit and vegetables, organic and free range beef and pork and free range eggs. They also offer artisan goat cheese, cheesecake, freshly baked breads, pies and goodies. In addition to organic nuts, fresh-cut flowers, and ornamental plants and nursery starts.

Starting May 4th, the Fort Bragg farmers’ market will also begin its new EBT Market Match Program that doubles the spending power of EBT/CalFresh recipients. Market Match is the single most effective way to support local farms and make local food more affordable for low-income community members. The program successfully redirects the subsidies away from industrial food in supermarkets and corner stores to local farmers by giving EBT users an additional dollar for every dollar they spend at the market.

How it works:

The farmers’ market will have an EBT machine, like a debit or credit card processor, and an EBT/CalFresh recipient may use their benefits by simply swiping their card, indicate how much they want to take out, and receive tokens to spend at the market. The program will then match up to $15 worth of tokens for the person to purchase additional fruit and vegetables.

For Example:

If a customer spends $15 in EBT funds, they’re given an extra $15 ($30 total) in market tokens to spend on fruit and vegetables. These tokens can then be used the same day or the recipient can save them and use them on another occasion. This doubles the amount of fruit and vegetables that a person can buy and each recipient can return to the farmers’ market each week to participate in the match program.

So take some time to visit your local Farmers’ Market, and if you know of anyone that has EBT/CalFresh who can benefit from the market match program, please spread the word!