New research suggests that learning how to cook as a young person leads to better eating practices—and better health—later in life.
In March, the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior published the results of a 10-year longitudinal study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. The aim of the study, which tracked more than 1,100 participants, was to answer a simple question: Can knowing how to cook as a young person lead to healthier eating practices in adulthood? The researchers arrived at a compelling—if unsurprising—conclusion: It can. (source)
This summer I ran a kid’s culinary camp at the Willow School with Living Plate. It was an absolutely amazing experience for me as the instructor and for the kid’s gaining confidence in the kitchen.
I love working with kids, as I like to think I am a big kid myself. My biggest priority for our culinary camp was to create a positive and inviting environment.
Each morning the first activity we did was called “Food Explorers” where we learned about our 5 senses and how they respond when we try new foods. Our group was very adventurous, so we took it up a notch and took away sight for when they were experiencing the feel and taste sections of the activity. Why? Because we eat with our eyes first and for kids, a sight of a new food can be very intimidating with the fear of the unknown and many kids tend to avoid the situation.
Creating an inviting environment around food:
Creating a positive environment was key for this activity. Trying new foods can be intimidating and a very new experience for picky eaters. Every day with this activity there were ground rules, that everyone was allowed to experience this activity at their own pace, we weren’t allowed to “yuck” anyone else’s “yum” (because everyone will experience it a little differently!), and they were each given a spit cup to politely use if they didn’t enjoy the taste.
It was a very eye-opening experience for all the participants. A few responses included:
My mom tried to get me to try this, but I thought I would like it. It’s delicious!
This fruit taste like candy. I would eat this for dessert.
As we continued to explore our 5 senses with the new foods it was a learning experience for all understanding that everyone enjoys certain foods more than others and that’s okay! Everyone’s taste buds are a little different.
As adults, we often let our own food preferences or our preconceived notions of what children will or will not prefer. I enjoyed letting everyone adding to the discussion about the foods and letting them fully explore these foods forming their own opinions. I strongly feel that letting them explore and make their own thoughts and ideas by continually exposing them to new foods without any pressure surrounding it.
Never skip breakfast again with a few helpful tips that can help you stay on track with eating healthy all week!
The most common thing I hear in my nutrition counseling sessions is “I don’t eat breakfast, because I don’t have time”. I know you’ve heard it time and time again, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The word “breakfast” literally means ‘breaking’ your ‘fast’ from your last meal the night before. When you don’t eat breakfast, your body enters into a prolonged fasting state. It starts to believe that you won’t be eating any time soon. These breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal or grab high calorie snack to stave off hunger.
How can you solve this breakfast skipping problem? [Make, Freeze, Reheat, Repeat]
This is a big timesaver for me during the week. There are many breakfast foods that you can make in advance that store well in the freezer, then to be quickly reheated on busy weekday mornings.
1 . Whole Grain Get-Up-And-Go Bars (pictured above that I made from the Cabot Creamery cookbook)
2. Love Muffins
3. Protein Pancakes [Prep the night before]
With a little effort the night before, you can feel okay about hitting the snooze button in the morning knowing your breakfast is about ready to go as you rush out the door. For smoothies, I even put everything in the blender and pop in in the fridge and all I have to do is maybe add a little ice and blend and go.
1. Protein Smoothie 2. Overnight Oats
3. The Easiest Deviled Eggs [Grab & Go]
Let’s be honest, sometimes the tips mentioned about don’t necessarily happen. There are some pre-packaged foods that are made with real food ingredients that you can grab in the morning. Add a piece of fruit or a yogurt on the side to make it complete.
1. KIND bars
2. Garden Lites – Veggie Muffins
3. Siggi’s yogurt
Just always make sure to keep your breakfast balanced with a mix of carbohydrates, fats, and protein!
CABOT CREAMERY COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!!
One lucky person will win a copy of the Cabot Creamery Cookbook and a $25 Cabot Gift Box. Contest will run through Friday, May 22nd 11:59 pm EST.
GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. Congrats to Stacey who has won the Cabot Creamery cookbook and gift box!
Multiple ways to enter:
1 // Leave a comment of your healthy breakfast tip to keep you stay on track all week.
2 // Follow @RD_Kitchen & @cabotcheese on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.
(please leave a comment if doing so)
3 // Follow RDelicious Kitchen & Cabot Creamery Cooperative on Facebook and share this giveaway.
(please leave a comment if doing so)
Disclosure: Being a member of the Cabot Cheese Board, this giveaway is made possible by Cabot Creamery to provide an awesome RDelcious Kitchen readers with a cookbook and Cabot gift basket. I was not compensated to write this post, all opinions expressed here are my own.
Happy National Registered Dietitian Day. As we wrap up this informational series of becoming a Registered Dietitian (Part One, Part Two) to celebrate National Nutrition Month, stay tuned the rest of the month for guest RD’s to share their stories.
It is a special day for Registered Dietitians. March 11th is National Registered Dietitian Day!!
As the nation’s food and nutrition experts, registered dietitian nutritionists are committed to improving the health of their patients and community. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day commemorates the dedication of RDNs as advocates for advancing the nutritional status of Americans and people around the world.
The title of this post should really be, “Life as a Registered Dietitian”. This is my first time celebrating this holiday and I am very excited.
The doors have really opened up for a career in dietetics over the years.
Employment opportunities RDs or RDNs work in a wide variety of settings, including health care, business and industry, community/public health, education, research, government agencies and private practice. Many work environments, particularly those in medical and health-care settings, require that an individual be credentialed as an RD or RDN.
RDs or RDNs work in:
Hospitals, clinics or other health-care facilities, educating patients about nutrition and administering medical nutrition therapy as part of the health-care team. They may also manage the foodservice operations in these settings, or schools, daycare centers or correctional facilities, overseeing everything from food purchasing and preparation to managing staff.
Sports nutrition and corporate well ness programs, educating clients about the connection between food, fitness and health.
Food and nutrition-related business and industries, working in communications, consumer affairs, public relations, marketing, product development or consulting with chefs in restaurants and culinary schools.
Private practice, working under contract with healthcare or food companies, or in their own business. RDs or RDNs work with foodservice or restaurant managers, food vendors and distributors, athletes, nursing home residents or company employees.
Community and public health settings, teaching, monitoring and advising the public and helping improve quality of life through healthy eating habits.
Universities and medical centers, teaching physician’s assistants, nurses, dietetics students, dentists and others about the sophisticated science of food and nutrition.
Research areas in food and pharmaceutical companies, universities and hospitals directing or conducting experiments to answer critical nutrition questions and find alternative foods or nutrition recommendations for the public.
(source)
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Throughout my dietetic internship I really grew professionally. It helped me find my niche in the dietetics world. Just like any field someone knows someone, so it is always good to network and make long lasting relationships. Meeting so many professionals in the field with new preceptors almost weekly opened so many doors and opportunities.
For myself personally, I knew the clinical environment was just not for me. While I liked the action in the hospital, I wasn’t able to utilize my culinary training like I would have liked to. I looked for other options when I was applying for my first job as a Registered Dietitian.
I am now using my Registered Dietitian certification and culinary degree in so many ways.
As you many know, if you are a consistent reader of RDelicious Kitchen, I am a Supermarket RD for a grocery chain in the northeast. This job is more than I could have even dreamed of. What’s a better place to provide nutrition education, than the place they shop for all of their food! As a Supermarket RD, I provide FREE nutrition services to the customers, employees, and the community – like nutrition education classes, seminars, presentations, consultations, grocery store tours, adult cooking classes, kids cooking classes, plus so much more! Every month I provide a calendar of events for customers to participate in. Customers and employees are able to sign up for individual appointments at any time and their is no limit to how many times they are allowed to come, which is amazing, because often times insurance may only cover 2-3 visits with a RD.
I really get to showcase my culinary training by teaching many cooking classes for adults and kids. It’s an awesome way to introduce new healthy foods to customers that they may not have seen before or too scared to try themselves. For example, one of my classes I recently used the whole grain teff, and not one person in my class had even heard about it before. Plus, I help customers learn new cooking techniques that they can utilize in their own kitchens. This is one of my favorite things to do at work.
Since I work in a grocery store full time, I like to share with my readers here what my latest “Supermarket RD Pick” is to introduce even more people to healthier choices found right in your grocery store.
Along with working as a Supermarket RD, I also work as a personal chef and recently started culinary nutrition consulting work on the side, and of course writing here at RDelicious Kitchen!
Connect with me on Linkedin!
Interested in becoming a Registered Dietitian or already on your way? Hope this mini series was helpful! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions: email – [email protected]
Stay tuned for the rest of this month as some guest RD’s will be sharing their stories! Disclosure: I received permission by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for use of NNM logo.
Becoming a Registered Dietitian: Part One covered Steps 1 & 2 of becoming a Registered Dietitian, about college courses and the dietetic internship you must complete in order to be eligible to take the RD Exam. In case you missed it, stop there first.
Today is all about Step 3 – Study materials to help prepare you to pass the RD exam. While completing the dietetic internship you learn so much, you really need to study to be fully prepared to take the RD exam.
The exam is broken up into 4 domains: Food & Nutrition Sciences, Nutrition Care, Management of Food & Nutrition, and Foodservice Systems.
The exam is always taken at a test center that must follow the regulations of the exam. It is computerized and you are provided with a calculator and a mini white board to work out answers.
The questions are not in any specific order. The exam gives a minimum of 125 questions. Out of those 125 questions, 100 of them count toward the exam and 25 of them are testing for future RD exam questions. I personally, did not like knowing this. When I got to a particularly hard questions I second guessed if it was a real question or a question for future exam that wasn’t counting toward my exam.
Also, 125 exam questions is the minimum. You could get up to 145 exam questions. As you are taking the exam it is being monitored of the difficulty level. If the examinee receives more difficult questions throughout, fewer questions are needed to be answered correctly to pass the exam. Personally, I had all 145 questions.
The exam has a time limit set for 2.5 hours. You must answer each question to move on to the next one. The exam times out once the 2.5 hours are up.
The exam costs $200 dollars. If you happen to not pass the first time, you unfortunately have to wait 6 weeks to take the exam again.
Before you take the exam, you have to fully prepare yourself. There are various study materials out there to utilize. I want to share the ones I have used and other resources that are available.
Jean Inman’s Study Guide
You could go to her two day seminar to go through all the material in full detail, or you can purchase the materials to study at home. While it’s a little pricy at $385, I believe it was 100% worth it and I valued this guide the most and felt like it prepared me the best.
The study materials include:
• Detailed, comprehensive Study Manual following CDR study guidelines, covering all Domains. We do all the research, so your time is spent studying, not searching for information!
• All lectures on CD. Listen as you study the Manual. Because most of what is discussed is printed for you in the Manual, note-taking will be minimized. Your time can be spent learning.
• Over 1000 sample test questions.
• Tips on how to study and how to take the computerized test.
• Individual support provided by mail, phone or e-mail. If you have questions after you have studied a section.
The study materials are very in depth covering the nitty-gritty details that will appear on the exam. I would listen to the CDs in the car or on my iPod and go for a walk. [Side note: An embarrassing moment happened when I just put my iPod on shuffle before teaching a spin class. On the the tracks from the study guide came on and was talking about anthocyanins and the gym go-ers were a tad confused. lol] Visual Veggies
Get the experience you need to prepare yourself for the Registration Exam for Dietitians. The RD Practice Exam is a multiple-choice quiz application that closely resembles the actual RD Exam. The practice exams contain questions comparable to what is asked on the actual exam. All exam domains and their subcategories are included with many questions in each. The practice exams are timed tests to simulate the pressure of test-taking with limited time. Beyond the actual exam, the RD Practice Exam provides immediate feedback on whether the selected answer is correct or incorrect. Plus, a detailed description for each question explains more about the topic for a full learning experience.
I really loved Visual Veggies. It was great to have a structure like the how the RD exam would be – a timed series of questions. While Jean Inman’s practice questions had an answer key to the questions, I preferred Visual Veggies practice tests, because it had an explanation for each question you got incorrect.
What is also great, is that you can download the software to your computer, iPad, iPhone, or iPhone touch so you can easily study on the go!
The practice exams also give you a breakdown of how you did with the questions from each domain. This was a big help to see which areas I was strong in and other areas that I was weak in and needed to study more. The software can take an average of all of your exams taken to give you an overall average in each domain as well. ** Other study materials my fellow RD friends have used: materials from EatRight.org, RDstudy.com, RD Exam Secrets Study Guide. I have not personally used any of these. If you have used any of these before, please share what you liked/didn’t like about these study materials.
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Tips for studying and taking the exam:
1. Give yourself a timeline.
I scheduled my exam the second my paperwork went through for completing my dietetic internship. Knowing when I was taking the exam, I scheduled the days I would study and planned what domains I would cover each of those days. 2. Get out of the house.
Studying at home, I would often get distracted. I became Starbucks best customers during those weeks of studying. I would be more focused when I was studying elsewhere. Plus, the perk was a a treat to a latte. 3. Practice!
Yes, you may have majority of the material memorized, but make sure you are able to apply the information to answer the exam questions. I personally felt the exam questions were great prep to apply the information studied. 4. Don’t overstudy.
Often times, overstudying can lead to second guessing the answers. Which brings to the next tip. 5. Be confident!
Be confident in your answers. What took me awhile to get used to, was that you had to answer the question to move forward to the next questions, and not able to go back to any questions. I would get super anxious about this, but remember you don’t have to get a perfect score. The questions I noticed I was taking a little too long on, I would try to eliminate as many wrong answers as I could and make an educated guess. 6. Celebrate!!!!
You just passed the RD exam. Congrats on becoming a Registered Dietitian. It is am amazing feeling after passing the exam. All the hard work feels like it has truly paid off! Disclosure: I received permission by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for use of NNM logo. I was provided the Visual Veggies software for free. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Join Julie at RDelicious Kitchen as she shares the steps in order to become a Registered Dietitian and her journey to becoming a RD.
Happy National Nutrition Month. In case you missed it, stop over to my blog post earlier this week to learn about what National Nutrition Month is and the difference between a Registered Dietitian and a Nutritionist.
So, how to you become a Registered Dietitian?
Every Registered Dietitian needs to complete the following in order to get those little RD credential letters after your name. [Step One] Complete a set of course accredited by the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics (AND). [Step Two] Complete a dietetic internship, also accredited by the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. [Step Three] Study, study, study, and pass the RD exam! [Step Four] Continue to learn and keep up with the latest research with continuing education credits.
Today, we are going to learn a little more about steps 1 & 2. Step One: Complete a set of course approved by the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics (AND).
In order to move on to step two of completing a dietetic internship, you must complete at least a bachelor’s degree and ACEND-accredited coursework requirements (Didactic Program in Dietetics).
Now, where some colleges have nutrition courses, they may not be accredited by AND or cover the required materials to move on to completing a dietetic internship. Be sure to research schools before applying.
Find accredited nutrition programs here:
Step Two: Complete a dietetic internship, also accredited by the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.
After you complete all of the undergraduate course work, the next step is to apply to a dietetic internship, and get accepted!
AND provides another portal for you to see the various internship programs here:
Dietetic Internship programs are very competitive, so it is important to keep your GPA up during undergraduate course work and be involved in various activities and volunteer experiences as much as possible.
There is a common application called DICAS (Dietetic Internship Central Application Services) to upload all of your prerequisite course, resume, volunteer experience, etc.
You are able to apply to as many programs as you choose, but then you are ranked according to your application and matched to one of the internships that you applied to. For a better understanding of the matching system click here.
Often schools will also hold interviews for the applicants they are interested in.
Currently all DIs must provide at least 1200 hours of supervised practice. This is usually completed in 8-24 months depending on the availability of a part-time schedule or requirement of graduate credit. Individuals completing the program who are verified by the program director are eligible to write the CDR registration examination for dietitians. Read in more detail of the coursework completed during a dietetic internship here.
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“When you grow up, what do you want to be?” How many times were you asked that when you were younger. I don’t think many children really raise their hand and say Registered Dietitian, myself included.
I remember being a senior in high school with so many different ideas of what I wanted to do for a career. I just remember feeling so stressed with the feeling at 17 years old deciding what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I actually started at Cabrini College with a major in Health Promotion. Honestly, part of my interest there was that I could play field hockey, but as I was attending Cabrini, I realized that this school and this major was not for me. I still wanted to be in the health field, but unsure where.
Cabrini Field Hockey team photo
Step One:
The next year, I transferred to Johnson & Wales University where I can say it was one of the best decisions of my life. For work, I recently spoke to a high school about going to culinary school and then how to become a Registered Dietitian after. I was reminiscing of all of the amazing classes and opportunities I had there that really made me grow in the profession as a Registered Dietitian.
Going to culinary school is not as the traditional route of undergraduate course studies that many nutrition students take in order to become a Registered Dietitian.
At Johnson & Wales you must complete an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts before going into the Bachelor’s Degree of Culinary Nutrition that contains the accredited DPD classes.
My first day at Johnson & Wales!
The Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts really covered all the basics of cooking skills, techniques, various cuisines, and cooking methods with classes like:
Then you have to apply to the Bachelor’s Degree for Culinary Nutrition at Johnson & Wales where you continue to take culinary classes, but with a heavy nutrition focus and cover all the academic nutrition courses accredited by AND as well.
(^ that was actually one of my Chefs when I was attending JWU!)
Some of the Culinary Nutrition classes include:
These classes were so valuable. I use so much of the material I learned from JWU today. With a degree in Culinary Nutrition, it really opens up so many doors for different careers in nutrition.
After completing JWU, I actually didn’t go on right away into a dietetic internship program. During the application process during my senior year at JWU, I ended up needing surgery and took a full trimester off from classes. I then had to finish my courses during the that summer after graduation.
I feel like taking the year off before applying was actually a blessing in disguise. It gave me time to really research and figure out that I definitely wanted to take the next steps to become a Registered Dietitian. I worked to save money and really improved my resume with more volunteer hours and various experiences to strengthen my application. Without that extra oomph, would I have gotten in if I applied right out of JWU?.. We will never know! Step Two:
I was accepted to the College of Saint Elizabeth for my dietetic internship!
By completing my dietetic internship at the College of Saint Elizabeth, I completed 1200 + hours of supervised practice in many different areas including: food service management, medical surgical inpatient care, enteral/parenteral nutrition, developmental care, school food service, diabetes outpatient care, renal outpatient care, community nutrition, long term care, and corporate wellness.
The 3 dietetic coordinators at CSE were absolutely amazing. They all had different areas of specialties which I really felt like brought the whole program full circle in helping prepare the students for success.
With covering so many hours of the dietetic internship, I was able to experience so many setting of where a dietitian can work and what dietitians do in these various settings. I learned a SO much more than what a text book could ever provide. I am a much better learner hands-on and this is exactly what the dietetic internship is.
With being exposed to so many setting of what a dietitian can do, also helped me figure out what I wanted for my career as a Registered Dietitian. Personally, for me I knew clinical wasn’t the setting that I was looking for long term. As I found it rewarding, I just think being in hospitals myself for various reasons, I wasn’t particularly fond of the environment.
While the dietetic internship prepared me a lot .. there was still A LOT of studying needed to be done before taking the RD exam. So stay tuned! Coming up: Becoming a Registered Dietitian: Part Two – Study tools and materials for the RD exam Becoming a Registered Dietitian: Part Three – My experience as a Registered Dietitian
Disclosure: I received permission by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for use of NNM logo.
Happy National Nutrition Month! Tune in all month for nutrition themed posts including: steps to becoming a RD, my personal journey to becoming a RD, featured RDs sharing their stories, plus nutritious recipes and more!
National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. The theme for 2015 is “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle,” which encourages everyone to adopt eating and physical activity plans that are focused on consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices and getting daily exercise in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic disease and promote overall health. (source)
This year celebrating National Nutrition month is a little extra special. This is the first National Nutrition month I am celebrating as a Registered Dietitian! Time flies when you are having fun.
This month I thought it would be a lot of fun to share my experiences of becoming a Registered Dietitian and feature other fellow RD’s as well.
Throughout my first year as a Registered Dietitian, I cannot even count the number of times I explained what the difference between a Registered Dietitian and a Nutritionist is.
The general populations is often confused about the difference between a “nutritionist” and a dietitian, but it is not accurate to use these terms interchangeably. Some registered dietitians (RDs) may refer to themselves as nutritionists, possibly to simplify things for someone less familiar with the term dietitian, but not all nutritionists are RDs.
The title nutritionist could be an array of different things. It is not a recognized credential and the definition can even vary from state to state. In certain cases, one may call themselves a nutritionist and may have some nutrition education and even obtained a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, but did not complete a dietetic internship and pass the RD exam. While others can still call themselves a nutritionist as well by taking a nutrition course without real pertinent education or training in the field of nutrition.
A Registered Dietitian has met specific academic requirements set forth by the Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). The credential RD (registered dietitian) is nationally-recognized, legally protected, professional title and it can only be used by those who are authorized by the CDR.
Bottom Line: Registered Dietitians are the nutrition experts through their unique education and experiences with continuing education furthering their knowledge after passing the RD exam.
For the next couple of weeks, I will share my journey how I completed each step of becoming a Registered Dietitian. Stay tuned!
Want your story heard? E-mail [email protected] to be included in this series!
Recently, I’ve had a lot of customers come to me at the supermarket saying they started following a gluten free diet – but when I talk to them more, I realized none of them even knew what gluten is. They also all thought that by avoiding gluten they were reducing their carbohydrate intake – but that’s not necessarily going to be the case, especially if they are purchasing gluten free products like breads, crackers, cereals, etc. All this said, Anne and I thought it would be interesting and informative for to share a post about some of the biggest myths related to eating gluten free.
Head on over to fANNEtastic Food to read more of the article I wrote for Anne!
Happy Halloween! In case you missed it, here are a few tips and tricks to stay healthy this Halloween.
What is a better time to feature pumpkin puree as my Supermarket RD’s Pick than on Halloween.
Pumpkin is a good source of vitamins A, C, E and the B vitamins and dietary fiber with minerals rich with potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, manganese, sodium and zinc.
Now this key is, if you are getting pumpkin puree from a can, make sure it is 100% PURE pumpkin, meaning it is simply one ingredient, pumpkin.
It’s a little tricky when this can is sitting right next to the 100% pure pumpkin on the shelf in the grocery store.
Both looking very similar on the front, don’t be fooled by this pumpkin pie MIX. The mix is a short cut to making pumpkin pie and has all this sugar and flavorings added. Stick to the 100% pure pumpkin for a healthy choice.
Pumpkin puree can be used so many ways and even used to cut back on fats in baking recipes. Below are a few of my favorite pumpkin recipes, that I think you may enjoy as well!
This weekend I ran the #LegacyRace for Cabot. I chose the 5k distance. It has been really chilly this past week, but Saturday it was so beautiful out.
Some pumpkin carving also took place. Without any of those fancy carving tools, I think we did a pretty good job!
It’s a few days before Halloween and many have asked me how to stay on track with healthy eating when there is so much candy around. I compiled 5 tips and tricks to help stay healthy during the Halloween season.
1. Get in some exercise. Schedule a workout date with yourself that morning or before the trick-or-treaters start ringing your doorbell. Those endorphins from your workout will put you in a feel good mood that may also help limit that second serving of candy.
2. Keep candy fun sized. You may want to be the “cool house” on the block, but those king size bars are much harder to only have a third of a bar and saving the rest for later. Opt for the fun sized for a portioned controlled treat.
3. Hold off on opening the candy as long as you can. Wait for that first trick-or-treater to ring your doorbell to open the bag of candy. Earlier on in the week before Halloween it will be less tempting knowing that that bag isn’t opened.
4. Didn’t get as many trick-or-treaters as you thought and now there are leftovers? Either spoil that last trick-or-treater by giving them the rest of your stash, or bring the leftovers to work.
5. Practice mindful eating. Don’t scarf down your Halloween treat. Slow down and truly enjoy it.
Don’t want to give out candy for Halloween this year? Give out a healthy snack like Cabot snack size sharp cheddar!
Disclaimer: By being a team leader for Cabot’s virtual race, my registration fee was paid for, received a $100 donation in my name to a local food bank of my choice, and was able to provide awesome RDelcious Kitchen readers with a Cabot Legacy gift basket. I was not compensated to write this post, all opinions expressed here are my own.
A little sprinkle here and a little sprinkle there. Incorporating ground flaxseed into your daily diet has a ton of health benefits. There is flaxseed, ground flaxseed, and flaxseed oil – which one should you choose?
First, let’s get the facts on flax. Why should you be incorporating flax into your diet? Why is flax healthy for you? F is for Fiber. It’s amazing how much fiber a little flaxseed contains. Just two tablespoons of flaxseed meal delivers 4 grams of fiber, as much fiber as 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal! Studies suggest that when flaxseed meal is added to the diet, harmful LDL cholesterol drops, while the good HDL cholesterol stays put. Regularity improves, also. L is for Lignans. Here’s where the flaxseed story gets major points. Flaxseed contains high levels of natural antioxidants called lignans. Many plant foods have some lignans, but flaxseed has at least 7 times more than any other. To get the lignans that are in just two tablespoons of flaxseed meal, you’d need to eat about 30 cups of fresh broccoli. A is for Alpha-linolenic Acid. Modern siets—even healthy ones—are routinely deficient in omega-3s. Flaxseed is a mega-source for the plant version of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid. The oil in the flaxseed is about 50% alpha-linolenic acid. Canola and walnut oils, the next highest sources, have about 10%. But most foods have far less. One serving of flaxseed meal contains 1800 milligrams of omega-3. X is for eXcellent choice. Should you consider adding flaxseed meal to your diet? Absolutely!! (source: Bob’s Red Mill)
The first face-off: Whole Flaxseed vs. Ground Flaxseed It’s recommended to use ground flaxseed because the whole flaxseed will just pass right through the body undigested skimping you of all the nutritional benefits of the flaxseed. Consuming ground flaxseed digests in the body and absorbs the omega-3s as well as lignans (explained above).
If you already have whole flaxseeds, simply grind them up in a coffee grinder or a strong food processor to make ground flaxseed. You can also garnish baked goods with the whole flaxseeds.
Sprinkle ground flaxseed on cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, and even salads. It has a slight nutty flavor. You can even use it as part of a breadcrumb for chicken, fish, etc.
Flaxseed oil is a concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids (specifically alpha-linolenic acid – ALA), which makes it true that flaxseed oil contains more ALA than flaxseeds, due to it being in a concentrated form.
Flaxseeds are in its natural form and contain a plethora of other nutrients that flaxseed oil miss out on due to the fact that flaxseed oil is just the oil extracted from the seeds.
The flaxseed is rich in dietary fiber; minerals such as manganese, copper, and magnesium; and vitamins such as folate, and vitamin B6.
Dietitian Tip: Do not replace one for the other. Incorporate both into your healthy diet.
In good health,
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