Saturday, June 27, 2009

Yumm yums

Hey there my people! This is a particular shout out to Breanna who is always curious and willing to listen to me blab about my funky food habits - thanks Bre!

So we all know that veggies are good and we need to eat more of them, blah blah, BLAH!

But really - we do. If you are like me and you don't like to eat veggies often (or maybe you just forget?) come along on my journey to be a more veggie-conscious and health-forward consumer.

My latest excursion is this:

After slowly ridding my kitchen of junk food (Thanks SO much to Danny and Suzy for going along with me on this!) and thus negating temptation, I have embarked on the "pepper phase".

As many of you know I have recently drawn a bit back from the spinach shot phase - and now I am working toward including bell peppers in my daily routine. Let me know if you're interested in details, I can always blog my full diet habits to satisfy popular demand - I just don't want to bore everyone unless they ask for it!

So the bell peppers... there are not many vegetables that I enjoy eating and even fewer that can translate into snack food that I can bring to work. It's hard to build a good habit if you can't bring it to work with you. Thus, I settle on the beautiful bell pepper - a perfect vegetable which is highly portable and thoroughly enjoyable!

So as I sit here and snack on the baggie of Julienne style (I sliced last night) oranges and yellows, I think about "how good are these for me really?" I curiously Google them, as I often do, and found that I have made a very wise choice!

Here's my favorite article so far - everything you ever wanted to know!

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50

Basic highlights:

Bell peppers are super high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A. These are two of the top antioxidants to help reduce free-radicals in your body (which are responsible for all kind of nasties like cancer). Vitamin A is also a great protector against lung disease: the article mentions how those people who smoke until they are 90 and never get emphyzema can thank thier diet - because it's usually due to higher levels of Vitamin A.

Red bell peppers are the very best - they have lycopene (like tomatoes). Lycopene is a whole other fantastic thing called a carotenoid - and it goes after cancer too. So spend that extra $0.30 per pepper to get the red ones!!! Red is also VERY good for your eyes with lutein and beta-carotene nutrients. I say these taste the very best as well!

Generally all bell peppers are high in fiber and folic acid - the green ones have the most fiber. These nutrients provide a great protection against colon disease and cancer.

SO! Go ahead and get started. I mean - don't overdo it, but maybe try to start with baby steps by sneaking some bell peppers into your snack time. I hope I can stick with it!

Remeber - raw and organic is the very best way to get all of the nutrients without anything else added by people. Go to Henry's to get the organic peppers whole. Costco has a great variety pack right now of miniature sweet peppers (another name for bell pepers) and they are ready to eat! Always wash them off before you bite in, of course.

Enjoy, and read the whole article when you get a chance - it's awesome.

-Lisa

4 comments:

  1. Lisa you are a very good writer. My favorite veggie is Pappy's cucumbers.

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  2. I will read about bell peppers (I've found they are tolerable among the vegetable world), but I have a blog request: Organic.

    I'm not a really big fan of organic myself - I think it's overpriced, unrealistic (buy local and organic, what do you do during Minnesota winters?), wasteful (spoils quickly, I know, I worked in a store that used organic when they could) and sort of a sham. Healthy is healthy, and you still have to spray on chemicals to keep bugs away. I'd love to see you really check out organics, AND non-organics, and see if there really is that much of a difference, and if it's worth the price.

    Back to peppers, you might consider how they can go into your other foods... this could be any vegetable. There are a few books with titles like The Sneaky Chef, with recipies that sneak vegetables into everyday items. Cookies, muffins, cakes, spaghetti sauces, etc. You could make your own salsa with bell peppers and get some low-sodium corn chips or something! Ohh...

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  3. Not to mention a great source of fiber! Also, it is best to eat them raw, cooking them removes a lot of the vitamin C.

    As for organically grown food. Yes, it is benificial to buy for many reasons. Most notably, organic fruits and veggies have a higher nutrient content then those drenched in pesticides. They have also been shown to increase fertility rate (which may or may not be a good thing depending on who you are...) and assists in weight management. The long term affects are definitely positive, it all depends on how much you are willing to spend on your health...

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  4. Lisaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... I crave not organics nor vegetables, but an update from you!

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