Its Been A While.

My Dear Yummies!
Yes I am still alive. I apologize for neglecting you. Been so busy with the end of the semester and job hunting, and trying to find a direction for the blog. I'm still working on my vision. But don't worrying starting next week you can expect a blog from me almost every Tuesday and Thursday. Been doing some research and I think I have some good things in store for you guys. So stay tuned!!!
YumNutrition.

Battle of The FATS!!!!

Did you know that not all fat is bad??? YES it is true!!!! Our bodies actually need fat. We need fat to help our bodies absorb certain vitamins, to help keep our skin soft and help us produce energy.  So if fat is so good for you why are we always told to stay away from fatty foods? Well that’s because there are different types of fat.

The Bad Fats:

Saturated and Trans fats are known as the bad fats. This is because these fats are known to raise your cholesterol levels, clog your arteries, and increase your chances of getting heart disease. Saturated fats are mostly found in animal products, like meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs. Trans fats are mostly found packaged snack foods, cookies, icings, crackers, baked goods.  (Basically the foods we love so dearly!) But have no fear!

The Good Fats:

There are two types of healthy fats: polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. These fats are found in: fish oils, avocado, and nuts and seeds. They are also found in oils such as: corn, soybean, sunflower, sesame, cottonseed, canola, almond, walnut, olive, and peanut oil.

When used in MODERATION they help lower cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease. Omega 3 is a type of polyunsaturated fat that has had a lot of buzz lately. Omegas 3s are found in fatty fish like salmon, trout, catfish, and mackerel. They are also found in flaxseed and walnuts.

Monounsaturated fats can be found in olives; avocados; hazelnuts; almonds; Brazil nuts; cashews; sesame seeds; pumpkin seeds; and olive, canola, and peanut oils.

So if there you are interested in trying new exciting and different flavors in  your cooking or with your food try anyone of these different oils.

Here is a recipe for an avocado dip I found in WomensHealth Magazine.

Tropical Guac.

½ avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped

¼ teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoon chopped red onion

1 ½ tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoon of chopped jalapeno

2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

¼ cup of chopped pineapple

¼ chopped mango

¼ cup chopped cantaloupe

Directions:

Mash avocado and salt together with a fork. Gently stir in onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and lime juice. Fold in pineapple, mango, and cantaloupe. * You can have this dip with shrimp or you can have this as a side dish to eat with salmon fish or any of the other fishes that I mentioned earlier.

Bon Appetite  

This recipe makes 4 Servings. Per serving: 107 cal, 4 g fat ( <1g sat fat! ), 19 g carbs, 88 mg sodium, 4 gram fiber, 2 g protein.

Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

Ingredients: 

1/2 lb Shrimp (peeled )

1/2 bag of frozen Broccoli spears

1 1/2 cup Alfredo Sauce

2 cups of  COOKED Penne Pasta

1/4 cup Water

Garlic powder to taste

Onion Powder to taste

Olive oil

Directions:

1. In a skillet lightly drizzle a small amount of olive oil to cover. Then place peeled and tailless shrimp into the skillet. Heat for about 7 minutes, mixing with a wooden spoon. 

2. Pour broccoli spears into the skilled and heat for about 1 minute.

3. Pour Penne pasta into the skillet with the shrimp and broccoli, and mix.

4. Then add 1 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce and 1/4 cup of water into the skillet and mix thoroughly.

5. Add garlic, onion powered, basil, oregano and other spices as desired for flavoring.

6. Heat for about 5 minutes. 

*DO NOT ADD SALT. Between the shrimp and the spices  the dish should have enough flavoring in it.

Bon Appetite! 

Low Fat/No Fat Are They Really Good For You?

Hello my fellow Yummys!! So I was asked is it really worth it to go for the low fat/no fat foods? The answer to that question is....... drum-roll please...... It depends. You really need to pay attention to the nutrition facts labels of the food you are eating. A lot of times what ends up happening is that people are not reading the nutrition facts labels. They see low fat or no fat and over indulge. Thinking its okay because it is low fat.
Lets take for example the delicacy of a pint of vanilla Haagen-Dazs and another brand low fat vanilla ice cream. With the Haagen Dazs you may know that it is high in fat so you only have one scoop. But with the other brand ice cream, you think since its low fat or no fat you can have five scoops! When you do that you just might end up eating more fat than with the regular ice cream.

Another thing is reading the Nutrition Labels correctly. Sometimes the label can be misleading. This happens often with small packages. For example you take a bottle of soda and it tells you that one serving contains 15 grams of sugar. The bottle contains 2.5 servings and you drink the whole bottle. Now you think that you only took in 15 grams of sugar when in reality you took 37.5 grams of sugar.

A lot of these companies are putting out these misleading labels in order to get people to buy their things.
So Buyer BEWARE!!! MAKE SURE YOU ARE READING THE LABELS AND COMPARING THE LOW FAT FOODS TO THE REGULAR ONES.

Thats all for today

YumNutrition 

BMI??? You're too fat!

Hey So the other day I participated in a health fair. I was tabling with the nutrition club. I had to help people measure their BMI using a special machine. The BMI is called Body Mass Index. The Body Mass Index is a measurement of your body fat based on your height and weight. This sounds like a good system. But it seems like when the BMI is used for athletes or muscular persons it tells them that they are overweight. I am not a fan of the BMI. I think it has WAY too many discrepancies to be used so solidly. Whats the point of having a tool for the general public when their are so many "hidden exceptions." A better system needs to replace the BMI. 
 What Do You Think???

YumNutrition...... Because Nutrition Can Be Yummy Too!!!!!

Where to start???

So many things I can do with this blog I don't know where in the world to start!!! I'll start with ME!!! LoL
Some of the many directions I might go with this blog is nutrition education, like letting you know what certain diseases and conditions are. I definitely want to do some recipes. I'm thinking about tips on how to shop and create menus. I'm really interested in women's health, since I am in fact a woman. I have iron deficiency anemia and I think i can gain a couple of pounds. So I might this blog out with my quest to get healthy weight gain and maintaining my iron levels with out iron supplements or multivitamins. Sometimes natural is better. So anyways. You'll hear back from me next week.
 ~ YumNutrition......Why? Because Nutrition Can Be Yummy Too!!!~

Newsletter coming soon

Hey this is my blog on random nutrition topics. I'm currently a dietetics student at Queens College and this is  a way for me to get involved in nutrition outside of doing homework and studying. :-)  This blog will be about food and nutrition. I LOVE food! And you dont have to trade in taste for better nutrition. Which is why my blog is called YUMNUTRITION. Because nutrition can be yummy too. :-) Hope you find my topics useful and interesting. 




Sincerely,
    YumNutrition