Tag Archives: antioxidants

Powering Up Your Pasta!

Pasta with tomato sauce is a common meal that can be very nutritious. Plus, the nutritional value can be boosted very easily, with just a few tricks.

Tomato sauce is one of the best nutrition buys that is easily available and widely used. Tomatoes have two uncommon characteristics that should earn them a place as a staple in your diet. First, tomatoes are packed with a rare and powerful antioxidant (lycopene) that helps prevent heart disease, cancer, and likely a whole host of other health problems. Second, tomatoes have a savory taste, making them taste boosters. Many people are aware that people have four basic tastes of sweet, salty, bitter and sour — but savory is a fifth taste! Unfortunately, savory taste compounds are relatively uncommon in the average diet. Tomatoes and mushrooms are two common foods which add savory taste (you can probably guess where that is going!).

When choosing a jar or can of tomato sauce, check the nutrition label for sugar and sodium. Choose a variety with a lower sugar and sodium content. If you find a variety that you like on sale, stock up on it, it will store very well. If you make your own sauce from tomato paste or fresh tomatoes you can leave the sugar out and control the salt content.

Next, power up your tomato sauce! This is easy to do with oregano, garlic, onion, mushroom, and balsamic vinegar. Dried oregano has the highest antioxidant content per serving of any commonly used spice. Just add a couple of tablespoons! Onions and garlic both come from a plant family offering powerful health benefits: anti-heart disease, anti-cancer, and anti-microbial. The easiest boost is to add chopped garlic (I keep a jar in the refrigerator at all times). If you have the time, sauté a chopped onion or two, along with chopped garlic. Sautéing in olive oil is both a tasty and nutritious choice. If you are going to use mushrooms, go ahead and add those as well. If you are using canned mushrooms, you can add the “juice”, so you don’t throw out a bunch of those water-soluble nutrients (and flavor). You can also add other vegetables, such as green peppers, to boost nutrition and flavor.  Adding a dash of balsamic vinegar will help create a rich, meaty flavor and additional nutrition.  I like adding ground red pepper for even more nutritional and taste punch.  Hot pepper is particularly useful if you are using/making lower salt tomato sauce.

To pack the biggest punch, eat a lot of sauce with your pasta, particularly if you are resorting to refined grain pasta. I would strongly recommend using whole wheat pasta. The nutritional value of whole grains versus refined grains is incomparable. It’s somewhat more expensive, but well worth it nutritionally. If you are not used to the taste, give it a try; it’s something your tastes can adapt to over time (if you are not willing to use whole wheat pasta, using whole wheat bread in your diet might offer an easier start).  When boiling pasta, don’t use excessive water, since water soluble vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients leech out (or you can use the leftover water for other cooking).

Ten Commandments of Eating for Life

10 Commandments of Eating for Life

1. Eat whole, minimally processed foods whenever possible

Nature knows best. Eating foods in a form that resembles the state in which they were harvested is a good bet for optimizing a food’s nutritional value. “Whole” means that the food’s original nutritional potential is substantially present by the time they get in your mouth. “Whole” refers to the basic foodstuffs from nature. The nutritional value and quality of basic foodstuffs depends upon many things, including:

1) the genetics of the foodstuff (plant, animal, fungus, or variety thereof);
2) the inputs which make food grow, such as soil, water, air, sun, and fertilizer (and feed for animal foods); and
3) the larger ecology, including weather, symbiotic organisms, weeds, or pests.

“Minimally processed” means that the food is processed only as much as is necessary to:

1) enhance nutritional availability;
2) prevent the loss of nutritional value;
3) assure that the food is safe; and
4) make the food palatable.

Food processing generally encompasses:

1) removing, refining, altering food components;
2) food storage or preservation methods;
3) adding/combining ingredients; and
4) cooking methods.

2. Eat a wide variety of wholesome foods.

Your body requires a wide variety of nutrients. Meeting your body’s nutrient requirements is best achieved by eating a wide variety of wholesome foods. Mix it up! Many compounds in our diets interact with one another, often with great synergy. Mixing it up can make the sum greater than the parts. Be wary of fad diets that greatly restrict your food variety or focus on a small number of foods or nutrients. Your body is awesome at maintaining “homeostasis” — a fancy word for balance — it just needs a sensible input of wholesome foods.

3. Eat mostly plant foods.

Plant foods offer a wider variety and better mix of health-forming nutrients than animal foods. Much of this is due to a large number and quantity of positively bioactive phytonutrients present in plants. However, animal foods also contain substantial components which are disease-forming. Also, foods higher up the food chain, i.e., all animal foods, tend to bioaccumulate toxins such as heavy metals and fat-soluble chemicals. In modern, industrialized diets, higher animal food consumption is associated with poorer health.

4. Eat and drink in moderation.

Moderation is a close relative of variety. Moderation and variety are practices that support balance. For most people, balance means eating more good foods and less “bad” foods. If indulging in “bad” foods, do so in moderation. Eliminating your favorite foods may do more harm than good, if it does not allow you to make sustainable changes to your diet. Small changes over time add up! And, even with the best foods, it is possible to get too much of a good thing. As they say, “The dose makes the poison.”

5. Eat regular meals.

Your body functions better when your food intake is spread out across three meals a day. Breakfast is key to priming your metabolism and getting an energetic start to your day. Snacking between meals probably adds little additional benefit, and may be detrimental to oral health. Drinking water between meals may be a good habit to stay hydrated (unsweetened, plain coffee/tea can be a healthy source of antioxidants — though you may want to avoid caffeine 10 hours before bedtime).

6. Eat ecologically-sustainable foods.

All life is interdependent. What we eat not only affects our nutritional status, it affects our planet and all life that depends on it. Ecologically-sustainable foods are part of a healthy, sustainable food system. A healthy, sustainable food system emphasizes, strengthens, and makes visible the interdependent and inseparable relationships between individual sectors (from production to waste disposal) and system characteristics (health-promoting, sustainable, resilient, diverse, fair, economically balanced, and transparent). This benefits all farmers, workers and eaters involved, as well as the planet and its other inhabitants.  Explore more at Eating Ecologically.

7. Pay attention to what you eat.

Paying attention, or mindfulness, is key to actively participating as a just eater on an interdependent planet. Mindfulness is the foundation for accurately assessing what you actually eat. Once you know what you are eating, then you can properly evaluate what impact your food has on you and your planet.

8. Pay attention to your eating habits.

Just eating is way more than just knowing the nutritional value of what you are eating. Where does your food come from? How does it get to you? Where did you buy it? How much does it cost? Where do you eat it? How was it prepared? What are your regular eating habits? Why do you eat the way you do? Being mindful of your eating habits can give you important clues to what improvements may be made.

9. Pay attention to the feedback of your body (and mind).

Your body is amazing! Whether you are paying attention or not, your body is busy processing the food you eat and the nutrients it absorbs. Your body is orchestrating gazillions of chemical reactions every second to keep in you balance. Return the favor and pay attention to your body (and mind)! This can help you decipher signals and cues related to taste, hunger, thirst, alertness, fatigue, and emotional state that can impact your food choices. Teaming up with your body can be the beginning of a long and healthy relationship.

10. Enjoy your food!

Food is one of the great pleasures in life! If food and nutrition become a chore, then you may be missing the point. Health is for life. Life is for enjoying! Becoming enlightened about food and nutrition may “ruin” some eating habits for you. There is a certain amount effort and even distress involved in disciplines leading to enlightenment. Nonetheless, the payoff can be greater harmony within yourself and your environment. This is a cause for joy!