November 26, 2019 at 07:30PM by CWC When it comes to choosing a healthy eating plan, there’s a lot of questions someone may ask themselves. Does my body feel its best without animal products? Did our ancestors have it all figured out? Can I really live without cheese? But the most pressing question in 2019: is this truly a sustainable diet? Indeed, there’s a preponderance of evidence that all of us need to change our ways in order to curb the worst effects of climate change. Just Tuesday, the UN released a damning report saying that carbon emissions continue to increase globally, and seven of the world’s biggest economies (including the US) are not doing their part to help. It doesn’t help that 10 percent of American greenhouse gas emissions come from the agricultural sector—leading many healthy eaters to wonder how their food impacts the planet. That’s where the buzzy planetary health diet, or climate diet, comes in. Introduced by 37 doctors from 16 countries in the journal The Lancet earlier in the year, it offers up a researched-backed eating plan for how to eat healthy in a way that minimally impacts the planet and ensures that it will be habitable for future generations. But given that the ground-breaking report is…incredibly long, we decided to get some practical intel on what a truly sustainable diet looks like from registered dietitian and The Conscious Dietitian blogger Sharon Palmer, RD. She breaks down the planetary health diet so that you can build
Category: Keto
How to use avocados to make your favorite desserts so much healthier
November 24, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC When you think about the primary ingredient in super-creamy desserts, your mind probably goes straight to dairy. But what if I told you your favorite green fruit is the key to making a mouthwatering treat the plant-based way? Using avocados in desserts isn’t anything new. It’s been a vegan cooking staple for years and is often used in lieu of butter when baking. It’s so much more than a healthy ingredient swap, though. In many recipes, its natural creaminess is what takes desserts to the next level, whether you’re making a chocolate silk pie, key lime bars, or ice cream. If you want to make a healthier version of some of your favorite sweet dishes without sacrificing taste or texture, these avocado desserts truly give you the best of both worlds. Mouthwatering avocado desserts you’ll want to make again and again Photo: The Conscious Plant Kitchen 1. Chocolate avocado pie There’s no baking required for this pie that uses avocados to create a creamy, chocolatey mousse filling. Photo: Daisy Beet 2. Avocado key lime bars Any key lime fans will love this melt-in-your-mouth, avocado version. Photo: Feel Good Foodie 3. Avocado ice cream You only need a handful of simple ingredients for this dairy-free ice cream, including avocados, bananas, maple syrup, and coconut milk. Photo: Minimalist Baker 4. Chocolate peanut butter avocado pudding This chocolate and peanut butter combo is like Reese’s, but better. Photo: Eating Bird Food 5. Creamy lime and avocado
The holiday sugar cravings are real—here are 3 tips for satisfying your sweet tooth the smart way
November 22, 2019 at 04:35PM by CWC Who else has felt the effects of the holidays? No, we’re not talking about the stress of gift giving or the inevitable family feuds—we’re talking about the undeniable influx of sugar. Yeah—we’ve all been there. With all the cookie swaps, friendly gatherings, and holiday dinners, being inundated with less-than-great-for-you eats can just seem like a hazard of the job, leaving you tempted to hole up at home and go full hygge until the season is over. And the struggle isn’t just in your head. “It’s the time of the year when people adopt the ‘I’ll reset in January’ mentality and put their normal healthy habits on pause while they try to ‘get through’ the holidays,” says Eliza Savage, registered dietitian at Middleberg Nutrition. “Poor eating habits, skipping workouts, stress, and lack of sleep can compound to make sugar cravings worse.” Good news: It doesn’t have to be this way. With Savage’s tips, you can tackle the holidays and still enjoy your sweets. So if you’re feeling like a social butterfly, keep reading for how to get out there without feeling like you’re hitting up a sugar-only buffet. Scroll down for 3 ways you can satisfy your sweet tooth—plus, some easy desserts to add to your holiday lineup. 1. Opt for sugar-free desserts and treats There’s actually a reason you’re in the mood for something extra sugary around the holidays. “There’s absolutely more pressure to eat high-sugar foods during the holiday season due to
The gut-healthy reason Mandy Moore switches up her breakfast each day
November 18, 2019 at 05:46PM by CWC Eating the same thing each morning means you’re spared making hard choices about what to eat for breakfast. But as much as you may love your bowl of oatmeal topped with banana and peanut butter, a dietitian says that changing up your morning meal makes for a healthy gut. In a recent interview with Well+Good, the This Is Us star said that she has no loyalties at the breakfast table. “Gosh! Yeah, I try to change it up every day—just because it is my favorite meal,” says Moore, who’s working with Nature’s Way to mark the company’s 50th anniversary. Coconut yogurt with gluten-free granola, smoothies, eggs, turkey bacon, and paleo pancakes each earn a spot of her breakfast plate. “Maybe I’ll have oatmeal one day and coconut yogurt with berries and gluten-free granola the next. And scrambled eggs or an omelette and turkey bacon another day. I definitely cover my bases when it comes to breakfast.” Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, registered dietitian and author of The Better Period Food Solution confirms that mixing things up works wonders for your microbiome: the trillions of micro-organisms living in your gut. “Switching up your breakfast is an opportunity to sprinkle different strains of bacteria into your life,” says Beckerman. “A diverse diet equals a diverse gut microbiome which equals a tougher gut system.” Having a diverse microbiome is linked with having a strong immune system, an asset you’ll need to deploy during flu season, she adds. Beckerman
This healthy oat-free granola recipe works with every eating plan
November 17, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC While old-fashioned rolled oats have been the classic granola base since, well, the beginning of time, they don’t have to be. They’re super healthy, but they’re high in carbs and prohibited on a keto and Paleo diets. Surprisingly, you can get a very similar taste and texture by swapping those oats with a mix of nuts and seeds, and Olivia Culpo’s healthy granola recipe works with almost every eating plan. “I like it in yogurt, but you can also have it plain, with milk, in smoothies, or I put it in my pancakes,” she writes. The mix is also pretty simple, with nuts and seeds—including almonds, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and hemp seeds—as well as unsweetened coconut chips, golden monk fruit sweetener, and cinnamon. While Culpo’s recipe calls for an egg white and honey, those ingredients can always be replaced with a flax egg and maple syrup, based on your diet. After mixing your oat-free granola and baking it in the oven until golden brown, you can break it into clusters and enjoy a fiber- and protein-packed breakfast. View this post on Instagram Ask and you shall receive. This is the paleo/keto friendly granola I made yesterday. Almost no carbs which is impossible to find in regular granola using oats, etc. I like it in yogurt but you can also have it plain, with milk, in smoothies, or I put it in my pancakes 1 cup sliced almonds 1/4
20 healthy road trip snacks to fuel you up for your holiday travels
November 16, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC There are two non-negotiable things every road trip must have in order to be enjoyable: good music and tasty snacks. (Okay fine, gas too.) Whether you’re gearing up for an epic adventure or just a traffic-filled drive to visit family for the holidays, having the perfect snack stash is a requirement they should really teach in driver’s ed. There’s an art to creating the perfect road trip snack supply: First, it should include both sweet and savory options to have all your bases covered at any point in the drive. Then there’s the nutritional value. If you’re not stopping for a while, a bag of chips definitely isn’t going to do the trick—you’ll need protein to help you literally go the extra mile. That doesn’t mean you can’t have your gas station faves, just have to go for brands who have health-ified them—or make them healthier yourself by prepping them at home). This roundup covers your bases on both fronts. Included here are 10 healthy road trip snacks you can buy before you hit the road, and 10 healthy road trip snacks you can make at home before your trip. Either way, you’ll end up fueled and ready for your drive, traffic be damned. Healthy road trip snacks you can buy ready-to-eat Photo: Krave 1. Krave beef chili lime jerky, $4.99 each or $39.92 for an 8-pack Jerky is the ultimate road trip snack. While the OG brands that have been hanging out
6 healthy breakfast taco recipes to spice up your morning
November 16, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC As the definition of breakfast food wanders outside the boundaries of pancakes, oatmeal, eggs, and yogurt, it only makes sense that tacos are becoming a popular brunch order. Scrambled eggs, avocado, and black beans wrapped up in a corn tortilla? Um, yes, please. Whatever diet you follow, there’s no shortage of healthy breakfast taco recipes for you to choose from. What are you waiting for? Let’s make some tacos for breakfast (but maybe save the margaritas for lunch). Breakfast taco recipes for every eating plan Mediterranean diet: MEDITERRANEAN TACOS This recipe is everything you love about a gyro. With chicken, hummus, feta cheese, and artichokes, the recipe is hearty and tasty so you’ll stay full until lunch. Here’s what a nutritionist thinks of the Mediterranean diet. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGnyqti9wsw] Ketogenic Diet: BACON TACOS This recipe uses mozzarella cheese to make that outer shell so you can wrap up the fillings just like your carb-eating counterparts. Vegetarian: Shiitake “bacon” and eggs breakfast tacos This plant-friendly recipe replaces bacon with mushrooms seasoned by tamari. paleo: LOADED BREAKFAST TACO BOWLS You get to enjoy your taco in a bowl. This recipe contains ground beef, which you could cook over an open fire, but, you do you. Here’s the deal with paleo: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGvJ61nBFBo] Vegan: TEMPEH SAUSAGE TACOS No animal products, no problem. With this recipe, tempeh stands in for sausage and vegan sour cream makes every bite creamy. whole 30: COLLARD WRAP TACOS If you’re following a month
5 Reasons You’re Not Seeing Results On The Keto Diet & How to Fix Them
November 14, 2019 at 10:08AM How friendly is Continue Reading… Author Vincent M. Pedre, M.D. | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
The dietitian’s guide to the healthiest fast food options at 14 of America’s favorite chain restaurants
November 13, 2019 at 07:29PM by CWC You know how it goes: some weeks you’ve meal-prepped a week’s worth of meals. And some weeks, well, you feel accomplished for nuking yourself a TV dinner. When life gets busy and you find yourself staring into an empty fridge, being in-the-know about the healthiest fast food options available to your can save your week. Below, we rounded up 14 of the healthiest things to order from fast food chains like Chipotle, IHOP, Cheesecake Factory, and more. Dietitians give the healthiest fast food options at America’s favorite chain restaurants Photo: Getty Images/ Piet de Kersgeiter-Eye Em Olive garden Executive chef and registered dietitian Jessica Swift, RD previously told Well+Good that the name of the game at Olive Garden is taking half of the chain’s very generous pasta portion home with you. “I would also suggest taking advantage of the vegetable side dishes, like asparagus with minced onions, instead of just focusing on the pasta,” she said. Order: herb-grilled salmon, chicken Giardino, minestrone soup A dietitian’s go-to pasta variety: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F099FS6XCs] P.F. chang’s Everyone’s favorite Chinese chain has a ton of veggies on the menu, so healthy eating is really NBD. Registered dietitian Chelsey Amer, RD, does have a few favorites, however. Order: ginger chicken with broccoli, miso glazed salmon, stir-fry eggplant, Buddha’s feast [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAZGWNZ5G2A] Chipotle “Your starting point should be either a bowl or salad,” says Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, host of Well+Good’s You Versus Food. After that, just add brown rice, your choice of protein,
As plant-based eating continues to take off, Mexican cuisine returns to its vegan roots
November 11, 2019 at 07:46PM by CWC As we know it in the U.S., Mexican food typically involves lots of meat and cheese—enchiladas stuffed with beef, chicken tinga tacos, nachos topped with sour cream and cheese. Delicious? Absolutely. But not necessarily the first type of cuisine many would think of when considering a plant-based diet. But according to vegan food activist and Food Empowerment Project founder Lauren Ornelas, Mexican food was traditionally entirely plant-based. “It’s really important to realize the effects colonization had on our diets,” she says. “Our indigenous ancestors didn’t drink milk or consume dairy, and they weren’t necessarily vegan, but they didn’t eat as much animal products as is in our diets now.” She says that that the fundamental components of Mexican food have always been vegetables (with a major emphasis on corn and tomatoes), legumes, and fruit. Now that plant-based eating has exploded across the board, Mexican cuisine seems poised to return to its roots. All it takes is a lap around the grocery store to see that there are more vegan options available than ever before—Mexican food included. The demand has led to products such as Beyond Meat’s “beef” taco crumbles, Siete Foods cashew-based queso, and Upton’s Naturals’ chili lime jackfruit. There are also more vegan Mexican restaurants than before, too: Eateries such as Mi Vegana Madre in Arizona, El Papagayo in California, and Charly’s Vegan Tacos in Texas, are just a few examples of how the Mexican food space is changing outside of the