Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Gina's "Superfoods" (Last 5 of 10)

I enjoyed reading everyone's own list of whole grain and fruit/vegetable "superfoods"! I realize I didn't put any fruits on my list, likely because I just don't eat much fruit. Of the fruits I do eat, frozen blueberries and blackberries are my favorite. Apples used to be my favorite, until I realized they cause me to get bloated, so sad :(

Today's list consists of my favorite sources of dairy, fat, and a sweet indulgences (starting with one more vegetable!):

6) Spaghetti Squash

When you can't eat wheat, foods like this are just what the doctor ordered. Heck, even if I could eat wheat I would still eat this daily! It's a non-starchy vegetable (right Sophia??) that is the perfect replacement for pasta (well, maybe not perfect, but close). While it doesn't provide as much protein as pasta, nor does it provide the phytonutrients found in whole grain pasta, it is lower in calories, and provides more vitamins and minerals.

7) Kefir

Come on, who doesn't like fermented milk products?! haha. Yeah, if you're anything like my boyfriend, Nick, you'll despise this stuff. I love it. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, try Lifeway Kefir, it's just as good. I like to buy the plain variety and add Truvia and unsweetened cocoa powder. This is how I get my daily dose of probiotics (although I don't really think the amount I consume provides me with the appropriate amount for clinical purposes). It also contains inulin (a prebiotic that is the food for the probiotics), vitamin D, 11 grams of protein, and of course calcium.


8) Greek yogurt

I don't necessarily prefer Oikos, in fact I think Chobani is the creamiest. I like to eat Greek yogurt right before bed, after my popcorn. The casein in Greek yogurt is a "slow protein", which means it's absorbed slowly and studies have shown it continuously provides the muscles with energy to repair and rebuild through the night. Of course it's also good to eat on top of soup, tacos, or potatoes as a replacement for sour cream.


9) Peanut butter!

Seriously, do I have to explain? When I was anorexic I didn't eat peanut butter. Three years of my life, three years worth of peanut butter consumption, down the drain. What the heck?! Yeah it's got a lot of fat, but it's healthy fat, and when eaten in moderation (which in my opinion is about 4 T per day, and depends on how much other fat you are consuming) it's just fine! The Smart Balance brand has flaxseed oil in it for added Omega-3.


10) Lindt's 85% dark chocolate

Another one of my favorite night time snacks. I eat 2 squares of this stuff every night. Since it's 85% cacao, I'm fairly certain this dark chocolate is providing me with a decent amount of polyphenols (a phytonutrient that may benefit the heart). When it comes to dark chocolate, don't be fooled, as their is no legal definition of dark chocolate so companies can write it on their labels either way. One taste of this stuff (Lindt's 85%) and it's pretty clear that it is actually dark chocolate, and not just chocolate that has been made darker.....Isn't it great what food companies can make you believe?!

Question: What are your top five favorite sources of dairy, healthy fat, and sweet indulgences?

Coming Up

Tomorrow I will be posting my Biggest Loser review (did you watch?!) and also a "Nutrition Tidbit" regarding flaxseed. On Friday, or later next week, I will provide my list of favorite supplements and sweeteners. Now I'm off to finish the Bachelor. We stopped half way through on Monday because we were both really tired. I can't believe we managed to wait this long to finish!!

Thanks for reading, and have a great night/day!

46 comments :

  1. I've never tried Kefir! If Nick doesn't like it, I probably wouldn't either. :)

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  2. I definitely agree with some of yours- DEFINITELY greek yogurt, I am in love with that stuff right now. So thats on my list for dairy, and healthy fats. Let's add ice cream that's a super food right? Okay others would be salmon, almond butter or peanut butter, and- I seem to be drawing a blank, there must be more though!

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  3. Can i just copy your list? Yogurt is BY FAR my biggest intake of dairy--love my probiotics!
    And nut butters never cease to amaze me--walnut, peanut, cashew, almond, I don't discriminate.
    "Healthy indulgence"--you got me again. Anything coconut or chocolate or coconut and chocolate is major YUM

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  4. Again - I've never seen Kefir. Apparently I need to thoroughly check out my grocery store!!

    How do you cook your spaghetti squash? Mine came out pretty nasty but I'm almost sure I didn't cook it correctly.

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  5. I've yet to try Kefir...now that my Vegan challenge is over, I need to!

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  6. my top would be greek yogurt or 2% milk in steamed form for dairy, olive oil and peanut butter for fats and anything chocolate or with frosting on top for sweets!!

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  7. mayyyyyyybe i should be eating some greek yogs now instead of popcorn hmmm for some good old muscle repairation :) if thats not even a word...

    i just had spag squash AND pcorn in one night :) all my food choices are making your list woooo hoooo

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  8. I love the majority of your ten "superfoods" although I've never tried kefir. I'll try any food once but I would probably have a hard time getting Cory to try it!

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  9. love your superfoods! never tried kefir OR quinoa! is it like cous cous? it looks like it to me!

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  10. Um does ice cream count for all three? No? Ok well them I'm all about yogurt (Oikos is my favorite), avocado or almonds butter, and while I like almost all sweets, I think I am partial to cake if it were all up to me :-)

    Have you ever talked about how you were diagnosed? Sometimes I wonder if my "tummy issues" are normal or not.

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  11. Kefir is an old school Russian food. I didn't know it got popular. It's pretty funny!

    I love greek yogurt or goat cheese, almond butter or avocado, and chocolate is my ultimate sweet indulgence. Yum!

    Great post as always, Gina!

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  12. Gina I have a question about Greek yogurt. The only kind I can find here in Germany has about 260 calories and 20 grams of fat per container. The ingredients are cow's milk, cream, and yogurt cultures (something like that), but I like the fact that there are only about 4 ingredients. Is the kind of fat in this kind of yogurt good fat? I am normally one to avoid a lot of fat, but after reading Food Rules and In Defense of Food, I felt more inclined to eat if, it accompanied good, wholesome foods (like avacados). Does this yogurt fall into that good fat category as well?

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  13. I have NEVER seen spaghetti squash in Australia. Now THAT'S sad :( So sad that I ordered seeds off ebay for our veggie garden ;)
    & I'm yet to make kefir. I'm going to get the water kefir grains and see how i go!
    Natalia

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  14. for fat =tahini,nuts butters, sesame seed oil
    dairy. i love greek yogurt but I try not to eat much (i used to eat it every night) because I found my self probably sensitive to it, i get bloated and breakouts. last week I got another tub after not having it for 2 months... you know what? it wasn't that good anymore :D it's incredible how our taste buds changes and that we're creature of habit. if you have something often, you'll probably think you really like it and need to eat it. but when you give you a break from it, you'd realize that you don't actually need it.

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  15. I wouldn't touch your list! I would have each of those foods on mine!

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  16. i have yet to try kefit but I'm all about the other ones!

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  17. Great Superfoods list!

    My favorite dairy food is Fage Greek yogurt.

    My favorite healthy fat is almond butter or white chocolate wonderful peanut butter.

    And, my favorite indulgence right now is dark chocolate with sea salt.YUM!
    Great questions!

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  18. thanks for replying with the vitamin D questions! I love the Kefir with VITAMIN D! haha. I have two courses left to finish my DPD's but I have my thesis to finish this semester- Did you discuss having AN with anyone when you were going through DPD's or the internship? Do you feel that it impacts your career, having that history?

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  19. you'd realize that you don't actually need it.
    how to grow taller

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  20. Hey! I just posted up your Q and A with me! It is GREAT stuff! Would you want to put a link up?

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  21. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  22. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  23. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  24. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  25. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  26. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  27. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  28. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  29. Is Kefir milk or yogurt? My favorite dairy is vanilla greek yogurt, fave healthy fat is Peanut butter! Almond butter comes in a close second... and fave indulgence is WINE. I'm not much of a desserts/sweet person.

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  30. I so need to try Kefir!! Now I have a good excuse to go to Trader Joe's... :-)

    I love love love Greek yogurt - definitely my favorite dairy product now! :-) Peanut butter and 85% dark chocolate are absolute must-haves for me too... :-) Three cheers for your lists! I had so much fun reading them!!

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  31. I love this list! You have 2 of my fave things on it...PB and Greek Yogurt! Which btw taste great together ha

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  32. I love, love, love spaghetti squash! It's so good with all kinds of toppings.

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  33. Love the Bachelor!

    I love dark chocolate and cherries! And for calcium...cheese and Greek yogurt. Kefir, too! Love the stuff!

    I'm watching BL tonight -- glad you haven't done your review yet!

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  34. I'm nervous about kefir. I wonder if it'd be good in a smoothie instead of just buy itself? That's how I started incorporating plain greek yogurt into my life!

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  35. You stole my list!!! I love everything on it and just recently rediscovered kefir... :)

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  36. DAIRY: cottage cheese, Greek yog and skim milk!! SO MUCH OF IT!
    Health Fats: Um all of it!! esp peanut butter, almonds, peanuts (love them in the shell!!) olive oil
    SWEET INDULGENCES: Key lime pie, ice cream, browniessss

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  37. I loved both parts of this list! (..and I esspecially love your inclusion of PB ;D) My old natruopath/nutritionist told me to watch out for dark chocolates that don`t have cocoa beans as the FIRST ingredient and that have some sort of sugar (other than cane sugar) as one of the top ingredients.

    I wish I could get Oikos OR Chobani in my area!! :(

    izzyy
    xoxx

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  38. Dairy: Oikos Caramel. I do enjoy Chobani too, but I think I like Oikos better. Eggs - hard boiled whites.

    Healthy fat: avocado, hands down

    Sweet: Rice cakes, not many nutrients, but versatile, I load them up with yogurt, pb, and fruit and Reddi Whip :)

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  39. Ok, so I skipped ahead a bit and mentioned greek yogurt the yesterday. I have never tried Kefir...might have to give it a whirl.
    I also love spaghetti squash and I have one in the oven as we speak.
    And gosh...PB..love it!!

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  40. Lindt is some of my favourite kind of chocolate and I LOVE spaghetti squash. Still haven't tried either kefir OR greek yogurt though!

    Nut butters = bliss.

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  41. Loving the superfoods post part 2!!!! I need to get some kefir, I love it but never buy it!!

    My favorite healthy fat is Peanutbutter all the way!! Love it!!

    Hope you have a great day!!!

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  42. Um...someone just commented like 6 times? Haha.

    Now, this makes me feel so much healthier...I've been eating half a bar of dark chocolate a day. I think I still prefer milk, though.

    Dairy: cheese!!
    healthy fat: almonds!!
    sweet indulgences: kabocha!

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  43. I think all these things combined might be good :p I really like Kefir, but I'm curious, what other ways do you usually eat it? It's so think I don't like drinking it plain, and I'm not a big cereal person.

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  44. YAY for spaghetti squash! I love all of these foods...the only one I don't regularly eat is kefir...haven't even tried that before!

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  45. I also love Greek yogurt - now that I eat that, its hard to go back for regular stuff.

    I've never tried Keifer - I was scared of the plain kind - but I like your idea to add sweetener and cocoa powder. I will have to try it now.

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  46. whether the difference between kefir and yogurt?
    Which is better between them?

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