Innovative Ways To Increase Omega-3s!

Recently I was sent some coupons for Tempt Living Harvest Hempmilk. I was also sent a coupon for a free container of hemp ice cream, but even Whole Foods doesn't carry it. So my question is.....who the heck does?!



Here is a little background about the company and their products.



To read more about hemp, visit this page on their website. I love the first line, "It isn't marijuana!". haha

Hemp milk contains two types of fatty acids of which you may have never heard before. GLA is gamma linolenic acid. Is is produced in the body from linoleic acid, which is an essential fatty acid. GLA has been shown to help reduce inflammation. It's sold in supplemental form, but as I always say, I prefer to get my fats, vitamins, and minerals from food.


SDA (Stearodonic Acid) is an omega-3 fatty acid, which efficiently converts to EPA (the omega-3 found in fish oil) more so than ALA (alpha linolenic acid). In fact, some studies have shown that SDA converts to EPA 2.5 times more efficiently than ALA alone! The great thing about SDA is that it's typically found in vegetable oils, not animal sources, therefore it's a great vegetarian source of EPA. The only downside is that there is no conversion of SDA to DHA, which is another important omega-3 found in fish, and which may play a major role in heart health.


Sometimes you have to be careful when you buy different types of milk, such as almond, soy, hemp, or rice, because they are not always fortified with vitamin D, and some aren't even fortified with calcium! This hemp milk didn't disappoint; 30% DV calcium, and 25% DV vitamin D. Did I mention it also tasted fantastic?!


Are you someone who hates swallowing pills? We sell this (below) at Giant Eagle, and it seems to be really popular.



I added it to one of Nick's smoothies and he didn't even notice. In fact, when I asked him how his smoothie was (when I do this he always gets suspicious) he said, "It's great! Very citrusy". HA! I did taste his smoothie and I could sort of taste the lemon, but I think that was because I knew it was in there. I figure it could also be added to yogurt, or if you're daring you could eat it (drink it) alone. One Giant Eagle customer said she likes it in her strawberry milk. That sounded strange to me at first, but strawberry and lemon may actually be tasty!

Supplement Facts

~720 mg EPA/DHA (perfect!)

Sweetened with the sugar alcohol, xylitol

NOT vegetarian

How about some omega-3 in your burgers?!

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Adding flaxseed to this very lean ground beef was the perfect way to increase the moisture without increasing the saturated fat (and with the flaxseed you get some essential omega-3 fats).

You can eat the beef as a burger, or add it to rice and veggies for a nice healthy dinner (this is Nick's poker dinner, which I pack for him on Tuesday nights when he plays poker).

So, we've got liquid fish oil, hemp milk, and flaxseed in burgers, which are all innovative ways to get some essential fats in your diet.

QUESTION: What are some innovative ways you have increased your omega-3 intake?

New Garden and Summer SALSA

Last weekend (when I wasn't getting mad about marketing ploys) Nick and I finally started to create our fruit and vegetable garden! Yeah I know we're sort of late, but we've had so many other things to do with our new house, the garden kept getting pushed aside.

This is the area that we deemed "Garden Central". Just last weekend it looked like this.....


About an hour later, after we both contributed some serious muscle and sweat, it looked like this......



An about two hours later, it looked like this......



Tonight plan to till the soil then add a layer of pebbles, followed by a layer of topsoil, followed by a layer of gardening soil. We want to make the garden rise a bit so the water can fall off to the side (this will prevent puddling in our garden). We also want to make a walk-way somewhere in this area so we can get to our plants more easily. But first we have to kill the giant ant hill that we found. Yuck.

We had hoped to buy all organic soils, but after looking at the prices of the conventional vs. the organic soils we've decided to do about three-fourths organic, and one-fourth conventional soil. The man at the garden center also told us that the pesticides in the conventional soil will help our garden grow faster. Yeah, at this point we need any help we can get. We want to start small this year, so here is what we are planting:

Cucumber

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Pumpkin

Spinach

Cantaloupe

We'll also plant some herbs, such as cilantro, so I can make more of this:

Gina's FODMAP-Friendly** Summer Salsa
(** Contains zero garlic, onion, or avocado . To read more about FODMAP, check out this post)

If you choose to make this at home you can obviously (and should!) add garlic, onion, and avocado. I am not able to eat these because they contain FODMAPs.

1. Chops some fresh tomatoes

2. Add your favorite spices
(a dash of salt, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, 4 squirts of NuNaturals clear stevia (or one packet of your favorite calorie-free sweetener), 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp ground pepper)



3. Add as much chopped cilantro and lime juice as you wish (it's really a guessing game)




4. ENJOY with your favorite chips! I love my salsa nice and chunky, can you tell? I chose some flaxseed chips, which contain whole flaxseeds. I am always sure to really chew these well because the beneficial fats are only released when the flaxseeds are ground by my teeth :)

Coming Up
Tomorrow I'm heading to Pittsburgh for an interview! I couldn't be more excited (I promise I will be posting about this soon.....). When I get back Nick and I will be celebrating our 4 year "dating anniversary". We plan to go to the restaurant where we had our first date (if I make it back in time). If not tomorrow night we will celebrate Saturday night.

On Saturday I will be posting a new frozen yogurt flavor....BLUEBERRY!

Have a great day/weekend, and thanks for reading!

Biggest Loser Review and Nutrition Tidbit; Flaxseeds

This post is dedicated to our dear friend Jillian Michael's, who was recently sued for selling a "weight loss supplement" that apparently doesn't work. You're kidding?? Way to go Jillian! I mean I knew you were backing a lot of completely ridiculous products, but this one takes the cake (oh wait, we aren't allowed to eat cake...sorry...we're just supposed to work our butts off, eat 500 calories a day, and take a weight loss supplement...RIGHT!).

Ok, I'm finished.

Biggest Loser Review

Likes

• Bob's conversation with Koli. He was really motivational and reassuring. I do really like bob. I don't think he's extremely sexy, like some of you do ;)

• Did you do the lunges during the commercial break? I did! I actually barely got a workout on Tuesday (remember the Tweets?) so it was something I actually enjoyed. They should do that more often (actually I already do it sometimes, and I learned some great tips for commercial workouts from Jess at Fit Chick in the City)

• Did you ever use one of those slides with the booties, to workout? I was about 11 years old when those were popular. I remember my cousin had one and I used to "pretend" to use it (she was 15, so a bit more coordinated that I was!). I bet the contestant had some serious lactic acid buildup from doing that. It was a fun childhood flashback.

• I think this show could be really useful for those who are trying to lose weight. Not because you necessarily learn a lot, but because it's a look into just how difficult it is to lose weight. These people clearly work extremely hard, and some lose only 4 pounds in a week (which doesn't seem like a whole lot considering their 6 hour daily workouts!) These days people expect miracles, but four pounds is about as much of a miracle as anyone will see in 1 week, without being incredibly dangerous. I hope people walk away from this show with motivation and more realistic expectations when it comes to losing weight.
  

• Melissa was super mature. And, maybe she wasn't lying after all? Or do you think it was the traveling that caused her to gain the weight? I know I get a little constipated (the only time, ever) when I travel. Sorry. Graphic.

• The one-on-one challenge at the end. Fantastic idea! After I Tivo'd through the weigh-in, that was a nice little twist.

Dislikes

• Eat like an Olympian? Yeah right! They didn't eat like Olympians. Olympian's aren't trying to lose weight. They eat from "1600-8000 calories", Adam said. The Biggest Loser contestants eat much less than that. Liars!

• Adam was a "nutritionist". Did you know that technically means nothing?? Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist! He probably had a degree of some sort in nutrition, but he wasn't an RD. I'm not saying he didn't know his stuff (clearly they wouldn't hire an idiot to help teach the Olympians about nutrition) but I wish they would have used an RD.
  

• The meal for the speed skater was full of simple carbohydrates, and no fruits or vegetables. Plus, no lean meat. The weight lifter's meal was packed with fruits and vegetables. That doesn't seem right. It's not like a speed skater needs less vitamins and minerals, and it's not like speed skaters shouldn't be eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Wrong message to send.

• Why don't they ever show the conestants eating during the day? The contestants make comments like, "Colorado was like a vacation, sometimes I didn't eat what I should have." Why don't they show that? People need to see reality, and this show needs to start giving suggestions for things like eating healthy while on vacation! This was a perfect opportunity, and they bombed.

• When the girl (name??) was eying the spinning dessert showcase, and Bob said "I'd much rather you have a 5 calorie piece of Extra sugar free gum". LOL, ummm...no thanks! There are so many alternative, and better options for a low calorie treat! What a joke.

Nutrition Tidbit
Flaxseed

What are the benefits of flaxseed?

- Flaxseed oil provides a good source of the essential fatty acid Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA; an Omega-3 precursor to the EPA and DHA found in fish oil). Ground flaxseed is best because the hard outer shell of flaxseeds have been shown to ineffectively break down in the body, therefore making it more difficult to absorb the Omega-3 found in the flaxseed oil.

- 2 T ground flaxseed provides about 2 grams of soluble fiber, and about 3.6 grams of insoluble fiber.

- Flaxseed contain lignans, which are phytonutrients that have been shown to have cancer protection properties.

What does research suggest?

While flaxseed contains many beneficial properties, research has only supported the efficacy of the claim that they may help relieve constipation (thanks to the high fiber content). Studies supporting the efficacy of the claim that flaxseeds may be able to improve blood lipids are mixed. Currently there are not enough studies supporting their use for cancer prevention, and reduced risk of heart disease and stroke .

Bottom Line: Despite the lack of appropriate evidence for the use of flaxseeds for several of its purported benefits, it's still a healthy food that would make a great addition to a well-balanced diet. Foods like flaxseed may be especially important for vegetarians and vegans, who don't eat fish or take fish oil, and who must rely on ALA for their EPA and DHA intake. Additionally, 1 T of ground flaxseed, or 1 tsp. of flaxseed oil, can provide you with the Adequate Intake of ALA for the day, which is 1.1 grams for women, and 1.6 grams for men. Other sources of ALA includes walnuts, fortified products (like my Smart Balance peanut butter!), soybeans, and canola oil.

Coming Up

Tomorrow Nick and I are celebrating Valentine's day! We can't do it on Sunday because he works, so tomorrow will have to do. He's making steak and lobster (umm, I'm scared...) so I'll be sure to post a recap on Sunday! Tomorrow I will be posting the winner of my "random giveaway" then on Saturday I'll post my new list of favorite supplements (not including Jillian's weight loss supplement) and sweeteners.

Have a nice night/day everyone, and thanks for reading :)