Age Gracefully30 Plants a Week: A Simple Longevity Habit
Forget the latest superfood craze. Nutrition experts say one of the simplest ways to support a healthy gut—and potentially a longer, healthier life—is by eating a wider variety of plant foods every week. When people think about longevity, they often picture expensive supplements, restrictive diets, or the latest “miracle” superfood. But researchers studying the gut microbiome are pointing to something much simpler: variety. Instead of focusing on one “perfect” food, scientists have found that people who eat a greater diversity of plant foods tend to have more diverse gut bacteria—a hallmark of a healthier microbiome. Since gut health has been […]READ MORE
June 17, 2024
Published by Grace O
When mangosteens are in season, from May to September, I can’t wait to get my hands on some to eat fresh and in my delicious chutney. I know that these exotic treats, sometimes called purple mangosteen, will soon be gone. These beautiful little fruits are about the size of a baseball. Dark purple in color, they have a tough outer shell. The top is crowned with small green leaves and the bottom is stamped with a flowerlike shape. They almost look manufactured, but this is how God makes them. You have to carefully cut a line around the tough outer pericarp—the […]
June 17, 2024
Published by Grace O
I’ve written about Mediterranean cuisine and the Mediterranean diet before. But it’s worth writing about again because it’s so delicious and so good for you! Cardiologists recommend a Mediterranean diet with its healthy fats, lean proteins and whole grains for weight control and a healthy heart. If there is one word that most defines the cuisines of the Mediterranean, it’s VEGETABLES! Sure, there’s plenty of meat, chicken, seafood and fruit, but the basis is an abundance of vegetables and creative ways to enjoy them. When describing a Mediterranean diet, we’re talking about the cuisines of Southern Europe—France, Spain, Italy, Greece, […]
June 1, 2024
Published by Grace O
Even if you don’t consider yourself an athlete or body-builder—as I certainly do not—you should be concerned with muscle health. Skeletal muscles are the tissues that enable your body to move, whether it’s gardening, a stroll in the park or a triathlon. Smooth or visceral muscles are the ones that line the stomach, intestines and blood vessels. And keep in mind that the all-important heart is made up of specialized cardiac muscle that must work continuously without a break our whole lives. In total, muscles account for about half your body weight. That’s a lot of mass to keep healthy […]
May 20, 2024
Published by Grace O
One of our FoodTrients® team members, Amy Sawelson Landes, recently spent a week in Mexico City. You wouldn’t necessarily think of Mexico as a place to find foods that add to your health and quality of life, but you’d be wrong! Most of us think of Mexican food as those combo platters oozing with cheese, rice, beans, and fried taco shells. Delicious, yes, but not as a steady diet and certainly not what we aim for at FoodTrients. Mexico City is a huge cosmopolitan metropolis. You can find almost any cuisine there. Mexico City residents seem to be especially fond […]
May 7, 2024
Published by Grace O
You may have decided that quinoa is ‘soooo 2016.’ Yes, it’s a healthful grain from Peru that was all the rage a few years ago, and rightfully so. It’s versatile, nutritious and contains twice the protein of white rice, and it’s gluten free. If you really want to be on the cutting edge when it comes to grains, try fonio. It’s an ancient grain that’s been cultivated in West Africa for thousands of years. The plant itself is extremely drought-tolerant and sustainable. With grains the color and texture of fine sand, it’s known as ‘The Seed of the Universe, the […]
May 7, 2024
Published by Grace O
Okinawa is in the southern-most prefecture of Japan, straddling the East China and the Philippine Seas. With its white, tropical beaches and turquoise waters, it’s not what you usually imagine when you think of Japan. Besides being known as the location of a U.S. Army base, Okinawa is one of the five ‘Blue Zones’ described by journalist, author and National Geographic fellow, Dan Buettner. These are five populations throughout the world with unusually high numbers of individuals who live happier, healthier lives, often to one hundred and beyond. In a nutshell, what these societies have in common is they: 1. […]
April 9, 2024
Published by Grace O
Golden berries go by many names. Some call them ground cherries. They grow on bushes, individually wrapped in husks like their cousin, the tomatillo. They are native to the Andes, which is why some people call them Inca berries or Aztec berries or even Peruvian cherries. Golden berries also grow in South Africa, where they are known as Cape gooseberries. Whatever you call them, just be sure to eat these bright yellow-orange fruits about the size of a cherry. Here in America, we most often see golden berries dried because they have a short growing season and an even shorter […]
April 9, 2024
Published by Grace O
After a very challenging winter (at least here in Southern California where we actually had blizzards that left ten feet of snow in the local San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains), we are so ready for spring! In most of the country, you can get most any vegetable any time of the year, because we import many items from places like Mexico and Central America. But beginning in March and April, spring vegetables are ready for action and local produce becomes readily available at markets—farmers and super. Here are a variety of spring vegetables that are especially sweet and delicious […]
March 27, 2024
Published by Grace O
Everyone loves chicken! That’s because it’s so versatile and takes on whatever flavors it’s cooked with. Chickens, as a source of high-quality protein, can be raised in small spaces and require relatively modest amounts of feed to grow rather quickly. Every culture in the world has a national version of a chicken recipe. Traveling the world and growing up in the Philippines, where the cuisine is influenced by so many cultures – Spanish, Asian, Indian, Polynesian, and American – I have been exposed to delicious dishes from around the globe. That’s why at FoodTrients we love exploring international flavors. What […]
March 27, 2024
Published by Grace O
Inflammation can wreak havoc on your health. It’s the body’s natural reaction to a stressor, which can be an injury, illness, infection or even a tough workout. Acute inflammation is a good thing, as long as it resolves the effects of stress on the body in the short term. But when it is chronic, occurring at high levels over a period of time due to a lack of sleep, poor diet, repeated infections, or other health conditions, it can lead to digestive problems, reduce the body’s ability to heal and lower immunity, leading to inflammatory diseases such as cancer, diabetes, […]
March 12, 2024
Published by Grace O
My fans have let me know how much they enjoy crockpot cooking, so I love including slow cooker recipes on the website and in my cookbooks. Slow cookers allow busy families the chance to come home to long-simmered soups, sauces, stews and other comforting meals that warm the soul. The trick to developing or converting recipes for slow cookers is to correctly estimate the liquid needed. Figure that about 2 cups of liquid will be evaporated during the cooking process over six to eight hours, so plan accordingly. For instance, if you want to make chicken soup or minestrone soup […]
March 12, 2024
Published by Grace O
I have written about Mediterranean superfoods and the huge benefits of this mostly plant-based diet which also includes small amounts of extra-virgin olive oil as the most common fat and plenty of seafood, whole grains, modest amounts of lean meats and chicken. In fact, according to Bloomberg, the healthiest countries in Europe (and in fact most of the world) are Italy, Spain, Greece, Iceland and Switzerland. The first three are, of course, Mediterranean countries, but who’d have thought that the Icelandic population would be fueled by superfoods? Then there’s the French food paradox: French cuisine features lots of delicious bread, […]
February 26, 2024
Published by Grace O
Even though the calendar (and the groundhog) says we’re less than six weeks from spring, we’re still in the middle of cold, flu, and Covid season. It’s important to boost your immune system to help ward off these nagging afflictions. It’s much easier to keep them at bay than to fight them off once they’ve settled in. If you haven’t already, you should read the article by our contributing writer and nutritionist Ginger Hultin. It provides in-depth descriptions of foods that contain vitamins, minerals, and compounds that help your body fight diseases. These FoodTrients can be found in delicious recipes […]