GeekSugar

iPhone App You Need (If You're Rattling Right Now): CoffeeNut

GeekSugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:00:31 PDT

I love graphs, I love statistics, and I loooove coffee. I do want to know how much I drink coffee and spend on it - especially when, late morning, I'm vibrating in my office chair and typing and talking extremely fast.

Welcome to my life CoffeeNut (just $1 at the App Store). Please tell me to slow down.

Hit the Health Food Store With These Earth-Friendly Tips

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:59:48 PDT

Buying groceries from the local Whole Foods or other health food store (like January Jones did last weekend) often means you're doing your body good. Once you're there, the choices you make may also do good for the planet. Follow these earth-friendly tips on your next grocery shopping trip.

Choose an eco-friendly mode of transportation: Reduce smog-causing pollutants by walking, biking, carpooling, or taking a bus to the store. Getting there by foot or two wheels is also good exercise, so it's a double bonus.
Shop with reusable bags: Just think about all the waste created from using disposable grocery bags. Do your part by bringing reusable bags for groceries and produce. Not only are you doing good for Mother Earth, canvas bags have sturdy handles, which make them easier to carry, and their durability makes them less likely to burst open, which means no wasted food. If you forget your bags, always choose paper bags over plastic.

Keep reading for more eco-friendly ways to hit up your health food store.

Colorful and Varied: A Brazilian Food Primer

Camilla Salem — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:00:34 PDT

Photo: Susannah Chen

For a country as large as Brazil, it's no surprise that each region has its own traditional recipes and dishes. Regional cuisines have been influenced over time by immigrants and what natural crops are available to them. In the North, you will find caruru, a dish featuring okra, onions, shrimp, peanuts, and palm oil, and in the South, you'll be able to sit down to a plate of lasagna. The Northeast enjoys a stew that has been made for 300 years, while the Southeast is more accustomed to meals featuring rice and beans. Regardless of all of the differences, all of the different cuisines sound fresh and flavorful. Find out some basic Brazilian dishes and ingredients when you keep reading.

From the Community: Dr. Oz’s Top 10 Healthy Eating Musts

Fit Community — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:51:55 PDT

FitSugar reader JessicaSmithTV posted these healthy eating tips from Dr. Oz in our 10 Pounds Down! community group.

In honor of National Nutrition month, we asked Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and host of the Dr. Oz Show, to share with us his top 10 musts when it comes to eating for better health, weight loss, and overall wellness. We were surprised to learn a few of these!

1) Eat this #1 cancer-fighting, cleansing produce item

What ranks at the head of the class when it comes to the produce department? "Broccoli is the best produce option, because it cleanses the liver and helps to fight cancer," says Dr. Oz.

2) Stay in shape by eating these

Think you’ll stay slim by just sticking to salads and fat-free foods? Think again! "Nuts are the number-one food for staying in shape," says Dr. Oz.

3) Don’t just cut calories to drop lbs.

"Losing weight isn’t all about cutting calories. The brain looks for nutrients, not calories," says Dr. Oz. Yet another reason to focus on whole, unprocessed foods to help speed up weight loss!

See the rest of the tips after the break

What to Do With Extra Gifted Toffee

Anna Monette Roberts — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:20:12 PST

Neighbors, friends, and families exchange numerous sweets over the holidays, and it's not uncommon to end up with multiples of the same dessert - especially toffee. Because toffee contains butter, which eventually spoils, and nuts, which go rancid after a few months, you will want to eat your toffee up by Valentine's Day. Here are five things you can do with toffee, so you don't grow bored of eating it!

Crumble the toffee pieces on top of buttercream frosted cakes or cupcakes.
Liven up a classic brownie recipe by mixing in toffee bits instead of chocolate chips in the batter
Make oatmeal, coconut, and toffee cookies.
Top your coffee or hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkle with toffee.
Freeze the toffee for up to four months in an air-tight zip-lock bag. The toffee might soften up over time, but the nuts and butter will maintain their freshness if kept frozen.

Ever had the problem of too much toffee bark? Tell us what you did with it.

Source: Flickr User Noema PÃ©rez

Healthy Nibbles For Holiday Snacking

Heather Dale — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:51:37 PST

It's inevitable that the snack table is one of the most popular socializing zones in the house during the holiday season. Due to their close proximity to the television, treat-filled coffee tables are prime targets for unconscious nibbling - and who doesn't like snacking while watching a sporting event or a favorite Christmas movie? This year, try removing the bowls of candies and chocolates and replacing them with healthier snack options. Here are some of my favorites that are just as tasty, and your guests won't even know the difference!

4 Surprising Things You Don't Know about Calories

Prevention — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:12:55 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Only 12 percent of Americans can estimate the calories they eat in a day! Find out why we're so clueless and get easy ways to stop calorie confusion.
By Mara Betsch, Prevention

You know what calories are, and you probably know that if you eat too many, you’ll gain weight. But do you know how many are in your favorite deli sandwich? Or how many calories you should really eat each day? Most Americans don’t. Only 12% can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day someone their age, height, weight, and physical activity, according to a 2010 survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation. So what is it about calories that keeps us baffled? Here are 8 reasons you’re confused about calories and the simple steps that will help you do the math.

8 Healthy Foods That Help Fight Disease

1. Portions Sizes Are Out of Control
You’ve all heard about the rapidly expanding serving sizes of restaurant and fast food portions, but just how bad are they? Portions sizes in restaurants may contain double or triple the calories of home-cooked meals, and studies show eating out is associated with a higher BMI. Unfortunately, those portions affect our waistlines. When there’s more food on the plate, people eat more-up to 30% more, according to an analysis of several studies.

Stop the confusion: Use this cheat sheet of portion sizes. We know it’s hard to look at your plate as decks of cards, tennis balls, and all the other, so start by measuring out your food servings at home and take a good look at what a half-cup of pasta looks like. Until the serving sizes are engrained in your brain, when dining out, aim to eat half of your meal, saving the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Comfort Food That’s Actually Good for You

2. Serving Sizes Are Deceiving
"There really aren’t standard serving sizes for packaged foods, which makes them confusing," explains Elisa Zied, RD, author Nutrition at Your Fingertips. She gives the example of cereal. A standard serving size of breakfast cereal is approximately 50 g, but depending on the cereal, that could mean a cup and a half of flakes or half a cup of heartier granola. Depending on the type of cereal you’re eating, just eyeing how much you put in the bowl, like most people do, can lead to inaccurate calorie counts.

Not only that, but larger-than-life snack foods may seem like single servings even though they often contain two to three servings per packet. Buy a 16-ounce bottled Coca-Cola, and the nutrition label reads 100 calories . . . for one of the two servings in the bottle. Drink the whole thing, as many people do, and you’re really getting 200 calories. Eat the whole bag of Austin Zoo Animal Crackers, commonly found in office vending machines, and you’re getting 230 calories, nearly two servings, instead of just one.

Keep reading to learn even more about calories!

Could Changing Your Mood Be as Easy as Changing What You Eat?

Allure — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:08:25 PST

We're excited to present this story from our friends at Allure:

Turns out eating well won't just make you feel better in some abstract, "brown rice is healthy so I'll feel virtuous if I eat it" kind of a way. A diet that is specifically designed to reduce inflammation may boost your mood. Recently, inflammation has been implicated in nearly every physical woe, from blemishes to the biggies like heart disease and Alzheimer's. Here at Allure, we've reported on how anti-inflammatories benefit the skin: topical antioxidants, and certain foods and supplements may all reduce acne, signs of aging, and skin cancer. Now Dr. Andrew Weil, health guru and author of the new book, Spontaneous Happiness, argues that eating certain foods won't just make us look better; it could actually keep the blues away. "It looks as if depression is another manifestation of inflammation," says Weil. He outlines a diet that will suppress harmful inflammation throughout your body when you keep reading.

3 Easy Ways to Get More Key Nutrients

Shape — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:10:31 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

According to the most recent nutrition surveys, the majority of Americans fall short when it comes to hitting the recommended marks for the three most important food groups: fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Picture this: if you add up all the fruit and veggie servings the average American should have had over a lifetime that they did not eat, they would fill an entire football field. That’s a lot of missing nutrients!

If you tend to fall short of the targets, which are two daily servings of fruit, and three each for veggies and whole grains, start by focusing on adding one extra serving in each category per day. If you’re consistent, just these three changes can snowball into huge health benefits over time.

See how to get more nutrients in your diet after the break!

A Reader Recipe: No-Bake Chocolate Nut Clusters

Fit Community — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:56:56 PDT

If the thought of another fun-size piece of candy isn't appealing to you, whip up a batch of these no-bake chocolate clusters, which reader JuicyNoelle shared in our Healthy Recipe group.

In these No Bake Chocolate Nut Clusters I used a high quality cocoa and some walnuts to recreate a childhood favorite of mine (rich, caramel turtle clusters). I hope you enjoy their simplicity as much as I do.

Read the recipe after the break.