Low Calorie, Healthy Snack Ideas That You’re Bound to Love

Snacks are the bane of any dieter’s existence. You can have as great a diet as you like, balance all your nutrition really carefully, and then an attack of the munchies comes along and suddenly your wellness and wellbeing go out of the window as you reach into the biscuit barrel (and again, and again… )

 

The way to beat the snack attack is to be prepared. Next time the munchies hit, be ready to fight back, armed with recipes for low calorie snacks, smoothies, dips and popcorn. Stock up the pantry in readiness, and just don’t buy any biscuits or sweets at all.

 

One of the must indulgent (but not really) snacks that you can possibly keep in the house is the chocolate-covered frozen banana. To make these, get some ordinary bananas and chop them in half, through the middle. Get some lollipop sticks (the wooden ones) and gently insert them into the flat edge of each piece of banana. Put the banana popsicles onto a sheet of wax paper and slide them into the freezer for a few hours. When they’re frozen, quickly dip them in a pot of melted chocolate and them put them back into the freezer to set. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can also sprinkle the hot chocolate mixture with coconut or chopped nuts.

 

Cherry cream cheese is another one that looks and tastes fabulous but won’t show up on the scales later. Blend some fresh cherries (black are best for this) and stir the puree into cream cheese. Spread this on a bagel or a graham cracker for a sweet and tasty low-calorie snack.

 

On movie night, reduce the calories of your favourite popcorn dramatically by making air-dried popcorn and then sprinkling it with a little cayenne pepper and some fresh Parmesan cheese.

Categories: banana, calorie, cheese, chocolate, cream cheese, diet, nbsp, popcorn, snacks

Go Bananas: The Multiple Uses of the Yellow Fruit

Bananas are fantastic – not only are they a vital part of your wellness and wellbeing, they are also fun and interesting. What’s more entertaining to a child than peeling a banana and eating it, after all? There are loads of great ways to include bananas in your diet, and the nutrition and flavour that they add to a number of dishes makes them as flexible a staple as you could hope to find.

 

In summer, the best ways to enjoy bananas is as a banana-sicle. To make them, peel four ripe bananas and cut them in half (across the middle). Put a flat wooden ice cream stick into the flat end of each piece of banana, and then place the pieces onto wax paper and pop them into the freezer. When the pieces of banana have frozen, serve them up as yummy, freezy banana-sicles. If you want an extra-special bite, dip your frozen bananas (very quickly) into some melted butterscotch or chocolate, and then sprinkle with chopped nuts or coconut.

 

Banana leaves are also a great way to tenderise a roast, and are traditionally used in Asian countries to wrap meat and make it more tender. Next time you do a roast, add a ripe, peeled banana to the roasting pan, and see how it makes the meat soft and fall to pieces on your fork.

 

It may sound crazy, but you can also use bananas to polish silverware and leather shoes! Banana peel is used for this, but just make sure you remove any stringy material from the inside of the peel first. Rub the inside of the peel onto your shoes or onto silver, and then afterwards buff up the object in question with a soft cloth or a paper towel. You can even use this same technique to restore leather furniture. Just test it on a small area first before you attack an entire leather chair!

Categories: banana, leaves, skin

The Health Benefits of Bananas that Will Blow Your Mind

Ok, there’s nothing particularly new or exciting about bananas – apart from, you know, a certain hilarious phallic appeal. However, while current, hip superfruits saturate headlines and diet plans, it’s the banana that has quietly and brilliantly benefited your wellbeing in more ways than you know. Sure, it goes great in a sundae or milkshake, but making a banana one of your five-a-day is one of the healthiest decisions you can make for your diet wellness.

 

As well as a heaping helping of dietary fibre, there are three sugars in bananas; glucose, fructose and sucrose. This means a huge boost to your digestive health, and instant energy for your workouts. Forget protein shakes; banana is the true energy food. However, if you think bananas are limited to providing energy and enhancing your digestive system, you’ve got another thing coming. Bananas help to regulate your blood pressure, improve your overall mood and even fight against major diseases! In fact, studies have shown that there’s the potential for bananas to be a new oral vaccination against the Hepatitis B virus. Rest assured, once you see all the health benefits of bananas, you’ll know that you’ve found the right fruit:

 

1. Cancer protection: A fibre known as pectin is found in bananas, and has been classified as the best way to beat colon cancer. While the fibre you find in wholegrains is insoluble, pectin is a soluble fibre, which slows down your digestion and helps you to control your weight. In each serving of banana, you will find two grams of pectin.

 

2. PMS prevention: You face a lot of problems during your period. However, for those times when you forget your pill, a banana can come to the rescue. Bananas contain vitamin B6, meaning they can help to regulate your sugar levels, alleviate your mood and help you relax. Plus, as bananas fight off signs of depression and anxiety, they also make you feel happier.

 

3. Anaemia aversion: Bananas have a high content of iron, meaning that they work to stimulate haemoglobin production in your body. Therefore, bananas are ideal if you suffer from anaemia, or you’re at particular risk to it – this includes vegetarians and women who experience heavy periods.

 

4. Blood pressure improvement: This tropical fruit is filled with the goodness of potassium, while also being very low in sodium. Hence, if you suffer from high blood pressure and are more prone to heart diseases, bananas are the perfect fruit for you.

 

5. Brain power enhancement: Have trouble getting your brain into gear in the morning? Eat a banana for breakfast! According to research, eating bananas in the morning have helped children to be more alert at school and improved their ability to grasp new things. Not only is this the case in adults, but bananas also regulate your sugar levels and offer a boost of energy, meaning you can stay on top of your game all day.

 

6. Spot relief: Whether you have painful pimples or irritating and itchy mosquito bites, the peel of the banana is the natural remedy you seek. It sounds too good to be true, but banana peel reduces swelling and soothes the affected area.

 

7. Ulcer reduction: It’s difficult to eat many fruits if you suffer from stomach ulcers, particularly those with a high acidic content like oranges, pineapples and grapes. Bananas, on the other hand, do not irritate your stomach ulcers but bring relief by coating the lining of your stomach with their cool, smooth texture.

 

8. Smoking cessation: The vitamins B12 and B6 in bananas help against signs of withdrawal, making it easier for you to quit smoking.

Categories: banana, Bananas, blood pressure, cancer prevention, energy, fibre, Health Benefits, nbsp, quit smoking, stomach ulcers, sugar levels

Salt: The Bane Of Your Healthy Eating Plan

When we think about ways to live a healthy lifestyle with a great diet there are some obvious things that we can put our finger on as things to avoid. Clearly any medical professional, and probably anyone with common sense, will know that if you want to improve your diet there are certain things you should avoid. Most people, when asked about this, would give answers such as fat and sugar as those things that are very bad for us and that we should attempt to keep out of our diets if possible. But these are not the only things that can cause a problem. In fact there is one that often slips on the radar despite the obvious problems it can cause for our health. In this instance we are talking about the menace of salt.

 

Salt is a strong part of just about every food. We think of it as a food enhancer. But we now are seeing rather worrying levels of salt consumption. For example, it is known that the average person in the U.S. consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium (the principal component of salt) daily. This might not seem like a lot become it becomes very alarming when you realise the fact that the American Heart Association’s recommended limit is 1,500 milligrams a day. So in effect most people are now eating more than double the recommended level of salt that they should be.

 

Given that salt is linked to all sorts of problems, especially with your heart and the clogging of the arteries, it’s clear that something needs to be done about this over eating of salt. Do you have this problem? If you are someone who likes to put salt on your food or eats lots of processed meals it is highly likely that you’re getting too much salt in your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Isn’t it about time you did something about it? So here are some great meals that you can eat that have very low levels of salt in them.

 

For breakfast, how about trying banana nut oatmeal? This hearty dish combines oatmeal with banana, mixed nuts and a little sprinkling of cinnamon for delicious flavour. This is great as a filling and nutritious breakfast and has the added advantage that it is almost entirely free from salt. This comfort food is a great way to start the day. You could also try having granola or smoothies for your morning meal.

 

How about lunch then? Well salads are always a great choice, be sure to get plenty of healthy mixed leaves with a variety of other salad vegetables such as peppers, beetroot, cucumber and carrot. Be sure not to use store-bought dressings as these can often catch you out with alarming high levels of fat and (you guessed it) salt. Homemade soups are a great way to go too. There are plenty of healthy options that you can go for including leek and potato and carrot and coriander – deliciously flavoursome without having to add lots of salt.

 

For dinner you can make use of healthy and filling components such as pasta and then combine it with a delicious sauce using herbs and spices for flavour rather than salt. Herb-roasted turkey or pan-fried steak are another fine choice that impart lots of flavour without having to add any salt to the recipe. The key thing to do is to avoid packaged meals and when you are cooking using herbs and spices to flavour the food rather than salt. This will keep you on the path to healthiness.

Categories: banana, beetroot, flavour, Food, Healthy, nbsp, Salt, salt nbsp