Meatless Monday: Eat More Red Vegetables

One Step At a Time...

You Can Go Meatless

For All Three Meals

Eat Your Reds (Veggies, That Is!)

Eating greens used to be synonymous with eating more vegetables. Today, eating a rainbow of vegetables is the mantra for healthy eating. Research continues to reveal the unique nutrients found in every color spectrum—green, red, yellow, orange, purple, white—but red vegetables received a nod from the USDA with the addition of the red-orange vegetable subgroup to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. It looks like it’s time to paint your plate red with veggies!

Vibrant red vegetables, including tomatoes, rhubarb, beets, radishes and red peppers, onions, and cabbage, make a meal pop with colorful and nutritious appeal. Much more than pretty packages, these gems pack powerful antioxidants, including lycopene and anthocyanins, which are responsible for the rosy hue, and a host of health benefits.

Red shades of lycopene. The antioxidant lycopene is credited for the deep red pigment of certain vegetables—notably, tomatoes—and is known for its role in the prevention and treatment of many diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, infertility, osteoporosis, certain types of cancer, and skin damage. Tomatoes are the highest source of lycopene, so consumption has been associated with prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. A study in a 2013 Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology reviewed data from 17 studies that showed a lower incidence of prostate cancer in consumers with higher intake of tomato products.

Anthocyanins paint vegetables red—and healthy. Anthocyanins are a type of flavonoid that occurs naturally in plants, lending hues of red, blue, purple, and black to fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries, eggplants, and radishes. (See Eat Anthocyanin-rich Plants, from Blueberries to Black Beans on page 3.) Their antioxidant properties help protect the body’s cells from damaging free radicals. According to a 2010 study in the journal Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, anthocyanins are linked to the prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity control.

Bright, beautiful, and robust with nutrients, the benefits of bringing red vegetables to the plate are as pleasing to the palate as they are essential to good health. 


Red Vegetable Table:

Healthy Meatless Recipe:

Mascarpone Spinach Pasta

(adapted from Macheesmo )

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces spaghetti pasta
• 2/3 cups mascarpone cheese
• 2/3 cups mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 big bunch spinach, washed well
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted
• Pasta water, for cooking

Helpful Equipment: Salad Spinner

Directions:

• Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
• Cook pasta in salted water until done (about 1 tablespoon kosher salt per gallon).
• Meanwhile wash spinach well.
• Stir together mascarpone, lemon juice, salt, and nutmeg.
• When pasta is done, reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the pasta water.
• Drain pasta and then add pasta back to pan. Pour over mascarpone sauce as well as about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Stir pasta over low heat.
• Stir in spinach and continue stirring until spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.
• Sauce should thicken as it cooks, if it is too thick than add more pasta water by the tablespoon.
• Serve pasta immediately garnished with toasted nuts.
  
  
  Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

Healthy Weekly Motivator

Relationships and Your Heart

If you dig deep into the research of the medical and mental health fields, you will find links between physical and emotional well-being. Since most of us have experienced some level of unwanted stress due to a relationship or the pursuit of that elusive love, it shouldn’t be difficult to see the connection: our relationships impact our levels of stress which in turn affect our cardiovascular health.

Remember Green Goes With Everything

Let's All Try to be Fresh, Clean and Green

Earth Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 22,2014.What will you be doing to help your environment?Let's get every nook and cranny spick—and -span. And let's make sure we do it right...with products that are safe, especially around your little ones; powerful against even the most stubborn dirt; green for the planet; and smart on your wallet. In other words, let's Get Clean with Shaklee.Your home should be the safest place on earth. Is yours? Clean it up with the safe,powerful, natural, green, smart clean that is Shaklee.One Get Clean Starter Kit keeps our planet greener by keeping 108 pounds of packaging waste out of landfills.

Have a great week and remember a better tomorrow starts with what you eat today!

Do you have a favorite meatless recipe you would like to share with us? Send it my way!

Wishing you health and wellness from the inside out,

Lisa

LQ WELLNESS

Professional Wellness Coach

973-383-0955

lisaquinnwc@embarqmail.com

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“A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.”

~ Thomas Carlyle ~