We all love cornbread, but even a small piece can contain up to 300 calories -- and that's without the butter! A reader who remains anonymous is searching for a healthy cornbread recipe so that she can enjoy it along with her family and friends, rather than pretending not to care for it because of it's high calorie content.

Traditional cornbread is usually full of butter and sugar. I am replacing sugar with a dash of Sun Crystals, which contain half the calories of regular sugar. I am switching out the butter for fat-free Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is high in calcium and protein and low in lactose, making this suitable for people who are lactose intolerant. I am also adding a cup of canned corn to provide fiber and texture to the dish, by doing this I am also cutting the fat per serving since corn is naturally low in fat. Corn also contains B vitamins, which have been shown to help improve memory and aid in reducing the risk for colon cancer and heart attack. Corn also contains zeaxanthin and lutein, which aid in eye and heart health.

Try this delicious cornbread recipe!

On your next trip to the farmers market, pick up some delicious and nutritious fresh corn.

Photo: Saskei, Flickr

As summer winds down, so does one of my favorite things about the sunny season -- freshly-grown veggies. Sweet, juicy and succulent, you'd be hard pressed to find produce as tasty as this in December, particularly in the part of the world where I live. So let's appreciate them while we can, OK?

The Washington Post recently did just that by celebrating a summertime favorite, fresh corn on the cob. Corn has a bit of a bad reputation, but as it happens, it has some essential nutrients like vitamin B5, vitamin C and folate. An ear of corn is about 100 calories (though obviously that number goes up when you pile on the butter) and -- having both soluble and insoluble fiber-- it acts as a sort of "snow plow" on your digestive system by helping to clean out some of the bad stuff in there. And here's another corn tip: Cooking it increases the antioxidant value, so make sure you eat yours hot.

Of course, corn isn't the only summer veggie that should be making an appearance on your plate this season.

Kristen told us about the recently-launched high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) ad campaign. By now, you've probably seen the commercials. The ads bother me to no end. Not only because they imply that HFCS is natural ("it's made from corn") but because of the disturbing way the people are portrayed.

The people who are concerned about HFCS in the commercials come off rude, condescending, and uninformed. Seriously. Would you actually tell a friend that you don't think they care what they feed their kids? On the other hand, the people who think HFCS is fine are knowledgeable and polite. Personally, I think the commercials poke fun at people who are health-conscious and care about what they put in their bodies.

CBS News launched an investigation and found that three of the six studies supporting the Corn Refiners Association's claim that HFCS is no different than sugar were funded by organizations that stand to profit from HFCS acceptance. It's not unusual for parties with a vested interest to fund studies, but it does give reason to raise a questioning eyebrow.

[via FitSugar]

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• Corn tortillas count as a whole grain. Whole corn is an influential member of the whole grain family and reportedly has twice the antioxidant activity of apples.
• Taco-sized tortillas are quick calorie cutters. Two six-inch soft yellow corn tortillas in place of the same sized flour version saves 110 calories and adds an extra gram of fiber to your diet.
• Tortillas can be made from a variety whole grains -- corn, multigrain (mixtures of whole wheat, rye, barley and oats), brown rice, hemp and teff (a whole grain staple in Ethiopia).
• Tortillas are versatile. You can't go wrong if you fill with black or pinto beans, lots of veggies, sliced avocado, guacamole, even nut butter and fruit.
  

Perhaps I need to rethink my Mexican mindset. Seems I can find some healthy helpings of food at my favorite local hot spot. Just need to make sure to keep the chips and salsa off the table. Well, maybe not the salsa. But the chips, for sure.

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No, organic soda is not the way to go. The only way to go when it comes to soda is to skip it altogether.

Organic soda, like all soda, contains zero nutrients -- and a bigger price tag. A six-pack of the organic stuff will cost you about $5, and yes, it's made without high fructose syrup (clearly, a bonus) but each can contains 120 calories -- that's 20 more than a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola Classic.

Cutting back on nutritionally-void foods and drinks is the best way to go, says Prevention magazine. So ditch the soda and any other organic junk food that temps your taste buds. These items might be better for the planet, but they aren't any better for you.

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I recently started watching an interesting documentary on NetFlix called "King Corn." In it, two guys from Boston relocate to Iowa to plant corn on a one-acre plot of land they purchase. I admit to only watching about half of the film (though I do intend on finishing it), but even from that much viewing I learned a great deal about this vegetable of the moment.

Despite corn's apparent meteoric rise to fame, due in large part to its use in the production of ethanol, it has actually been quite popular and widely-used for some time. Apart from it being eaten as-is, corn has sneakily become part of almost all of our diets. For example, in the documentary, one of the filmmakers asks that a scientist perform an analysis of his hair. To his surprise, the scientist found high traces of corn. How could that be, wondered the filmmaker, as this test was performed before he moved to Iowa to grow his crop. The answer: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

This sweetener is found in a number of items found in supermarkets; from soda to candy, breads to condiments. In short, the stuff is everywhere, and we've been eating it for far longer -- and in greater amounts -- that most of us realize. So, what does this mean for our health? Well, if a new study out of (ironically) the University of Iowa is correct, it means that high amounts of fructose may cause symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). This supports a great deal of evidence from other studies on fructose, as well as a lawsuit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) against Cadbury Schweppes for labeling 7-Up as "All Natural" or "100% Natural", despite containing high-fructose corn syrup.

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Are you thinking about upping your magnesium intake after reading yesterday's post about strong bones? If so, here's a snack, right from the pages of HEAL magazine, that you might try. It contains a recommended magnesium component: Avocado. Even if you're not so concerned with magnesium but just want a tasty treat, give this recipe a try.

Avocado & Corn Salsa

3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup quartered grape tomatoes
1 medium avocado, diced,
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or not)

Toss all these ingredients together in a medium bowl, serve with tortilla chips, and there you have it. Rest assured, each of the eight 1/4 cup servings in this dish won't break your health bank with their 50 calories, 3 g fat, 5 g carbohydrates, and 37 mg sodium.

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Fitzness Fiends is a section devoted to you, the reader! We all have learned so much on our path to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other! Fitzness Fiends are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect, some are not. All have health on the mind. Please send Fitz your answers to these questions with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Justin

Age: 23

Occupation: IT Specialist

How often do you exercise? Usually 5 times a week.

What type of exercise do you do? Walking outside, elliptical, weight lifting, and the treadmill when it's too cold to walk outside.

What gets you to workout, even when you're feeling lazy? Picturing the foods I ate sitting in my stomach.

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January's Men's Journal magazine serves up some definite corny news, informing readers that in the same way Morgan Spurlock opened our eyes with his documentary Super Size Me, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis take us to the cornfields of Iowa to school us on our strange and unhealthy dependence on corn.

Directed by a guy named Aaron Wolf, the new documentary King Corn will apparently convince us that nearly everything we eat is corn. Our livestock feeds on it, our soda is sweetened by it, our food is deep-fried in it, and even the medication NyQuil contains it. Why is this newsworthy? Because corn is likely the root cause of America's obesity epidemic.

Cheney and Ellis, both 24, don't just passively study and report on this whole corn issue. They live it. Leaving their suburban Boston homes, the pair spends a year growing their very own acre of corn. The first thing they learn: It's a cheap and nutritionless kernel that dominates America's corn belt and thus, everything we put in our bodies. They tell us that we overproduce corn, force feed it to our cows instead of allowing them to graze, and make high-fructose corn syrup in crazy quantities. They also interview a New York cab driver suffering from Type II diabetes, a man who happened to drop 100 pounds by giving up corn-sweetened soda.

"This documentary is enough to leave you distrustful of everything on your plate," says the Boston Globe. For a sneak peek at the movie that will challenge your trust, take a peek at the King Corn trailer, located right here.

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Fan of corn, are ya? I am as well, from baked chips to fresh off the cob. But recent statistics from U.S. health experts say cutting down on your corn intake may make you slimmer since the stalk vegetable is rich in sugars and calories.

The thing here is that corn is in so many daily food products that it's hard to cut back. From those processed corn chips to high-fructose corn syrup (in every soft drink) to those corn flakes in the morning, corn is everywhere.

That doesn't mean you can't eat corn, but maybe not four times a day, for example. Do you plan your own daily menus, or eat on the fly? Either way, do you eat a lot of corn?

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I'm flipping through the October 1, 2007 issue of Family Circle magazine -- yes, I'm a month behind -- and I keep stumbling upon diet and exercise tips that are really quite interesting. Seems only fair I'd share with you these random tidbits about dogs, sleep, and food cravings. So here goes:

• Walking your dog for 20 minutes five times per week for one year led to an average weight loss of 14 pounds for those who were part of a recent study. If you don't have your own pooch, consider volunteering to walk dogs at a local animal shelter.

• If you skimp on your sleep, you're more likely to eat fast food. Why? Probably because feeling tired makes cooking a healthy dinner seem like a lot of hard work. Swinging through the drive-through or plopping down in that booth at McDonald's is so much easier.

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With cigarette sales slumping and entire cities declaring smoking bans, tobacco farmers have seen a drop in demand for their product. Add an influx of imported, cheaper grades of tobacco coming from China, Brazil and Zimbabwe, and the farmers started hitting hard times.

The federal government in Canada decided to provide help to this troubled industry. They offered an incentive to the farmers to switch to other types of crops.

Over the past few years, tobacco farmers have been taking them up on the offer. The $67-million aid package helped them move away from tobacco and to a range of healthier crops - ginseng, lavender, hemp, asparagus, sweet corn, strawberries and cucumbers.

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