That's Fit

Sometimes I crave oatmeal and whip up a hot bowl with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries on top. Apparently, my skin craves the fiber-rich Super Food too.

Oatmeal's grainy little flakes perform mini miracles when applied to skin, says RealAge. It whisks away dead cells, irritation, and redness and leaves skin soft and glowing. Hey, even the FDA says oatmeal is effective for relieving dryness and inflammation, including insect stings, rashes, and eczema. No wonder finely powdered (colloidal) oatmeal is used in body soaks, scrubs, moisturizers, and soaps.

New York City dermatologist Amy Wechsler, MD, recommends using a colloidal oatmeal mask every week or two. She offers her own body treatment recipe right here.

I make a point of always eating breakfast, but if I have to get it on the run, one place I rarely go is Starbucks. Sure, they have some yogurt and fruit (not to mention those fantastic Americanos), but other than that, the options seem limited to sugary baked goods.

Well, good news Starbucks lovers. The gourmet coffee chain is coming out with some new and improved healthier breakfast offerings, currently referred to as Morning Source. USA Today has all the details, but here are some sample items:

• A protein power plate, available with or without peanut butter.
  
• Oatmeal with a variety of toppings, including fruits and nuts.
  
• Multigrain rolls with almond butter and/or fruit preserves
• Bran muffins.
  

What would you like to see on the new menu?

(Via Fitsugar)

Want permission to eat before you go to bed? Here it is: About 90 minutes before you turn in for the night, head to the kitchen and make yourself a snack. Make it light and around 200 calories and you won't head into dangerous eating territory. You will relax your muscles, quiet your spinning mind, and rev up the sleep-inducing hormones serotonin and melatonin -- if you eat one of these 10 picks.

Bananas. Bananas contain serotonin, melatonin, and the muscle-relaxing magnesium.

Chamomile Tea. Chamomile has a mild sedating effect.

If you've been eating (or feeding your kids) oatmeal for breakfast with the understanding that it's one of the healthiest choices you can make, you need to rethink your strategy.

While oatmeal can provide good nutrients, a recent study showed that kids who only ate instant oatmeal for breakfast experienced increased appetites and calorie consumption throughout the day. In fact, when compared to having a vegetable omelet and fruit, oatmeal increased appetite and calorie consumption by more than 80%. Steel-cut oats didn't have as drastic an effect as instant oatmeal, however.

The researchers attributed their findings to fluctuations in blood sugar resulting from a meal of processed grain products. Adding some protein at breakfast is essential in keeping blood sugar (and appetites) from fluctuating wildly throughout the day.

My son has a penchant for sugary cereals. I adopted him at age 10, so he had 10 years of forming his tastes and eating habits before he moved home with me. Luckily, he does enjoy a number of healthy foods. (I just recently succeeded in getting him to try (and enjoy) salmon.) Breakfast foods, however, are more of a challenge.

More often than not we have oatmeal, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, or eggs. But I do like to have a box of cereal in the pantry for those busy days. Getting him to change his preferences has been a slow process. In fact, just recently when we were at the grocery store he said "Fruit Loops are healthy. Right, Mom? They're made of fruit." Uh.... no.

HealthCastle has a great article discussing the truth about reduced-sugar products -- from cereal to instant oatmeal to granola bars to juice -- that are popping up on store shelves. The products are often aimed at kids, yet the claim of "reduced sugar" is supposed to appeal to health-conscious parents. Often, artificial sweeteners are used in place of the sugar -- calorie content remains about the same.

Looking to pump up your protein intake but aren't exactly thrilled with the idea of eating canned tuna? Fear not, you chicken of the sea -- there are plenty of much tastier foods out there that offer a heaping helping of this macronutrient.

The current issue of Maximum Fitness magazine serves up these fine alternatives to the usual protein suspects:

Beans. Score a solid 18g of protein from a cup of kidney beans, which take only a few minutes to cook up in a saucepan or microwave.

Eggs. Large eggs contain about 6.5g of protein each. Not a whole bunch, but most people don't just eat a single egg. It doesn't take a degree in advanced mathamatics to figure out that a hearty egg breakfast can hook you up with a healthy dose of pro.

A gluten-free diet is a must for people with celiac disease or an allergy to products containing wheat. It's not so easy being gluten free. Not only is gluten found in grains like wheat, barley, and rye, it's also added to many foods as a thickening agent. For example, some ice creams and even ketchup contain gluten.

The latest issue of Women's Health gives us a list of some of the tastiest gluten-free products on the market. Even if you don't require a gluten-free diet, give some gluten-free foods a chance. They're often made from different grains -- like quinoa -- and it's a good idea to incorporate new whole grains into your diet.

Check out the gallery for the Women's Health top gluten-free picks.

Pamela M. Peeke remembers racing home from grammar school hoping to find her mother's homemade oatmeal raisin cookies waiting for her. Rolled oats and raisins fueled her play on many occasions and because she didn't want to let go of this childhood comfort food, Peeke, now a nutrition and fitness expert, updated her mom's original recipe to include healthier ingredients. It's funny, says this woman whose titles include MD, MPH, FACP, and keynote speaker at Speaking of Women's Health 2007, how life can be just as tasty with less sugar and butter.

Peeke's recipe, featured in the book Love Notes to Our Moms and Other Women of Influence, goes as follows and makes a batch of 38 cookies, each with 75 calories, 2 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of protein, and even a gram of fiber.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup low-fat cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly coat baking sheet with canola oil.
• In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix briefly.
• Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add to creamed mixture and mix until all dry ingredients are moistened.
• Portion heaping spoonfuls of dough, about 3/4 oz. onto baking sheet about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake for seven minutes. Lightly flatten with finger. Rotate baking sheet and continue baking for four minutes.

Oats were featured in a You Are What You Eat SuperFood post on Christmas Day. It seemed fitting for those living in cold-weather climates to spotlight a healthy, warm-yourself-up sort of food. And since January finds more people warming up to steaming bowls of oatmeal than any other month -- that's why January is designated National Oatmeal Month -- it seems a great time to spice up this SuperFood with both flavor and nutritional value. These few ideas do just that.

• Mix some dried organic blueberries into your piping-hot bowl of oats and add a few walnuts too. Enjoy the boost of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids these add-ins provide.
  
  

• Stir in some sliced banana and a spoonful of organic peanut butter to transform your oatmeal into a nutty, potassium-rich extravaganza.
  
  

• Try some low-fat granola, flaxseed, wheat germ, and sesame seeds next time you serve up your oats.
  
  

For a few more oatmeal toppers and some recipes too, visit the Quaker Oatmeal website here.

Sodium is usually the first to go for someone diagnosed with high blood pressure. There's also another way to fight this condition, though, without drugs.

It's a simultaneous approach that involves cutting back on sodium intake while increasing consumption of potassium-rich foods. For greatest benefits, sodium should total 2,300 milligrams per day while potassium milligrams reach 4,700. Avoiding processed foods is a wise choice if you're watching your blood pressure -- sodium is added to most of these foods -- and upping your intake of potassium should come from foods, not supplements. Do check with your doctor about the amount of potassium you need. Some people with kidney ailments may have trouble processing potassium.

Once you get the go-ahead to pack some potassium power into your diet, here's what you might eat:

1 baked sweet potato, 694 mg
1 small baked potato, 610 mg
8 ounces non-fat yogurt, 580 mg
3 ounces cooked halibut, 490 mg
1 banana, 422 mg
1 cup milk, 380 mg
1 cup cantaloupe, 368 mg
1 cup orange juice, 355 mg
1 cup oatmeal, 120 mg

If you're trying to lose weight or just generally healthify your life, you need to take a critical look at your pantry. There are some definite pantry no-nos (chips, sweets, etc.), which you should rid yourself of in favor of healthier snacks. Such as? eDiets names these items as some of the best things to have in your pantry:

• Oatmeal: This high-fiber, low-fat breakfast choice (or afternoon snack) will keep you full for hours.
• Rice cakes: again, this low-fat, low-cal snack is a great way to fill that mid-afternoon craving. Try it with a bit of peanut butter on top.
  
• Almonds: They're full of protein and good fats, but make sure you don't eat too much.
  
• Bananas: they're a great source of potassium and can satisfy that sweet tooth.
  
• Green Tea: It's a great source of antioxidants and energy.
  

Want to know more? Read the original article.

What's in your pantry?

When you're a parent, it's important to make the best choices for your kids, to feed the the best food you can and make sure they're getting enough exercise. eDiets has come up with a list of must-have foods for your kids -- that is, these are the top ten foods that you should be feeding your kids on a regular basis:

• Oatmeal - fibre, zinc, calcium -- oatmeal is an almost perfect food and you can add fruit to make it tasty for little appetites
  
• Eggs - they are a great source of protein
  
• Nuts - nut butter is okay, but the more natural the better
  
• Yogurt - it's easier to digest than milk and is tastier too
• Melons - They're yummy and full of vitamin C
  
• Broccoli - it's full of calcium and other nutrients
  
• Sweet Potatoes - they have beta-carotene and lots of fiber
  
• Protein - it's important for growing bodies, so get it in where you can
  
• Whole grains - teach them healthy habits for like by giving them whole grains in their formative years
  
• Orange juice - as long as they don't drink to much, OJ is a really healthy way to get vitamin C

For more info and recipes, check out the full article. What do you feed your little ones?

I must say, one of the things I'm most thankful for in this world of media and agendas is the "truth in advertising" concept. Now it's true that companies put all kinds of spins and catch phrases on their products, but it's nice to know that ultimately what they literally say on the label must be true.

Case in point: Quaker has agreed (albeit after threat of lawsuit) to re-word some of the claims on its oatmeal packages to eliminate "exaggerated health claims." No worries, oatmeal is still a very heatlhy food. But it's not necessarily magical in its abilities to fight cholesterol and other conditions, so the label will no longer imply that it is.

Now I'm not saying food and nutrition labeling is perfect, in fact it's far from it. But I do take some solace in the fact that at least it's supposed to be.

Losing weight would be easy if you weren't so hungry all the time, right? If that sounds like you, check this out -- it's a list of natural appetite suppressants that are both good for you and good for your waistline. I wish I could say that the list is full of devilishly delicious things like chocolate, but the truth is, the healthy things are what keep you full -- things like pine nuts, flax seed, oatmeal, salad and apples. Luckily, these are things that are easy to incorporate into your diet. Add some toasted pine nuts to your salad and you've got two on the list covered!

I find that having high-fiber (3 g or more) bread is good for curbing your appetite. What keeps you full?

If I skip breakfast and launch myself headfirst into my day, I often don't get hungry until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Though it's tempting to think that I'm doing myself a favor by avoiding all those calories, the truth is that when I do skip breakfast, I usually end up making up for it...and then some. I make poor food choices because I'm so hungry in the afternoon, and find myself snacking late into the evening.

Breakfast really is important, especially if you're trying to lose weight. "But I feel hungrier at lunch if I eat breakfast than if I don't," you might be thinking. That's probably true, but the reason you are is because that breakfast you ate revved up your metabolism and told your body to start burning calories.

Here's a list of ten reasons why breakfast really is the most important of the day. Eating a healthy breakfast (skip the donuts and high sugar cereals) will not only help you lose weight, it will also help you feel better and perform better at work or school. And remember, though oatmeal and whole grain cereals certainly are great choices for your morning meal, you can always make things more interesting. What's your favorite breakfast?