That's Fit

The blueberry muffin: an eternal favorite, bursting with moist flavor, sabotaging diets everywhere. Your love of blueberry muffins doesn't have to translate to bigger hips; you can have your muffin and your slim figure.

The trick is this: adding more nutritious ingredients while cutting out the excess bad fats and calories. In a past post, Jessica has rehabbed blueberry muffins into a pretty decent healthy breakfast treat. Let's take it several steps further.

Add more nutrition
Blueberries are one of the top antioxidants, but you can add more goodies to your muffins to make them even more nutritious:

• sunflower seeds, which also add a nice crunch, about 1/4 cup
  
• lemon peel and/or juice, zest and juice of one lemon
  
• whole oats, about 1/2 cup
• chunks of other fruits, like apple, pear or other berries
• nuts of your choice, 1/2 cup
• ground flax seeds, about 1/4 cup

Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Growing up, my mother always told me whole wheat bread was better than white bread. She could never explain exactly why--it was just one of those things that was. And now, the benefits of whole grains aren't just touted by mothers. Doctors, researchers, nutritionists -- everyone who has a say in the world of healthy living is speaking out about how important whole grains are to your diet.

Granola in all its forms is widely understood to be healthy. It's what you should take with you on a hike for a quick energy fix, or add to your fruit to add some nutritional balance to your breakfast. And while it's pretty obvious that a chocolate-covered granola bar or trail mix with Smarties added in won't do your diet any favours, mixing some plain organic granola to your yogurt in the morning can't hurt right?

Granola is generally healthy -- it's made primarily of oats, whole grains, nuts, seeds and maybe some dried fruit. But is it a diet-friendly choice? What do you think?

While visiting family over the holidays, I was treated to a piping hot bowl of oatmeal made with steel cut oats -- perfect for the freezing temps that kept us holed up inside, swarming around the warm fireplace. I kept hearing about how healthy the "steel cut" part of this oatmeal was.

Isn't oatmeal just oatmeal? Does the type of oats used to make this tasty treat really matter?

Yes, it does matter.

Steel cut oats, also known as Irish or Scotch oats, are less processed than their rolled counterparts. These longer-to-cook oats are heartier, healthier, and come with a chewier texture. Steel cut oats are a definite oatmeal upgrade and come with these stats: 150 calories, 4 g fiber, 2.5 g fat, and 1 g sugar.

Grains, like steel cut oats, are the way to go. Here are some others you might add to your menu.

Wheat Germ
It contains more nutrients than any other vegetable and more protein than most meats. Sprinkle on a smoothie or add to your favorite (healthy) cookie batter and you'll fill yourself with 102 calories, 3 g fiber, 3 g fat, and no sugar.

Bulgar
Often used in tabouli, this one is has a low glycemic index and is far healthier than rice or couscous. It's quick to cook and can be added to almost any recipe. The basics: 151 calories, 8 g fiber, no fat, and no sugar.

Quinoa
Pronounced keen-wah, this protein-packed grain is complete -- this means it supplies the body with the amino acids it can't make on its own. Considered a rice substitute, this go-to grain is gluten-free, easy to digest, and high in all sorts of good stuff. Eat it like oatmeal or add it to stew for starters. The lowdown: 159 calories, 3.5 g fiber, 2 g fat, and 1 g sugar.

Flax Seed
Check out the fiber packed into this omega-3 gem: 11 g. And check this out: Flax might fight certain cancers and can be added to just about any food or snack you can dream up. Anyone aiming for weight loss or a boost in energy ought to try this grain with its 190 calories, 13 g fat, and .4 g sugar. Did I mention the fiber? 11 g. Wow.

A favorite breakfast cereal of mine is oatmeal. When you purchase the whole-grain, unrolled type of oats -- which are generally unprocessed -- the nutrition oats can have is excellent and a great way to start off the day.

Add some organic brown sugar (just a little) and cinnamon and you have a heckuva healthy breakfast in front of you with the best kind of carbohydrates you can have.

In addition to tasting good, though, researchers recently said that oatmeal's whole-grain benefits don't stop at LDL cholesterol-lowering heart health. Oats can curb inflammation, help high blood pressure and reduce the potential for type-2 diabetes.

Now, these claims came from a researcher for the Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade Research and Development Department, who manufactures Quaker Oats (which are generally rolled and processed). I suggest finding unprocessed oats if you want the maximum nutrition and health assistance oats have to offer.

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.

Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Check out these merry facts about oats, one of the most nutritious grains and perhaps the most available and inexpensive Super Food around.

Oats are low in calories, high in fiber and protein, and rich in magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium, thiamine, and more. They contain phytonutrients, which help prevent disease, and can lower cholesterol by a whopping eight to 23 percent -- consuming just three grams of soluble oat fiber per day is all it takes. This same soluble fiber can benefit those suffering from type 2 diabetes -- oatmeal or oat bran-rich foods can lower spikes in blood sugar levels. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that grains should be consumed in minimally-refined form to reduce the incidence of diabetes.

You may not need this remedy unless you're likely to be stranded in freezing outdoor temperatures for extended periods of time. Still, you never know what lies ahead. So be prepared -- with a dose of sugar, that is.

Besides adding layers and applying heat, another speedy way to warm the body is to eat or drink something sweet, says one Alaska state trooper who coordinates search and rescue missions. Sugars help build an internal "fire," says Lieutenant Barry Wilson in the December 2007 issue of The Oprah Magazine. Sugar creates brief heat and quick energy. Keep in mind the "brief" and "quick" terminology. Make a habit out of consuming sugar and that jolt of energy will lead to an inevitable crash.

Even better for warming up: a little GORP (granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts). This combo provides more slowly-released carbs -- think of these as the fire's "sticks" -- as well as protein and fat, or the "logs."

Got sugar? Got GORP? Then you're all set.

Whole grains make for delicious foods (breakfast especially), and the more you eat them, the lower your risk of developing pancreatic cancer later on, according to a new study.

In addition to eating more whole grains, consuming more fiber was also linked with a lessening in pancreatic cancer risk. The study concluded that those eating both whole grains and fiber several times per day decreased their pancreatic cancer risk by 40 percent. That's significant, yes?

Instead of those sugary breakfast cereals, how about oatmeal made with whole-grain (not refined) oats? Add some wheat germ in there and sweeten it with organic cane sugar or stevia. Once you get used to it, it's miles ahead of Frosted Flakes, in taste and nutrition.

Gluten is the talk of the town. The six-letter word is no stranger here at That's Fit and now that Hollywood's Jenny McCarthy has revealed that removing gluten from her autistic son's diet is helping him emerge from his disease, gluten-free diets may become all the rage.

The whole gluten topic really has me thinking -- I admit, I was a bit in the dark about the whole topic prior to just now -- and what I'm thinking is this: Do I really need to be eating wheat?

Gluten -- the protein found in wheat products such as breads, pastas, pastries, rye, barley, and some oats -- isn't a problem for many people. But for those sensitive to it, gluten can cause a sickening reaction. In fact, experts believe an underlying allergy to gluten may be to blame for some neurological disorders. It may also be connected to problems like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Celiac sprue.

Milk used to be a simple thing, delivered in bottles on the front step fresh and ready to drink -- and all the same. But today choosing milk for your family has become fairly complicated with grocery store shelves offering not only regular cow's milk in everything from whole to skim varieties, but also soy milk and even oat milk. What's the difference besides the obvious? How can you know what's best for your family? Obviously it depends on your personal tastes and priorities, but Women's Health has broken down the different types of milk and ranked them from best to worst. Personally I'm a soy milk fan, but on their list soy milk comes in 2nd with regular skim milk in 1st place. Agree? Disagree?

Nothing feels quite as right for breakfast than a dollop of fresh fruit on whole, rolled oats (not processed). It's a great way to start the day right and make is tasty as well. Regarding whole grains -- are you a fan? If not, look long and hard at why.

Sure, whole grains don't taste like ice cream or cheeseburgers, but they can be every bit as tasty when accessorized with the right stuff. Thinks like fresh fruits make whole grains really palatable, and as the saying goes, "a diet rich in whole grains is heart healthy."

Researchers who recently reviewed seven major studies saw that an increase in whole grain intake was consistently linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. That's enough to convince most folks, but adding some zing to those whole grains will really pump you up -- especially in the morning.