Eat your breakfast!

Great Information Up on the Johns Hopkins Site. 

We had to Repost - Breakfast is so Important!

Vegetable Proteins

In Serious Oats we use VEGETABLE PROTEINS to provide you with the maximum 

protein and the best flavor yo keep you full and energized throughout your busy day. 

If you are looking for ways to amp up your protein intake at home, here is a great chick 

pea hummus recipe from the web. 

What is the connection between food and disease?

It is becoming increasingly clear that food, diet and disease walk together hand and hand. Knowledge about how your food is functioning inside of your body gives you the power to make educated and preventative decisions that can effect your health and your future. 

At Serious Foods we are committed to spreading awareness and knowledge of nutrition via a mix of nutrient education and anatomy and physiology. It is our belief that good health requires an understanding of both topics. Stay tuned for more blog posts regarding FOOD as MEDICINE. 

For now, here is an exceprt from an article posted by the University of Minnesota to raise awareness of the connection between food and disease. 

As a society we are facing significant health problems.

·       The United States ranks ninth in life expectancy among nations in the developed world.

·       We have a workforce plagued with absenteeism and reduced productivity because of chronic health problems, including depression.

·       78 percent of healthcare expenditures are for the treatment of chronic disease.

Many researchers now believe that these problems are partly related to diet. While they used to believe that diseases-such as type II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and certaincancers - were caused by a single gene mutation, they are now generally attributing these conditions to a network of biological dysfunction. And the food we eat is an important factor in that dysfunction, in part because our diets lack the necessary balance of nutrients (Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 2004).

To prevent the onset of these diseases, we need to know how multiple nutrients in a diet interact and affect the human body's functions, 

according to the Nutrition Society, Europe's largest nutritional organization.

Not All Fats Are Created Equal - Good Fats

Not all fats are created equal.

Keeping up with our good fats theme here is a nice cheat sheet to help guide you through understanding where to find good fats and the benefits that good fats have for your body. 

What Makes Breakfast the Most Important Meal of the Day?

The benefits of eating a nutritional breakfast are numerous. 

In fact eating a healthy breakfast jump starts your metabolism

and helps you shed pounds. 

Use this guide as a helpful reminder, next time you think about skipping breakfast. 

Cinnamon - A Hidden (Nutritious) Gem.

Cinnamon is the brown bark of the cinnamon tree. And though, for many, it offers a sweet nostalgic aroma and adds a warm taste to a menu, cinnamon actually packs a pretty powerful punch when it comes to nutritious value and health benefits. Check it out:
The health benefits of Cinnamon:

• Anti-Clotting Actions: Cinnamaldehyde (also called cinnamic aldehyde) has been well-researched for its effects on blood platelets. Platelets are constituents of blood that are meant to clump together under emergency circumstances (like physical injury) as a way to stop bleeding, but under normal circumstances, they can make blood flow inadequate if they clump together too much. The cinnaldehyde in cinnamon helps prevent unwanted clumping of blood platelets. (The way it accomplishes this health-protective act is by inhibiting the release of an inflammatory fatty acid called arachidonic acid from platelet membranes and reducing the formation of an inflammatory messaging molecule called thromboxane A2.) Cinnamon's ability to lower the release of arachidonic acid from cell membranes also puts it in the category of an "anti-inflammatory" food that can be helpful in lessening inflammation.
• Anti-Microbial Activity: Cinnamon's essential oils also qualify it as an "anti-microbial" food, and cinnamon has been studied for its ability to help stop the growth of bacteria as well as fungi, including the commonly problematic yeast Candida. In laboratory tests, growth of yeasts that were resistant to the commonly used anti-fungal medication fluconazole was often (though not always) stopped by cinnamon extracts. • Cinnamon's antimicrobial properties are so effective that recent research demonstrates this spice can be used as an alternative to traditional food preservatives. In a study, published in the August 2003 issue of the International Journal of Food Microbiology, the addition of just a few drops of cinnamon essential oil to 100 ml (approximately 3 ounces) of carrot broth, which was then refrigerated, inhibited the growth of the foodborne pathogenic Bacillus cereus for at least 60 days. When the broth was refrigerated without the addition of cinnamon oil, the pathogenic B. cereus flourished despite the cold temperature. In addition, researchers noted that the addition of cinnamon not only acted as an effective preservative but improved the flavor of the broth.
• Blood Sugar Control: Seasoning a high carb food with cinnamon can help lessen its impact on your blood sugar levels. Cinnamon slows the rate at which the stomach empties after meals, reducing the rise in blood sugar after eating. Researchers measured how quickly the stomach emptied after 14 healthy subjects ate 300 grams (1.2 cups) of rice pudding alone or seasoned with 6 grams (1.2 teaspoons) of cinnamon. Adding cinnamon to the rice pudding lowered the gastric emptying rate from 37% to 34.5% and significantly lessened the rise in blood sugar levels after eating. Cinnamon may also significantly help people with type 2 diabetes improve their ability to respond to insulin, thus normalizing their blood sugar levels. (See More on this HERE)

Thank you to The George Mateljan Foundation for the facts on Cinnamon.