Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Purple Potato Eaters

Lose weight and lower blood pressure with this Korean folk remedy - purple potatoes! The researchers suggest that purple potatoes are an effective agent to reduce blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease in people with high blood pressure -- without weight gain. The purple vegetable has many of the same healthful plant pigments as purple fruits. It's rich in antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, carotenoids, and phenolic acids, which may reduce chronic inflammation linked with heart disease and stroke. Pigmented potatoes also have high amounts of chlorogenic acid, a substance shown in animal studies to reduce elevated blood pressure.
People in the studies did not gain weight when they added two servings a day to their usual calorie intake. It is safe to reason that if the potatoes replaced a typical serving of starch, that weight loss would occur.
Microwaving the purple spuds and eating them with their skins on is one of the best ways to get the most antioxidants and plant pigments from them. The variety Purple Majesty perform beautifully in the kitchen, mashing, baking, roasting and microwaving to perfection, and make spectacular chips and crisps. They'll make a great "goulish" Halloween party snack! Potatoes in general are a good source of vit. C and potassium, and the skins add more fiber to your diet.

~ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2012

Friday, April 6, 2012

When The Terms "Enriched" or "Fortified" Are On The Label

Both terms mean that nutrients have been added to make the food more nutritious. Enriched means nutrients that were lost during food processing have been added back. An example is adding back certain vitamins lost in processing wheat to make white flour. Fortified means vitamins or minerals have been added to a food that weren't originally in the food. An example is adding vitamin D to milk, or calcium to orange juice.
~Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics