Tagged with 'coconut'

Here's how to use non-toxic kitchen ingredients to nourish your skin and hair and avoid xenoestrogens.

Different types of dietary fats play an important role in heart health, but it's likely not what you think.

This smoothie is full of healthy fat and protein, and is an excellent way to start your day.

Here's the deal: The #1 way a person’s heart gets into trouble is inflammation, which is typically generated by a diet high in sugar and carbohydrates. Not Saturated Fat!

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) are becoming really popular! But they're aren't new by any means. This type of fat has been used for years in hospitals around the country. MCT's are a form of saturated fat that are easily digested and sent directly to your liver, where they have a thermogenic effect and the ability to positively alter your metabolism. MCTs are burned by the body for energy, or “fuel,” instead of being stored as fat.

MCTs are commonly missing from the diets of people who eat “standard Western” diets. This is because Americans have been led to believe all forms of saturated fats are bad for your health. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, recent research has shown a lot of evidence about the real truth regarding saturated fats. In fact, coconut oil (a good source of MCTs) does not increase heart disease risk. It will actually lower it. 

How To Use MCT oil?

Coffee

My favorite way…a morning “bulletproof coffee.” I add MCT oil and unsalted grass-fed butter to my coffee. The fat keeps me full, stabilizes my blood sugar, and gives me a mental boost. In fact, my mornings are the most productive time of my day. When making bulletproof coffee, I personally think it’s an absolute must to blend this mixture either with a blender or handheld frother. Blending will combine all the fats and makes the mixture creamy and frothy. In my opinion, this is one of the most delicious cups of coffee I’ve ever had.

Smoothie

A smoothie is a quick, easy way to consume a lot of nutrients in one meal. Many of those vitamins and minerals need fat to be absorbed by the body, and MCT is a great fat to use. I love this high protein, high fat smoothie because its low carb load doesn’t spike your blood sugar and leave you in an energy slump, which is common with fruit-loaded smoothies. (link to keto-approved green smoothie)

Salad Dressing

Because MCT oil doesn’t have much flavor, it makes a healthy base for a variety of salad dressing recipes. Simply substitute the EVOO in your favorite recipe, or use half EVOO/half MCT oil. Here are my two favorite homemade salad dressing recipes.

Mayonnaise

MCT oil makes a tasty Mayonnaise. Simply blend 1 large egg, ¾ cup EVOO, ¼ cup MCT oil, 2-3 teaspoons lemon or lime juice, and a pinch of salt.

Shaving Lotion

It makes an effective shaving lotion! Rub MCT oil directly onto your skin before shaving. It moisturizes and protects your skin, while softening hair.

During Exercise

MCT oil serves as an effective energy source while potentially sparing glycogen stores, because the MCTs are rapidly metabolized and converted to energy by your body.

Whatever way you choose, or create a way of your own, MCT oil is a healthy addition to your diet.

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian for Healthy Goods

These fragrant Chai-Spiced muffins taste as good as they smell and are a treat anytime. For an afternoon pick-me-up, enjoy them with a cup of hot coffee or tea, or even some chai. Make them vegan using a vanilla-flavored coconut, almond, or hemp yogurt and almond milk. 

Makes 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

2 cups gluten-free almond flour

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup vegan vanilla yogurt

½ cup plain or vanilla almond milk

¼ cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

the Process

1. Preheat the oven to 400^oF. Lightly oil a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt, and pepper.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, almond milk, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla, stirring to blend. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to incorporate well. Do not overmix.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (the batter will be thick). Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

5. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm. If not using right away, cool the muffins and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 12 hours. These muffins taste best if eaten on the same day they are made. 

This coconut-based DIY recipe not only exfoliates, but leaves your skin feeling silky soft, plus you feel a burst of alertness from the peppermint scent. Coconut oil is a very light moisturizer and sinks into the skin quickly, which appeals to a lot of people. 

DIY Recipe

1/3 cup coconut sugar or white cane sugar

1/3 cup turbinado sugar

4 to 5 Tbsp coconut oil

5 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Once in the shower, massage the mixture in circular motions along arms and legs, focusing on knees and elbows. Avoid your feet so things don’t get slippery.

Enjoy!

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Live Superfoods

Article courtesy of Dr. Oz The Good Life

What a wonderful spin on the traditional macaroon! They’re composed entirely of plant-based, nutrient-dense, and whole foods that energize, nourish, and taste delicious.

The natural ingredients in these macaroons provide a boost of antioxidants, essential fatty acids (like omega-3s in the brazil nuts), minerals, vitamins, and more.

Maca is an amazing superfood that has been used for over 2,000 years by the Peruvian people. It’s a sturdy root vegetable, typically dried and then ground into a powder. Nutritionally, maca root is a rich source of vitamin C, B-vitamins, calcium iron, and copper (just to name a few), and even contains protein and plant sterols.  

The combination of maca and brazil nuts in these macaroons tastes almost like peanut butter…with a lovely coconut-ty embrace, of course. 

I think these maca-macaroons will make you feel as good as they taste. 

Maca-Macaroons

Makes about 20 cookies

1 cup raw brazil nuts

1¼ cups unsweetened shredded coconut, plus extra for rolling

1½ Tablespoons maca powder

¾ cup (packed) soft Medjool dates (about 7 or 8), pits removed

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Grind all the ingredients together in a food processor until a coarse dough has formed. Check the consistency: pinch the dough and make sure it sticks together, yet still crumbles like a cookie. If the dough is too dry, add water, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough sticks. If the dough is too wet, add spoonfuls of extra coconut until the dough is just right.

Form the dough into balls, about a tablespoon at a time, and roll exterior in extra coconut. Flatten into cookies and serve. Kept covered, these cookies will last several weeks.

Recipe from Julie Morris’s Superfood Kitchen recipe book

You can't go wrong with this Pumpkin Gingerbread recipe, and when you include the spiced buttercream frosting, it's simply amazing! Another cool reason to try this dessert are the impressive ingredients it contains. 

Here are 5 of the stand-out ingredients:

#1: Pumpkin

Let's start with the pumpkin. It's packed with the antioxidant, beta-carotene, which is critical for eye health. If you've ever seen white spots after a light shined directly into your eyes or a camera flash went off, you're more than likely low in beta-carotene.  

#2: Coconut

There are different types fats and 65% of the fat found in coconut is medium-chain fatty acids, which is metabolized differently than other fats and what makes coconut so special and beneficial. Medium chain fatty acids are absorbed and shuttled directly to the liver, where they are oxidized (burned) for energy. Medium-chain fatty acids help lower the risk of both atherosclerosis and heart disease. 

An addition benefit of coconut is due to a type of medium-chain fatty acids found in a coconut--Lauric acid, which appears to have antiviral and antifungal properties, and support immune function. 

#3: Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a good fiber source and is studied for its numerous health benefits, including helping stabilize blood glucose levels. Cinnamon may also have antibacterial and antifungal properties. It’s active against Candida albicans, the fungus that causes yeast infections and thrush, and Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers.

#4: Chia

Chia seeds contain fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc, among many other nutrients. I especially love how they help with hydration due to their ability to absorb up to 9-10 times their weight in water!  

#5: Walnuts

Walnuts contain a lot of healthy fat. They're high in monounsaturated fat and contain a plant-based form of omega-3 fats, which can help reduce bad cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. 

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 Tbsp pure maple syrup

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil (or canola), softened

¼ cup blackstrap molasses

Chia egg (1 Tbsp chia + 3 Tbsp water)

1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1¼ tsp baking soda

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (OR 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg,  ½ tsp ginger)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp ground cloves

½ cup toasted chopped walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a regular sized loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly oil on top.

Toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and set aside.

Combine the following ingredients (pumpkin, maple syrup, sugar, coconut oil, molasses, chia egg) in a medium-sized mixing bowl and blend well.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir well. Stir in the toasted nuts.

Pour the batter into the pan, smooth out with wet spoon, and bake for 50-60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

While it is baking, make your spiced buttercream frosting (see below). Serves eight 1-inch slices. 

Spiced Buttercream Frosting

Buttery, sweet, fluffy, spicy…and vegan to boot! The perfect Fall-spiced frosting.

Ingredients:

½ cup Earth Balance Butter Stick, softened

1¾ cup icing sugar (aka: confectioner’s sugar)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice (yes, a full tablespoon!)

1 Tbsp almond milk (as needed to thin out to desired consistency)

Directions: Whip the butter with a mixer until smooth. Now add half of the icing sugar and blend well, stopping to scrape the side of bowl as needed. Now add in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and almond milk (if needed). Mix well. Add in the remaining icing sugar and blend for several minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Once the Gingerbread has fully cooled, spread on the icing using a wet spatula.

Recipe and Image courtesy of Angela at oh she glows 

Blend up this delicious, low-cal, dairy-free dessert in about 3 minutes. Everyone, grab a spoon!

Ingredients for Easy Ice Dream

• 4 peeled, frozen bananas
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
• 1 cup almond milk (or water)

Ingredients for Quick Chocolate Sauce

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon water

Directions

1. To make the ice cream: cut the frozen bananas into 1-inch chunks. Put in a high-speed blender with the vanilla and almond milk (or water). Blend until it becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream. It may not seem like it will get to this stage, but it happens quickly and then all of a sudden your blender is full of a creamy, thick, white ice cream! Scoop this into a bowl.

2. To make the drizzle: stir the ingredients together until smooth, it will take a second for the cacao to combine with the liquid. Drizzle on your ice cream and enjoy! Add whatever else you like: berries, almond butter, cinnamon, cacao nibs, chia seeds, hemp seeds, coconut...

On hand substitutions:

- No cacao? Try carob powder or cocoa powder

- There's cashew milk in the fridge but no almond milk? Go ahead, use it. Or rice milk, brazil nut milk, etc.

- Not a maple fan? Try coconut nectar/syrup, agave nectar, honey, yacon syrup...

- Out of vanilla bean powder? 1st, go and order some right away, then substitute vanilla extract

Recipe and notes courtesy of MindBodyGreen.com, found here: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18174/banana-vanilla-soft-serve-with-dark-chocolate-drizzle.html

The days are growing longer, the flowers are blooming, and the birds are singing, it's readily apparent that spring is in the air (unless, of course, you live in the Northeast, in which case, that's probably the snowplows, not the birds, you hear).

One of my favorite springtime desserts is an old classic, pineapple upside-down cake. Upside-down cakes can also be made traditionally with any chopped fruit, like apples or cherries, or, un-traditionally, with pears or cranberries. Me, I'm a traditionalist, and I'll stick with the pineapple.

Like many desserts, pineapple upside-down cake is high in flavor but also high in calories. Can it be made a little healthier while still keeping the original flavor? Of course.

One substitution is to eschew the white sugar for coconut palm sugar. Collected from the buds of the coconut palm, coconut palm sugar actually doesn't taste a thing like coconut. If anything, it's more reminiscent of brown sugar, with a slight caramel-y flavor, which plays well with tropical ingredients like pineapple.

Coconut palm sugar is mostly sucrose, not glucose, and has a low glycemic index, meaning that it's less likely to cause spikes and drops in your blood sugar. It is also rich in potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron, as well several B-vitamins. When cooking or baking with coconut palm sugar, it can be substituted for white sugar on a 1:1 basis.

Then, of course, there's the pineapple. It's easily found in a can, but depending on where in the United States you are, finding fresh pineapple isn't difficult. Most recipes call for a 20-oz can of sliced pineapple; a fresh two pound pineapple will yield about the same amount and taste that much better. You can easily core a pineapple with a pineapple corer, or simply slice the pineapple and use a small cookie cutter to remove the cores.

You could also omit the traditional maraschino cherries and use blueberries or strawberries instead, or, if you're feeling really hardcore (and like traditional cocktails), you can make your own! The maraschino cherries you see in supermarkets these days have been brined, preserved, and pumped full of so much food dyes that they're cherries in name only. Making your own can be as simple as dumping some fresh (never frozen) pitted cherries into a canning jar and topping it off with maraschino liqueur, giving it a couple of weeks, and voila! Maraschino cherries the way they were pre-Prohibition, and they are great not only for pineapple upside down cake, but also in a Manhattan, Old Fashioned, or the cocktail of your choice.

Another cool thing about pineapple upside-down cake? You can cook it in my favorite cooking utensil, a cast-iron skillet. Cast-iron provides nice, even heat for a perfectly caramelized top.

While this is usually a springtime dessert, there's no reason you can't enjoy this treat any time of the year.

This recipe, courtesy of Food.com, is a great starting point if you want to jump into the world of inverted desserts.

1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 (20 ounce) cans sliced pineapple, drained (or freshly sliced)
1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup coconut palm sugar
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
maraschino cherries, if desired

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, coconut palm sugar, shortening, milk, baking powder, salt, and egg until well blended.

Melt butter in iron skillet.

Sprinkle brown sugar over butter.

Arrange pineapple slices on top brown sugar/butter.

Place cherries in center of slices.

Pour batter over pineapple in skillet and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from oven and turn onto heat-proof plate.

Sources:

Wikipedia, Coconut Palm Sugar found here.

Coconut oil is a hot topic, which prompted me to do some digging. As I gathered the facts about coconut oil’s health claims, I found it daunting because it seems half the information I read is pro-coconut oil and the other half is anti-coconut oil. This obviously makes it difficult to draw a conclusion on whether or not to incorporate it into your diet.

Back in the day when I went through my nutrition training, coconut oil was a heart-health “no-no” thanks to its 90% saturated fat content, which is a type of fat we’ve been told to avoid for decades. However, get this…it seems the claim to reduce dietary saturated fat to improve cardiovascular health may be incorrect. 

From what I’ve seen, recommendations to reduce saturated fat came from one study in 1958, which was potentially faulty, but the USDA went with it, the US dietary guidelines were established, and the recommendation snowballed from there. This probably explains why people on the Atkins’s diet don’t typically end up with high cholesterol levels. It seems sugars and starches are probably more to blame for heart issues than saturated fat. Crazy, huh?! I digress…back to coconut oil, but as you can see, fat may not be as “bad” as we were once taught.

How Medium-Chain Fatty Acids Effect Our Health (Lauric Acid in Coconut)

There are different types of saturated fat: short-chain, medium-chain, and long-chain fatty acids. Of the fat in coconut oil, 65% is medium-chain fatty acids, and this fat is metabolized differently than long-chain fatty acids. Medium chain fatty acids are absorbed and shuttled directly to the liver, where they are oxidized (burned) for energy. Medium-chain fatty acids help lower the risk of both atherosclerosis and heart disease. It is primarily due to the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil that makes it so special and so beneficial.

Half of the medium-chain fatty acids found in a coconut is Lauric acid, which appears to have antiviral and antifungal properties, and support immune function. Lauric acid is actually present in breast milk; infants convert it to a substance called monolaurin that protects them from infections.  

Cooking With Coconut Oil and Other Fats

For those who avoid animal products, such as vegetarians or vegans, coconut oil is a great option.

I suggest continuing to use a variety of fats as part of a healthy diet, but in limited portions. Too much of any fat in the diet, regardless of the type, can cause weight gain and contribute to diabetes and heart disease. One tablespoon of coconut oil contains 117 calories, 14 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, and no vitamins or minerals.

The cooking fats I recommend are coconut oil, organic pasture butter, ghee (clarified butter), avocado oil and grapeseed oil. I especially recommend using pasture butter with kids because it is a great source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which contains omega-3 fats and is anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and pro-muscle building.

Smoke Point of Coconut Oil

For cooking, you want to use an oil with a higher smoke point. Smoke point is an important consideration if you’re planning to cook at high heat, such as when you’re frying or grilling. At an oil’s smoke point, nutrients are destroyed and potentially health-harming compounds are formed. Coconut oil has a decently high smoke point.

Coconut oil smoke point (virgin, unrefined)              350°F             177°C

Coconut oil smoke point (refined with stabilizers)     450°F             232°C

I will also point out, don’t confuse higher fat, nutrient rich diets with high fat, nutrient deprived diets. Eat the “real food” version of something. For example, meat from naturally fed animals vs. processed meat. Big difference!

To conclude, it seems the debate over coconut oil lies in a gray area, rather than black or white. As I mentioned previously, include a variety of fats as part of a healthy diet, and in limited quantities.

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods