Mono a whata a what...?

The 6 Benefits of Monounsaturated Fats (MUFAs)

by BodyEcology.com (2011)

 

Why consume processed foods full of trans fats when you could have delicious meals made with heart healthy olive oil? Besides tasting great, olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, a good fat that has amazing health benefits!

Good fats, bad fats, what’s the difference?
With all the nutritional information out there it can be tough to keep everything straight. In fact, just a few years ago, low fat diets were all the rage.
But cutting edge research supports what people living in Mediterranean climates have known for generations: a diet with monounsaturated fats is a recipe for a healthy heart and a slim body.

Monounsaturated Fats: That Means Good, Right?
Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) are good fats. Liquid at room temperature, they turn solid when they are chilled. Common sources of MUFAs are olive oil, avocadoes and nuts.
Monounsaturated fats are a healthy alternative to the trans fats and refined polyunsaturated fats you find in most processed foods.
Research shows that diets with healthy amounts of monounsaturated fats have a host of amazing health benefits, including:1

• Decreased risk for breast cancer. A study of women in Sweden found that those with diets higher in monounsaturated fats (as opposed to polyunsaturated fats) resulted in less frequent incidence of breast cancer.
• Reduced cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends the consumption of MUFAs to improve your blood lipid profile.
• Lower risk for heart disease and stroke. Diets with monounsaturated fats correlate with healthy hearts and fewer strokes.
• Weight loss. Studies have found that switching to monounsaturated fat from diets with trans fats and polyunsaturated fats results in weight loss.
• Less severe pain and stiffness for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis. Diet plays a role in improving the pain and stiffness of those who already have rheumatoid arthritis.
• Reduced belly fat. A study published by the American Diabetes Association found that diets with monounsaturated fat could improve the loss of belly fat better than high carbohydrate diets.

Besides protecting your heart, decreasing your risk for certain cancer AND helping you maintain a healthy weight, sources of monounsaturated fat taste great!
You can do something good for yourself with every delicious mouthful of foods rich in monounsaturated fat.
Make the Most of MUFAs With These Foods
Great sources of monounsaturated fats are:

• Olive oil
• Avocadoes
• Tea Seed Oil (more on this new oil below)
• Almonds, cashew nuts and pecans
• Macadamia nuts

The Body Ecology system for health and healing recommends using a delicious variety of healthy fats…including plenty of the monounsaturated fats mentioned above. Use them instead of the hydrogenated fats found in margarine and processed fats found in refined vegetables oils. If you haven’t changed your oils yet and still eat bad fats...changing to the wonderful fats and oils recommended on the Body Ecology Diet is one of the most important first steps you can take.
If cooking with monounsaturated fats is new to you, here are some Body Ecology-friendly tips to help you get started!

1. Use a bit of olive oil when you low-temperature sauté your vegetables to keep them from sticking to the pan.
   
2. Roll avocadoes, blanched and sliced vegetables and cultured vegetables in sheets of nori for a vegetarian, heart- healthy sushi roll.
   
3. Macadamia Nut Oil adds a delicious buttery flavor to any Green Smoothie recipe.
   
4. Imperial Republic’s culinary Tea Seed oil from the Camilla sinensis (tea plant) is an extra virgin oil from China. It has a high flash point of up to 485 degrees so can be used for low-temperature sautéing. It’s also delicious on top of vegetables, quinoa and in salad dressings.
   
5. Dip celery and carrot sticks into raw almond butter for a delicious treat.

Switching your fat intake from bad fats to good fats could be one of the best (and best tasting) decisions you ever make!

The Body Ecology Diet. (2011). The 6 Benefits of Monounsaturated Fats. Retrieved from                         http://bodyecology.com/articles/6_benefits_monosaturated_fats.php

Fruit Pizza

Healthy Dessert option 1!

Looking for a healthy but good alternative for dessert?  I took coconut and created a healthy crust with great toppings and healthy yogurt to go with it!  I loved how well this tasted and I'm going to show you the nutritional facts as well.  

Fruit Pizza

For the Crust:
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Flaked Coconut Unsweetened,
5 tbs butter, unsalted
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Packet of Truvia Natural Sweetener


1. Mix coconut, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter together (If using Truvia, mix it in also).  Press mixture on too a round pizza pan.
2. Bake at 325 degrees F for 12 minutes or until golden.


Cut fruit up (fresh fruit is best)
6 ounces blackberries
8 ounces raspberries
9 ounces strawberries
6 ounces (3 whole) kiwis


Once the crust has been cooked let it cool.  
Take 2 servings (6 ounce containers) of Fred Meyer (Kroger) Greek Yogurt strawberry and spread onto crust.  The reason I use Fred Meyer Greek is because they use Stevia to sweeten their yogurt rather than sugar or aspartame. 


Then take cut up fruit and lay on top of yogurt and enjoy! 

Nutritional Facts
12 Servings
Calories...................................202.4
Total Fat..................................14.6g
Saturated Fat...........................11.0g
Cholesterol..............................15.5mg
Sodium....................................17.9mg
Potassium..............................130.0mg
Total Carbohydrates..............12.7g
Dietary Fiber...........................4.9g 
Sugars......................................5.8g
Protein.....................................3.6g

Vitamin A................................6.0%
Vitamin C..............................55.3%
Calcium...................................4.3%
Manganese............................21.8% 
Folate.....................................3.4%

Recipe - TurkeyLoaf

Turkey Salsa Cheese Loaf...

      Tonight, being Kate's birthday, she requested for me to make my turkey salsa cheese loaf.  Sure it might not sound all that exciting, but I have had a few people tell me it tastes great.  I am going to give you the recipe and also show you just how much healthier this is than your normal meat loaf, and has more flavor too!  

Ingredients...

2 pounds of Jennie O Turkey (93/7)

1/2 cup of Mexican style 4 cheese blend

1 cup Kirkland organic salsa

4 large eggs

1 medium onion

.5 cups of bread crumbs

.25 cups of Kirkland organic salsa for the top.

We mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl except for that last 1/4 cup of salsa.  Once the meat and the ingredients are mixed well, we then transfer the ingredients from the bowl into a 9x13 casserole pan.  Put it into the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes.  I made this into 10 servings.  Below is the nutritional information of the turkey loaf compared to if you made the same recipe, but with 80/20 ground beef.

 

Nutritional Information	Turkey Loaf	80/20 Ground meatloaf
Calories	184.4	331.6
Total Fat	4.9g	19.7g
Saturated Fat	1.9g	7.9g
Cholesterol	137mg	181mg
Sodium	456.4mg	459.6mg
Potassium	46.1mg	46.1mg
Total Carbohydrate	7.6g	7.6g
Dietary Fiber	1.4g	1.4g
Sugars	2.3g	2.3g
Protein	25.9g	27.5g

     As you can see by looking at both the calories and fat, just by changing one ingredient you can change a lot about the meal you are eating.  Not only are you eating healthier now, but you're cutting unneeded fat from your diet and lowering your calorie intake.  Another great thing is that we have been able to find the Jennie-O ground turkey on sale buy one get one free so we stock up.  It isn't often we find ground beef on sale that good of a deal.