There. Now my conscience is clear.
With that out of the way, I don't want anyone thinking that I hate all healthy products out there, either. And I don't even hate almonds. Or coconuts. Or milk. Clearly, I am just not a fan of combining the three. However, I do have some yummy recommendations that incorporate these goodies in a variety of ways that makes health taste delicious. By sharing a few ideas with you, I hope to get out of hot water with the health food junkies, while not making my Snickers-and-Oreo loving junkies too sad, either.
Amazing Almonds-- It took me awhile to enjoy these great nuts after a bad experience with Jordan Almonds as a kid. Ironically enough, almonds are the one thing in life with which I find chocolate to be disagreeable. Everything else is fair game in my book. Almonds are an amazing and delicious source of so many nutrients, and there are countless health benefits that come from eating them in moderation and without being tainted by coconuts or chocolate. We're talking big benefits here--reduced cardiovascular risk, improved insulin sensitivity, and antioxidant benefits that could give fresh veggies a run for their money. The good unsaturated fat is a real boon when it comes to lowering the GL of a meal, too. In fact, when a student can't stomach plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, our class curriculum calls for a few nuts and additional fiber to lower the GL of the pre-flavored stuff. And while I certainly don't advocate almonds as a primary protein source (seriously, who wants to eat 400 calories worth of almonds to get 10 grams of protein needed to make a balanced snack?), I love the idea of sprinkling a few on a salad for extra crunch and protein. Not to mention that salad always looks more glamorous with nuts on top.
But I just discovered that even almonds could be improved upon as a salad topper. The good folks at my company's corporate HQ just sent out this amazing salad recipe that includes their latest, greatest concoction--the Go Nuts 'N' Berries bar as an all-in-one salad topper. Is it possible to combine all the goodness of peanuts, almonds, chia and flax seed, and cranberries into one amazing sprinkly topping? Apparently it is. And if breaking up is hard to do for you, just eat the bar itself. You won't regret it.
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| Salad is the new sexy with this tasty topper. |
Go Cuckoo for Coconuts-- My apologies to General Mills for stealing their Cocoa Puffs line, but, frankly, my line is better. And going cuckoo for coconuts won't land you in a diabetic coma the same way eating a cereal with a 16GL everyday will, either. Seriously, I think coconut is amazing. Not only is emerging research showing some great health benefits from its oils, but it just Tastes.So.Yummy. And you know me--I'm not jumping on any bandwagon that doesn't offer me a good time. That's probably why I got so excited when my friends at Trinity Health Weight Loss shared this amazing recipe that includes coconut in its best form--toasted on top of a brownie. No, my friends, it really doesn't get much better than this. And some of this recipe's other features aren't so bad, either--I dare you to find me a better gluten-free brownie that has an impressively low 8GL, includes extra fiber, AND doesn't shy away from cream cheese icing. It simply can't be done.
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| You're drooling now for these bad boys. And you don't have the necessary fiber to make them amazingly healthy and delicious. Which means you need to talk to me ASAP. You're welcome. |
Milk It for All It's Worth-- Tell me, when did regular dairy milk become so bad for you? I think it's great that there are quality alternatives out there for people with allergies and intolerances, but seriously, for the rest of us ?!?!? While it is important to look out for added hormones and other health offenders, I am quite all right drinking cow's milk on occasion, my friends. As with all dairy products, I always opt for the one with the lowest fat content, knowing that full-fat dairy only has more calories and saturated fat, without any additional protein benefits. On that note, I discovered that my recent bout with the offending beverage whose "name should not be spoken" yielded me only 1 dismal gram of protein, compared with the 8 grams that my fat-free milk provides. Other dairy alternatives, like rice milk or soy milk, also carry the risk of either having too much sugar per grams of protein, or have dangerous sugar substitutes in their No Sugar Added varieties. Thankfully, there are some out there sweetened with stevia, but it does make you think: "If this stuff has to be sweetened in order for me to like it, and then I have to choose between a higher GL or toxic chemicals for that sweetness, maybe I should just go back to plain milk...."
Milk makes a great addition for low-glycemic desserts that lack the necessary amount of protein to qualify as a balanced snack. (And, no, pairing milk with Oreos does not make them a complete snack. But it *does* complement these low-glycemic cookies quite nicely.) Other dairy products, such as Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, boast an incredibly high protein-to-calorie ratio, and are some of my top recommendations for students looking to pair their fresh fruits and veggies with a quality protein. I could go on about the many uses of *real* dairy products, but I think you can judge for yourself how truly fond I am of this beverage that has been a dietary staple for centuries, long before its less tasty counterparts came along and tried to ruin me forever on whitish beverages.
Finally, one has to wonder if the cost difference between dairy milk and its fancy-pants counterparts isn't driven so much by quality difference as it is solely by the fact that it takes a lot more almonds to make a gallon of milk than it does cows. One cow can produce about 8 gallons of milk per day. Let's see how much one almond can produce:
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| Artist's Rendering of Milking an Almond. And by artist's rendering, I mean not one feature of this portrait is in any way realistic or scientifically accurate. And I also mean that I want to copyright it. |
If you ask me, those cows are earning their keep.
