Tag Archives: NPR

Microgreens May Provide More Nutrition Than Mature Vegetables

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and University of Maryland conducted a study to determine the level of nutrients in microgreens, specifically compared to more mature vegetables. Microgreens are tiny versions of vegetables, herbs, and other plants and are about one to two inches long with the stem and leaves still attached. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

As reported by NPR, researchers looked for large doses of vitamins and other phytochemicals, such as vitamin C, E, and beta carotene. Gene Lester, a researcher with the USDA, said the findings “totally knocked me over.”

The team found that all 25 varieties of microgreens had four to 40 times more nutrients than their matured counterparts. Lester said the findings give us a new insight into plants, “because these are little tiny seeds barely exposed to much light at all. And yet those compounds [nutrients] are there ready to go.”

Diets In Review’s resident dietitian, Mary Hartley, RD, wasn’t surprised by the results of the study. “The findings make sense because the young plant is rapidly accumulating nutrients during its period of rapid growth, and it is also still releasing nutrients stored in the seed,” she said. “I’ll bet microgreens are high in protein and very digestible, too.” (more…)

Posted on September 6, 2024 by Samantha

5 Make-Ahead Breakfast Recipes for the Anti-Morning Person

Some people just aren’t chipper in the mornings. Can you imagine that? I’m certainly not one of those kinds. I perk up in the waking hours of the day and feel most productive when I rise with the sun.

But for others, the sheer act of rising out of bed or putting on a shirt seem impossible before the noon hour. Or at least without the help of some seriously stout coffee.

One author, T. Susan Chang, confessed this describes her to a ‘T’ in a recent article from  NPR’s Kitchen Window. She described her night-owl self as “clumsy in the morning, and always running late – so making a plate of eggs or baking a muffin or frying sausage…would have been hazardous as well as time consuming. For years,” she said, “I knew no breakfast.”

But at some point in her morning-hating life, she had a revelation. She realized that she could spend the last few hours of her day in the evening, when she had perhaps the most energy, preparing breakfast for the day ahead. And so, she naturally turned to overnight breakfast. (more…)

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Dana

NPR’s Living Large: Obesity in America Takes a Hard Look at Our Growing Crisis

Approximately one-third of the U.S. adult population and 17 percent of children are considered obese according to CDC statistics.

NPR’s special series “Living Large: Obesity in America” takes a  look at what it truly means to be obese in the United States, a country getting larger and unhealthier by the second.

Why are Americans obese? Blame it on the lifestyle. Americans are eating–everywhere. We eat in our cars on the way to kids’ soccer games, on the way to work, in-between meals, and after school. With our lackadaisical view of standard mealtimes, we are not only eating more, but are eating processed foods that are quick and adaptable to our on-the-go lifestyles and it’s rubbing off on other countries. The French are getting fatter, too, according to NPR.

Although France is typically viewed as a counterexample to America’s growing obesity problem, obesity in France is rising slightly. The French pride themselves on their love of food and traditional meal times. The French also know how to properly prepare a meal, something that is vastly disappearing in the age of globalization and urbanization.

(more…)

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Jamie