You have probably heard that omega-3s are the newest, healthiest fat around. But what are they really?
Scientifically speaking, omega-3 fatty acids are a types monounsaturated fats that have a double bond at the third carbon on their fatty acid chain. Is this important to know? Not really.
What you should remember is all the health benefits of a diet rich in omega-3s, and where you can find these foods!
Benefits of Omega-3s:
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Fights anxiety and depression
Improve eye health
Promote brain health during pregnancy and early life
Lower risk of heart disease
Reduce ADHD symptoms in children
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Reduce symptoms of metabolic syndrome
Fight Inflammation
Right autoimmune disease
Improve Mental disorders
Prevent mental decline
Help prevent cancer
Reduce asthma in children
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Reduce fat in liver
Improve bone and joint health
Alleviate menstrual pain
Improve sleep
Good for your skin
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Woah! Now that is a list! Can you say superfood, anyone?
So now that you’re craving some good old healthy fat, where can you get it? I’m sure you’ve heard of salmon, but that’s not the only source! Check out these omega-3 packed foods, and a recipe to try them out!
Food Sources:
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Firm tofu
Spinach
Fontina Cheese
Navy beans
Grass fed beef
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Anchovies
Mustard seed
Walnuts
Winter squash
Omega-3 Eggs
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Purslane
Flaxseed oil
Wild Rice
Chia seeds
Red lentils
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Recipes:
Super Food Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Glazed Walnuts
Ingredients
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
- One 5-ounce container baby spinach
- 4 ounces white button mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced, about 1 cup
- 3/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon good quality extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Combine 1/4 cup juice with the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small nonstick skillet.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Add the walnuts and continue to cook, stirring, until the nuts are coated and dark and the liquid evaporates in the skillet, about another 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a baking sheet to cool. When cool, break apart with your hands.
- Meanwhile, soak the red onion in ice water for about 10 minutes; drain and pat dry.
- Place the baby spinach in a serving bowl and top with the onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and walnuts.
- In a bowl whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons juice with the vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and then whisk in the oil.
- Drizzle over the salad and toss just before serving.
Oatmeal Flax Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/4 cup flaxseed, finely ground in a spice grinder, or pre-ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, oats, flaxseed, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Blog post written by Trainer, Sarah Oliver
VIM is now offering nutrition services with Trainer & Nutrition Coach, Christine Galvin!
Click below to find out how you can benefit from 1 on 1 Nutrition Coaching!
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Need some assistance with FREE WEIGHTS and FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT?
Watch these how-to videos if you are just starting out, OR if you are an experienced weightlifter hoping to correct or check your form!
Check out VIM’s Free Weights & Functional Movement Series – Each week we’ll post a video demonstrating a new move. Next up, DIPS!
Just because we all need a little something to brighten our day during these long winter months…
We want to share with your our late February Promo:
Join VIM and have your INITIATION FEE WAIVED!
Valid February 21st – 28th….SO HURRY!
WANT IN? CONTACT LEO:
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Vacation is over, and the stressors of daily life are starting to return. We often reach for high-calorie or sugary foods for comfort, but junk food only doesn’t really make us feel better.
Eating healthy food—and making that a conscious choice—can actually offer some real stress relief.
End the cycle of eating bad-for-you foods and find relief elsewhere. Instead, add these truly anti-stress foods to your diet.
Nuts:
Stress depletes our B vitamin stores, which screws up neurotransmitters and that fight-or-flight hormone, adrenaline. Eating nuts helps to replenish these important B vitamins. The potassium in nuts is also key; a couple servings of potassium-packed pistachios a day can lower blood pressure and reduce the strain stress puts on our heart.
Red Peppers:
While oranges get all of the vitamin C hype, red peppers have about twice as much (95 vs. 50 mg per 1/2-cup serving). High doses of vitamin C before stress-inducing activities can lower blood pressure and increase recovery from the surge in cortisol – the “stress hormone.”
Salmon:
Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial in a stress-reducing diet. Taking a daily omega-3 supplement (containing DHA and EPA) for 12 weeks can reduce anxiety by as much as 20 percent. You won’t get the same mood boost from the omega-3s (ALA) in flax, walnuts and soy, though, so shoot for about 2 servings a week of wild salmon or other oily fish and/or talk to your doctor about DHA supplements.
Spinach:
This leafy-green veggie is rich in stress-busting magnesium. People with low magnesium levels (most of us, actually) are more likely to have elevated C-reactive protein levels—and research shows people with high CRP levels are more stressed and at a greater risk for depression. Magnesium also helps regulate cortisol and blood pressure, and since magnesium gets flushed out of the body when you’re stressed, it’s crucial to get enough. Other solid magnesium sources include beans and brown rice.
Oatmeal:
Not only does oatmeal feel warm and comforting to eat, it actually helps your brain generate the important stress-reducing neurotransmitter, serotonin. Research shows that people who avoid carbs are more stressed than their carb-loving friends. Not all carbs are created equal, though. Refined carbs (white bread, pasta, baked goods, etc) digest faster and spike blood sugar, messing with moods and stress. Complex carbs like oatmeal are digested more slowly and don’t spike blood sugar.
Dark Chocolate:
If you crave chocolate when you’re stressed, go ahead and indulge! Research shows people who eat the equivalent of an average-size candy bar (about 1.4 ounces) daily for two weeks had lower cortisol and fight-or-flight hormone levels. To reap the feel-better rewards, choose chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cocoa, or extra high in anti-inflammatory flavonoids like this locally-made chocolate bar! But remember, dark chocolate is a high-calorie food, so mind your portions.
Tea:
Research shows tea drinkers de-stressed faster and have lower cortisol levels than those who don’t drink tea. Caffeine can increase the stress response in many people, so stick to decaf and herbal teas. Herbal teas like chamomile, peppermint or ginger can be very soothing to the digestive tract, which can help with stress by calming the nervous system in your gut.
Do you eat these stress reducing foods? Are you willing to try them out in place of your usual stress snacks? Let us know in the comments!
Want to mix up your workout routine?
Try our NEW CLASS:
Kick It By Eliza™
with Laura now at VIM Fitness Central Square
Kick It By Eliza™ is a 13-round fitness method that is music-driven, sweat inducing, and kickboxing inspired.
Join the Kick It Crew!
Mondays & Fridays at 5PM Starting February 26th
Need some assistance with FREE WEIGHTS and FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT?
Watch these how-to videos if you are just starting out, OR if you are an experienced weightlifter hoping to correct or check your form!
Check out VIM’s Free Weights & Functional Movement Series – Each week we’ll post a video demonstrating a new move. Next up, LAT PULL DOWN!
Learn to ASSESS, CORRECT, and UNIFY your Mobility = ACUMOBILITY
Join us for an ACUMOBILITY SEMINAR:
Sunday, March 4th from 10AM – 2PM
@ VIM (Central) – first come, first serve!
CONTACT TYLER BELOW WITH QUESTIONS OR TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT!
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At this seminar, get up to speed on the following:
STEP 1: ASSESS
We want to empower athletes to know their bodies and how they move! By teaching them a series of self assessments of the major areas of the body required for lifting, they can understand their individual movement restrictions. We then relate these restrictions to how they specifically impact lifting mechanics.
STEP 2: CORRECT
Once you understand your movement restrictions, we teach you our 5-Point Corrective System. We believe that mobility work should be purposeful and intentional in the same way that exercise is. Our innovative system blends 5 criteria we find to be essential to produce lasting results. And our athletes will immediately be able to see and feel the difference!
- Trigger Point Release
- Active Mobility
- Dynamic Stability
- Compression Therapy
- Tensioning
STEP 3: UNIFY
Once we correct these imbalances, we then incorporate your newfound mobility back into movement patterns through very specific cueing and tensioning techniques. This is an integral step to aligning your mobility to your movement!
After our seminar not only will you have a new understanding of your mobility deficits as well as an innovative corrective strategy, you will have a clear plan of how to incorporate effective and time saving mobility techniques into your daily training routine!
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Need some assistance with FREE WEIGHTS and FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT?
Watch these how-to videos if you are just starting out, OR if you are an experienced weightlifter hoping to correct or check your form!
Check out VIM’s Free Weights & Functional Movement Series – Each week we’ll post a video demonstrating a new move. Next up, TRICEP PUSH DOWNS!
The Super Bowl is almost here!
Whether or not you’re a football fan, you can still enjoy the opportunity to get together with friends and enjoy snacks! Lucky for me, I’m a HUGE Pats fan, so I’m really looking forward to the game… almost as much as I am excited for the Buffalo Cauliflower!
I’ve rounded up 10 Healthier Super Bowl Snacks for you to enjoy on game day.
The first few are from The Colorful Kitchen cookbook, and the rest are from some other tremendous bloggers!
1. BBQ Cauliflower Poppers from The Colorful Kitchen Cookbook
2. Herbed Polenta Fries from The Colorful Kitchen Cookbook
3. Creamy Baked Kale & Artichoke Dip from The Colorful Kitchen Cookbook
4. Cauliflower Kimchi Mac n’ Cheese
8. Crockpot Chili with Cashew Sour Cream
10. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Will you be watching the game this weekend? Making or enjoying any snacks? Let us know in the comments below!
