Uniq fruit's appeal is partly about it's peel

photo courtesy of Brooks Tropicals

There's something about a fruit that you can dive right into. Uniq Fruit is just that. It's skin is so easy to peel off that you might think the fruit is past it's prime. But don't open one without a napkin, because Uniq Fruit is juicy!

Uniq Fruit has replaced the grapefruit on my breakfast table. I love it broiled with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It sold me with its hint of tangerine. Then I started sectioning it up and putting it salads. Its unexpected but great citrus taste is a winner.  It's available January through May.

Just what the doctor ordered

Doctors at three health centers in Massachusetts are fighting obesity in children of low-income families by giving them $1 a day coupons for fruit or vegetables.

50 families of four will be enrolled in this promotion of healthy eating. The coupons are redeemable at farmers markets.  The state since 1980 began issuing coupons to pregnant or breast-feeding low-income women and children at risk of malnourishment.

Produce high on baby boomers' grocery list

The top five items on baby boomers' grocery lists in 2010:

1. Fresh fruit (83%)
2. Milk (82%)
3. Fresh vegetables (79%)
4. Wheat or whole-grain bread (77%)
5. Canned or frozen vegetables (69%)

Source: Whole Foods Market Inc., survey of 1,349 adults ades 46-64.

Fresh fruits and vegetables making the top three grocery items for baby boomers is great news since the two items failed to crack the top five 30 years ago. Boomers are choosing healthier, lower-fat foods.  

In 1980, the top five baby boomer grocery items were:

1. Milk (89%)
2. Canned or frozen vegetables (83%)
3. White bread (74%)
4. Soda pop (74%)
5. Iceberg lettuce (66%)

Overall food trends noted by the survey include:

• Most adults are more concerned with what they eat
• They more closely read nutrition labels
• They have a better idea of how their food is produced 

27% of adults said natural or organic foods comprised more than a quarter of their total food purchases this year, up from just 20% a year ago.

Fast food good news / bad news

McDonald's is discontinuing their Fruit and Walnut salad, a staple in my 'running around doing errands need a healthy snack' eating. It was launched in 2004 in a much larger size and then downsized to a snack.  It will be missed.

Interestingly enough, McDonald's has been testing oatmeal topped with fresh apple slices, cranberries and two types of raisins.  Oatmeal should be rolled out nationally early in 2011. We'll see if that's enough to draw me to the fast food place for breakfast.  It was enough to get me to Starbucks' for my Saturdays after Weight Watchers and before the gym.

Wendy's has come out with new salads.  Gone are the Madarin Chicken salads with packets of almonds and noodles.  The Apple Pecan Chicken Salad has been a two time favorite in the last week.

It has iceberg, romaine and spring mix lettuce, blue cheese, dried cranberries, apple chunks topped with grilled chicken.  The salad is 350 calories that you can top with roasted pecans (110 calories) and pomegranate vinaigrette dressing (2 packets, each 60 calories).

For a coupon for $1 off go to wendy's.com

Cartoon characters pull kids to eat, hopefully, produce

SpongeBob SquarePants, Shrek and other cartoon characters can encourage kids to eat fruits and vegetables, but they're even more compelling when it comes to candy say four Yale researchers.

The study found that children significantly prefer foods that have popular cartoon characters on the packages, compared to foods without them.

In the study  4 to 6 year olds were more likely to prefer the taste of graphm crackers, gummy fruit snacks and baby carrots if characters like Dora the Explorer, Scooby Do or Shrek were on the package.  The taste perception was the weakest for carrots, suggesting that using characters on healthy dfoods may not be an effective strategy to rpomote consumption of those foods.

Source: Yale study

Exercise and eat more produce

Finally, they're considering changing the food pyramid.  Right now the pyramid looks like you should be eating as much dairy as produce (the blue on the pyramid is dairy, red and green are the fruits and veggies). Made me realize the power of American Dairy Association's lobbyists.  Stay tuned, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is only considering it.

And they should, previous blogs outline an abundance of reasons and now the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has now weighed in.
Calling obesity the greatest threat to Americans' health.  The Committee "advocates the consumption of nutrient-dense forms of foods to provide the maximum nutritional intake within calorie needs...All vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, eggs and nuts prepared without added solid fats or sugars are considered nutrient-dense."

The report release June 15 will be used to update federal dietary guidelines such as those outlined in the food pyramid.

I'm about halfway through and have found it incredibly interesting, more posts to follow. For your own reading pleasure.

Excercising more

Don't think of it as exercise, think of it as activity.  Make the world your gym.  Do errands on foot, park in the farthest parking space, open the garage door by hand.  You get the idea.  active is the new fit.

Go for a subtle shift in your mind-set. It's more conducive to long-term health and weight loss, according to Russell Pate, PhD, profesor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina.

From the article "More Time (for exercise) in the 3/10 Readers' Digest