Your Guide to Healthy Life

Shrimp, Peas and Rice

8 Freestyle Points 346 Calories

I love this quick and easy Shrimp, Peas and Rice dish, which can be made with white or brown rice.

Last week I shared this Shrimp, Broccoli and Orzo dish. For those of you observing Lent, I thought I would share another quick 30-minute meal using shrimp! You can see more Lenten friendly recipes here.

This dish always brings back memories of my childhood. My Dad used to make this with white rice and lots of grated cheese at the end, almost like a risotto, but not. My Dad used a lot more butter when he made it, but this lightened up version is just as delicious. The brown rice cooks in chicken broth giving it lots of flavor.

Tips and Variations:

I used converted brown rice to speed this up, which took about 25 minutes for the rice to cook. You can also make if faster with a quicker cook brown rice, if so, follow the directions on the package.

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New Eating Guide Now in Print

Nutrition

In January we launched the Evidence-Based Eating Guide, which is available for free download here. Today I’m excited to announce that you can now order hard copies of the guide at-cost over on DrGreger.org. The guide is a run-down of my practical tips in booklet form, including summaries of my Traffic Light system and Daily Dozen checklist, as well as tips for putting them into practice.

As a current subscriber, you can also download digital PDFs: here’s an online version, and a fewer-page printable version (best when printed single-sided).

Now that there are physical copies, hopefully you’ll see stacks in a doctor’s office near you!

More Ways to Donate

You can support NutritionFacts.org with Amazon Smile. Sometimes it’s easy to forget to type in smile.amazon.com before shopping at Amazon. To make sure you never forget, please consider using Smilematic, a free browser extension that ensures your Amazon purchases will be able to support NutritionFacts.org.…

25 Things To Know About Plant-Based Nutrition

Fitness

We’re kicking off our quarter-of-a-century celebration with 25 things you need to know about eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet. While everybody (and every body) is different, a plant-based approach to eating is scientifically proven to improve health, lower the risk of disease, and much more. Here’s everything you need to know about taking the plant-based plunge:…

Could cannabis use contribute to psychosis?

Mental Health

Amid growing moves for the wider decriminalization of cannabis, researchers are asking what its risks are and who may be most vulnerable to them. One study now draws a strong link between cannabis potency, frequency of use, and the risk of psychosis.

A new study finds that people who frequently use potent forms of cannabis are more at risk of experiencing psychosis.

In recent years, many countries across the globe have decriminalized or even legalized cannabis use.

Thus, in the United States, 33 states allow the medical use of cannabis, while 10 states have approved its use both for medical and recreational purposes.

Several countries across Europe and South America have also decriminalized cannabis, meaning that while its use is still illegal in those regions, the penalties that users can incur have lessened.

However, as laws against cannabis become less stringent, and its use for medical purposes gains in popularity, researchers are beginning to ask more questions about the potential risks of cannabis use, and which users are most likely to experience negative health outcomes.…

String Bean Salad

Healthy Food

5 Freestyle Points 176 Calories

One of my favorite ways to enjoy green beans–in a chilled green bean salad recipe! The delicious flavors of these balsamic green beans made with black olives, scallions and eggs complement any meal or holiday potluck.

This easy green bean salad is so good, and tastes even better the next day which would make this a great lunch option too! A few other green bean recipes I love, Skillet Chicken with Bacon and Green Beans, Roasted Parmesan Green Beans and Potato and Green Bean Salad.

Wow, I actually first posted this recipes ten years ago today! It’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging this long. I have so many recipes in my archives I just love, that aren’t getting the attention they deserve so I am slowly making my way through them and giving them the make-overs they deserve. I have also gotten so much better at writing recipes through the years thanks to all the cookbooks I’ve written, and working with editors.

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Celebrating 25 Years of AFPA!

Fitness

It’s time to celebrate. We’re showing off a brand new look because this year marks our 25th year in business! That’s right. 25 years helping aspiring and leading health professionals grow their careers.

When we started AFPA 25 years ago, we set out with one simple mission:

To help students graduate with the most comprehensive, qualified education and the knowledge and skill sets for personal and professional growth in the industry, all at an affordable price.

That hasn’t changed and since then, AFPA is internationally recognized for certifying over 110,000 graduates across 124+ countries.

Both of us feel incredibly humbled and want to thank all of our students – past and present – for being active in our community.

They say, “Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching”. 😃 And so we implore you to seek out challenging growth opportunities often so that you can create the life you truly desire.…

White Rice vs. Brown Rice

Nutrition

In 2012, a meta-analysis was published tying white rice consumption to diabetes, especially in Asian countries. Even in the United States, where we eat much less white rice, research shows the regular consumption of white rice was associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes though brown rice was associated with lower risk, and that was after controlling for other lifestyle and dietary factors such as smoking, exercise, and meat, fruit, and vegetable consumption. The researchers estimated that replacing even just a third of a serving per day of white rice with the same amount of brown rice might lower diabetes risk by 16 percent.

Since the publication of that 2012 meta-analysis, a study out of Spain suggested white rice consumption was associated with decreased diabetes risk. However, it was a tiny study compared to the others, with only hundreds in contrast to hundreds of thousands of people involved. In Spain, rice is usually consumed in paella, which is commonly prepared with the spice saffron that research indicates may have therapeutic potential against diabetes.…

Yogurt Waffles

Healthy Food

4 Freestyle Points 195 Calories

Whip up these protein-packed Yogurt Waffles for breakfast and freeze the rest for easy meal prep!

These delicious blender waffles made with yogurt in the batter are so easy to make and come out perfect with wheat or gluten-free flour. Make a double-batch for meal prep freezer meals for homemade waffles in minutes.

I’ve been testing lightened up waffle recipes for years cutting back on all the butter or oil typically needed for perfectly cooked fluffy waffles and have never been happy enough with the results to share a recipe here – until now! Turns out, yogurt in the batter really does the trick and bonus, it adds protein to the waffles!

I partnered with Stonyfield, my favorite yogurt brand to create these healthy waffles with their Stonyfield Plain 0% Fat Yogurt. I tested them with both wheat and gluten-free flour and they both came out great!…

Skinnytaste Meal Plan (March 18-March 24)

Healthy Food

posted March 16, 2019 by Gina

A free 7-day flexible weight loss meal plan including breakfast, lunch and dinner and a shopping list. All recipes include calories and Weight Watchers Freestyle™ SmartPoints®.

I’m in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend with my girlfriends, hope you all enjoy the weekend!

If you’re new to my meal plans, I’ve been sharing these free, 7-day flexible healthy meal plans (you can see my previous meal plans here) that are meant as a guide, with plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food, coffee, beverages, fruits, snacks, dessert, wine, etc or swap recipes out for meals you prefer, you can search for recipes by course in the index. You should aim for around 1500 calories* per day.

There’s also a precise, organized grocery list that will make grocery shopping so much easier and much less stressful. Save you money and time. You’ll dine out less often, waste less food and you’ll have everything you need on hand to help keep you on track.…

The Purported Benefits of Eating Fish

Mental Health, Nutrition

In the landmark Global Burden of Disease study, researchers compiled the top 20 causes of death and disability. Number one on the list was high blood pressure, two and three was smoke, and the fourth leading cause of loss of life and health was not eating enough fruit. Lack of exercise was number 10, followed by too much sodium, not enough nuts and seeds, not enough whole grains, and then not enough vegetables. Number 18 on the top 20 list was not getting enough long-chain omega-3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA found in seafood, due to their purported protective effect against heart disease. As I discuss in my video Is Fish “Brain Food” for Older Adults?, even years ago when the study was published, researchers were already questioning the benefits of these fish fats, as more and more randomized controlled trials put them to the test and they failed, culminating in the meta-analysis I profiled in my video Is Fish Oil Just Snake Oil?…