Jerry the Blogger

If you've ever cooked a single meal from scratch before then chances are you've used spices in your cooking. Spices add flavor to our meals, but in recent years nutritionists have started to understand the health benefits of using certain spices. The nutritive properties of many spices can have a positive affect on the body ... meaning you can have foods that taste good and are good for you at the same time.

Granted, not every spice has obvious health benefits, but there are a number of popular spices that, when consumed, can impact your life for the better. Here are a few examples of common spices with uncommon health benefits:

Cinnamon
Cinnamon reduces blood sugar levels and has been linked to reduced cholesterol levels in the body. If you're diabetic or suffering from high cholesterol, adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to your meals might do you some good. If you're making a recipe that calls for cinnamon, such as bread pudding or a pie, add more cinnamon to it.

Mustard
Mustard not only lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) but it can also raise the level of good cholesterol (HDL) to keep you healthy. It also helps prevent heart disease by reducing the number of triglycerides in your body. The next time you think about asking someone to "hold the mustard" stop and reconsider. Mustard not only enhances the flavor of the foods you eat but it keeps your cardiovascular system in balance.

Ginger
This spice is widely known for calming the digestive system. That's why mothers often recommend ginger ale or even a ginger cookie to children suffering from a stomach ache. More importantly, ginger also helps to reduce the formation of dangerous blood clots in your body.

Red Pepper
This incredibly hot spice is great in chili or as a way to season fish, but the big news here is that red pepper has also been shown to dissolve blood clots and reduce the risks of stroke or heart attack.

Oregano
Like mustard, oregano raises your good cholesterol (HDL) for a healthier heart. Of course, the only thing most people care about is the fact that oregano is a key ingredient in many pasta and pizza sauces.

Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce might be a little too spicy for some people, but these spices also can increase metabolism and fat-burning ability by as much as 25 percent.

Rosemary
This flavorful seasoning is typically used to add a kick to sauces or meat dishes, but rosemary might be just the thing you need to kick cataracts to the curb. Several studies have shown that rosemary may help fight cataracts in human eyes.

At the end of the day, the most important thing to keep in mind is that spices are a great way to add flavor to your foods and do something good for your body at the same time.

I found myself on the road again for work this week and during a company dinner one of the options was pork chops. Now, when I typically think of healthy foods I don't usually think of pork, but during this meal I was reminded of a healthy recipe for Cranberry Pork Chops that I used to prepare from time to time back in my college days. The recipe is quick and easy, and if you're careful about the ingredients you use it can even be quite a bit healthier than most pork chop recipes.

Quick Cranberry Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops
• PAM cooking spray
  
• 1/2 cup apple juice with no sugar added
• 8 oz of cranberry sauce
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons honey

Directions:

Fry all four pork chops in a large pan with PAM no stick cooking spray over medium high heat for five minutes. After the surface of the pork chops have browned, remove the pork chops and drain the fat from the pan. Return the pork chops to the pan, add 1/2 cup of apple juice and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for five minutes. Remove pork chops from pan. Boil down the juices in the pan to begin making the sauce. Mix together 8 ounces of cranberry sauce, 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, and 2 teaspoons of honey. Add the mixture to the pan with the remaining apple juice and stir well. Cook this sauce mixture for 3 to 4 minutes, until it has thickened. Spoon mixture over pork chops and serve with vegetable and sliced apples or applesauce.

Overall, if the pork chops are lean and you stick to the ingredients above you'll keep this dish down to less than 250 calories and less than 12 grams of fat per 3-ounce pork chop with sauce. The final dish tastes great and isn't too bad for your health.

When I was a child the school cafeteria had two types of people: kids who bought lunch at school and kids brought bag lunches from home. I used to think that kids with bag lunches had healthier food, but according to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, preschool children who bring bag lunches to school may be at a nutritional disadvantage.

Due to the increasing cost of food preparation and storage, more and more childcare centers are requiring parents to provide food for their children. Researchers discovered some interesting trends after studying 74 children ages 3-5 who attended full-time childcare centers that require parents to provide lunches.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found more than 50 percent of bag lunches provided less than minimum amounts of calories, carbohydrates, vitamin A, calcium, iron and zinc. Also, 96 percent of lunches provided less than minimum recommended amounts of dietary fiber. When bag lunches exceeded recommendations it wasn't for the better. On average, the lunches contained 114 percent of the recommended amount of sodium.

When researchers asked parents if lunch provides an important opportunity for their children to receive nutrients, all 97 parents agreed, but 63 percent responded that they tend to pack only foods they know their child will eat ... even if those foods aren't healthy.

As a parent of a two-year-old girl who rarely eats the food her mother and I prepare, I know what it's like being a parent who just wants a child to eat. There are days when I feel like the only way to get my child to eat is if I give her food that isn't particularly healthy. That said, it's important to find healthy foods and snacks that your child is willing to eat. Maybe it's fat-free Snack Pack pudding or DAVID sunflower seeds. Maybe it's as simple as using reduced fat Peter Pan peanut butter on your kid's PB and Jelly sandwich. Whatever the case may be, it's important to keep nutrition in mind when packing those bag lunches for our children.

What ideas or solutions have you tried with your kids' meals? Share your comments and let others know what healthy choices you've made.