Today’s topic includes something about eating a Mediterranean diet and healthy telomeres.  Eating a Mediterranean diet does more than just keep telomeres healthy and healthy telomeres are supported by more than just the Mediterranean diet.  One thing I’ve learned about our health is that the structure and function of our bodies is dependent on an elegant blend of thousands of various small components.  Every small decision that we make will have either a health promoting benefit or a health robbing consequence.  My goal is always to advance our knowledge of how things work, and make it rather easy to make healthy small decisions!

I’ve already spoken about telomeres in January.  Do you remember what I covered?  This is critical information for understanding how our lifestyle choices (like diet and exercise) affects the aging of our cells, and our overall aging.  I’ve also already spoken about the Mediterranean Diet.  This is not a diet, it is a way of eating that is common and customary in the part of the world surrounding the Mediterranean Ocean.  And, it seems to be a very healthy eating plan.  It has nothing to do with calorie restrictions, it’s all about food choices.

New information from a Harvard study looks at the effect of a Mediterranean diet on Telomere Length.  Here is the objective of the study – “To examine whether adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomere length, a biomarker of aging.”  The study took information from the “Nurses’ Health Study”, an ongoing study that started in 1976.  Over these years, 122,000 women have been part of the study. From that large group, a group of 4,676 women had blood testing done for telomere length and also had completed ongoing food and diet questionnaires. The Harvard researchers concluded  –  “In this large study, greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with longer telomeres.  These results further support the benefits of adherence to the Mediterranean diet for promoting health and longevity.”

What does this mean for us?  Well, in a quick summary  –
●  we can, and most of us should, change the way we eat
●  things that can help keep our telomeres healthy are important for healthful aging
●  eating a Mediterranean style diet helps with telomere health.

One really nice thing about eating with a Mediterranean flare is that it is a way of eating that can easily be adopted in our eating plans.  You can make changes gradually, doing something small each week – over time it will be the “norm” for your family too.  And, Wild Oats products make it so easy and economical to move your family’s health in the right direction! Small decisions with health promoting benefits!  Nice!

Additional Resources:
Too much soda shortens telomeres

Mediterranean Diet and Metabolic Syndrome 

Metabolic Syndrome

If you only think of peanut butter as a component of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you’re missing out on some opportunities for real culinary creativity. This standard of sandwich-making for generations of kids is actually an amazing food – one that can be used in gourmet dishes, as a protein boost for snacks and smoothies or as a fast way to make a delicious Thai-style recipe.

Peanut butter is also a great energy-dense food that contains some extremely valuable vitamins, fiber and minerals – things like niacin, manganese and a dose of heart-healthy fat. Several years ago, in fact, a big study on peanut oil found that it might be helpful in the prevention of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

And in 2003, even the Food & Drug Administration came along on the side of nuts, saying that eating 1.5 ounces of nuts a day can lower your risk of heart disease.

So with all this good news we’re hearing about peanut butter, why not open up a jar, put away the bread, and try some of my favorite and unusual ways to use it!

• The nutty bowl of oatmeal: To really add some flavor to a bowl of hot oatmeal (cooked or instant), simply stir in a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter. And nothing tastes better than peanut butter in a warm concoction!

• The tasty “glue” that holds ingredients together: Last year some baby birds at the front door in a flower pot led me to my great “invention” of peanut butter oat balls.  But peanut butter can be used in any nut, granola, or fruit bar recipe to hold everything together and add a delicious nutty taste.

• The smoothie protein boost: Adding a tablespoon of peanut butter to your smoothie is a great way to give it some extra flavor and nutrition. It goes best in ones with bananas, almond milk or yogurt.

• Peanut butter humus: Humus is a wonderful dish traditionally made using tahini, which is simply ground sesame seeds, blended with garbanzo beans (also called chick peas), lemon juice and olive oil. By swapping out the tahini with peanut butter, you’ve got a whole new dip, sandwich spread or dressing. And it’s one that is super-high in fiber and B vitamins, especially the all-important B called folate.To make this dish, simply mix together in a food processor one can of drained Wild Oats organic garbanzo beans, 3 to 4 tablespoons of Wild Oats creamy peanut butter, juice from half a lemon, 2 tablespoons of Wild Oats organic olive oil and half a teaspoon of Wild Oats garlic powder. Blend until creamy and smooth and serve as a dip or use for a sandwich spread.

• Easy peanut sauce for rice noodles: This is a kind of Thai recipe that combines my favorite foods together in an easy stir-fry peanut sauce. Cut your veggies (such as broccoli, carrots and cauliflower) into small pieces, add some pea pods if you have them, and do a quick stir-fry until the broccoli is bright green. Push all the veggies to the side of the pan making an empty circle in the center. Add two tablespoons of creamy peanut butter to the (hot) center of your pan. If there is any liquid left, mix it with the peanut butter as it heats. If not, add a tablespoon or so of hot water to blend the peanut butter. Combine your peanut-butter sauce with the veggies in the pan, toss well and serve over rice noodles.

Of course it’s important to make sure that any guests you might be having don’t suffer from peanut allergies, which are far more common these days than they once were. But it turns out that our concern about peanuts might actually be helping to create such allergies researchers having now found that kids who are exposed to peanuts early in life or prior to birth are over 80 percent less likely to develop them than those who are kept peanut free!

What is meal planning? It’s how you organize yourself for meal planning . It’s your cooking strategy.  Some people plan ahead of time, others just wing it. Meal planning is a really personal thing.  Are you a planner?  Do you plan your meals ahead of time?

What’s your secret to weekly meal planning? Let us know and you could win a Wild Oats prize pack. Comment or reply with your favorites on our Twitter or Facebook page and you’re automatically entered!

If you’re playing along on Facebook, simply comment in our Mission Monday post before 11:59 p.m. ET tonight to be entered to win!

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Good luck! Full Sweepstakes rules and details can be found here http://bit.ly/1DoNN9U.

OK, in celebration of National Snack Month and also Heart Health Month, let’s talk about both …  what trends have we seen in snacking over the last 40 years, and what should we be snacking on to support our healthy hearts!

Do you think snacking has gone down, gone up or remained the same in America over the last 40 years?  Yes, we ALL know the answer to this one!  A recent study looked at this very issue, tabulating information from 62,000 people between the ages of 20 and 74.  The researchers looked at information about:
●  the 3 main meals  –  breakfast, lunch and dinner
●  snack times  –  before breakfast, between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and dinner, after dinner or “other” (because all the person did was snack).

During the 40 year time span covered by the study, here are the results:
●  the eating of all 3 meals daily declined
●  the eating of 2 of the 3 meals increased
●  the eating of the same meal twice increased (like breakfast twice)
●  the number of calories eaten as a percentage of the total calories in 24 hours went up for both snacks between lunch and dinner and also from snacks replacing a meal
●  the times of day for eating breakfast and lunch were later
●  the time interval between dinner and after dinner snacking was shorter
●  the change in snacking behavior was greater in women than in men.

The bottom line is that we snack a lot and often miss one or more meals a day, especially us women!  We can (and should) make a serious attempt at improving this … and … we need healthy snacks!  The grab it and run reality of our lives does not mean we need to miss nutritious foods that will be satisfying and healthy.  If there ever was a need for healthy snacks, we are living it now.

So, how about heart healthy snacks?  Well …. ah yeah …. there are tons of choices that are tasty and smart and good for the heart!  Here are some basic “HEART SMART” choices:
●  Whole Grains and Wild Oats oatmeal cookies fit right in here.
●  Avocado served up with Wild Oats Organic Salsa and Organic Tortilla Chips
●  Walnuts or almonds or pecans.
●  Always fruits and veggies

Look, we know snacking is going to be part of the eating plan.  Don’t skip breakfast, or a breakfast snack equivalent.  Eat smart whenever you can and remember that those snacks can be a big part of your healthy heart, healthy life and healthy family goals.  I didn’t know that we devoted a whole month to celebrate snacking but, based on the data, we need to celebrate it!  Let’s put a smart twist on it … Healthy Snacking Month!  Yep, that sounds better …