How to Prepare Healthy and Delicious Desserts Using Nuts?

 

Click HERE to Get These Super Healthy Sweet Treats & Dessert Recipes

The Incredible Edible Nut

What’s packed with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids and provides a rich source of protein, and energy? Nuts and seeds of course.

Mother Nature certainly did it right when she created this little crunchy yet buttery edible that comes packed with fiber.

Nuts provide us with compounds such as carotenes, lutein cryptoxanthin and resveratrol (all poly-phenolic flavonoid antioxidants) that have been found to provide protection against heart disease, degenerative nerve disease, and cancers.

Rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, calories, vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium, zinc, manganese, potassium, fluoride and selenium, they also provide healthy levels of vitamin E that works to maintain the integrity of cell membrane of mucus membranes and skin protecting from harmful oxygen-free radicals.

Offering an array of B-complex vitamins, nuts provide us with niacin thiamin, pantothenic acid, B-6, riboflavin and folates…all essential for optimum health.

In the past nuts were relatively ignored or dismissed as just “fattening snacks” because of their high caloric density and fat content.

But times have changed as people have grown smarter about nutrition and now nuts are enjoyed for their nutritional contribution to our health. Although they do contain a significant amount of fat, this fat is the monounsaturated type that actually discourages disease.

The versatility and variety of nuts is another reason they are so popular. Pistachios, walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts and Brazil nuts are all great choices. You can eat them whole in their natural state or you can salt or sweeten them. Sprinkle over desserts or use as an ingredient in pancake batter, biscuits, muffins, cakes, breads and other sweets dishes.

Put into a high speed blender, they make nutritional “nut butters.” Use nut butters in sandwiches or on top of bananas for a super healthy snack. Add them to your favorite pasta dish or sprinkle them on salads for an added nutrient boost.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, enjoying 1 ½ ounces of nuts (approximately 1/3 cup) daily that includes a variety of hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds and peanuts can actually help reduce the incidence of heart disease.

Another study done at Harvard with 83,000 women nurses aged 34-59 found that nuts are empowered to significantly lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The result of this test showed that those who ate 1 oz. or more of nuts at least 5 times weekly were nearly 30% less apt to have diabetes than those who never ate nuts or ate less than that.

Furthermore, studies reveal that people who eat nuts are no fatter than those who don’t. In fact, nut eaters are proven to lose weight and keep it off. Because of their high fat and protein content that help to keep us feeling full and satisfied, nuts help to control weight by keeping us from snacking too often on sweets and other carbohydrates.

With so many choices readily available offering so much nutrition in such a small package, these super foods could and should be enjoyed regularly.

For more ideas on how to prepare healthy and delicious desserts using nuts, watch this video – No Bake Nut and Seed Bars | Healthy Energy Bars Recipe | Nut Seed Bar | Homemade Energy Bars Recipe

If you are ready to take your traditional desserts and turn them into “life giving” desserts grab my “50 Desserts with Hidden Veggies. “  In it you will discover no bake, Paleo friendly, no sugar, gluten free healthy sweet treat and dessert recipes using a variety of nuts.

Isn’t it time to make every bite you take count!

Author Bio:

Carolyn Hansen is the author of The Blended Bites Healthy Snack and Dessert Recipe Collection. This is a one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day. And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

You can NOW satisfy your snack urge without any negative impact on your weight loss and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove. These easy-to-prepare snacks contain no sugar, no flour or butter and are paleo friendly.

So, if you want to get your hands on recipes for desserts and snacks that you will not need to feel guilty about eating the next time you have a craving for something delicious, be sure to check out Carolyn Hansen’s books at Blended Bites, where she will show you how to take control of your blender and churn out mouth-watering desserts and snacks that will have the kids in your neighborhood lined up around the block for a sample.

How to Prepare High Fiber Delicious Desserts for Health and Weight Loss?

 

Click HERE to Get These Super Healthy Sweet Treats & Dessert Recipes

Fabulous Fiber for Health and Weight-loss

A recent study published in the “Annals of Internal Medicine” suggest that eating 30 grams of fiber daily can actually help you lose weight, lower blood pressure and improve the body’s response to insulin with the same effectiveness that a complicated diet can.

Those that participated lost a significant amount of weight even though no other dietary changes were implemented.

Just as the body needs its portions of macro and micro nutrients daily, it also needs and requires a healthy dose of fiber.

Fiber (known as roughage and bulk) is either soluble (because it dissolves in water) or insoluble (it does not dissolve in water). It includes the parts of plant foods that your body is unable to digest or absorb like it does with fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Fiber simply passes through your stomach and intestines and out of your body.

Soluble fiber: This kind of fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance. It helps lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. You can find this type of fiber in legumes (peas), oats, apples, citrus, barley and carrots and a whole lot of other foods.

Insoluble fiber: This type of fiber increases stool bulk and promotes the movement of food material through your digestive system. Highly beneficial for those suffering from constipation or hard and irregular stools. Nuts, beans, vegetables are great sources of this kind of fiber.

Plant based foods such as beans contain both insoluble and soluble fiber although the amount varies in each one.

Rather than start another dead-end diet, why not look to fiber – it is great tool for fat loss:

• It provides zero calories but takes up space in our stomach making us feel full.

• You’re likely to eat less and stay satisfied longer. High fiber foods generally take longer to eat and have less calories for the same volume of food.

• Binds with fats in our food preventing some from being absorbed

• Slows the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar which keeps us burning fat

Fiber also helps to normalize stools. Loose stools benefit from fiber because it is able to absorb water and adds bulk. It also softens and increases the weight of your stool so it is easier to pass.

Some great sources of fiber:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Beans, peas and other types of legumes
• Nuts and seeds
• Whole-grain products

Getting more fiber into your diet is not hard to do.  Why not start by adding more fiber to your breakfast meal. Add unprocessed wheat bran to your favorite cereals (always opt for those with “whole grain, bran or fiber” listed). Make every snack count. Fresh fruits and veggies are your best choice for fiber but you can also enjoy an occasional handful of nuts or seeds (just be aware of the calories).

Be aware. When adding fiber to your diet, don’t overdo it. Add a bit at a time and spread your increase out over a few weeks to avoid intestinal gas and abdominal bloating from adding too much too quickly. Allow the natural bacteria in your digestive tract to adjust to the changes.

Most veggies and many herbs can be used with great success in desserts and treats and can be key to getting the required daily requirements of nutrients that your body needs.

For more ideas on how to prepare high fiber delicious desserts, watch this video – My GLUTEN-FREE, HIGH PROTEIN, HIGH FIBER Brownies Recipe | A GUILT-FREE DESSERT Anytime of The Day

If you are ready to expand beyond your traditional recipes and upgrade them to a more nutritional level you will love my newest creation…“Blended Bites.

Author Bio:

Carolyn Hansen is the author of The Blended Bites Healthy Snack and Dessert Recipe Collection. This is a one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day. And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

You can NOW satisfy your snack urge without any negative impact on your weight loss and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove. These easy-to-prepare snacks contain no sugar, no flour or butter and are paleo friendly.

So, if you want to get your hands on recipes for desserts and snacks that you will not need to feel guilty about eating the next time you have a craving for something delicious, be sure to check out Carolyn Hansen’s books at Blended Bites, where she will show you how to take control of your blender and churn out mouth-watering desserts and snacks that will have the kids in your neighborhood lined up around the block for a sample.