Tag: healthy life

A Seeded Banana Bread recipe

Seeded Banana bread

I have been looking for ideas for morning or afternoon tea. Sometimes a low sugar, low or gluten free cake is an acquired taste. I wanted something that would also appeal to our young nieces and nephew when they visit. So over the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with different recipes.

The 2 best ones so far, have been Carrot Cake cupcakes and Seeded Banana Bread. The Banana Bread was the stand out winner. It was fairly easy to make, was moist and flavoursome. This recipe is great as there is very little sugar and the seeds add some extra health benefits.

This adapted recipe is from a book called ‘ A Modern Way To Eat’ by Anna Jones.

I did make some small changes to the recipe and it turned out really good. The next time I make it, I will add some more spices and that is how I will share the recipe with you today.

Banana Bread Ingredients

125 g plain flour (I used Kamut, an ancient wheat flour)

100 g Almond meal

25 g Coconut flour

100 g dextrose (or light brown sugar)

30 g Maple syrup

100 g seeds (I used 50 g Sesame & 50 g Golden Flaxseed)

a pinch of salt

1 teasp baking power

2 teasp Cinnamon

1 teasp Nutmeg

3 medium sized ripe bananas

grated zest & juice of 1 lemon

2 tablesp Olive oil

2 tablesp Coconut yoghurt (or natural yoghurt)

2 eggs

½ teasp Vanilla essence/paste

Method

Preheat oven to 200’ C and prepare a 450 g loaf tin.

Put all the dry ingredients (plain flour, Almond meal, Coconut flour, dextrose, salt, baking powder, Cinnamon & nutmeg) into a large bowl and mix well.

Put the bananas into a food processor with the lemon juice and zest, Olive oil, Coconut yoghurt, eggs, Maple syrup and Vanilla.

Give it a quick blitz so the bananas are broken down, and then slowly add the dry ingredients. Don’t over mix; just do enough to ensure it is all well combined.

Pour the mix into your tin and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

We found it’s delicious on it’s own and goes really well with a cup of tea or coffee.

However I like a thick slice, warmed in the toaster and then spread with a little butter.

I hope you enjoy this Banana Bread as well.

Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper.

Sleep and how it impacts our Health

Last week I wrote about sleep and while doing my research I came across so much information.

So today I thought I would continue with this topic and share some articles from the Heart Institute I found interesting.

New research from Australia’s Sleep Health Foundation reveals that 33 to 45% of Australian adults suffer from inadequate sleep.

What impact does this have on our health and wellbeing? And does inadequate sleep affect our ability to exercise and improve fitness?

The Sleep Health Foundation says sleep is a fundamental biological requirement for human health. A variety of health problems and chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes have been linked to specific sleep disorders.

It seems that getting some good quality zzzzzz’s should be high on our evening agenda.

Does sleep affect your ability to workout and improve your fitness?

The short answer is yes. Movement and wellness specialist Priscilla Flynn of In2great Fitness says she can tell when a client hasn’t been sleeping well.

“We train with heart rate monitors which gives us the ability to check in with how well our clients are coping with the stress of the workout,” she says.

”On days with poor sleep, heart rate efficiency will be compromised. Clients will tend to struggle to increase heart rate intensity, or their intensity stays high and they can’t recover.”

If we don’t sleep well we are more prone to weight gain, cravings, mood disorders, overeating, pain, and a general lack of wellness.

Sleep or exercise – what’s more important?

You can’t really have one without the other. It’s important to consider a person’s metabolic reserve – basically how much gas is in the tank.

“Good sleep quality will increase a person’s metabolic reserve, making them more resilient to stress of any kind. Having a good sleep means you can train longer, or more intensely, before you get depleted,” Priscilla says.

“A lack of sleep decreases metabolic reserve which means the person has a reduced capacity to cope with additional stress. This means they have a reduced capacity to train optimally, and therefore a reduced ability to get the results they seek”.

“If you’re really exhausted, it’s better to modify your workout and listen to your body.”

Too little sleep?

Research also suggests that getting too little sleep can be bad for your heart.

It has been established that getting too little sleep can lead to increased risk of diabetes. This new research shows it can also increase the chances of certain types of cardiovascular disease, especially in women and the elderly.

The study found those getting less than four hours of sleep can increase the likelihood of death by some types of heart disease, like heart attacks and angina.

So there you have it from the experts, the perfect reason to get a good night sleep. The Heart Institute also emphasises that the study suggests that too much sleep can also have a negative effect. It is recommended that you do not have more than 10 hours on a regular basis. (Source – The Heart Institute)

As with most things heart related (and health in general), moderation seems to be key.

 

Till the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper.

Spotlight on Breakfast Drinks

In todays post I am looking at Breakfast drinks.

Last week I wrote about the food industry and processed foods. I mentioned that the industry as a whole was driven by profit and questioned what was in our food.

During the week I was doing some research into ‘Energy drinks’ and a friend asked about ‘breakfast drinks’. So, after our discussion and a bit of research later, this is what I came up with.

I decided to do a comparison between an Up ‘n’ Go breakfast drink and a homemade smoothie.

Let’s look at the Up & Go ingredients

Choc Ice, 250ml Breakfast drink

Filtered water, skim milk powder, cane sugar, wheat maltodextrin, soy protein, vegetable oils (sunflower, canola), vegetable fibre, hi-maize™ starch, corn syrup solids, fructose, cocoa (0.5%), oat flour, mineral (calcium), acidity regulator (332), flavours, vegetable gums (460, 466, 407), stabiliser (452), salt, vitamins (C, niacin, A, B12, B6, B2, B1, folate).

Labelling laws in Australia require the ingredients to be listed in order of quantity. So the first ingredient, therefore the most, is water. Followed by Skim milk powder.

Then there is the third most ingredient, the first of the sugars ‘Cane Sugar’.

Followed by another sugar -Wheat maltodextrin, made from wheat starch. Maltodextrins are considered equivalent to sugar but not as sweet.

Then there is Soy protein, Vegetable oils, Vegetable fibre, Hi-maize™ starch and Corn Syrup solids.

Corn syrup solids are made from concentrating corn syrup, a liquid sweetener made from corn. Studies show that the body metabolises corn syrup and corn syrup solids in the same way, and they may contribute to health issues such as obesity, diabetes and liver disease.

Then there is more processed sugar, in the form of fructose. Commercially Fructose or fruit sugar is frequently derived from sugar cane, sugar beets, and corn. The primary reason that fructose is used commercially in foods, besides its low cost, is its high relative sweetness.

Then there is the cocoa, oat flour and the added vitamins, minerals and chemicals required to keep the product on the shelf.

This product is advertised as a ‘healthy’ breakfast option.

I think that we can make healthy breakfast drinks at home. Using fresh ingredients. I have done the research on a quick, Choc-Banana Smoothie, a home made ‘Breakfast Drink’ alternative.

To be fair, this comparison uses Pauls Smarter White milk (as the Up n Go uses skim milk powder).

The Numbers

Milk 250ml Banana 50g

Raw Cacao Pwdr 10g

 TOTAL Up n Go  250ml
Calories 162 44.5 47 232.5 196
Total fats – g 9 0.15 1.9 7.05 3.8
Sodium – g 110 0.5 110.5 161
Potassium – g 179 179 514
Protein – g 8 .55 2.1 12.65 8.3
Total carbohydrates – g 12 11.5 5.3 31.8 29.7
Dietary fiber – g 1.3 1.3 4
Sugars – g 12 6 0.2 18.2 19.2
COST .50 .24 .40 1.14 1.53

For the record, 50g of banana, is approximately ½ an average banana and 10 g of Cacao is a generous tablespoon. Now, I know that the homemade version has 36.5 extra calories and some extra fat. It does however have a little less sugar and more protein.

The most important thing to remember about this comparison though is that the homemade recipe uses 3 real food ingredients. You can also choose to reduce your chemical footprint by buying Organic ingredients.

You will also have some ingredients left over to use in other ways.

Now the choice is yours, but I hope I’ve got you thinking about what you and your family eat.

Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper