Farm Fresh Discussion – Inspiring Change in our Food Systems
Cinnamon – Spice Up Your Life!
Cinnamon Varieties
Cinnamon Trees are native to South Asia, the bark of the cinnamon tree is dried and rolled into sticks, which is also called quills. The characteristic flavor and aroma of cinnamon comes from a compound in the essential oil of the bark called cinnamonaldehyde.
Cinnamon is one of the oldest known spices. Once the outer bark of the tree is removed cinnamon sticks, or quills have many thin layers that can easily be made into powder using a coffee or spice grinder.
Indonesian Cinnamon
Unless you get your hands on Indonesian cinnamon, often sold in neat quills made up of one thick layer, capable of damaging a spice or coffee grinder.
You likely are aware of cinnamon in regards to pies, donuts, cinnamon buns and cinnamon toast. Did you know that especially in Mexico chocolate is often prepared with cinnamon? Cinnamon is also used for savory dishes, soups and even cinnamon curries.
Cinnamon provides a low calorie, high flavor substitute for sugar. You probably have had cinnamon in your tea, but have you tried cinnamon in your cup of coffee? A cup of coffee with cinnamon instead of cream and sugar could save up to 70 calories, because a whole tablespoon of cinnamon is only 19 calories vs 45 in a TBS of granulated sugar. It can be a substitute in your coffee, yogurt, and popcorn – oh my!
Tablespoon of Cinnamon
For diabetics and those interested in a low-sugar diet, the effects of cinnamon versus sugar should make you happy (more on that later). One study found that a half a teaspoon a day could keep the diabetes at bay, as it reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol. (more on natural diabetes prevention)
Need even more reasons to love cinnamon? Excellent, because I have plenty more!
Ever had that after-meal sugar crash? That crash leads to more cravings and decreased satiety. Cinnamon can slow down the speed that the stomach empties after a meal, reducing the influx of blood sugar; cravings; and overeating! Reducing caloric intake might be a stretch, but anything that helps can’t hurt, right?
It is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium. Nutritious, nutritious!
Cinnamon can strengthen the immune system by enhancing the antioxidants from other foods to help the body defend itself. In traditional Chinese medicine, cinnamon is used for colds, flatulence, nausea, diarrhoea, and painful menstrual periods.
Cinnamon and Ginger
In a study patients given a topical cinnamon and ginger ointment treatment reduced pain and morning stiffness. Topically, cinnamon can also promote collagen biosynthesis (read can be used as an anti-aging cream!)
It was found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory. The cinnamon aroma is also a mood booster and aphrodisiac… oooh lala love cinnamon!
Happy Cinnamon Recipes Under 100 Calories from greatist.com
Spiced Orange: One orange— about the size of a tennis ball— sprinkled with cinnamon.
Stuffed Figs: Two small dried figs with 1 tablespoon reduced-fat ricotta stuffed inside. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Oats n’ Berries: ⅓ cup rolled oats (cooked with water), topped with cinnamon and ¼ cup freshberries.
Baked Apple: One tennis ball-sized apple, cored, filled with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked until tender.
Cinnamon Graham Crackers & Peanut butter: Two graham cracker squares with 1 teaspoon peanut butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Warm Spiced Cider: 6 ounces apple cider with sprinkles of cinnamon and nutmeg, warmed.
Sweet n’ Spicy Pecans: Five pecans roasted with 2 teaspoons maple syrup and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Check out this blog post about the Top 5 Health Benefits of Cinnamon
LuLuLemon Yoga Saturdays!
Every Saturday at 9a Lululemon opens its doors to the community and offers a yoga class. The instructors rotate throughout the year, they feature a gym each month and the month of October in the city of Madison’ Lululemon selected Monkey Bar Gym!
Oct 1st, 9th, and 22nd I will be the yoga instructor. I love this opportunity to meet new yogis in the community as well as share Eischens Yoga. Eischens Yoga focuses on realignment and restoration of the body to natural alignment. The quality of movement is emphasized over flexibility and range of motion. Engaging all of the muscle fibers especially those often underused is grounded in each of the poses. The more muscle fibers that are engaged, the higher the caloric expenditure of your practice!
Lululemon Athletica is a self-described yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, produces a clothing line and runs international clothing stores from its company base in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For more information check out yoga events in Madison (like the Salutation Nation event that was held early this fall in Vilas Park with the zoo adding its unique sounds to the brilliant view of the lake during our practice)
Downdog in Ephesus, Turkey 2011
WSUM: Health Tips on the Road!
‘Good Afternoon this is Caitlin Iverson hosting ‘Fit for Feats’. This is part 2 of the staying fit while traveling series. It’s summer time, which for most of us students that means travel/adventure and explore!
Traveling can seriously hinder exercise routines and especially derail healthy eating habits. Last week we took a round trip world tour with music hits from around the world. I provided some tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint as well as your caloric intake while exploring this blue planet.
Today we will take a roadtrip and discuss ways to be healthy on your adventures. Lets kick it off with some sweet tunes to start your roadtrip!
‘Get myself into it’– The Rapture
‘For the girl’ – The Fratellis
I hope those tunes got you moving, as a sweet mix is essential for long road trips.
My first tip for staying healthy on your roadtrip is to pack a kooler of healthy snacks that keep well like cut up fruits and veggies, and plenty of water.
If your trip is a bit longer and a kooler wont last look for places like Quik Trip that have ’500 Club Meals’, which are meals under 500 calories and include reduced or only healthy fats.
This is Caitlin Iverson with WSUM 91.7FM Madison. Stay tuned for more healthy traveling trips.
Air France ‘Beach Party’
Chairlift ‘Bruises’
On long roadtrip your body tends to lose energy from being stagnant in the car. Make sure to take advantage of breaks by moving your body at rest stops. I like to do a few yoga poses like forward flexion, front warrior and walking lunges. You could also pack a jump rope, soccer ball or even a Frisbee to get that heart rate up and enjoy some much needed playtime.
Thanks for tuning in today to Fit for Feats – aka feats of strength. Today we are chatting about staying healthy when you are traversing the terrain on the road.
Obviously packing food is nice in that you know exactly what you are eating, but if you can find a grocery store wherever you are staying, many hotels have refridgerators to store your fresh foods. Also, park the car and take a hike to explore the land!
These next few tunes have something to do with driving – hope you enjoy!
Gotye ‘Night Drive’
Gladys Night ‘Midnight train to Georgia’
Various Artists ‘I drove all night’
That last song needs a bit of introduction. Last year I was in costa rica and I asked a friend I had made to make a mix cd for my road trip. After he asked if I had ever heard of a man named Carlos Santa up in America, I wasn’t sure what would be on the mix. Of course I responded with a casual afrermation that Carlos Santa has made himself known up in America! This song was one of the many interesting and pecular tunes. Sometimes staying healthy also means being flexible with what is available!
My last travel tip for the day has to do with packing. As I mentioned before, packing healthy foods is ideal. Packing your own gym, to do your favorite body workouts, jump rope, p90x, suspension trainer like TRX or Jungle Gym are excellent additions to your trip. Whatever you do stay happy, as stress an derail even the best healthy intentions!
Thank you for sharing your time with me. Enjoy your day – make it healthy and happy!
The Beatles ‘All Together Now’
Wellness Wednesdays on WSUM Madison’s Student Radio
I host a talk show on Madison’s Student Radio WSUM 91.7 FM. I am live on Wednesdays at noon. The title of my show is … surprise, surprise ‘Fit for Feats’.
The byline:’What does health mean? Turns out you don’t need to sweat at the gym everyday in order to stay fit. That said, we do need to move, play and explore our environment. Speaking of our environment, what have you done for yours lately? Let’s chat about sustainability and how small changes overtime really do make a difference. I will ask some health professionals to join the show to help pique your interest in learning about your health: nutrition, fitness and that of this blue planet. Fit for Feats will also inspire and prepare you for feats of strength like swimming across Lake Monona, hike Devils Lake and bike the MS 150 (nothing too far out of reach for the typical Madisonian) plus the only bicep curls I’ll ask you to do will be with your water bottle!
My first show was on August 9th, literally the day after I got back to Madison from a summer of: Jamaica, Minnesota Wedding, 4th of July Madison, Istanbul for a Communication Conference, Turkey, and Montauk, New York. My show was more music than talking as I was a bit exhausted, but it had a stay healthy while you travel theme. Here is the playlist and my script. Currently wordpress wont let me upload an hour long mp3, but I will figure out how to podcast my show for you to listen … stay tuned!
‘Good Afternoon this is Caitlin Iverson hosting ‘Fit for Feats’. Its summer time which for most of us students that means travel/adventure and explore!
- Traveling can seriously hinder exercise routines and especially derail healthy eating habits. I have some tips for how to travel and stay healthy but first lets check out some tunes from around the world.
From Jamaica:
Sound dimension ‘Heavy Beat’
Major lazer – (recorded in Jamaica) ‘I’m not your lemonade’
I started this summer with an adventure in Jamaica thus started this program with some Jamaican beats. That first song was from sound dimension followed by Major Lazer who recorded that track in Jamaica
Before we get into tips for how to travel and stay healthy, lets hop across the pond to Africa.
Hop the pond to Africa
From Mali: Amadou & Mariam ‘I Follow you’
From Senegal: Youssou N’Dour ‘Wiri-Wiri’
I follow you from the Album Welcome to Mali was followed by Wiri-Wiri recorded in Senegal
- Traveling usually means that you are eating out more and cooking less. Grocery stores often have fresh fruits and veggies that you can snack on between meals – this helps both the pocket book and the body as hungry people tend to order more food.
Let’s head north around the globe to Europe.
Europe
Fever ray – Swedish – ‘Seven’
Apparat – German – ‘Hallin’ From the Edge’
Im from Barcelona – Espanol – ‘Collection of Stamps’
This is Caitlin Iverson with Fit for Feats here at WSUM 91.7 FM Madison– today’s program has a healthy travel influence as I just flew home last night from Turkey with a stop over in Long Island, New York – so far we have heard beats from Jamaica, Africa, and Europe.
- Healthy traveling isn’t just about your body but also about how you treat the planet. Many countries have different disposal rules and regulations and my advice is do the best you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Buy a water purifier so that you don’t need to buy plastic water bottles everyday
Let’s spend some time in Europe but check out some fantastic music from the UK
Florence and the Machine ‘Howl’
Fujiya & Miyagi ‘Collarbone’
Burial ‘Archangel’
Welcome back to Fit for Feats. Today’s topic: stay healthy while traveling this great blue planet!
- Sometimes the only exercise you can get while traveling is walking and dancing. My suggestion is to walk and dance as often as possible! Where ever you are when you travel one of the best ways to understand a culture is to listen to their music. Dancing is a way to communicate universally. I hope some of these tunes have made you want to move those bones.
Lets hop back across the pond on our round trip of the traveling beats – leaving the UK stopping over in Canada this is Elisane with Vaporous before coming home to the US.
Elisane ‘Vaporous’
Beats Antique – Cali with tribal influence, belly dancing – ‘Beauty Beats’
That last one was from Beats Antique a band from the US. Our round trip is complete thanks for tuning in and traveling to Jamaica, Africa, Europe and back to America. Tune in next week and I’ll discuss more healthy traveling tips, maybe with a more local vibe like a perfect playlist for hiking devils lake, or a road trip! This is Caitlin Iverson enjoy your beautiful day!
I’ll leave you with a song called Uncharted as this life certainly is!
Sara Bareilles ‘Uncharted’
WSUM streams live online at WSUM.org
Fit for Feats airs Wednesdays at 12pm
Find the Balance: Between Work and Life
I am a full-time graduate student, a project assistant, a Monkey Bar Gymnasium Instructor, a documentary writer, a daughter, a sister, a best friend, a girlfriend, a roommate, a blogger, a health news reporter, a researcher, a health promotion implementer, a grant writer, a healthy eater, an exercise enthusiast….
This list is not exhaustive – and I know plenty of people with more on their plate! After a yoga class I taught the other day a fellow graduate student asked me
‘How do you find the time? How can you fit in both teaching and exercising… and school?’
To the overworked graduate students and workaholics:
~ First, Take Time To Breathe ~
~ Second, nothing good was ever accomplished while you were rushing ~
If you are running late, be late. Showing up a day late and a dollar short is not the answer. Instead, show up late with a smile and a dollar to spare. I find when I have the urge to run out the door in the morning, I usually forget something important. (I take a deep breath and focus – sometimes I do a hand stand – It helps me to put things into perspective!)
Third, Make time for you – take breaks and move!
Schedule workouts into your daily planner and make them as much of a priority as a meeting with your boss. I have seen people working from their laptop while on the treadmill! I doubt productivity increased as much as it would if they would have taken a mental break. Your health, mental and physical, is more important than any due date or deadline. Understand your limits ~ the overworked are often exhausted, unhealthy eaters, and too young to look that old.
It is easy to lose sight of what is important when you have bosses and professors requesting your time. Commitments, tasks and obligations can fill every aspect of your day if you let them. Remember …
This is your life ~ and time is not something you will ever have enough of nor will you get it back once its gone
Recently I was on an outdoor adventure with a friend I truly admire and she said her wish for this year is to find
‘Balance Between Living In the Moment and Living For the Future’
For more information on finding that work-life balance:
‘Striking a Balance’ By Kelly Grace From Experience Life Magazine
Do you know what’s in your granola?
I was surprised when I found out that my ‘healthy snack’ was made with unnecessary amounts of sugar, oil and butter. Most granola has more than 25 grams of sugar in one cup (Fruit Loops has less albeit unnatural sugar per cup). Another disquieting finding is that granola is typically baked with oil and copious amounts of butter.
- After some perusing of actually healthy homemade granola I found delicious and nutritious alternatives to oil, butter and artificial sugar. (You are so excited to find out that natural fructose sugar from a banana makes for an ideal substitution!)
- Granola has recently become my favorite thing to make for my friends and neighbors. I try something new every time and if you are reading this and plan to make your own, add your own flair!
- Like I mentioned, I try something new each time and I’m not big on measuring out ingredients but here are the portions I use:
Tip: 1 part Liquid for 5 parts Dry mixture seems to work best
Experiment & Enjoy!
Dry Mix:
2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of sunflower seeds (a friend of mine really loves this addition!)
1 cup of chopped almonds, walnuts, cashews, and/or pecans
Tip: I typically make a mix of nuts and chop until my almond/walnut/whatever is available mix is about 1 cup – depending on your fancy I keep medium chunks of nuts as it tends to please my audience
Blend:
1 ripe or frozen banana
3/4 c water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
optional (tbsp honey or maple syrup)
optional and fun (tbsp all natural peanut butter)
Dried Fruit:
1 cup of dried raisin, cherry, cranberry, blueberry mix yum!
Tip: I get a dried mix of cherries, cranberries and blueberries that is locally grown and dried from cherryland’s best – then I mix in raisins!
Tasks:
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Mix Dry Ingredients in a large/medium bowl
- In a blender, magic bullet or mini food processor – blend the banana, honey/maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon, vanilla and any other added flavor bonus
- Add blended concoction to the bowl and stir until saturated
- Spread in to a single layer on a non-stick cookie sheet (or lined with baking paper)
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until your desired crispiness
- Check every 10 minutes to either flip the oats or break up the chunks
- Also – Give the sheet a shake up every 10 minutes for even crisping of your granola. (I wear my handy-dandy Ove Glove – thanks Dad!)
- For my friend who likes big chunks of granola I pack the granola together like a big cookie layer on the sheet, then using a spatula I flip the oat chunks every 10 minutes while it is baking
7. Let cool then add the dried fruit mix
8. Food is meant to be shared – Enjoy your granola with someone who makes you smile!
Yesterday I made a
Cherry · Berry · Almond · Walnut · Peanut Butter · Banana · Sunflower Seed · Granola
Let me know if you have suggestions/requests for my next batch!
Health and Fitness Report!
WSUM is UW- Madison’s student radio and I am the newest member of the news radio team as the health and fitness reporter!
Here is my first report:
‘New Years Resolutions – Keep Motivated throughout the year’
Nutrition Tips, Setting Goals, Exercise Tips, Healthy Snacking, Health and Fitness Education ~ Enjoy!
Heart Rate Training for Women
Recently The New York Times published an article discussing a ‘Recalibrated Formula‘ for female heart rate training. If you have been tuned into the fitness industry, you have probably heard buzzwords like ‘target heart rate’ and ‘zone-training’. Heart-rate training allows you to monitor and regulate the intensity of your workout, ensuring you get the benefits you desire (aka fat-loss, endurance training, power building, etc.) As you know, female bodies are different than males and thus our hearts are different!
The original ‘target-heart rate’ formula is 220 – age. This formula came from research conducted on exercising heart rates of men. Doctors use the formula when they test patients for heart disease, asking them to walk on treadmills while the speed and incline are gradually increased until their HR reach 85% of the predicted maximum (known as the stress test).
After examining 5,500 healthy females, Dr. Martha Gulati from Northwestern Medicine of Chicago presented a revised target-heart rate formula for women. As with many things, the formula is more complicated for women!
206 minus 88 percent of a woman’s age = Target Maximum Heart Rate
The revised heart rate formula for women is an excellent step in the right direction but Gulati et al left out an important part of the equation which is the resting heart rate (RHR). The study calculated heart rate reserve and yet left that important component out of the new equation. (Heart rate reserve is the change in heart rate from maximum exertion to resting)
Gulati herself stated more research needed, but also a closer look at the data is also needed for a better maximum exertion heart rate formula.
Women, its time to do some math!
Understandably most of us will not want to use a longer formula, however without taking RHR into consideration your estimate can be 10-20 beats off. 10-20 beats could mean the difference of burning fat calories and simply burning sugar.
The difference between exhilaration and exhaustion!
As a fitness professional I recommend incorporating resting heart rate as I know that some 40 year olds are triathletes while others flex their biceps only to get their beverage to their mouth. (Their resting heart rates will be different and thus their target heart rates while exercising should reflect that difference!)
Your maximum heart rate is basically fixed, but your resting heart rate is a measure of fitness. The more fit one is, the lower their resting heart rate.
Let’s look at some numbers:
I am a 26 year old female. My Resting Heart Rate is 55.
Target Max Heart Rate: 220 – age = 194 (too high!)
Adjusted Formula for Women: 206 – (age x .88) = 183.12
My actual HR max is 191 but at I try not to exceed 183. Fitness Professionals have been using the Karvonnen Method to calculate target heart rate because it factors in resting heart rate.
Karvonnen Method: ((HRmax – RHR) x %Intensity) + RHR = THR
using 85% intensity and my Resting Heart Rate of 55
(183-55) x .85 + 55 = 163.8
If calculators are not your thing ask a trained fitness professional to assist in finding your estimates.
