Tag

carbohydrates

Browsing

The is what the color of your bread bag twist tie means

Think of all of the sandwiches you have made in your lifetime — for yourself, for your kids, for road trips and lunches and late night snacks. Have you ever once stopped to notice that the color of the twist tie on your sandwich bread bag varies — or why that is? It turns out, bread bags aren’t just randomly wrapped up with whatever colored twist tie is available. Those little pieces of wire wrapped in paper (or the hard plastic U-shaped square tags) are, in fact, used as an indicator of just how fresh your bread will be. It’s a hidden little behind-the-scenes secret at grocery stores. While you use the ‘expiration’ or ‘sell by’ date, employees restocking shelves can quickly look at a loaf and recognize the color code. Here’s how to know when you’re bread was baked: Monday: Blue Tuesday: Green Thursday: Red Friday: White Saturday: Yellow Wednesday…

Eating this amount of pasta could add years on to your life

Carb lovers, rejoice! A new study suggests that eating pasta could help you live longer, while following low-carb diets such as Atkins could increase your risk of dying young. Scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston analyzed data on 432,179 people and found that those who ate a “moderate” amount of carbs — about 50 to 55 percent of calories from carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta, and bread — could expect to live about four years longer. The findings were published in The Lancet Public Health journal. The study found that those who eat low-carb diets are more likely to have a lower intake of fresh fruit, vegetables, and healthy grains, and in their place, substitute more meat. This decrease in the variety of nutrients can lead to an increase in biological aging and a shortened lifespan. While low-carb diets like Atkins have fueled thinking that carbs are somehow bad…

High-fat diets might not be best for weight loss, one study shows

If you’ve gone on a diet recently, you’ve probably been told by a friend or even a fitness professional that a low-carb, high-fat diet is the fastest way to fitness. The theory goes that this type of diet will force your body into ketosis, where it will burn fat instead of carbs, prompting you to shed more pounds. But a new study suggests that this might not be the case. The new study from the University of Aberdeen in the Chinese Academy of Sciences was published in Cell Metabolism. Researchers found that mice who ate high-fat diets gained more weight over a three-month period than mice who ate high-carb diets. And actually, the mice fed carbs, didn’t gain any weight at all, while the high-fat diet produced overweight mice. Researchers at Aberdeen studied how mice responded to 30 different diets, which varied widely in fat and carb content. The diet-appropriate foods…

Slow cooker mashed potatoes made easy

Jump to the fast track on Thanksgiving side dishes and make the most effortless slow cooker mashed potatoes ever. Just set the slow cooker to high, load it with redskin potatoes, add a little water, butter and garlic, and in about four hours you’ll have perfectly rich and flavorful potatoes — no skin peeling and no boiling. Best of all, they’re fairly hands-off, so you’ll be able to use that extra time elsewhere. Slow Cooker Redskin Mashed Potatoes Makes about 10-12 servings Ingredients 3 pounds redskin potatoes, scrubbed (leave skin on) 1/4 cup butter 4 cloves crushed garlic, peeled 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese About 1/4 cup milk (more as needed) 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 4 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped 1/4 cup water Directions  Place potatoes in slow cooker along with butter, garlic and water. Set to high for a cook time of 4 hours, then secure the lid. After 4…

Quinoa salad with cranberries and pecans

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) has come a long way. It was banished to the back of the health food store for decades only to be featured up front on national supermarket aisles the past few years. It’s high protein content and versatile texture have made quinoa a popular everyday grain. At the dinner table, it’s often substituted in place of former starchy favorites like pasta or white rice. But quinoa isn’t a new fad. Sure, it has recently picked up popularity in the United States and Europe, but it has been cultivated and eaten in the Andes for more than 5,000 years. It was known as “the mother grain” and “the gold of the Incas”, a testament to the importance of this grain to the Andean cultures. Today, it’s considered a superfood. It’s a complete protein source that’s also high in iron, magnesium and fiber, while also being extremely versatile and easy to cook with. Some estimates state…

If you’re addicted to carbs, it might not be your fault

It turns out that those pasta and garlic bread binges might not be your fault. Yep. Not that it helps your waistline, but you might feel a tiny bit relieved. In a recent study, scientists discovered that some of us have a genuine weakness for carbohydrates, which makes us crave them even more. Our tastebuds are to blame. Some folks are more sensitive to the taste of starchy carbs, causing them to eat more of them — and likely gain weight as a result of this sensitivity, reported Newsweek. Scientists were surprised by these findings, since carbohydrates weren’t previously thought to have a taste. “It’s typically sugar, with its hedrnically pleasing sweet taste, that is the most sought after carbohydrate,” professor and lead researcher Russell Keast said in a statement. However, this new research shows that non-sweet carbs might actually have a detectable taste to some, Keast says. In fact, the research team…