This Week’s Ingredient: Bananas!

Gwen Stefani wasn’t kidding when she said her sh*t was bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S). What better food to give props to than these sweet yellow babies? In all honesty, if I had to pick exactly one food item to live on for the rest of my life, it would definitely be bananas. Why? At just 100 calories (per medium Cavendish banana, the bright yellow kind most commonly sold in American grocery stores), the banana is an excellent source of vitamin B6, potassium, fiber, and manganese. It is sweet, creamy, filling, easy to digest, and soothes stomach upset. Protease inhibitors in the banana reduce bacteria in the stomach while its natural composition activates the production of cells that line the stomach to protect it from painful acids.  Next time you’ve got a hangover, try a banana or two for breakfast and tell me if your stomach doesn’t feel ten times better!

Easy Meals

1. Bananas + peanut butter = unstoppable. Spread on a rice cake, add to your oatmeal, mix into your yogurt, but I bet you can’t stop with one serving.
2. Slice a banana, apple, strawberries, and melon and serve with melted chocolate for a sweet summer snack.
3. Add a banana, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 cup skim milk, and a handful of chocolate chips to a blender to whip up a cool smoothie.

The Recipe: Flourless Banana Blondies

I was inspired to create this recipe after reading about the Paleo Diet which emphasizes eating whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and lean meats. The preparation is quick, the baking is foolproof, and the result is delicious and healthy!

Ingredients

Five bananas, peeled
Two eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 tbsp cinammon
3/4 cup organic dairy-free dark chocolate chips*
2 tbsp peanut or almond butter
3 cups diced walnuts and pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

*You can use regular chocolate chips if you aren’t worried about sticking to the Paleo guidelines.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Add the bananas and peanut butter to a large mixing bowl and mash really well. 2. Add the applesauce, eggs, and cinammon and continue to mix well until all are blended and smooth.
3. Add the chocolate chips and stir into the mix.
4. Grease an 8×8″ baking dish (or whatever you might use for brownies). If you’re looking to stick to Paleo rules, use coconut oil.
5. Spread the mix evenly into the dish, then top with the nuts and coconut.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Salads = phytochemical wonderlands!

We treat our bodies pretty poorly in college. We stay up late, we put our livers to the test (daily), and we eat a whole lot of unhealthy treats. And we feel the effects on Monday morning when we’re trudging to class in pants that barely fit and a foggy, unhappy brain.

What if I told you making one small change could give your body a boost? No, I’m not going to tell you to stop drinking beer – that would be unrealistic – but I am gonna tell you to start indulging in phytochemicals.

Phyto-wha?
I know – when I first saw that word I had to Google it too. Allow me to break it down:

A recent study found that eating food containing phytochemicals at the beginning of a meal prevents oxidative stress, which can cause obesity, heart disease, joint disease, diabetes, and more.

So basically, You + Phytochemicals = Thin, Disease-Free You!

Understandably, I’m a HUGE fan. And I’m ready to hit up the phytochemical aisle at my campus grocery store.

So where can you find phytochemicals? Think healthy, plant-based foods like leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. You don’t need acai berry for this; stick with what you know! In fact, they say that wonder pills and even juices (apple juice, cranberry juice, etc.) aren’t as beneficial for you as fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables. The study specifically mentioned the great phytochemicals in garlic, tomatoes, soy, carrots, red wine, whole grains… Wait, red wine? You know we love any excuse to down a box of red…

In order to get the best health benefits from our food, we are encouraged to “…go back to the whole sources of food, the nonprocessed foods if we can help it.” So even swapping some raw almonds for your typical granola bar on the way to class, or drinking tea instead of coffee will help add more phytochemicals to your diet.

Order matters, as well.  Eating the healthy foods BEFORE the unhealthy foods is better. This is news to me, as I usually eat vegetables or fruit after the unhealthy stuff. Usually because eating that plate of cheese fries makes me feel fat, so I follow it up with a nice, hearty celery stick. But the key is to eat the celery before the cheese fries so I will fill up on more-nutrient dense/lower calorie foods first and take in fewer calories later.

Basically, to help you stay thin and disease-free:

* The more colorful your plate is, the better. (Natural colors from fruits & vegetables, not Skittles.)
* Swap any processed foods (even relatively healthy granola bars) for unprocessed fruits, vegetables, etc. whenever possible.
* Eat the healthy stuff before the unhealthy stuff. You’ll end up eating less calories and fat.

We’re in college so we all know we won’t be giving up on the cheese fries and pizza anytime soon, but if we just balance it out with more nutritious options when we can, we’ll feel it in our bodies. And in our jeans. When we sit down. And there’s no muffin top.

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I know it’s pretty typical in college, but I always feel tired and lethargic.  I try to eat as healthy as I can, but even adding nuts and more protein to my diet isn’t working. I was wondering if you had any ideas of things I could do (specific vitamins/things I should be eating) that will help me feel more awake and less foggy on a day to day basis. Thank you.

A: If you’re feeling tired much of the day, you’re not alone. Fatigue and lack of energy are probably the most common reason patients come to see me at CLEAR Center of Health (www.clearcenterofhealth.com), the integrative health center where I work.  Even if the rest of your life is going brilliantly, if you feel tired all the time, it’s enough to sap you of your mojo.

While it may be tempting to grab a triple shot caramel macchiato to get you through, that’s only going to make matters worse. Here are a few natural tips to help you feel more vital.

Tips For Improving Your Energy Levels

Eat a balanced whole foods diet, rich in produce, lean proteins, and whole grains. Cut out additives. Shop on the outside aisles of the grocery store- avoid those mid-sections as much as possible.

Try to get 8 hours of sleep at night. Go to bed earlier and rearrange your schedule to allow your body the rest and rejuvenation it needs to recapture energy.

Take a good multivitamin. If you’re nutritionally depleted, you may feel fatigued.

Exercise regularly. It may seem counterintuitive. After all, how can you exercise when you feel so tired you can barely roll out of bed. But trust me on this one. If you can manage to do it, it works.

Supplement your diet with superfoods. Superfoods, such as sun chlorella (a broken cell walled algae supplement that is like eating loads of veggies in a few little pills), acai berry, and wheat grass, can boost up your nutrition, and with it, your energy.

Avoid caffeine, sugar, high carb foods, alcohol, and nicotine.

Buy a juicer and drink green juice every day. I make mine from cucumber, kale, celery, sprouts, swiss chard, ginger, lemon and jalapeno.  It works miracles- I swear!

If you suffer from anxiety and depression, get help. Working naturally to alter your brain biochemistry can do wonders for your energy (and your mojo!)

If you snore, bring it up with your doc. If you have untreated sleep apnea, you’re not just tired (and keeping your roommates awake), your health may be in danger.

Consider seeing a reputable integrative medicine doctor. While traditional doctors may check your hemoglobin and a TSH, many integrative medicine doctors will do a more thorough medical evaluation, including evaluation of your emotional and mental well-being, as well as testing of your sex hormones, adrenal hormones, blood count, various measures of your thyroid function, and food allergy testing.  You can ask your traditional medical doctor to order these tests. Some docs are up-to-date and on top of current treatment for fatigue.  But more often, you may find some resistance from doctors not familiar with treating some of these conditions.

–Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book, What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in Fall 2010. She invites you to join her Pink online community (www.owningpink.com/forum) or read more of her writing at Owning Pink (www.owningpink.com).