Many endurance athletes, myself included, find ourselves stuck in ruts when it comes to recipes and meals. We tend to have our staples that provide the nutrients we need to sustain our training, but those staples can get boring and overdone. The challenge to seek out new recipes is good, but searching a foreign region’s menu, was an extra, albeit fun, challenge.

With the mission of choosing a recipe from a specific country in the Mediterranean, a small geography lesson was first required. I think many of us don’t realize that the Mediterranean is more than a portion of Italy and the country of Greece. There are 21 countries that comprise the region. They all share similar ingredients in their recipes, yet they all deliver a unique flair to the table. I got the joy of researching the recipes of Egypt.

The first step was just familiarizing myself with the cuisine of the country. True to Mediterranean food, there were many minced meats, shish kabobs with sides of tahini and pita. Some less common foods included grilled pigeon, fried perch and tuna, and stewed beans for breakfast. While runners need protein, pigeon was not a source I was opting for this time.
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Calling all chocolate lovers! We have the perfect Valentine’s dessert for you and it just so happens to be healthy, decadent and loaded with antioxidants. Finally, a Valentine treat we can actually feel good about.

Inspired by our editor, I created this beautiful bark last week in preparation for Valentine’s Day. Just because we operate a health and diet website doesn’t mean we don’t crave chocolate once in a while (or every day).

The entire time I was prepping the ingredients I couldn’t wait to take a sample bite of the finished product. The luscious dark chocolate, the salty pistachios and the sweet, crisp pomegranates were sure to be a stellar flavor combination. Sure enough, my suspicions were right.
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Did you know pistachios are considered the skinny nut? And to think, I always just liked them because they tasted good. Looks like I was missing half the good news about this little green nut.

Although I snack on pistachios often I seldom use them in cooking. However, because of their unique flavor and crunchy texture they make a brilliant addition to dishes like crusted chicken, ice cream and sautees (find recipes below). Who would’ve thought something so naturally healthy could also be so delicious?

Health benefits: As mentioned above, scientists have discovered that pistachios are the ideal snack for weight loss. This is because the nuts’ fat is absorbed into the body making them lower in calories than previously thought.

In addition to being a considerably low-calorie snack, pistachios are also high in vitamins and minerals like vitamins A and E, protein, healthy fats and antioxidants. Other studies have also shown pistachios to help lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol, increase HDL or “good” cholesterol, and fight inflammation.
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Summer is in full swing, meaning baseball stadiums around the country are packed with fans, especially this week at the All Star Game. It wouldn’t be an all-American baseball game without chowing down on some ballpark food, like stadium staples hot dogs, nachos, and peanuts. But what about those who want to enjoy a night at the old ball game without feeling bloated from the grease and sodium afterward?

Don’t fret my friends! Ballparks around the country are adding healthier choices to their menus! Some baseball stadiums added pistachios as an alternative to peanuts. Pistachios have more fiber and less saturated fat than peanuts, are a good source of vitamin B6 (15% DV), and you get almost 50 pieces for a single serving. That’s good stuff.

“There aren’t many healthy options at ballparks, so it’s exciting that consumers will be able to get in the game with pistachios this summer,” said Patricia Bannan, registered dietitian for Wonderful Pistachios. “Nutrient-packed pistachios have a lot to offer without sacrificing taste, so you can snack on them guilt-free as you enjoy watching your favorite teams.”

There is no doubt that the tasty healthy snacks are giving peanuts a run for their money.
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A new study presented at the Experimental Biology conference in Washington, D.C. last week found that pistachios may be the ideal snack to aid in weight loss. Researchers discovered that not all of the nuts’ fat is absorbed by the body, making them slightly lower in calories than was previously thought. The findings work against the typically held idea that nuts are too high in calories and fat to make them good weight-loss aids.

“What we found is that when people consume the nuts, all the fat wasn’t absorbed by the body and therefore the calories weren’t all available to the body,” lead researcher Dr. David Baer told DietsInReview.

Researchers placed 52 overweight and obese subjects on 500-calorie deficit diets. Half were assigned to a group that ate pretzels as a snack, and the other group was given a pistachio snack. After 12 weeks, the pistachio group had more success in reaching their weight-loss goals.

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