The 3 hidden gems I found at the Farmer's Market

Last week I attended my first Farmer's Market of the summer. Granted, it's not quite summer up here in Canada, but it's getting close.

If you have never been to a Farmer's Market, I can't stress enough how great these places are for people who are trying to eat healthy. When it comes to the benefits of a Farmer's Market, It can all be summed up in two words - Fresh Food.

Fresh produce, fresh dairy and fresh meat. And these days fresh anything is worth it's weight in gold.

You see, in the big money world of grocery super stores, one thing rules supreme and that's shelf life.

Companies go to great lengths to be innovative in their packaging and formulations in order to squeak another couple days of shelf life out of their products before they expire. Whether it's ultra-high heat pasteurization of dairy products, or the sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate found in almost all bottled drinks these days, the "shelf life wars" are changing the look and feel of our foods.

The longer they are on the shelf, the more likely you will buy them.

From milk to fruits and vegetables, the product with the longest shelf life wins.

However, my adopted Nutrition mantra of "The quicker it goes bad, the better it is for you" suggests that we should be buying and eating foods that have the shortest shelf life.

My reasoning for this is that we are still discovering the compounds in food that benefit our health, and I'm sure it will be sometime before we actually have an exhaustive list. The more we discover, the more we realize that many of these compounds degrade quickly, and what might be present in fresh foods may not be present in some of the ultra extended shelf life versions you find in grocery super stores.

And this is where summer Farmers Markets are a great tool.

Make it a priority this summer to do most, if not all of your shopping at farmers markets, paying special attention to pick the freshest in-season fruits and vegetables that you can find.

Finally, here are the three hidden treasures I found last weekend.

One- Goats Milk Yogurt

Why is this a hidden treasure? Well for one, it tastes AMAZING, but more importantly compare the ingredients to the leading off-the-shelf yogurt.

Goats Milk Yogurt: Pasteurized whole goats milk, bacterial cultures.

Leading Yogurt: Skim milk, cream, sugar, concentrated skim milk, fructose, milk and whey protein concentrate, corn starch, gelatin, modified corn starch, active bacterial cultures, natural and artificial flavors, locust bean gum, natural & artificial colors, malic acid.

Quite the difference!

Two- Grass Fed Meat

The rumors are true, this stuff tastes Great!

More importantly, these steaks come from cows which were allowed to graze on a pasture, as opposed to the beef from corn fed cows. The difference, (Other than no hormones and no antibiotics in their feed), is that the meat from grass fed cows is actually higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids than the meat from cornfed cows. Nutritious and Delicious

Three-Locally grown Produce

Almost all of the produce at Farmer's Markets are locally grown. Why does this matter? It matters because this means you strawberries didnt take a 1,000 mile drive to get to you.

And there you have it, the 3 hidden gems that will make me go back to my farmers market this Saturday.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

How to Win the Fat War

3,900 - This is the amount of food calories produced every day for each American citizen.

Think about this number for a minute. 3,900 calories is well over a thousand more calories than almost any of us will ever need in a day- but they are being produced so someone has to eat them.

This is what I like to call the North American paradox. Food companies and food producers need us to consume more and more calories to keep their profits coming, yet we want to consume less and less calories to maintain our health.

This is why it is not an exaggeration when I say it is a battle to try and eat less food and to make sure that the foods we do eat are healthy foods.

The best way to win this battle? Always remember that the foods you see in convenience stores and gas stations are there because someone wants you to buy them and has figured out what colors, names, and sizes will make you notice their products.

So the way to win this battle is by not being a "good little consumer".

Try your best to buy only planned foods - The foods you plan to buy during your grocery run.
Resist all unplanned purchases...gas stations, convenience stores, vending machines and checkout lines...these are all examples of places where we typically make unplanned impulse food buys.

Make this one adjustment to your typical daily routine and you are on your way to winning the fat war.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training

Rules To Shop By

After a quick trip to the grocery store this morning, I realized how confusing it can be trying to pick out the good foods from the bad foods.

Food companies are jumping on the health claim bandwagon, and just about everything is now 'healthy this' or 'reduced that'. So here's a quick tip - The quicker it goes bad, the better it is for you.

Fruits, vegetables, meat and fish all go bad quickly, whereas cereals, boxed food and frozen food can last forever. Now there are some exceptions to this rule (nuts can last, especially if you keep them refrigerated), but generally this is a nice clean rule to go by.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training