Nutrition

A recent study suggests that even mild peppers may boost your metabolism. Peppers have a compound that binds to nerve receptors and sends a fat-burning signal to your brain. You can end up burning as much as an extra 100 calories per day.

If you are struggling with portion control and miss a real sandwich because you've dropped a slice of bread – check out some of the new whole grain 100 calorie sandwich "thins" being offered by several companies. Oroweat offers multigrain sandwich thins with 5 grams of fiber.

Other healthy diet tips:

Why not make a back-to-school healthy habit commitment to eat vegetables every day of this month. One fun activity that the whole family can do is to create "blind taste tests" where you set up five centers with new vegetables under cups that you taste blind-folded. That way the vegetable's appearance won’t corrupt your willingness to taste it.

Familiar with the parsnip? This pale colored vegetable is packed with fiber as well as vitamin K and vitamin C. The winter months are the best time to find them. Peel and dice and then add to salads, soups or stews.

You can also use them as potato side dish substitutes. Boil, peel and mash and top with some fresh herbs or a dash of salt and pepper.

Cheese is full of saturated fat, but there are choices that offer less fat with robust taste. Consider using part-skim mozzarella, feta and other low fat cheeses in lieu of full fat. There are specifically low fat Jarlsberg, low fat Swiss, low fat cheddar, and even light Bleu cheese. Cheeses can also harbor a fair amount of sodium.

They say that a junk food diet will come back to haunt you later in life. Well, many adults never give up that "junk food diet mentality" and continue to turn to these foods as their go-to foods through life.

How you decide to throw together ingredients for a salad can determine its nutrient density:

Image: 

Cara cara, a navel orange with a pinkish, orange peel, tastes like a cross between a cranberry and cherry.
Yuzu, East Asian citrus fruit, tastes like a grapefruit with a hint of mandarin orange.
Pomelo is a very large grapefruit variety with low acid content. Juicy, it has notes of lime and jasmine.

Well first it’s a member of the mint family, and there are actually 50 types of basil. Though sweet green basil is the most available variety, there is a spicy basil that is a bit peppery, and it’s becoming much more popular.

Image: 

Ever heard of orzo? It’s a silky, textured pasta that looks like over-sized rice. Choose a brand that has the bran and germ included – there are several on the market made from 100% whole wheat. You’ll get the benefit of B vitamins, iron AND fiber. Whole wheat orzo can have more fiber, protein and selenium than brown rice and it boils up quickly like traditional pasta.