Plus, five recipes that’ll help you work more of it into your meals Continue reading
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The Secret Ingredient for a Healthier Diet
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The Secret Ingredient for Healthier Skin
No, it’s not a miracle cream—in fact, it won’t cost you a thing Continue reading
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The Secret Ingredient for Weight Loss
If you can part with burgers and meat sauce, slimming down should be a cinch: Replacing red meat with white-button mushrooms can help you lose weight and keep it off, according to a new study conducted at the Weight Management Center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Participants who ate one cup of mushrooms in place of meat every day for a year consumed an average of 123 fewer calories and 4.25 fewer grams of fat per day. They also lost more weight (an average of seven pounds) and saw a larger drop in body mass index, waist circumference, and total percent body fat compared to participants who didn’t change their diets at all.
Why? Mushrooms are super low-cal—there are just 44 in each cup—especially compared to lean ground meat, which has nearly six times as many calories per volume. But previous research has shown that mushrooms are just as satiating as meat, so you consume way fewer calories without feeling deprived.
In most recipes that call for ground beef—like sauce, chili, or burgers—you can swap in one and a half pounds of chopped, sautéed mushrooms for every pound of ground beef, says JoAnn Brader, manager of the Rodale Test Kitchen, which tests and develops recipes for Women’s Health.
Another option? Fill up on one of these tasty mushroom recipes. You won’t even miss the meat:
Black Bean, Mushroom, and Oat Burgers
Photo: Romulo Yanes
Stuffed Portobello Burgers with Caramelized Onions
Photo: Romolo Yanes
Meat-Free Baked Ziti With Mushrooms
Photo: Mitch Mandel
Photo: Con Poulis
Photo: Kang Kim
photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
More from WH:
5 Vegetarian Myths
Meatless FAQs
6 Reasons to Eat Less Meat
Warning: Check Your Supplements For This Ingredient
If you’re taking a dietary, weight-loss, or workout supplement, make sure to check the label carefully. The FDA released a warning last week for all consumers to steer clear of supplements containing the ingredient dimethylamylamine (DMAA) since it’s been linked to more than 40 adverse event reports. Although these complaints don’t prove that DMAA was the culprit, people who’ve taken supplements with the ingredient have reported suffering from cardiac and nervous system disorders, psychiatric disorders, and even death.
Currently found in some performance-enhancing products, DMAA is an active compound that was originally approved for use in nasal decongestants, but its approval was revoked in 1983, according to the FDA. It’s a vasoconstrictor, meaning it works to narrow the blood vessels, but it can also elevate blood pressure and lead to cardiovascular problems like shortness of breath or even heart attacks, says Tamara Ward, from the FDA’s Office of Media Affairs. Right now, no medical use of DMAA is recognized by the FDA—and with these risks, it shouldn’t be sold over the counter in weight-loss supplements, either. “We’ve determined that the dietary supplements containing DMAA are illegal and should be removed from the market,” says Ward.
Unfortunately, that won’t happen overnight, which is why the FDA is urging consumers to check their supplement labels for the harmful ingredient. If you think you may have taken a supplement containing DMAA and are experiencing any adverse side effects, call your doctor immediately and file a report at the FDA’s MedWatch site.
So how can you know if your supplement contains DMAA? Check the ingredients for dimethylamylamine as well as the other names that DMAA commonly goes by:
– 1,3-dimethylamylamine
– methylhexanamine
– geranium extract
Then check out the full list of companies and products currently using DMAA in their supplements by visiting the FDA’s website. Each of these companies has received a warning letter stating that the ingredient is illegal, which is the first step in getting them off the shelves fast.
The bottom line: Don’t forget to run any supplements by your doctor before you start taking them. Products like weight-loss pills and workout enhancers are not approved by the FDA before they hit the market, says Ward, so it’s crucial to get the go-ahead from a physician before using them.
photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
More from Women’s Health:
The Danger Lurking In Your Medicine Cabinet
FDA Approves New Weight Loss Pill
The Best Supplements for Women
The Secret Ingredient to a Flatter Belly
Oil gets a bad rap, but you don’t have to completely banish it from your diet: In fact, eating certain kinds of vegetable oils might reduce abdominal fat and lower your risk for metabolic syndrome, according to a new study presented at the American Heart Association’s EPI/NPAM 2013 Scientific Sessions conference held in New Orleans last month. Metabolic syndrome is a pretty scary group of conditions—increased blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, excess abdominal body fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels—that can boost your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
A team of American and Canadian researchers put 121 participants—all of whom were at risk for metabolic syndrome—on a four-week, 2,000-calorie-per-day diet that included a daily smoothie containing 40 grams of one of five oils: canola oil, high-oleic canola oil, a flax/safflower oil blend, a corn/safflower oil blend, or high-oleic canola oil enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. They then performed a type of X-ray that can measure fat mass in different body regions—once at the beginning of the study, and once at the end of the four-week diet period. What they discovered: Those who consumed the smoothies containing canola or high-oleic canola oils trimmed their belly fat by an average of 1.6 percent more than those who had the flax/safflower oil blend. And those who had either the corn/safflower oil blend or the high-oleic canola oil enriched with omega-3s didn’t see any change in their abdominal fat at all.
Although it’s unclear why eating these oils might help you shed that pesky stomach pooch, researchers say it might come down to the oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid found in both canola oil and high-oleic canola oil. “The oleic acid might just be metabolized differently,” says study author Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, a distinguished professor of nutrition at Penn State University. Your body might process it in a way that burns some fat, making less available to be stored in your body, she says.
But this doesn’t mean you should go on a canola oil bender: You’ll want to add a reasonable amount to an otherwise-healthy diet to avoid taking in too many calories, says Kris-Etherton. To see some of the same benefits, she suggests consuming 40 grams (about 2.7 tablespoons) of canola oil or high-oleic canola oil each day as part of a 2,000 calorie, heart-healthy diet. That comes out to less than one tablespoon per meal.
To sneak more canola oil into your diet, try these delicious recipes:
BBQ Pork Tacos *contains 2/3 tsp canola oil per serving
photo: Helen Norman
Spiced Chicken with Dried Fruit *contains 2/3 tsp canola oil per serving
photo: Helen Norman
Apricot Shrimp Skewers *contains ½ tbsp + 2 tsp canola oil per serving
photo: Romulo Yanes
Pumpkin Waffles *contains ¾ tsp canola oil per serving
photo: John Kernick
Giant Mushrooms Stuffed with Greens and Mozzarella *contains ½ tbsp canola oil per serving
photo: John Kernick
top photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
More from WH:
Cut Your Diabetes Risk
5 Steps to a Healthy Heart
The Belly-Flattening Ab Workout