Misc: Lean and Fit: More experts, more advice for the New Year

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Eat, Drink and Be Healthy More experts, more advice for the New Year When we asked nutrition experts to share their plans for eating more healthfully in 2010, so many responded that their ideas spilled over into a second week's column! The Checkup: New York City has launched a campaign to make America's food less salty. How concerned are you about sodium in your diet? The MisFits Gym owners want to move exercisers out of the machine age To make room for functional training areas, Results Gym is trimming the number of machines loaded with stacks of hefty plates meant to work a single muscle. In The News Weight-gain guidelines for pregnant women questioned Recently updated guidelines for women's weight gain during pregnancy don't adequately take into account that the majority of women of childbearing age are overweight or obese, some experts note. Calorie listings often wrong In the midst of a push to require restaurants to post nutrition information on their menus, a new study finds that many restaurants list inaccurate calorie counts for their dishes. YOU ASKED...


Q:		We hear a lot on the claimed benefits of drinking green tea. What's the latest on the potential benefits -- and downsides -- of green tea? - John

A:		Green tea is considered an excellent source of disease-fighting antioxidants. But as with antioxidants found in other foods such as fruits and vegetables, science hasn't yet shown exactly how they might work to fight cardiovascular disease, cancer and other ailments. Much of the promising evidence has come from lab experiments, and human studies have yielded uneven results. Still, there doesn't appear to be any harm in drinking green tea, and many experts recommend including several cups a day in your diet. Read more here.


DID YOU KNOW? Thyme (featured in this week's pork recipe) is not just delicious: It's a surprisingly good source of nutrients such as Vitamin K, iron, manganese and even calcium.

Eat, Drink and Be Healthy Send them to Jennifer LaRue Huget at checkup@washpost.com

Salmon Florentine

Self

In recipes, "florentine" means "served or dressed with spinach." This salmon dish offers tons of polyunsaturated fats, which are good for your cardiovascular system, plus minerals such as iron and antioxidant vitamins from the spinach.

Balsamic lentil soup

Prevention

Lentils are a good source of fiber and folate, a B vitamin that's particularly important for pregnant women to consume to protect their own health and their baby's. Balsamic vinegar adds a dash of antioxidants but hardly any calories.

Black-bean smothered sweet potatoes

Eating Well

How much nutrition can you pack on a plate? This savory side offers tons of fiber plus potassium, protein and more than four times the Vitamin A you need in a day.

Shepherd's pie

Vegetarian Times

Winter's the time for enjoying shepherd's pie, but some meat-based versions can pack lots of fat and calories. Here's a vegetarian variety with just 1 gram of fat per serving.

Chicken-butternut tagine

Cooking Light

Sometimes skinless chicken breast gets boring. Here it's paired with butternut squash, plums, olives and a bunch of spices for a Moroccan-inspired, fiber-filled meal.

Pork chops with warm plum sauce

Real Simple

Plums contribute a healthful dose of Vitamin C to this entree, while the thyme delivers more than a dozen vitamins and minerals.

TIPS OF THE WEEK


Eating Well Five ways to make food healthful and delicious From sugar and spices to salsas and citrus, Washington Post "Nourish" columnist Stephanie Witt Sedgwick offers her top tips for adding flavor to recipes using simple, healthful ingredients.			Moving Well Shape up in 2010 Still haven't come up with a New Year's resolution? It's not too late to borrow one of these ideas to get you exercising more efficiently and regularly in 2010.			Being Well Fat and healthy? The debate continues: Does being overweight necessarily make you unhealthy? The latest research says probably so.