Butternut Squash Healthy meals are easy

Filling up on veggies is a top rule for anyone wanting to eat healthier, yet that doesn't have to sound boring. Check your favorite produce store for winter squashes, including the amusing shaped butternut squash. Like its cousin the sweet potato, it's often overlooked as a starch, yet the orange interior reflects it is rich in beta carotene, which converts to vitamin A in your body.

One cup of Butternut Squash (cubed and cooked) yields 127% of the US RDA for Vitamin A, with 80 calories, 4g sugar, 21g of carbs. Far more favorable than mashed potatoes with (or without) gravy! Factor in the 7g of fiber and you're on your way to RDA daily mark of 25-30g fiber per day.

Beta carotene, as one of the team members of antioxidants, on its own offers many nutritional benefits. Butternut Squash also has ample potassium (more than the benchmark banana) plus 30% of your daily RDA of Calcium. Other minerals at hand include Iron and Niacin, along with Vitamin E.

Other winter squashes you can try - (measuring nutrients to the one cubed cooked cup)

• Acorn Squash has more fiber and potassium, though less vitamin A than Butternut. 9 grams fiber per cubed cooked cup, potassium (896 mg).
  
• Pumpkin Squash has both alpha and beta carotene. Alpha carotene also converts vitamin A in the body; Pumpkin Squash has twice as much of alpha than Butternut.
  
• Spaghetti Squash is yellow and can even be used as an alternative to spaghetti. Lower in calories and carbohydrates than the other squashes mentioned here, but also lower in fiber. As a pasta substitute though, you'll consumer only 42 healhty veggie calories not pasta carb 200 calories.
  

Summing it up with preparation, all of these can simply be sliced and roasted, with familiar spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, or clove or allspice. For easier prep you can often buy these pre-cut in stores, though caution on canned variants due to added sugars. You can even puree squashes to make satisfying soups and sauces too. Some folks even suggest smoothies, accompaniments such as apple, nut butter and soy or almond milk.

Raspberry Ketones and Weight Loss

Pop culture Dr. Oz and others cheer on support for raspberry ketone as a natural weight loss supplement. Dr Jennifer Seger from the American Society of Bariatric Physicians offers this response:

“Raspberry ketone [4-(4-hydroxyphenyl) butan-2-one] or rheosmin, is a compound extracted from raspberries, blackberries, peaches, apples, rhubarb, grapes and the bark of some trees. It is similar in molecular structure to capsaicin (found in chili peppers) and synephrine (found in bitter orange trees)- two compounds that are thought to exert anti-obesity actions and alter lipid metabolism. It is hypothesized that the method in which raspberry ketone helps with weight loss is related to an increase in norepinephrine-induced lipolysis. The data supporting this claim is extremely sparse. After searching various online medical and scientific databases, I found less than a handful of studies specifically related to raspberry ketone and weight loss, two of which are rodent studies. One study suggests that when rats were fed a high-fat diet with raspberry ketone, there was prevention of fat storage and increased lipolysis in the liver compared to the control group on a high-fat diet 1. An in vitro study had a similar finding in that when adipocytes were incubated with raspberry ketone, there was an increase in lipolysis and fat oxidation, suggesting that this compound may aid in limiting fat accumulation2. It is important to note, however, that no studies have been conducted in humans to elucidate the effect of raspberry ketone on in vivo lipolysis and fat oxidation. Raspberry ketone has been used in cosmetics and as a food additive for decades, and in its "natural" state, it is quite expensive. Nowadays, raspberry ketone is primarily synthesized in a lab and is a very inexpensive additive for the aforementioned purposes. The safety data, though quite limited, do not reveal any significant concerns but there are no large studies regarding this. With a combination of extremely limited efficacy and safety data, substantial health benefit claims, a population desperate for results and large profit margins, it is no wonder that raspberry ketone is one of the top-selling nutrition supplements on the market right now. At this point, though, the use of raspberry ketone can be based on only anecdotal experience and insufficient scientific data. Hence, I currently cannot recommend the use of this supplement.”

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