New Feature on MayoClinic.com Serves up Tasty, Healthy Recipes

Monday, April 18, 2005

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Finding recipes that taste good and are good for you takes just a quick click — whether you're dealing with heart disease or diabetes, trying to lose weight or simply eating for good health.

The new Healthy Recipes Center on MayoClinic.com includes hundreds of recipes, from appetizers to desserts, developed to improve health and nutrition (key word: healthy recipes).

"We've matched the latest information on food and nutrition with what we know about eating for good health and prevention of disease," says Jennifer Nelson, Mayo Clinic registered dietitian and one of the Web site's editors. "That knowledge is combined in recipes that are tasty and easy to prepare for cooks of all skill levels."

The Healthy Recipes Center offers multiple ways to browse for dietitian-developed recipes. You can browse by:

-Special diets -Main ingredient -Courses -Meal — breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks -Food preparation method -Number of servings, from two to eight - Special diets: Recipes are organized in several special diet categories: heart healthy (low in cholesterol, high in fiber and low in fat); low sodium for people with hypertension; low fat, high fiber, meatless and healthy carbs.

Healthy carbs aren't necessarily low carbs. "Some carbs are good for you, particularly those with whole grains," says Nelson.

Courses: They're all covered. Consider these choices to whet your appetite:

Appetizers — Avocado dip, crispy potato skins Beverages — Iced espresso lattes, cranberry spritzer Soups — Curried cream of tomato with apples, creamy asparagus Salads — Grilled pear and watercress, cucumber pineapple Entrees — Jamaican barbecue pork tenderloin, orange rosemary roasted chicken Breads — Three-grain raspberry muffins, popovers Desserts — Carrot cake, almond and apricot biscotti

Cooking method: You can opt for baked, steamed, stir-fried, poached, slow-cooked, roasted or grilled. For summer, consider grilled pineapple or grilled angel food cake for dessert. Or try slow-grilled entrees to avoid health risks posed by high-temperature charring.

In every category, recipes use easy-to-find ingredients. With some creativity added, the familiar becomes both delicious and nutritious. Each recipe includes a nutrition analysis; diabetes meal plan exchanges; DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan servings; and Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid servings. The Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid is a food pyramid designed to promote weight loss and long-term health.

The MayoClinic.com Healthy Recipes Center includes tips to do your own healthy recipe makeovers as well as links to detailed information on nutrition and health. Mayo Clinic registered dietitians review recipes and nutrient information.

"MayoClinic.com Healthy Recipes Center does what a good dietitian does," says Nelson. "It combines good science and nutritious ingredients into recipes that will tickle your fancy."

The mission of MayoClinic.com is to empower people to manage their health by providing useful and up-to-date information and tools that reflect the expertise of the more than 2,000 physicians and scientists at Mayo Clinic. The site is owned by Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

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To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.

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To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.