Avoid Inflammation by Snacking Healthy
Shared by Dr. Antonio Flaquer
Some may wonder how to continue eating healthy throughout the day without it getting boring. Well, a healthy snack that I personally like to snack on is something light and easy such as a granola bar. Granola bars are rich with healthy ingredients such as good fats, oils, protein, vegetables and much more. The thing with these homemade granola bars is we add some honey in there to give it that natural sweet taste. Honey itself is enriched with good vitamins and proteins. It’s an antioxidant agent as well which helps lower our inflammation and pain. it also has antibacterial agents to help fight off cold, coughs, and overall sickness. Check out this quote below I got from some research on the health benefits of honey!
“Honey is a multivitamin tonic, has antibacterial properties and has antioxidants. Nausea, cough, cold etc., can be treated by taking honey with a tsp of tulsi (basil) leaf juice. Asthmatic persons can also benefit from taking honey every day.”
“Honey is highly nutritious; it has traces of minerals and vitamins not to mention the antioxidants which destroy free radicals and delay ageing. In short, it is a safe and wholesome food for old, children and adults.”
There are 3 main things you need to do in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and those are; eat well, move well, and think well. They are all major factors but eating well plays a big one. It doesn’t matter if you’re getting in your exercise or meditating throughout your daily routines, if you aren’t putting the right stuff into your body then you won’t get the results you are looking for. So, always make sure you are fueling your body with the proper nutrition so you can tackle your day, but more importantly live the healthy life that you deserve to have.
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (no sugar added; substitute sunflower butter for nut free)
- ½ cup honey (or ½ cup agave syrup for vegan)
- 3 ½ cups Old Fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Up to 1 cup finely chopped nuts, dried fruit and seeds, or ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Toast the oats: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the oats in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them for 10 minutes until lightly golden. (This step adds incredible toasty flavor to the oats: don’t skip it!)
- Mix the ingredients: Transfer the oats to a large bowl and mix in the peanut butter, honey, oats, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in mix-ins.
- Form into bars: Add a sheet of parchment paper to a 9″ x 9″ pan, letting the edges drape over the sides. Place the mixture into the pan and press it into an even layer. Add a few more mix-ins to the top of the bars, if you’d like. Use a small glass to roll over the top to make them as smooth as possible.
- Freeze and cut the bars: Freeze the bars for 10 minutes. Then remove the pan from the freezer and use the parchment to lift the bars out of the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut them into 20 rectangles (that are 4 x 5 inches) or 14 bar sized shapes (that are 4 ½ by 1 ¼ inches). Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. The texture is most solid after you refrigerate for a few hours, so if you have time do that before tasting the first bar. If you’d like, you can individually wrap the bars with parchment paper or wax paper and secure the wrapper with tape.
References
Kumar, K. S., Bhowmik, D., Biswajit, C., & Chandira, M. R. (2010). Medicinal uses and health benefits of honey: an overview. J. Chem. Pharm. Res, 2(1), 385-395.
Our Message
When you are looking for a Chiropractor near you that you can trust, choose one who will not only get rid of your back pain, neck pain, or headaches but who will also guide you to living a healthier lifestyle to keep you out of pain. Our Chiropractors located in Dallas, near the corner of Mockingbird Ln. and Abrams Rd., will teach you what the research says about how and why we should eat a better diet, move more and have more positive thoughts. By improving these areas of our lives we can restore motion and decrease stress and Avoid Inflammation by Snacking Healthy!