How it all started…

Cancer survivor David Luks developed deluxe honeydrop™ during cancer treatments at Sloan Kettering two years ago where he learned about the benefits of an organic lifestyle. With that knowledge, he decided to create a drink from the land, not the lab.

I got the idea for honeydrop in the wake of having survived cancer. One day, my nutritionist handed me an article about honey and honey’s many health benefits. The article explained that honey is a naturally sweet byproduct of pollination that contains antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins.

Like many of us, David realized that the brands that were promoting their use of honey in products were actually using mostly refined (white) sugar. This of course, defeats the purpose of trying to have a healthy beverage.

Luckily for you and me, David decided to create these healthy and delicious beverages for us – without adding sugar, corn syrup, or artificial products.

Healthy Beverages

Currently, deluxe honeydrop™ includes two organic honey infused organic juices and one organic tea. These beverages are comparable to drinks like Vitamin Water – except these are actually good for you. The beverages contain only 40 calories per serving (2 servings per 16.9 oz PBA-free, recycleable bottle) and each bottle has a spoonful of real honey from Brazil.

The flavors include:

Bee Calm – Chamomile, Tea & Honey

Bee Strong – Blueberry & Honey

Bee Alive –    Blood Orange & Honey

Benefits of Honey

Honey protects against obesity and hypertension; it is lower on the glycemic index (64) relative to sugar (100), making it a more ideal sweetener for diabetics.

Honey is also a great alternative for athletes since it contains glucose and fructose; glucose burns slowly for lasting energy, and fructose burns fast for instant energy and performance.

Honey also naturally helps alleviate sore throats, and contains antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

I seriously wonder why anyone would anyone want to use processed sugar over honey!

Where to Buy

This is still a relatively new product, so you will want to make sure that you find or request honeydrop™ beverages at your local grocery or health food store!

Right now,  there are 125 Whole Foods stores across the country carrying deluxe honeydrop™ beverages,  with more expansion planned in 2011.

Enjoy the delicious low calorie beverages, and let me know which one is your favorite – I know, hard to choose which one, right?!

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

Image credits: honeydrop.com

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Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Brown Rice Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped Pecans

2 Eggs, beaten

6 ripe Bananas, mashed

1/3 cup Raw Honey

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup melted Coconut Oil Cream (or Coconut Oil)

Instructions:

Step 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray bread pan with coconut oil spray.

Step 2) Mix rice flour, baking soda, sea salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chopped pecans together.

Step 3) In separate bowl, mix the eggs, mashed bananas, honey, vanilla, and melted coconut oil cream.

Step 4) Add banana mixture to dry mix.

Step 5) Pour batter into your bread pan.

Step 6) Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes:

Depending on the size of your bread pan, you may have 2 bread loaves or 1 loaf with enough batter to make some muffins!

Enjoy!

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

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Everyone seems to have specific cravings now and again! Whether it be sweet or salty, we sometimes tend to think of the junk food as a first choice to satisfy those cravings. Here are some ways you can curb your cravings in a healthy way.

Healthy Alternatives to your Salt Cravings

•Popcorn -Homemade popcorn made with coconut oil and a bit of real salt is a wonderful treat when you need something salty!

•Jerky -When salt cravings come, it might just mean you need a little meat in your diet. Be sure to make your jerky homemade or buy the Organic or All Natural kind so that you don’t get any MSG or additives that usually come with processed meats.

•Edamame -These are an easy snack to make, and a great alternative to something like chips. Just dash on some real salt and eat fresh or baked.

•Organic Blue Corn Chips -This is a yummy snack with a touch of sea salt. You can eat these chips plain or dip into a healthy chili or fresh salsa.

Healthy Alternatives to your Sweet Tooth

•Frozen Yoghurt with Berries -An easy snack to make, just add fresh mixed berries to your All Natural Yoghurt and you should beat any
sweet cravings that you may have had.

•Fruit -Lots of healthy sugar is in fruit, and by having fruit you should be able to satisfy those cravings.

•Organic BlackBerry Sorbet bar - A delicious dessert ready to be eaten by you!

•Honey or Agave Sticks -You can usually find these Honey or Agave sticks at the health food store in lots of different flavors. More often than not, you can buy in bulk or individually. Take these with you and when  your blood sugar levels are low, this is a healthy alternative to candy.

Healthy Alternatives to your Sour Cravings

•Organic Twisted Fruit (Sour Apple) by Clif Kid -All natural fruit twists are made with real fruit, gluten-free and have no processed sugars.

•Grapefruit -A delicious and healthy way to curb your sour cravings and known to help you lose weight!

•Green Apple -This apple is a tart treat and sure to satisfy  your cravings. Too tart? Almond Butter might just be a yummy addition to this sour snack.

•Dried Cranberries -These are a great treat to take with you on the go. Be sure to buy the kind that doesn’t have anything added, since most commercial products add sugar. Buy from your local health food store and check the label before you buy.

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From my own observations, here are a couple of things you can get in the habit of, to help you become more healthy.

1) Replace your Soda with Water

The average 12 oz can of regular Soda has about 150 calories in it. Multiply that by how many cans of soda you drink aday, and it adds up. Even if you are drinking “diet” soda with 0 calories, that doesn’t make it healthy for you. Swap the Soda and other sugary drinks like juice for water. Your body will thank you.

2) Park your car far away from the store

Get some more walking in your day! Europeans are known for walking a lot, and Americans need to get in this habit as well. Walking is easy on the knees and body, so if you are physically able to, try to make excuses to walk more. Make sure with your added walking, you are wearing comfortable shoes that support your feet. This will not only be better for your body and it’s posture, it will help prevent aches and pains with your added walking and will help encourage more walking.  Every extra step counts!

3) Eat out less or not at all

Practically all fast food and restraunts are breeding ground to loads of saturated fats, oils, excessive sugars, and unhealthy sized portions. When you prepare food at home, you get to have more control on what you are putting into your body. Try to use Coconut oil rather than Vegetable Oil, use Honey or Agave to sweeten your foods rather than using  Sugar or Aspartame, and try to eat plenty of vegetables and smaller portions of meat on your plate.

You can start small. Start with these 3 simple steps that can help you in a big way.

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

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Honey is very good for you, but you must know that not all Honey is created equal. Before I go into the many Health Benefits of Honey, I want to first share with you several different types of Honey, so you can be sure you are only getting the best out there.

Different Types of Honey

Honey

Just because you are buying “Honey”, doesn’t mean it is truly “All Natural”. Most honey on today’s market is processed, leaving out all of the good stuff, which is the reason why you would want honey in the first place!

Commercial Honey (the typical Honey bear you see on store shelves) is treated with an intensive heating process that destroys the nutrients of Honey. Don’t always trust your Local Honey either, since many of them will use very little local honey, and then they will mix it with other commercial or off-shore (cheaper) brands of Honey- and yes, they can call it “Local”.

Raw Honey

Raw honey isn’t processed, but is minimally filtered. In it’s pure and raw state still in tact, you will be able to enjoy the maximum amount of honey’s natural antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and vital phytonutrients, where all the nutrients are still preserved.

With Raw Honey, you won’t get that perfect golden glow look of Honey, but you will get the enzymes that help you digest honey, which is something your body needs.

Raw Creamed Honey

If you want to buy Raw Creamed Honey (my favorite), just be sure that is is un-filtered and you will receive the same health benefits of regular Raw Honey.

Certified Organic Raw Honey

For Honey to be Certified Organic, the beehives must be miles away from dense population, industry, traffic congestion, and farm fieldstreated with chemicals and/or landfills. Bees have a natural 4 mile flying radius, so finding the land that can meet the strict requirements  for Certified Organic Raw Honey can prove to be quite difficult. Yet,  the Honey from the wild vegetation can create some of the best tasting Honey on the market.

Nutritional Benefits

Raw Honey is a source of simple carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Depending on which flowers the honeybees went to, the Honey itself may include…

Vitamins: Niacin, Riboflavin and Pantothenic Acid

Minerals: Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc

Raw Honey has a polyphenols, which act as an antioxidant.

Healing properties of Honey

Raw Honey is an oral antibacterial (polyphenols). Raw Honey has been used as a natural treatment for many things, including coughs, sore throats, and even healing infections and burns.

Children with diarrhea are usually given some kind of sugar solution to help rehydrate them, but others have found that if you use Raw Honey instead, the Honey kills the bacteria in the intenstines, and stops the diarrhea altogether.

There is a Raw Honey that is indigenous to New Zealand, and people have found that the Raw Honey taken daily (4 tablespoons) was able to reduce the symptoms of the stomach Ulcer. The Honey helps because it is able to kill the bacteria that causes the stomach ulcers in the first place.

Now that you see the Many Health and Healing Benefits of Honey, you now have plenty of reason to replace your Sugar with it in no time!

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

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I wasn’t the biggest fan of pre-made waffles, until I came across Nature Path’s Organic Buckwheat Waffles! With other waffles,  they are cheap tasting (bland) and unhealthy. Mainly it is the unhealthy part that concerns me.

I first got the Buckwheat Wildberry Waffles by Nature’s Path for my husband, who prefers gluten-free products. I decided I would try it one morning, and it wasn’t so bad. It was actually pretty good- Good enough you can eat it plain, which is the true test if it tastes good!

What’s great about these waffles is that they not only taste good plain, but they are Gluten-Free, Wheat Free, Vegetarian, and has No Trans Fat. For those of you who understand and know the value of Organic, this is also a USDA Organic product.

As far as preparation goes, you can add some butter or jam to it. If you usually like to put syrup on your waffles, you might want to try this with some warmed up honey for added flavor. It tastes great, sweet,  and it is a lot healthier for you than regular syrup.

Why not give these waffles a try!?

Serving: 2 Waffles

Calories: 180

Where to Buy: Health Food Stores, Grocery Stores, or visit naturespath.com

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

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Ingredients:

2 cups Water

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Farina

2 tablespoons Creamed Honey

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Instructions:

1) Boil the water in a saucepan.

2)Slowly add the wheat farina while stirring the water. Once all of the wheat farina has been added to the pan, remove from heat and continue stirring.

3) Add creamed honey and cinnamon.

4) Divide the hot cereal between two bowls and serve.

Notes:

Cereal will be hot, so let stand for a little bit to cool down so it won’t be so hot. The amount of creamed honey and cinnamon are really “to taste”, so the measurements provided are more of a guide of how much you may want to add.

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

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Cinnamon comes from dried bark from a Cinnamon tree. The bark can be either dried and rolled into cinnamon sticks, or dried and ground into a powder.

Benefits

•Cinnamon contains Calcium, Manganese, Fiber, and Iron.

•Cinnamon has been found to have a helpful effect on blood sugar levels, which makes it helpful for those who have Diabetes.

•The smell of Cinnamon may help with memory.

•Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory effects, and when mixed with Honey may relieve arthritis pain.

•Cinnamon has an anti-clotting effect on blood and actually helps with blood circulation.

•Natural preservative by preventing bacterial growth, which can ultimately help prevent or kill bacteria infections.

Uses

You can use Cinnamon in just about anything. You can add a dash of cinnamon to your breakfast cereal in the morning, add it to herbal tea, or top on your dessert. You almost can’t go wrong when trying to add Cinnamon to your regular diet.

Keep updated on the latest & greatest health articles by joining the Skinny Twinkie community!

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