SIMPLY HEALTHY

Melissa Moore, R.D., L.D. is a registered dietitian at the Cotton- O'Neil Heart Center, a division of Stormont-Vail HealthCare. Melissa teaches three free Heart Healthy Cooking classes per month to help people develop more healthy eating habits. Call Health Connections at (785) 354-5225. Her column runs the first and third Wednesday in The Capital-Journal.

Eating plenty of fruits every day can help reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes and certain cancers.

Many people are consumed by basketball during the month of March, but it is also National Nutrition Month, making today a great day to think about increasing the amount of fruit in your diet.

Fruits are low in calories and packed with essential minerals, vitamins, fiber and disease-fighting phytochemicals.

They are usually good sources of vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium.

A medium-sized piece of fruit, 1/4-cup dried fruit or 6 ounces of 100 percent fruit juice is the equivalent of one serving of fruit.

Thankfully, fruit comes in all colors, shapes and sizes, which means you have a variety of choices to keep from getting bored.

USDA dietary guidelines for 2005 recommends five to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

These tips can help increase the amount of fruit in your diet:

- Have a serving of fruit at every meal.

Eat fruit as an afternoon snack instead of raiding the vending machines.

Enjoy fruit for dessert.

With dessert in mind, here is a simple recipe that will complement almost any meal.

Banana Waldorf

Dessert Salad

3 bananas, peeled and sliced

1 apple, cored and sliced, with peel

4 cups nonfat vanilla yogurt

Pinch of cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground walnuts

Mix all ingredients together in large mixing bowl.

Place in individual serving dishes, and chill until ready to serve, up to 1 hour.

Top each serving with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

Yield: 4 1 1/2 cup servings

Nutritional analysis per serving: calories, 237; fat, 1.6 grams; saturated fat, 0 grams; sodium, 130 milligrams; carbohydrates, 45 grams; protein, 8 grams; cholesterol, 5 milligrams and fiber, 4 grams.

Copyright 2005
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