Welcome to the first installation of the wellness flash – a seasonal newsletter bringing you updates on new healthy items carried by FreshDirect, wellness app reviews, recipes and more.
With winter coming to an end (hopefully!), we’re still fighting those colds and wintertime bugs. It coincides perfectly that March is the end of peak citrus season – oranges, grapefruits, mandarins, clementines, lemons and more are all at their peak deliciousness to fill you up with hydrating vitamin C.
My personal pick this month: Heller Grapefruit
Grapefruits are full of…
-Vitamin C powerhouse: Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C. 1/2 a grapefruit provides more than 100% of your daily needs. Vitamin C can help with absorption of iron from plant foods – add a grapefruit when eating veggies high in iron, such as dark leafy greens or lentils, to help your body absorb more iron.
-Pink grapefruits have different nutrients than other grapefruits, and especially important is the Vitamin A content of a pink grapefruit, which is about 25% of your daily needs in a half grapefruit. Vitamin A is known for its power in vision health and antioxidant capacity (where the pink pigmentation comes from!).
-Heller Brothers is a family owned citrus farm, with third and fourth generations at the helm. The company handles the entire process from growing and farm management, sorting and grading, to packing. They pick the sweetest fruit for FreshDirect, using the top 2% of their crops with the highest quality just for our customers!
New Health Items of Note at FreshDirect
Plant-based everything is the newest trend in the food industry. Providing more options for vegans, vegetarians or anyone trying to cut back on animal products, this new product provides a new “fish-free” option. Good Catch is made with a six-legume blend (peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans, and navy beans) & sea algae oil that is rich in DHA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid, replacing the nutritional benefits of eating fish with this non-fish alternative.
These grapes are unusual both in their long tubular shape and their ultra-sweet flavor and are a fun treat and conversation starter for the office snack fridge. Grapes are known for their antioxidant power found in the skin (you’ve probably heard of this antioxidant – resveratrol via grapes transition into wine). So grab a handful to boost your health!
Whether you love it or are still acquiring the taste for it – you can now order it by the case! The fermentation process of kombucha makes this a gut-friendly product and a better-for-you drink alternative to sodas or juices.
What to make with these new finds… Vegan Fish-Free Tuna Waldorf Sandwich
Sandwich Components:
1 Pouch Good Catch Fish-Free Tuna
1/2 Granny Smith apple, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup Sweet Sapphire grapes, sliced
2 slices Whole Grain Bread
Avocado Dressing:
1 small avocado
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Dressing Instructions: combine all ingredients, except oil, in a food processor and blend on medium speed for about one minute. Slowly pour in oil, while continuing to blend on medium speed, and then continue to blend for another minute after all the oil is added until desired consistency is reached. Mix with the fish-free tuna and all the chopped fruits and veggies and scoop onto the toasted bread. Wash it all down with a delicious kombucha and enjoy!
App of the Month: Insight Timer
Insight Timer is a free app that houses a large library of guided meditations. For the FreshDirect Corporate Wellness program, we use this app to do weekly meditations on off days when our meditation teacher is not scheduled to come in. While it’s a fan favorite here in our office, we additionally looked to the dietitians of Food & Nutrition Magazine for their review of the app as well. The Registered Dietitian Nutritionists who reviewed Insight Timer for the magazine gave this app a score of 5/5 and highly recommend it, and provide the following pros and cons:
Pros
- Simple design with over 12,000 free, searchable guided meditations.
- Includes a new user meditation experience assessment and suggestions for levels from just starting out to over a year or teacher status.
- Browse and select meditations for mindful eating, self-love and compassion, sleeping quality, anxiety, stress and depression, and loving kindness among many others.
- Take free courses like “Learn How to Meditate in Seven Days.”
- Sort and filter for the length of time or your favorite teachers.
- Practice different meditation types from secular or Buddhist mindfulness to walking meditation or breathing meditation, Metta, and many more.
- Register with Facebook or email to unlock features like personalized presets, bookmarking, and the ability to track daily progress across devices.
- Visit the community feed to connect with others and be inspired.
Cons
- Basic app design without the sleek design of many others in the category.
- Must be connected to the Internet for full features — but can pay $4.99/month for offline mode.
The FreshDirect team’s favorite meditation teachers on the app are Jack Kornfeld, Tara Brach, and Sharon Salzberg. We book a conference room that has some privacy, turn off the lights, do a little light stretching and then meditate for about 15-20 minutes. A great destressing break in the middle of the day to help you get back to your desk feeling relaxed and refreshed!