Whether you’re cooking breakfast, lunch or dinner, sometimes it’s the sauce and seasonings that actually make the meal. The problem? Some of these condiments can be loaded with fat and salt — if you’re not careful, you can get more calories from the sauce than from the actual food. Below are some kitchen staples, that don’t just add flavor, they also offer big health benefits.

Salsa: One reason to spice up your meals: You’ll crank up your metabolism. Capsaicin, the substance that gives kick to peppers and chilis, has a thermogenic effect, meaning it causes the body to burn extra calories for 20 minutes after you eat them.  Plus, since you can’t swallow your food in one bite, eating slowly gives your brain time to register that your stomach is full, so you won’t overeat. Capsaicin also stimulates nerve endings to release chemicals, raising the heart rate and possibly triggering the release of endorphins, giving you the pleasurable feeling of a natural high. Serve up some salsa with chips, tacos or even as a bold and tangy compliment to grilled chicken or fish.
 
Parsley: If you use parsley just as garnish, reconsider! The leafy herb packs a powerful nutrition punch. Just ¼ cup provides more than 300 percent of your recommended daily value of vitamin K, plus it’s a good source of vitamins A and C. Parsley’s phytonutrients — beta carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin — can help safeguard your sight, and chewing on a sprig can even freshen your breath. Sprinkle some sprigs in your salads, or cook it right into your meal.

Parmesan Cheese: Cheese is often diet sabotage because it is high in calories and fat. Never the less, there are cheeses which are healthy and you can enjoy, like parmesan cheese. It adds a savory and strong flavor to any dish like salads, soups and roasted veggies on very few calories, two tablespoons of parmesan cheese is only 55 calories. 

Oranges and Lemons: Most of the antioxidants and polyphenols in produce are located very close to the surface of the skin or in the skin itself. A study published in the journal Nutrition Research found that most fruit peels exhibited two to 27 times more antioxidant activity than the pulp of the fruit. Oranges and lemons can be used many different ways and in many different dishes. You can zest the peels as a garnish on a baked good or into a rice stir fry. Orange juice and lemon juice are usually found in most dishes or use them to prepare a salad dressing or marinade. These tangy fruits also compliment many protein dishes from lemon sole to orange beef. 

Red Wine: Red wine is healthy for your heart and your romantic moods!  It may help prevent blood clots and reduce the blood vessel damage caused by fat deposits. It is also a particularly rich source of antioxidants which raise HDL (good) cholesterol.  Red wine can be used as a wonderful marinade for chicken and beef, or as part of a salad dressing.

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and founder of Skinnyandthecity.com. She is also the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

We’ve been hearing a lot about the gram negative bacteria Salmonella this summer, a strain of which to date has sickened over 1,000 people across 42 states. First we thought it was contaminating tomatoes, and the industry took a multi-million dollar hit. Lately the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shifted its focus to cilantro, jalapenos, serrano and other peppers used in salsa.  I think there are several lessons we can learn from this mystery:

• Though Salmonella doesn’t sicken produce, it does sicken humans. Unfortunately, it is developing an ability in some species to deeply infect and spread among produce. The current strain, Salmonella Saint Paul, although it is not more virulent than other common strains - causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and cramping, it is more easily spread.
• There is an inadequate tracing or regulating of produce entering the U.S.  The USDA regulates farming, and the FDA regulates food, but too often food safety falls in the gap between these two agencies.
• Salmonella and other bacteria that are prevalent in cattle and chickens, can easily be spread by irrigation or by food handlers to our produce. We can partially protect ourselves from salmonella in our meats by cooking them thoroughly, but we eat many of our fruits and vegetables raw.  This raises the stakes for more effectively tracking our produce.
• Washing produce is not effective at completely removing pathogenic bacteria like salmonella. Chemicals which are useful in the food handling process such as chlorine dioxide (kills salmonella more than 95 percent of the time) are not commonly used. Genetic splicing techniques and irradiation are other ways to make produce more resistant to bacteria.

Despite a continuing concern in the media over the salmonella outbreak, it is also important to keep in mind this summer that your chances of getting sick from eating salsa or peppers remains extremely low.  Unfortunately, mystery and lack of answers from our federal agencies breed fear and cause us all to personalize the risk. It is hard to eat a delicious fruit or vegetables right after seeing it practically criminalized in the news without thinking you could be infected next. Many of my patients have told me their concern that the last case of diarrhea or nausea they got was really the terrorist Salmonella Saint Paul in disguise.

Statistically, chances are slim of getting salmonella poisoning.  Our food remains largely safe. 76 million Americans get sick from food every year, but this number is much better than any other time in history. We should be able to raise the need to better regulate the growing and handling and importing of our food while at the same time continuing to enjoy eating it.

Marc Siegel MD is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a Fox News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear (Wiley 2005) and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic (Wiley 2006). Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com