Lunch: Carrot, Apple, and Zucchini Muffins

Recipe by Judith Fowler I'm learning to eat a more healthy diet. I couldn't find a recipe for all the ingredients that I wanted in my muffins, so I made up my own. They're yummy and they have so many healthy ingredients! This recipe makes 24 muffins or 1

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Lemon, Apples, Nuts, Walnuts

Health and fertility benefits of Carrot, Apple, and Zucchini Muffins

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). Lemons can help to prevent oxidative damage to the body, which women with PCOS are often susceptible to. Apples will improve your body's sensitivity to insulin (Reference: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/1/281.full) Nuts are a natural source of Inositol, a derivative of Vitamin B (which is often prescribed in the form of supplements for women with PCOS). Inositol can effectively control the symptoms of PCOS by reducing insulin resistance and improving insulin sensitivity. Walnuts are low on the glycemic index. What’s more, they also lower the glycemic index of other foods that you eat in conjunction with these nuts. Any kind of nuts provide a healthy source of fat and a great way to encourage PCOS weight loss.

Ingredients

cooking spray
1 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup shredded carrots
1 large apple, cored and shredded
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup sucralose and brown sugar blend (such as Splenda® brown sugar blend)
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 lemon, zest only
1 orange, zest only
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat 24 muffin cups with cooking spray.
Stir zucchini, carrots, and apple together in a large bowl. Mix in yogurt, sucralose and brown sugar blend, eggs, applesauce, skim milk, canola oil, lemon zest, and orange zest until thoroughly combined.
Whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in a separate bowl. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Fold walnuts into batter. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

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