Paleo Pumpkin Cake Bites
Before we dive into these delicious Pumpkin Cake Bites, let’s chat about a very important yet forgotten micro nutrient magnesium. Magnesium is considered a major mineral, and surprisingly one we are eating less of these days. Dietary intake of this mineral has declined among those eating a Western type of diet, and a supplement may be necessary for some people. Over half of the amount of magnesium in our body is found inside our bones, and the rest in soft tissue such as muscles. New research is amounting to evidence of magnesium’s role in much more than just building bones. Its role in maintaining a healthy blood pressure, decreasing and reducing Type 2 Diabetes as well as preventing migraine headaches has brought much needed attention to magnesium. Fortunately, magnesium can be found across a spectrum of many foods, including oats, wheat flour, black beans, acorn squash, almonds and almond butter! These are just a few examples of good sources of this vital mineral.
Since all our Once Again Nut Butter products contain magnesium, we believe it is another great reason to enjoy our nut butters in more recipes!
First, it is interesting and hopefully useful to you, for us to look at the new research linking magnesium and diabetes. A meta-analysis published by Diabetes Care looked at over 500,000 participants and showed a reduction in risk for diabetes type 2 of 14% with every 100mg increase in daily dietary magnesium intake. Then in 2015, another researcher looked at over 100 individuals with pre diabetes , manifesting low blood levels of magnesium. The research was published in the Journal of Diabetes and Metabolism with the conclusion that an oral supplementation of at least 382mg of magnesium daily improved glycemic status in people with pre diabetes. More studies will continue to look at how we can prevent and reverse Type 2 Diabetes with the help of nutrients including magnesium. But in the meantime, it is a good idea for us all to look at our own intake. Evaluate the possible need to adjust it to meet the dietary allowance, which is recommended for ages 19-30 of 310 mg/day for women and 400mg/day for men; and ages 31-50 of 320 mg/day for women and 420 mg/day for men.
It is not necessary to rely on supplements to meet the recommendation. They can easily be met by natural magnesium found in foods. A tablespoon of almond butter has about 45 mg of magnesium, one cup of brown rice has 84mg and 1 cup of black beans contain 91mg for example.
Although pumpkin season may have ended, you can find pumpkin puree year-round in the grocery store. Therefore, our Pumpkin Cake Bites recipe is a fantastic option to start working on bumping up your magnesium intake right away by combining some good sources from almond butter, pumpkin, and even maple syrup. For a paleo diet option, make this recipe with maple syrup and almond butter only. For a vegan option, use flax eggs which actually worked out very well in this recipe. Stay with the maple syrup, but you can use peanut butter or any one of your favorite Once Again nut butters. Since this recipe uses honey or maple as a sweetener and no sugar at all or flours, it is also diabetic friendly, and gluten free. The serving size is helpful aiding in portion control for those watching their weight and total caloric intake each day.
You can make these into Pumpkin Cake Pops too!
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