Today, October 24, 2012 is National Food Day!
A day to eat real food, and celebrate being a foodie!
Some fun things for you to check out:
- FoodDay.org’s list of good reads.
- FoodDay.org’s list of recipes to try.
More updates to come in a few hours…
Dietitians are Not Perfect
July 2nd, 2012 | Posted by in Healthy Living | Nutrition News - (1 Comments)Shape Magazine posted an article about 7 Foods a Nutritionist Would Never Eat. Well, here is what I think of their list (some pretty accurate):
- Rice Cakes: Yes, most are a processed white rice flour. Not a diet food. But, recently, you can find higher quality, less processed brown rice cakes. These could make an excellent snack with a little almond butter spread on top!
- Fat Free Salad Dressing: Completely agree with this. Never buy foods that are fat free that aren’t meant to be. Usually a lot of sugar, salt, and additives are added back in to replace the fat.
- Seitan: A wheat gluten protein replacement product (a tofu alternative). The problem is that you are ingesting almost 100% wheat gluten. Some are sensitive to high quantities of gluten. Other than that, to me, it seems like a frankenfood, and it just doesn’t taste that great. I probably wouldn’t have put it on this list, but, yes, I don’t eat it.
- Shark: Chock full of mercury. So, no thank you.
- Re-fined and Re-fortified Grains: This is a no brainer. I try to avoid these as much as possible. But, if I am at a nice Italian restaurant, of course I will have a piece of bread. I try to be healthy, not crazy.
- Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Absolutely avoid! I can’t remember the last time I had a soda, bottled juice, or anything sweetened with sugar. Perhaps I have had a margarita or two in the past few years, but that’s about the only liquid sugar I can think of!
- Grits: I didn’t know what grits where until I moved to Atlanta. I then realized that they are a processed corn product. No nutritional value whatsoever. However, I do eat them occasionally mostly because I think they taste OK, and my Southern boyfriend cooks them.
Exhibit A: Fancy garlic tomato grits.
Anyway, the point is that nutritionists/dietitians are not perfect. But, there are definitely a lot of things we do not keep in our diets to stay healthy. Another thing I would’ve added to the list is processed meats with nitrites like hot dogs and jerky. Nitrites=cancer causing.
Not much new to report this week. Except, I have started reading this scandalous book which shall remain nameless for now, but those of you who are big best seller readers will know what I am talking about. Highly recommend.
On to other scandals…
People are starting to think I am anti-vegan which is ridiculous. It all came after a review I did on diet-blog.com about the children’s book called, Vegan is Love, and I commented on how I don’t think adults should let children read the book. So, the public had this big outrage on this topic of veganism in children.
Let’s be clear. It can be healthy and safe for a child to be vegan. All for it. However, the child can not eat pop tarts and crackers and pasta all day long. They have to eat a balance of different proteins like beans, nuts, seeds, quinoa, etc. The parents have to be responsible.
Anyway, it was just that particular book that I had a problem with. Not the concept of veganism for children. The book was instilling fear in children. Children should never ever be taught to fear food no matter what the issue is. We already have enough people with food issues in the world.
So, all of you who are asking me what I think, here is some insight. The end.
Hope everyone has a good weekend! Off to do a step class, and then to see The Lucky One.
I was so relieved to find out the USDA was switching to a plate as the icon for what our portions and serving sizes should look like. In the year 2011, who even thinks about that out-of-date pyramid? Barely anyone. Grains on the bottom, fats on the top–that is not a clear picture of how we should be eating.
The plate picture (below) gives us a good reminder of how we should strive to eat at each meal.
- Half our plate should be a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal.
- A quarter of the plate should be a whole grain.
- A quarter of the plate should be a lean protein.
- And don’t forget to include a fat free or low fat dairy and a few healthy monounsaturated fats!
Anyway, I love the new plate icon look because it is a good visual reminder that we can use practically. What do you think, will this new MyPlate help you keep serving sizes and portions in mind?
Here is a list of what other RDs have to say:
Bonnie Taub Dix: USA Today
Toby Amidor: Food Network’s Healthy Eats
Elizabeth Ward: Expect the Best
Lisa Young: The Portion Teller
Regan Jones: Professional Palate
Liz Weiss, Janice Bissex: Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen
Alysa Bajenaru: Inspired RD
Serena Ball: Teaspoon Communications
Shelley Rael: Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well
Marisa Moore: Marisa Moore Nutrition
Rachel Begun: The Gluten-Free RD
Katie Hamm: Healthy and Happy Hour
Elana Natker: A Sprinkle of Sage
Judy Doherty: Food and Health Communications
Leslie Schilling: Born to Eat
Chere Bork: Taste Life, With Chere
Cathy Leman: NutriFit
Danielle Omar
Marie Spano: Performance Nutrition
Carol Plotkin: On Nutrition
Jessica Levinson: Nutritioulicious
Penny Wilson: Eating for Performance
Heather Mangieri: Nutrition Checkup
Georgia Kostas
International Food Information Council: Food Insight
Janet Helm: Nutrition Unplugged
So, the corn refiners association is trying to get the name of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) changed to “corn sugar”. This makes sense after all the negativity surrounding HFCS. But, that doesn’t mean they are changing the ingredients. HFCS renamed as “corn sugar” is still the same sweetener which contains about half fructose and half glucose (depending on the product).
HFCS is definitely comparable to table sugar (sucrose), but the HFCS is more concentrated. This is why we see all the studies showing obese rats with problems of appetite control. However, we still need more research. The main problem with HFCS is that is it in everything–breads, granola bars, snacks, cereals, condiments, desserts, crackers, soda (which is another story), etc. So, you have to figure, if we are adding all this sugar to our foods, of course we are going to have an obese country. The other main problem is that the US runs on corn products. The corn refinery business is one of the most profitable (because we use HFCS for everything). The corn refiners will not back down from their product. They will do everything to support it, and improve HFCS’s image and name.
So, what to do? The best thing is to avoid sweet processed products (including most granola bars), sodas, and fruit drinks. Most importantly, as Americans, we generally consume too much sugar no matter what kind it is. After all, it is recommended that women consume no more than 20g of added sugars, and men no more than 36g.
FYI, here is a comparison of a “healthy cereal” and one made with corn syrup:
Kashi uses honey and “cane juice crystals” aka sugar, and honey nut cheerios use corn syrup. Take your pick. The more important thing is total sugar content.
What will happen to the name? It is likely that the name will be changed to corn sugar because the FDA always wants the consumers to have a better understanding of the product they are consuming. HFCS really is just the sugars from corn (processed thoroughly of course).
The Chokeberry: Gag… Choke… Not Another Superfruit
May 10th, 2010 | Posted by in Miscellaneous - (0 Comments)Kidding aside, this fruit really is called the Chokeberry or Aronia. The berries are so sour and bitter tasting when found in raw state in the woods or swamp (which is why we haven’t really heard of them… not very edible when raw). They remind me of wild blueberries or tiny grapes. I am sure you have seen them before, in the past they were mostly thought of as a more decorative berry not suitable for eating. But, I am sure companies will begin to sell them as juices, wines, jams, etc. shortly.
So, are these new berries healthy or what? Yes. With the reports that have come out, chokeberries rank the highest on the ORAC scale to-date. ORAC= oxygen radical absorbency capacity, aka how bad-ass the antioxidants are in grabbing on to free radicals. From 2003 and 2006 reports Journal Agriculture and Food Chemistry they report chokeberries as 4 to 8 times stronger than blueberries in their ORAC score.
All this means is that these tiny chokeberries are potent in antioxidants (mainly anthocyanins… the antioxidant you eat in the blue/purple foods), and perhaps the next superfruit to hit the market. I would eat them if I saw the juice, but haven’t seen anything like it yet. Who knows the health benefits that will come out in future studies. Maybe some studies to be done on benefits to diabetes and inflammation.
Products with Chokeberry/Aronia:
1. Clif Mojo Bar: Peanut Butter and Jelly
2. Luna Bar’s Berry Almond
3. Woodstock Farm’s Cranberry Juice Blend
4. Berrie Crush Plus and Organic Greens Fruit Powders
What does this mean, you ask? Genetically modified means the food was either genetically engineered (putting one gene from an organism into another organism) OR it means the food was changed through plant breeding (which has been done for many years).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTfuAbzAeB8]
So, what’s the big deal? What is genetically modified? Pretty much ALL corn, soybean, and cotton products are GMOs (genetically modified organisms). And do you realize how much corn/soybeans/cotton we come across each day? A lot. Corn products are everywhere now days… remember corn is how we get high fructose corn syrup. So, is this puzzle beginning to come together? The corn and soybean industries are behind everything in 2010. If they need to genetically modify their products, they will because their jobs and success are at stake. It’s all fine and dandy, but I am just not a fan of massive industries basically controlling the US. I don’t see any major health problems resulting from GM products, but I would like to support local farming as much as possible (and I plan to go to more farmers markets since the weather is getting nicer).
- So why don’t we see GM foods in the grocery store? We do! They are just not required to label the products as GM unless they can cause an allergy or if they have less nutritional value.
- 72% of consumers are unaware that modified crops are evaluated for human safety, and similarly, 77% do not know that the crops are tested for environmental safety
End of story: GM foods are not a big deal to me, and I don’t believe them to cause any health problems. I don’t really care if my food is GM; I still think it’s more important to just be eating you fruits and veggies 5 or more times per day and to have balance 
And once again, to support local produce.
For more info: http://usbiotechreg.nbii.gov/
Sources:
American Dietetic Association. Statement on Biotechnology before the Food and Drug Administration; November 30, 1999; Washington, DC. Available at: http://www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/98_lg113099.cfm.
Position of the American Dietetic Association: Agricultural and Food Biotechnology
Only juice that says “100% Fruit Juice” is considered healthy and an 8 ounce glass is considered a serving of fruit. There have been recent studies that show children who drink 100% fruit juice instead of soda or fruit “drinks” weigh less. However, one glass contains about 30g sugar!
You would probably be better off having a piece of fruit that contains a satisfying crunch and some bowel friendly fiber. That fiber from real fruit contains the beneficial antioxidants. Although, there are some fruits that are better in juice form such as pomegranates and acai berries because it is the pulp that is beneficial. But, those powerful berries are a story for another day…
So, for now, just remember to choose 100% juice if you must drink some (or for your kids), and a tip to cut down on the sugar: dilute the juice with ice and water.
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