Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Heavy Drizzle
"Betty Crocker Drizzlers make home made desserts an easy and elegant treat," says the label.
"Simply microwave this pourable pouch of milk chocolate flavor confections, and squeeze Drizzler from the pouch onto your favorite dessert for an elegant presentation".
There is nothing like an elegant presentation of sugar, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, cocoa, milk, reduced mineral whey, soy lecithin, salt, and artificial flavor. It can dress up any dessert, from cheesecake to brownies, strawberries to pretzels.
Meanwhile, each serving (2 1/2 tablespoons) dresses up your arteries with 12 grams of bad fat - more than half a day's worth. And the 220 calories can help decorate your midsection, hips, and thighs. Surely, you do not want to rely on cheesecake and brownies to do the job alone.
That is the beauty of Drizzlers. they do not look like much. Who would think that 2 or 3 good squiggles is like loading a scoop of Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream on your cheesecake or some five pats of butter on your chocolate raspberry layer cake?
So go ahead. Drizzle all over your cookies, brownies, and birthday cakes.
Look at it this way: the more you drizzle now, the fewer birthday cakes you will need later.
Crunch Time
What is the best salad? The one that is not boring.
If you are stuck with the same lettuce, tomato, and dressing every day, eating salad can seem like a duty, not a delight.
That is were Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Croutons come in. Like any croutons they spice up your greens, etc. with a savory crunch. But instead of delivering the equivalent of seasoned white bread, Pepperidge Farm makes it whole wheat.
Pepperidge Farm adds a touch of non hydrogenated vegetable oil ( that means no trans fat), nonfat milk, spices, and flavorings.
Salt adds about 50 mg of sodium, so unless your dressing is low in sodium, you can not stray too far from the modest 6 crouton serving listed on the box.
That is enough to perk up each serving of the Salad Primavera recipe on the Seasoned Croutons box. And 10 croutons will do it for the Bruschetta Salad recipe on the Caesar Croutons box.
The key is to keep your taste buds buzzing so your salad stays fresh in both senses of the word.
How Now, Brown Cowburger?
A freshly cut meat surface is not bright red; it is naturally purplish becasue it contains the purplish-red muscle protein, myoglobin. But when myoglobin is exposed to oxygen in the air, it quickly turns into bright, cherry-red oxymyoglobin. That is why only the outer surace of your ground beef is that nice, bright red color that we generally associate with freshness; the inner parts have not been exposed to enough air.
Freshly cut, purplish beef is shipped from the packing house to the markets in airtight containers. After being ground at the market, it is usually wrapped in a plastic film that permits the passage of oxygen, and the surface of the meat then turns red color of oxymyoglobin. But on longer exposure to oxygen, the red oxymyoglobin gradually oxidizes to brownish metamyoglobin, which not only looks bad but give the meat an "off" flavor. It is this brown color that signals over the hill meat.
Retail markets use plastic packaging materials that allow just enough oxygen to penetrate to keep the surface of the meat at the bright red oxymyoglobin state.
Soooooo, if your beef, whether cut or ground, is a dull purple, it is really very fresh. But even if it has gone brown it can still be good for several days. Your nose, not your eyes, is ultimately your best sense organ for determining whether your hamburger is toooo brown.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Home -wrecking radicals
Electrons, not unlike people, have a strong compulsion to pair up. A free radical is an atom or group of atoms that contains one or more unpaired electrons; that is, one or more of its electrons is missing a partner.
Given the slightest opportunity, a free radical will steal an electron from another molecule whose electrons are happily paired - like a predatory bachelor breaking up a marriage. That second molecule is now an unpaired - electron free radical itself, and will in turn steal an electron from a third molecule, and so on thru a long chain of hundreds or thousands of partner-swapping reactions, that, in our bodies, can disrupt the normal chemistry of our cells by changing the structures of molecules.
Free-radical chain reactions are quenched by chemicals called antioxidants, molecules that donate electrons to the pair-hungry free radicals, thereby quenching their spousal cravings.
Electron-donating antioxidants include the food additives BHA and BHT, as well as vitamins A, C, and E.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Salt
High blood pressure is epidemic. 31 % of Americans have high blood pressure = 65 million adults. More than half of all Americans 60 and older have high blood pressure. An additional 45 million people have "pre-hypertension", a category of blood pressure that lies between what is considered normal and clearly high 120-139/ over 80-89.
Consuming more sodium tends to increase the retention of fluid carried by blood vessels. That increases both blood pressure and the load on the heart. Also, the increase in salt and fluid within the circulatory system causes a narrowing of the blood vessels, which further increases pressure and reduces the flow of blood to the tissues. The damgage done by a lifetime of high blood pressure may not be undone by medication.
High blood pressure may impair a person's thinking ability and even cause dementia. People with high blood pressure are more likely to perform poorly on tersts of learning, memory, and abstract reasoning then those with normal blood pressure. High blood pressure clogs small blood vessels and interferes with blood flow to the brain.
Salt can cause health problems not necessarily linked to hypertension.
1. Salt increases the body's excretion of calcium.
2. Because it increases calcium excretion, salt may promote the formation of kidney stones.
3. High salt diets impair lung function and worsen asthma symptoms.
4. Diets high in sodium cause higher rates of infection with Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers.
5. Salt promotes stomach cancer in lab animals and is associated with higher rates of stomach cancer in Japan.
6. Higher daily consumption of sodium is associated with a 89% increase in stroke mortality and a 44% increase in mortality from coronary heart disease.
Keep your daily intake of sodium at 1500 mg.
READ THE NUTRITION FACTS LABEL ON ALL YOUR PURCHASES AT THE SUPERMARKET.
Choose wisely . . . live well.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Water Facts
I have been putting out this info for years . . . but . . . in case YOU missed it:
1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. This likely applies to half the world's populations.
2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.
3. Even mild dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
4. One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger pains for almost 100% of dieters studied in a U of Washington study.
5. Lack of water is the number one trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8 - 10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or printed page.
8. Drinking five glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%; it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%; and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Corny, But Sweet
We do not produce nearly enough cane or beet sugar in the US to satisfy our 275 million sweet teeth, so we have to import some. We import about 60 times more sugar then we export. But much of this imported sugar comes from countries that have never won awards for crop reliability, political stability, or love for Uncle Sam, so sugar importing has always been a bit of a gamble. We produce enormous amounts of corn - ton for ton, more than 6,000 times as much corn as sugar cane.
Through the magic of chemistry, we can actually make sugar out of cornstarch. There is lots more starch than sugar in corn. Take away the water from a kernel of corn, the remainder will be about 84 % carbohydrates (sugars, starches, & cellulose). The cellulose is in the kernel's hull. But starch is the main component of all the other stuff outside the cob.
Starches and sugars are two families of chemicals that are very closely related. Starch molecules are made up of hundreds of smaller molecules of the simple sugar glucose all tied together. If we chop cornstarch molecules up into small pieces, we could make hundreds of molecules of glucose. If the chopping up is not quite complete, there will also be some maltose - another sugar that consists of two glucose molecules. There will also be some even bigger fragments, consisting of dozens of glucose molecules. Because these bigger molecules can't slide around past one another as easily as small molecules can, the final mixture will be thick and syrupy = corn syrup.
The common sugar contained in sugar cane, sugar beets, and maple syrup is sucrose. But a sugar by any other name may not taste as sweet. That is, the glucose and maltose in corn syrup are only about 56 % and 40% as sweet as sucrose.
Food manufacturers get around this by using yet another enzyme to convert some of the glucose into its alternative molecular form, fructose, a sugar that is 30% sweeter than sucrose. That is why "high fructose corn syrup" often appears on the labels of foods that need to be realllllly sweet, such as sodas, jams and jellies.
Corn sweeteners do not taste quite the same as good old sucrose, because different sugars have slightly different kinds of sweetness. The flavors of fruit preserves and soft drinks just aren't what they used to be before the food manufacturers pretty much abandoned cane sugar for corn sweeteners. As a label reading consumer, all you can do is to choose products sweetened with the highest proportion of sucrose, which is listed on the label as "sugar".
Next time you find yourself in a tropical, sugar cane producing country, buy some Coca-Cola. It is undoubtedly still made there with cane sugar, instead of corn sweeteners that most US bottlers have been using for more than a decade. Bring some home and compare its flavor with the contemporary American "Classic".
BUT, when the customs agent asks what is in your bag, for heaven's sake do not say "COKE."
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Tater Chips
I had an email regarding the green edges on potato chips so here is the answer.
Those chips were sliced from green surfaced potatoes, and they therefore contain small amounts of toxic solanine, which is not destroyed by frying. It is okay to eat them, because in order to experience any ill effects you would have to eat so many bags of chips that you would turn greener around the gills than they are around the frills.
And if you think you can check out the potato chips in the store to see how many green edged ones there might be in a package before buying it, think again. Have you ever noticed that potato chip bags are always opague, unlike the bags of pretzels and other snacks that often let you see the contents? That is not to foil prying eyes, but to keep out ultrviolet light, which speeds up oxidation of the fat in the chips, turning it rancid. All fats and cooking oils, in fact, should be kept out of strong light.
Bags of potato chips are also usually filled with nitrogen gas to displace oxigen - containing air. That is why they are puffed out like balloons. Of course, cynic that I am, I must point out that opaque. ballooned out packages take up more display space and prevent us from realizing that they may be only about half full.
Baking Powder
Baking soda keeps almost indefinitely, although it can pick up acidic odors and flavors; that is why people put an open box of it in the frig. Baking powder, on the other hand, can lose its potency over a period of a few months because its chemicals react slowly with each other, especially if exposed to humid air. Test your baking powder by adding some of it to water. If it does not fizz vigorously it has lost its potency and will do a poor job of leavening. Throw it away and buy a new can.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Tomatoe Season
Originally from the Andes of South America, the tomato was brought back to Spain by explorers in 1527. For a time, the tomato was grown for ornamental purposes only, because tomatoes were deemed poisonous ( relative of the nightshade plant). Legend has it that Thomas Jefferson brought tomato seeds back to the US from Paris.
Americans love tomatoes almost as much as potatoes. But three quarters of the tomatoes Americans eat are processed, mostly as tomato sauce.
Though botanically a fruit, the tomato is typically eaten as part of a meal, making it a vegetable by culinary definition. It was legally classified a vegetable in 1873 by no less than the Supreme Court of the United States in Nix v. Hedden, which noted that " . . . in the common language of the people . . . tomatoes are vegetables . . ." This obligated importers to pay a vegetable tariff they had tried to evade by arguing that, technically, a tomato is a fruit.
Tomatoes and tomato products are rich sources of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that provides their vibrant red hue. Eating foods rich in lycopene has been linked to decreased risk of cancer and heart disease.
Cooked and canned tomatoes are better sources of lycopene than fresh because heat breaks down plant cell walls, releasing additional lycopene. The tomato is also an excellent source of Vit A and C plus potassium, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin.
Tomatoes come in nearly every size and color of the rainbow, from marble sized cherry or oval grape varieties to delectable beefsteak tomatoes that can measure 6 inches in diameter, with hues spanning yellow,orange, pink, green and purple, as well as classic red.
To extend the life of thin skinned tomatoes, growers ship them green. If not fully ripened by the time they reach their destination, they are treated with ethylene gas to ripen. But we all know how tasteless and mealy such tomatoes are. That is because chemically ripened tomatoes have a lower sugar content than those allowed to ripen naturally.
For the best tomato flavor, grow your own or visit your local farmers' market.
NEVER, NEVER refrigerate tomatoes! Chilling ruins both flavor and texture.
Fibersure
"it's what you have been missing" is the advertising tag line for Fibersure, a new fiber supplement from Procter & Gamble, maker of Metamucil. P&G's Fibersure promises to fill the fiber gap in your diet, so you can get the recommended 25 to 30 grams a day. Most Americans get about 10 to 15 grams.
Unlike most fiber supplements, Fibersure is not a bulk laxative. It is a natural soluble fiber called inulin found in several foods, notably chicory root. Fibersure comes as a fine white powder you add to foods or noncarbonated beverages. It dissolves completely without thickening, becoming gritty or altering a food's taste. One tablespoon of Fibersure provides 5 grams of fiber.
Adding Fibersure to foods you already eat is an easy way to increase fiber intake. Inulin is a prebiotic, providing nourishment to the good bacteria in your intestinal tract. Eating a prebiotic with a probiotic (a food with beneficial bacteria) like yogurt helps boost those bacteria in your intestine and some research suggests, improves your health. Inulin also increases calcium absorption when eaten with high calcium foods.
BUT
Fibersure provides fiber, but none of the phytonutrients you get from high fiber foods. And unlike many fiber supplements, inulin is not calorie free. For every 5 grams of fiber, it provides 25 calories.
SO
Getting more fiber in your diet is what I am always preaching, but no supplement can provide all the health promoting phytonutrients found in high fiber foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and whole grains. So I suggest eating more high fiber foods as your primary goal. But if you simply do not eat enough high fiber foods to total 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day then Fibersure is worth a try.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
No Pumpkin, Either
Jell-O No Bake Pumpkin Style Pie Dessert has the "creamy taste and texture of pumpkin pie flavored with natural cinnamon and ginger", says the label. And it is ready after a "quick & easy 15 minute prep."
Pumpkin pie in 15 minutes?
What a deal. And a glance at the Nutrition Facts label shows no sat or trans fat. Double deal.
Make that a double cross.
Apparently, pumpkin style pie is code for pumpkinless pie. Instead of a vegetable that is rich in betacarotene, Vit K, and fiber, you get sugar, modified food starch, and a mouthful of additives like artificial flavors, caramel color, and Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 food colorings. The cinnamon and ginger may be "natural," but nothing else is. It is about as authentic as a diamond-style engagement ring.
But No Bake Pumpkin Style Pie delivers more than pumpkin-colored sugar and food starch. The microscopic print on the Nutrition Facts label discloses that "1/8 pie prepared with margarine and 2% reduced fat milk" contains 2 1/2 grams of sat fat and 1 1/2 grams of trans fat. The big print lists 0 grams for each because there is none in the dry mix.
No Bake's Nutrition Facts panel, courtesy of Kraft Foods, does not break any labeling rules. They do not call 'em KRAFT-y for nothing.
Choose wisely . . . live well.
Pumpkin pie in 15 minutes?
What a deal. And a glance at the Nutrition Facts label shows no sat or trans fat. Double deal.
Make that a double cross.
Apparently, pumpkin style pie is code for pumpkinless pie. Instead of a vegetable that is rich in betacarotene, Vit K, and fiber, you get sugar, modified food starch, and a mouthful of additives like artificial flavors, caramel color, and Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 food colorings. The cinnamon and ginger may be "natural," but nothing else is. It is about as authentic as a diamond-style engagement ring.
But No Bake Pumpkin Style Pie delivers more than pumpkin-colored sugar and food starch. The microscopic print on the Nutrition Facts label discloses that "1/8 pie prepared with margarine and 2% reduced fat milk" contains 2 1/2 grams of sat fat and 1 1/2 grams of trans fat. The big print lists 0 grams for each because there is none in the dry mix.
No Bake's Nutrition Facts panel, courtesy of Kraft Foods, does not break any labeling rules. They do not call 'em KRAFT-y for nothing.
Choose wisely . . . live well.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Puttin' on the Spritz
A big bowl of fresh, succulent salad vegetables is a flawless, low calorie dish that can help curb inflation on your bathroom scale . . . unless you overdo the dressing.
With some 70 calories in each tablespoon of a typical regular salad dressing, you can unwittingly turn a net loss (in calories) into a net gain (in clothing size). Light dressings and vinaigrettes cut half the calories, and fat-free cut even more. But one careless twist of the wrist and you can easily drown your unsuspecting veggies in toooooo many calories, tooooo much salt, or both.
Enter Wish Bone Salad Spritzers. Each spray coats your greens with only one calorie's worth of dressing. WishBone suggests 10 sprays per cup of salad, but you could easily use twice that much without putting your calorie budget in peril. Sodium is a different story. With 10 to 13 mg per spray, you would be smart not to stray too far from the 10 spray serving.
So break out the greens, grape tomatoes, bell pepper slices, or whatever. You can switch off from Balsamic Breeze to Red Wine Mist to Italian, depending on your mood or menu.
The best part: one careless spritz and you are only one calorie and 10 mg of sodium over budget. Choose wisely . . . live well.
Berry Picking
Hate plucking the stems from strawberries? Insert a plastic straw in the non stem end and gently push it towards the stem until the stem pops off.
Health Hazard
I received this info via an email and pass it along to you.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dioxin chemicals ( dioxin is a carcinogenic hydrocarbon) cause cancer especially breast cancer.
Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Do not freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Mangager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.
He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and thus into the cells of the body.
Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin.
So, such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper is not bad but you do not know what is in the paper. It is just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.
He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that Saran wrap is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.
This one is for Shelby
Why does a recipe tell you to use unsalted butter; and then later to add salt?
A quarter pound stick of typical salted butter may contain 1 1/2 to 3 grams, or up to half a teaspoon, of salt. Different brands and regional products may contain very different amounts. When you are following a carefully formulated recipe, especially one that uses a lot of butter, you cannot afford to play Russian roulete with something as important as salt. That is why recipes will specify unsalted butter and leave the salt for a separate seaoning step.
Many cooks prefer unsalted butter because it if often of higher quality. Salt is added partially for its preservative effect .
