Friday, January 25, 2008
retired blog
I am going to retire my blog. It has been great fun for me but time to move on to other things outside the computer.
I would highly recommend you read Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink and YOU The Owners Manual by M. Roizen MD and M. OZ MD. There is good stuff on those pages. Knowledge is power . . . and you need to be powerful in keeping yourself and your family healthy.
If you know my blog . . . then you know that what goes into your food goes into YOU! And you know you should reduce your salt intake. If you do not like the #lb on your scale then decrease calories and move more. It is all so very simple.
I have some closing thoughts to share with you.
Bad things happen to people who eat bad things.
Eat food not food products.
Today there are thousands of edible fooklike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages elaborately festooned with health claims. If you are concerned about your health, you should avoid products that make health claims. Health clamis on a food product is a strong indication it is NOT really food, and food is what you want to eat.
EAT FOOD . . . not food like substances. Don't eat anything your gradmother would not recognize as food. (ie. would your grandmother recognize GoGurt Portable Yogurt tubes from the dairy case?)
Avoid food products containing ingredients that are:
1. unfamiliar
2. unpronounceable
3. more than 5 in number
4. or include high fructose corn syrup.
Shop the peripheries of the market and stay out of the middle.
Shop at your local farmers market. You won't find any high fructose corn syrup at the farmers' market. You also won't find any elaborately processed food products, any packages with long lists of unpronounceable ingredients or dubious health claims, nothing microwavable, and perhaps best of all, no old food from far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of their taste and nutritional quality.
Take supplements.
Stop snacking.
Eat meals. Eat at a table. Do not eat at your desk, in the car, in front of the tv. etc. It is at the dinner table that we socialize and civilize our chidren, teaching them manners and the art of conversation. At the dinner table parents can determine portion sizes, model eating and drinking behavior, and enforce social norms.
Shared meals are about much more than fueling bodies; they are uniquely human institutions where our species developed language and this thing we call culture.
I would highly recommend you read Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink and YOU The Owners Manual by M. Roizen MD and M. OZ MD. There is good stuff on those pages. Knowledge is power . . . and you need to be powerful in keeping yourself and your family healthy.
If you know my blog . . . then you know that what goes into your food goes into YOU! And you know you should reduce your salt intake. If you do not like the #lb on your scale then decrease calories and move more. It is all so very simple.
I have some closing thoughts to share with you.
Bad things happen to people who eat bad things.
Eat food not food products.
Today there are thousands of edible fooklike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages elaborately festooned with health claims. If you are concerned about your health, you should avoid products that make health claims. Health clamis on a food product is a strong indication it is NOT really food, and food is what you want to eat.
EAT FOOD . . . not food like substances. Don't eat anything your gradmother would not recognize as food. (ie. would your grandmother recognize GoGurt Portable Yogurt tubes from the dairy case?)
Avoid food products containing ingredients that are:
1. unfamiliar
2. unpronounceable
3. more than 5 in number
4. or include high fructose corn syrup.
Shop the peripheries of the market and stay out of the middle.
Shop at your local farmers market. You won't find any high fructose corn syrup at the farmers' market. You also won't find any elaborately processed food products, any packages with long lists of unpronounceable ingredients or dubious health claims, nothing microwavable, and perhaps best of all, no old food from far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of their taste and nutritional quality.
Take supplements.
Stop snacking.
Eat meals. Eat at a table. Do not eat at your desk, in the car, in front of the tv. etc. It is at the dinner table that we socialize and civilize our chidren, teaching them manners and the art of conversation. At the dinner table parents can determine portion sizes, model eating and drinking behavior, and enforce social norms.
Shared meals are about much more than fueling bodies; they are uniquely human institutions where our species developed language and this thing we call culture.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Flat Line
Frito Lay's Flat Earth Garlic & Herb Field Baked Veggie Crisps contain "1/2 serving of real vegetables in every ounce", boasts the bag.
Turns out the crisps are mostly rice flour and potato flakes, which are about as good for you as white rice and mashed potatoes. As for the vegetables; the Garlic & Herb Field crisps have more corn oil, modified corn starch, and oat flour than pumpkin, more sugar and maltodextrin than dehydrated onion, and more salt than tomato paste.
That explains why the 24 crisps that it would take to supply a full serving of vegetables have 260 calories, far more than a serving of real vegetables ( 20 to 60). That many crisps also deliver 380 mg of sodium, versus essentially zero sodium in most fresh veggies.
"With a tasty blend of potato, rice and vegetables, these Impossibly Good veggie crisps make it possible to have great taste and nutrition", says the bag.
Impossibly good? Unless Frito Lay is talking about real vegetables, impossible is more like it.
Turns out the crisps are mostly rice flour and potato flakes, which are about as good for you as white rice and mashed potatoes. As for the vegetables; the Garlic & Herb Field crisps have more corn oil, modified corn starch, and oat flour than pumpkin, more sugar and maltodextrin than dehydrated onion, and more salt than tomato paste.
That explains why the 24 crisps that it would take to supply a full serving of vegetables have 260 calories, far more than a serving of real vegetables ( 20 to 60). That many crisps also deliver 380 mg of sodium, versus essentially zero sodium in most fresh veggies.
"With a tasty blend of potato, rice and vegetables, these Impossibly Good veggie crisps make it possible to have great taste and nutrition", says the bag.
Impossibly good? Unless Frito Lay is talking about real vegetables, impossible is more like it.
Wise Up
"Get your daily servings of fruit" from Tropicana FruitWise strips and bars, says the Web site. The strips deliver one serving of fruit, the bars two according to Tropicana. Both are mostly apple puree concentrate and apple juice concentrate, with other purees and concentrates, depending on the flavor - cherry, raspberry, strawberry, etc.
Since puree is less processed than juice, FruitWise probably delivers more of what is in real fruit than fruit juice does. But fruit it ain't!
The beauty of fruits and veggies is that they fill you up without loading you down. Calorie dense foods like FruitWise squeeze their calories ( 70 in each 2/3 oz strip and 140 in each 1 1/2 oz bar) into very little food.
FruitWise but Calorie Foolish.
Since puree is less processed than juice, FruitWise probably delivers more of what is in real fruit than fruit juice does. But fruit it ain't!
The beauty of fruits and veggies is that they fill you up without loading you down. Calorie dense foods like FruitWise squeeze their calories ( 70 in each 2/3 oz strip and 140 in each 1 1/2 oz bar) into very little food.
FruitWise but Calorie Foolish.
Plate Makeover
Being smart about portions is not just a matter of calories. Changing the proportion of meat to vegetables on your plate also reduces your intake of sat fat and ups your consumption of healthy nutrients.We need to change from the traditional American plate (big hunk of meat, glob of potato and tiny dollop of vegetables ) to healthier portions.
Start by making more interesting and flavorful vegetable dishes ( not just microwaving some frozen peas) and heaping those on your plate first. You will have less room left for meat. Next, step up to preparing 2 vegetable dishes for every meal, varing in appearance and taste; whole grains can also help occupy this healthy two thirds of your reproportioned plate.
Another strategy is to rely more on one pot meals in which ingredients other than meat dominate. Over time, your "new American plate" will become the norm and you will start to wonder how you ever ate any other way.
Start by making more interesting and flavorful vegetable dishes ( not just microwaving some frozen peas) and heaping those on your plate first. You will have less room left for meat. Next, step up to preparing 2 vegetable dishes for every meal, varing in appearance and taste; whole grains can also help occupy this healthy two thirds of your reproportioned plate.
Another strategy is to rely more on one pot meals in which ingredients other than meat dominate. Over time, your "new American plate" will become the norm and you will start to wonder how you ever ate any other way.
Pasta for Every Palate
Pasta may have been knocked down during the recent low carb craze, but this Italian staple was never out. Now, it is making a full fledged comeback, packing more healthful attributes than ever.
Traditional pasta is typically made from refined semolina and durum wheat that is enrfiched with iron and B vitamins. It also provides carbohydrates but it is not brimming with nutrients.
The primo pasta to choose is one made from 100% whole grain - usually whole wheat - because it typically provides at leastg double the fiber and nearly triple the protein of regular pasta. Moreover, it provides whatever phytonutrients are present in the whole grain.
If you have never eaten whole wheat pasta before, it takes getting used to but it is worth it. It is more substantial and is more flavorful. Start by mixing it half and half with semolina pasta.
Next on the pasta preference list are those made from a blend of whole grain and refined flours. They deliver more of the traditional texture and taste of pasta, while still bumping up fiber and nutrients.
Pasta options are expanding. Avoiding gluten? Choose from rice, corn and soybean pastas. Want an omega 3 boost? Look for added flax.
Some Pasta Pointers:
1. Choose whole grain pasta when possible.
2. Keep portions reasonable. The usual 2 oz dry pasta portion listed on the Nutrition Facts label equals about 1 cup of cooked pasta.
3. Make your own blend by combining regular and whole grain pasta.
4. Add some cooked veggies or canned beans to your favorite sauce to make your pasta dish extra nutritious.
5. Watch out for higher sodium if you opt for refrigerated pasta.
Choose wisely . . . lived well.
Traditional pasta is typically made from refined semolina and durum wheat that is enrfiched with iron and B vitamins. It also provides carbohydrates but it is not brimming with nutrients.
The primo pasta to choose is one made from 100% whole grain - usually whole wheat - because it typically provides at leastg double the fiber and nearly triple the protein of regular pasta. Moreover, it provides whatever phytonutrients are present in the whole grain.
If you have never eaten whole wheat pasta before, it takes getting used to but it is worth it. It is more substantial and is more flavorful. Start by mixing it half and half with semolina pasta.
Next on the pasta preference list are those made from a blend of whole grain and refined flours. They deliver more of the traditional texture and taste of pasta, while still bumping up fiber and nutrients.
Pasta options are expanding. Avoiding gluten? Choose from rice, corn and soybean pastas. Want an omega 3 boost? Look for added flax.
Some Pasta Pointers:
1. Choose whole grain pasta when possible.
2. Keep portions reasonable. The usual 2 oz dry pasta portion listed on the Nutrition Facts label equals about 1 cup of cooked pasta.
3. Make your own blend by combining regular and whole grain pasta.
4. Add some cooked veggies or canned beans to your favorite sauce to make your pasta dish extra nutritious.
5. Watch out for higher sodium if you opt for refrigerated pasta.
Choose wisely . . . lived well.
