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Is Your Milk Jug Really That Important?

July 1, 2008

I just received a note about a new milk jug being introduced in the US. Anyone who follows my Brazil blog knows that I am a huge fan of the milk I can get south of the equator.

Well, apparently things are changing at home, too. New milk jugs have been released recently. The reason – they are better for the environment and require less labor for transport.

Considering that the word ‘green’ can be seen in every magazine article and television program across the country and that everyone is proud to boast about their efforts to save the environment you would think we’d be ecstatic about the change. Of course, we are not.

There is no truer statement than the fact that people fear change. Even something as simple as a milk carton. We always find something to complain about.

Now, I’m well aware that we are dealing with the media here and their goal is usually to create controversy. Shocking, I know. It is quite possible that they cut out a lot of praises and published more of the complaints.

There have to be some people out there that are as excited about this as I am. This article from the New York Times talks about some of the positives for the environment and some of the complaints.

Positives:
It costs less – given the price of food right now, that alone should be reason to be happy

No need for milk crates and the resources (water, fuel) to transport and clean them

More can be transported and more quickly which means the milk is fresher when it arrives

Fits better in the fridge

Negatives:
It spills when pouring

Difficult for kids to pour

Personally, I think the positives outweigh the negatives here.

According to those producing it, we just have to learn how to pour it differently. Let’s add that to the positives. Learning a new activity improves brain health!

So what I see is cost savings, better for the environment and improved brain function. As with all things, we’ll get used to it. There always has to be that initial ‘I hate it because it is different’ stage.

I can’t wait to see the new packaging on my store shelves at home. Anyone else out there embracing change with me?

Photo by cooee, morguefile.com

More on Fats

June 30, 2008

I thought since I had talked a bit about the importance of fat and the fat free craze, I should balance that with additional info about the not-so-good fats.

I was looking over the June research news from the USDA and in a story entitled Facts on Fats Could Prompt Healthier Eating they discussed a study that further supported the dangers of trans fat.

One thing that I immediately enjoyed when I started studying nutrition was the fact that I found out about popular topics and concerns long before the media got a hold of it. This is true of trans fat.

Since I was in college when this topic became of concern to nutrition professionals and the government we learned about trans fats. We also learned that the powers-that-be were struggling with how to release the warnings to the general public. A few years later, here we are. It’s now on the list of bad fats, on the labels of all our foods and many companies are trying and succeeding at eliminating it from their products.

Honestly, I think that food companies got the information about trans fats before the general public even understood what they were. ‘Trans fat free’ and ‘0% trans fat’ started popping up on labels before anyone could define a trans fat. This was, of course, because they saw the road leading to this labeling being mandated, which it now is. A definite benefit to us consumers.

If you are still in the dark a bit, a trans fat occurs in processing. When manufactures take something unsaturated and in a liquid state (like a healthy oil) and turn it into something solid and spreadable, its chemical structure becomes a trans configuration, so a trans fat.

I will stop there with the chemistry. I am a not a big fan of chemistry. I always say if someone had told me how much chemistry is actually involved in nutrition before I fell in love with the subject I doubt I would have pursued it. But no one did and here I am. If you are interested in it here is some more info on the configuration.

The best example of this process is margarine, but it exists in all kinds of packaged goods because they use shortening and margarines.

In the research review I mentioned above, yet another study showed that people eating a diet with saturated and trans fats had increased LDL (bad) cholesterol.

They are both bad news and should be limited in the diet. The best way to do this is to eat more natural, real foods. Trans fats are sneaky, though. They tend to show up in packaged foods we may have once thought healthy. Hopefully I can uncover some of those hiding places in a later post. It is best to check labels too. Just because something says it trans fat free doesn’t mean it is without saturated fat. Both do similar damage to our cardiovascular (and other) systems in the body.

Photo by dieraecherin, morguefile.com

Drinking Your Fruit

June 26, 2008

I have always loved juice. Apple and grape topped the list when I was in high school. During this time I began to understand how my caloric intake had a direct relationship with my weight and I eliminated juice from my diet. I was amazed at the amount of calories in a small glass.

My decision was confirmed as I started studying nutrition. All that added sugar and lack of fiber wasn’t good for me. I understood that I should eat my fruit, not drink it.

The problem was I missed juice. In addition, I’m not sure if you’ve checked out the recommendation for fruit and veggie servings lately, but it is nearly impossible to attain even for the most health conscious person. We started at 3 to 5 and that was perfect for me. Definitely achievable. Then it jumped to 5 to 9 there was even talk behind the scenes that it needed to go to 9 to 13. Wow!

Finally the government realized that they were setting goals which initiated the ‘I give up’ mentality in people and they started the campaign Fruits and Veggies More Matters. They are now simply encouraging people to eat more. A good approach, I think.

The thing is I want to be healthy. I want to get my 5 to 9 everyday. However, I just don’t want to eat that much fruit. Sometimes I’m just not hungry for it, like in colder weather.

My solution is to return to juice. However, this time I’m avoiding the added sugars, HFCS and lack of fiber. I juice myself. Not the squeeze-the-orange kind of juice, but using a more professional juicer.

There are some negative aspects to this that I will address. First, it takes a bit of a commitment. There is labor involved in cutting and sometimes peeling the fruit. The clean up can be time consuming as well.

It is proving to be worth it for me though. I get to enjoy all kinds of combinations of juices. I can easily meet my fruit and veggie recommendation. A couple apples and a carrot and I’ve got a great drink and 3 servings taken care of at once. In addition, the better juicers allow some pulp in the juice so there is more fiber than in your typical store-bought bottle.

I’m glad to get back to drinking juice and I feel much better knowing that I’m getting in my fruits and vegetables. It is worth the extra effort to prepare it. Think about investing in your health and try juicing for yourself.

Photo courtesy of Free Range Stock

Breakfast Fan?

June 24, 2008

Are you a fan of breakfast? I will admit I love most breakfast foods, but occasionally I get in a rut where all I have is coffee until lunchtime rolls around.

Yesterday there was some research results released about the benefits of a big breakfast when it comes to weight loss. Study participants who ate a larger breakfast over an 8 month period, not changing anything else in their diet, lost more weight than those who ate a smaller breakfast.

It is important to note the small breakfast was high protein and the larger one had carbs in the form of 2 slices of wheat bread.

There were two things that came to mind after hearing about this study.

The first thing was that the types of foods in the big breakfast were very similar to those popular in other countries. It consisted of a slice of cheese, lunch meat (I think it was turkey), 2 slices of wheat bread, 2 cups of milk and coffee with cream.

If you’ve every visited another country you’ve probably seen a meat and cheese tray at a hotel’s continental breakfast. These are less common in the US. We typically stick to sausage and bacon.

The second thing is that eliminating fake foods at breakfast time can be a challenge. This isn’t due to availability. There are so many great items that are fresh and healthy – eggs, oatmeal, fruit, coffee, some yogurts, breads, potatoes, and lean meats to name a few. Even homemade waffles and pancakes can be an option if made from scratch with quality ingredients.

When it comes to our early morning meals it is more an issue of time. When I was working in an office outside home, I barely had time to get dressed in the mornings, let alone make breakfast. I’m not a morning person and have a hard time getting up. Many people have other commitments like children to take care of, emails to answer or morning workouts.

With this lack of time, it is so easy to grab breakfast convenience foods. Granola bars were always my food of choice, but even a frozen waffle, toasted and taken along in the car was an option from time to time. Then there were those days when I left hungry and then someone would bring in donuts to the office.

The problem is this started my day with processed foods, preservatives, unhealthy carbs and I’m sure there is some high fructose corn syrup in there somewhere.

I began to switch to cereal mixes I put together myself consisting of whole grain bran cereal, dried cranberries and walnuts. I also hard boiled eggs and took string cheese.

Making yourself eat a real, fresh breakfast can be difficult. Now, even though I work at home, it still takes a conscious effort to make myself something instead of grabbing a cereal bar and sitting back down at the computer.

I just have to remember that it will be worth it in the long run though. According to that study, it might even help us lose a few pounds.

Photo by ppdigital, morguefile.com

Effects of the Fat Free Craze

June 18, 2008

If you have any interest in health or nutrition you know what I’m talking about. That time not so long ago when everything with fat was bad for you and fat free products lined the shelves of every store. To be healthy you had to be fat free.

I, for one, am glad it is over. At least people are realizing that it is just the saturated and trans fats that have a negative influence on health. We can finally enjoy rich foods with healthy fats again knowing they are good for us.

Just think, all that time we were eliminating great food from our diet the French were over there eating full fat cheese and drinking wine and still remained healthier (and thinner) than us. Thank goodness it didn’t take us as long as a society to pull ourselves out of the low carb phase.

There is still a problem though. The availability of great food has suffered considerably since the fat free craze. Low fat and fat free foods are still out there. To make matters worse, it is nearly impossible to get full-fat, healthy foods unless you go to a specialty store.

The first thing that comes to mind is cheese. I love the convenience of shredded cheese. What I don’t like is that pretty much all you can find is part-skim mozzarella.

Have you ever tried cooking with this stuff? It basically does not melt. What a disappointing food experience! Yes, cheese has saturated fat, but it can be part of a healthy diet – a very satisfying healthy diet.

It’s like both consumers and manufacturers are still afraid of the full-fat versions of some foods. Maybe it wouldn’t sell. I don’t know. However, these are the kind of real foods we need.

You’ve probably seen all the information in the media the past few years about 3 servings of dairy daily and weight loss. Well a study came out last year which had participants make at least one of those servings full-fat dairy. They lost more weight.

As long as you keep your total saturated fat intake in check for the day, enjoying these filling foods is perfectly acceptable. I say bring on the full-fat yogurt! This is such a treat compared to the fat free, sugar free version that is always marketed so heavily.

I wish that the fat free craze hadn’t damaged our healthy thinking so much. When shopping, even I hear that little voice in the back of my head telling me I should get the low fat version. I hope that we can one day start accepting these foods back into our society and shopping carts with the ability to eat them and truly enjoy them in moderation.

Photo by rosevita, morguefile.com

New Website

June 17, 2008

Just a note that the LIVESTRONG.com website launched today.

This site has a lot of helpful information on all kinds of wellness topics. In addition, you can utilize the goal setting tools and track your progress.

You might be asking why I’m so excited about this news. Well, I just happen to be a contributing writer! While I’ve been writing health info for a while now, this is some of my first web content work. My articles are all nutrition focused. Some topics are – pears, brazil nuts, bean health, low sodium foods, antioxidant vitamins and nutrients in dairy.

If you happen to be checking out the site, find my articles and have some feedback feel free to post it in the comments section here.

I No Longer Need Insurance

June 16, 2008

Part of being a responsible nutritionist is ensuring that those you give advice to are getting all the nutrients they need. Throughout my studies we were always taught that we should encourage people to get their vitamins and minerals from food, but that a daily multivitamin should be taken for insurance.

I guess this is good advice. Most people do their best to eat well, but still fall short of their need for fruits, vegetables and other foods necessary to supply required vitamins and minerals.

I believed in this advice for a long time. Now I’ve come to the decision that I no longer need insurance.

First of all, the nutrients we get from food are more readily available to the body for use. Some research shows that the pill form of necessary and popular vitamins and minerals are not that effective. The body doesn’t absorb from a pill all that it would from actual food.

Second, I am really against this rely-on-a-pill society we seem to be living in. Yes, we all lead busy lifestyles, no time to cook, shop and on and on. But would you really rather pop a pill than eat?

It is all about eating the right foods. I am confident that most days of the week I get plenty of the foods I need that provide the necessary micronutrients to my body. I don’t want to rely on a pill to give me what I can get through the enjoyment of eating good foods.

There are certain situations where vitamins are necessary. I’m still on the fence with calcium as well. The food form is better, but it is such an important nutrient that I do feel unless people (especially women) are certain they are getting sufficient calcium, they should take a supplement. Personally I’ve gotten away from calcium supplements because I really like dairy products. I get my calcium and vitamin D through milk and yogurt.

It all comes back to the issue of fake versus real food. A vitamin pill isn’t natural, food is. A pill is easy, but eating healthy foods is enjoyable.

For anyone who is on a quest to lose weight a common complaint is they are always hungry. The thing is, we have to eat a lot of food to get all the nutrients we need. The catch is that it doesn’t come from the drive thru. It comes from lots and lots of healthy natural foods that happen to be lower in calorie.

I just prefer to eat, enjoy and savor not pop a pill and feel satisfied with my insurance. We just need to get back to taking the time to enjoy real food.

Photo by jeltovski, morguefile.com

Headaches

June 12, 2008

I’ve been blessed in the fact that I do not suffer from any food allergies. I am able to eat just about anything without any adverse reactions.

There is one little nagging thing that I get from time to time though – headaches. Of course, headaches aren’t always food induced, but I have discovered that some of mine are.

What causes these painful episodes? Sucralose.

I was first introduced to sucralose as an undergraduate student. It had just come out and was being heavily marketed as the new sugar replacement. Along with that came tag lines about how it was just like sugar because it was a derivative of sugar. Unlike other fake sugars you could also use the same amount in recipes as you would of standard white sugar.

At that time, I was enrolled in a food science course and we had to decide on a food experiment for the semester. It was a performance food experiment. This meaning we had to make foods using different methods and the measure how they turned out based on taste, viscosity and many other factors that I can’t bring to mind at the moment. Apparently what I learned in that course didn’t stick with me, but I loved it at the time.

I chose to use sucralose in my experiment. I made 3 different loaves of banana bread. One with all sugar, one with ½ sugar and ½ sucralose and one with all sucralose. At that time, as far as taste went, I thought the one made with sucralose was the best.

My preferences have definitely changed.

Now in addition to an aftertaste that I just can’t handle, sucralose gives me headaches. Shortly after I eat or drink anything containing it I feel a bit nauseated and then the headache starts.

Thinking this was all in my head I’ve tried many different forms – soda, yogurt, ice cream. It all has the same result. Even when I unknowingly drink a soda that contains it, on comes the headache.

I’ve recently realized that except for the aching, it is not all in my head. Initial research shows that sucralose can induce headaches in some people.

Previous research has shown that aspartame can do the same thing. It can cause the release of brain chemicals which result in the swelling of blood vessels and head pain.

I’ve never had this problem with aspartame, but since I’ve gotten away from ingesting it regularly through diet sodas I find when I occasionally have one it makes me feel bad. Just sluggish and tired.

I’m wondering if I might not be the only one who has these problems. Advertising for sucralose in its commercial form has drastically decreased from what I can tell. There was a time when all the new products were promoting the fact that they contained it. In addition, sucralose itself was being sold for baking and even in brown sugar form.

It is definitely one thing I would not be sad to see go. I avoid it like the plague. It is amazing to realize how many products contain it when you start trying to eliminate it. It still seems to be everywhere.

Photo by Gamerzero, morguefile.com

Book Review: Something From the Oven

June 10, 2008

One thing that interests me as much as the nutritional components of food is the food industry. With that, food history and how these packaged items so many people now consider staples came to be.

One of my favorite books covering this top is Something From the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America by Laura Shapiro.

This book goes back in history to a time when the woman’s role was all about entertaining. At the same time, there was a great need for convenience.

As always, the food industry was quick to meet the needs of consumers. So here we have the introduction of things like tv dinners, pudding desserts and cake mixes. It is a really interesting read about how these things were both welcomed and scrutinized by many housewives.

My favorite part is about the development of the cake mix. Market research during that time showed there needed to be a balance in the instructions where it was quick, but the baker also felt like she was putting enough into it to call it homemade. Hence, the adding of the eggs, oil and water to current day mixes.

It is just intriguing to discover where we came from to create this world of fake foods we now rely on so heavily. There were struggles to accept it back then, just as some of us are struggling today to get back to a place that existed prior to that time.

Fresh From the Oven

June 8, 2008

When the low carb craze hit, I was skeptical. I tried it, of course. What person who struggles with keeping weight off didn’t? I knew that it wouldn’t last.

I was in college during all that hype and I think everyone I knew asked me what I thought of the Atkin’s diet. That would extend to people I just met. I’d be introduced, they’d ask what I was studying, and then proceed to ask me what I thought of the diet.

Being a bread fanatic I am truly glad everyone has come to their senses. While control of refined, sugary carbs is a good thing, we need this beneficial nutrient. There is no way around that.

I spent about 5 years throughout high school and college working with bread. I worked for a bread store and then followed that up by working at a bagel store. I worked in both production and at the counter. I got to see what went into making it and convinced people at the counter what the best option would be for them.

Being the only one there studying nutrition, I was always the one who was asked what the nutrition content was of the breads. My fellow workers stopped looking it up in the book and just asked me instead. I have this weird knack for memorizing that type of stuff. I’m not sure if it can be called a talent, but I think I picked the right field of study.

I know first hand how too much of a good thing can put on extra weight, but I also know how important fresh, whole grain bread can be to a healthy diet. Not only does it fuel the body, but it balances the brain. It is a comfort food for some and produces great feelings of satisfaction and contentment.

Cutting out shelf stable sandwich bread has probably been one of the easiest things for me to do. I read in a book somewhere (which I’m sure I’ll talk more about later) about all the preservatives and stabilizers that go into bread like that which keeps it fresh on the shelf for weeks. That got me thinking that I didn’t want that in my body.

In the past I could be found combing the bread aisle, looking for 100% whole grain that was also low in calorie. Now, while I believe whole grain is better, I still think freshly baked, either white or wheat, is better than anything packaged on the shelf.

This is one of those changes that I welcome. Giving up a sandwich loaf for one that came out of the oven a few hours ago is a treat for the senses.

I’ve played around with making my own bread at home, but have never been very successful. I hope to perfect this in the future, but for now I love the bakery on the corner.

Photo by kevinrosseel, morguefile.com

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