Welcome to Food Science 101

Today I’m in the mood to talk food! In college, food science was one of my favorite subjects (who am I kidding, all of my classes were favorites – I love this stuff!). Anyway, food science involves learning about the properties of food, like why gelatin won’t congeal if you make it with fresh pineapple, how altitude affects cooking, the “smoke point” of various oils, and how grapes become wine. It’s the kind of stuff Alton Brown loves to talk about (and he’s great at explaining it). So, this brings me to a question I was recently asked by a very nice gentleman sitting next to me on a flight home from New York City, “What the heck is soy milk anyway?”

I actually get this question a lot because when you hear the word milk you automatically think of cows. But technically, you can “milk” anything by pressing it (maybe we should start calling orange juice orange milk!). In China and Japan people regularly make their own soy milk by soaking soy beans, grinding them, then squeezing out the liquid. Sound delicious? Actually, it’s not too bad, kind of a nutty taste. Other non dairy milks you might see in your market these days include rice milk, almond milk, and even oat milk. Their toasty flavors work well in lots of recipes including coffee drinks, mashed potatoes, and yummy desserts. So, there you have it. That’s all for today - class dismissed!

P.S. Fresh pineapple has enzymes called bromelain that break down the protein structure in gelatin; at sea level water boils at 212 degrees versus 198 degrees at 7,500 feet; smoke point is the temperature at which heated oil starts to smoke (woks need oils with high smoke points like sesame); and as for wine, here’s a link to a great explanation:
http://www.chefs.com/Features/Standard/432/Feature.aspx?SectionID=4

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How Many Servings are in Your Portion?

Did you know that a serving and a portion aren’t the same thing? That probably sounds weird because sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. But technically, a serving is one unit out of however many you need per day from a particular food group. A portion is the amount you actually eat at a meal or snack.

For example, a serving of bread is one slice. If you make a sandwich with two slices, your portion is equal to two servings. So, the good news is a serving isn’t intended to be the maximum amount of a food you should eat at one time (I mean, really, who’s gonna make a sandwich with 1 slice of bread?), but sometimes 1 serving is a pretty reasonable portion (like 1 cup of yogurt).

Now, the really good news is that by knowing how many total servings you should be eating per day, you can select perfect portion sizes. Here’s an example: Jane needs 6 servings of grains each day. So, a great way to break them up would be to eat 2 servings at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well, pasta counts as a grain and 1 serving equals a half cup cooked (the size of half a tennis ball or one of those mini fruit cups).

So, when Jane goes to her favorite Italian restaurant, she walks in knowing that 1) a serving of pasta is half a cup, and 2) she has 2 servings to spend. So she eats about a cup of pasta (the size of a tennis ball), skips the breadsticks, and requests a doggie bag for the rest. Pretty savvy, huh? Of course, the big question is, how the heck do you know how many servings you need per day and what a serving looks like? Well, just log onto www.mypyramid.gov. Enter your age, sex, and activity level, and you’ll get a PDF of your own personal pyramid complete with the number of servings you need from each food group (to support your ideal weight) and serving size lessons. So, there you go! Happy serving, uh, I mean surfing.

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My, Aren’t You a Tall Drink of Water!

In my last post I mentioned drinking water with meals. I must admit, I’m a recent convert to the water with meals club. In fact, until a few months ago, I rarely drank water. Unsweet tea was my beverage of choice. It’s loaded with disease fighting phytochemicals, but unfortunately, it was staining my teeth and I wanted to reduce my caffeine intake. So, I decided to give the old switcheroo a try.

My problem was, I really disliked the taste of plain water (I would actually make a face after taking a sip – you know the one, the “eck” face). So I started out by adding natural flavors like lemon or lime wedges, making ice cubes out of 100% fruit juice (they’re so pretty and they add flavor as they melt), or adding just a splash of 100% juice. I got into the habit of drinking about 16 ounces with each meal and snack, and another 16 or more before, during and after my work out.

Over time, I stopped adding flavor, and now I love the taste of my plain, refreshing water (wow, I never thought I’d say that!). I prefer it to be closer to room temperature, but studies show that most people favor chilled H2O (about 40 degrees or fridge temp) and will drink more if it’s cool.

So, if you’re trying to become an agua enthusiast too, consider flavor and temperature, formulate a plan (like only ordering water when dining out, carrying a water bottle with you at all times, etc.), start with a schedule, and see how it goes. If you tend to forget to drink at all, set your cell phone or watch alarm to go off every few hours as a reminder, and take it just one day at a time. I still love my iced tea, but I finally fell for water, and so far, we’re getting along famously.

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Pay Less at the Pump and Get More Plump?

I heard a report on NPR over the weekend that really got me thinking (have you seen the movie Sliding Doors? If not, great rental!). Apparently, due to higher gas prices, more consumers are cutting corners by either brown bagging it, or switching from mid-priced sit down restaurants to cheaper fast food joints. So, here’s what I’m thinking; this could be a nutritional godsend, or an absolute catastrophe. It all depends on what’s in the bag (either brown or drive through). Changing up your eating habits is one of those fork in the road moments; which path will you take – the road paved with fruits, veggies and whole grains, or lined with fried meat, French fries and cheese? Take a look at these two comparisons:

BROWN BAG:
Path #1: Ham and cheese on white bread, snack pack of chips, 4 sandwich cookies, 1 can of soda. 910 calories (most of us need 2,000 per day or less), high sodium, sugar and fat, low fiber, vitamins and minerals (in other words, not so hot nutritionally).

Path #2: Turkey and reduced fat cheese on 100% whole wheat bread, half cup baby carrots with 2 Tbsp roasted red pepper hummus for dipping, 1 medium peach, 16 oz water, 2 dark chocolate pieces. 545 calories (a more reasonable chunk of our daily needs), low sodium, sugar and fat, high fiber and loaded with nutrients (in other words, this lunch kicks booty nutritionally speaking). By the way, saving 365 calories five days a week results in cutting 94,900 calories per year – enough to prevent a 27 pound weight gain!

DRIVE THROUGH:
Path #1: Crispy chicken sandwich, large fries, large soda. 1390 calories…you know the rest.
Path #2: Grilled chicken breast wrap, medium fruit cup, water. 460 calories, yada, yada, yada.

If you really think about it, higher gas prices could just trigger a domino effect that either improves the quality of our diets and lowers nationwide rates of disease, or junks up our diets and keeps heart surgeons and pharmacies really, really busy. So, if gas prices are driving a change in your eating routine (no pun intended), choose the road less traveled and fill your bag with healthy fare; down the road, it could just seal your weight and your fate.

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Beer Belly Blues?

Personally, the only beer I like is of the girly variety (raspberry lambic) but I do enjoy the vino. Actually, my newest favorite is a very dry local wine made from blueberries fermented on the skins – yum! The new Dietary Guidelines recommend exercising “moderation” if you choose to drink. What does that mean? In short, a maximum of one drink per day for women or two for men (nope, you can’t save up and spend ‘em all on the weekend). One drink equals:

5 ounces of wine (a little less than a 6 ounce yogurt container)
12 ounces of beer (standard bottle or can) or
1.5 oz of distilled spirits (shot glass)

So, can drinking in moderation give you a beer belly? Maybe. Alcohol is an appetite stimulant, and it lowers your inhibitions; a dangerous combo when a bowl of pretzels or chips is within reach (did you know that if consumed on an empty stomach alcohol hits your brain within 5 minutes?). So, if you’re going to drink, foolproof your surroundings.

At parties, stand and mingle far from the buffet table, or bring a low cal veggie tray as a “safety” dish. If you’re going out with friends, chose restaurants that offer plenty of light menu selections (a get-together at a Tex Mex place, pizza parlor, or steak house could be a heck of a lot more challenging than a sushi restaurant). And finally, rethink your mixers. Adding a half cup of regular cola, fruit juice, sour or daiquiri mix, or cream to a shot can at least double the calories. Light beer, wine, and spirits mixed with tonic are the lowest calorie options.

For more info, check out this link:
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter9.htm
P.S. Be safe! Don’t forget your designated driver!

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And Your Waistline Ran Away With the Spoon…

A study released on Thursday revealed that the size of the plates, bowls, glasses and even (yikes!) spoons we use influences how much we eat. This wasn’t the first study of its kind and over and over the conclusion seems to be that in general, we humans tend to adjust our portions to the size of the container (much like our tendency to fill up a bigger house with more stuff I suppose). In an unusual twist, this particular study used experts from a university’s nutrition department and even they took the bait (well, they’re human too!).

So, should you trade in your dishes and silverware for Hobbit sized versions? Well, if you’re trying to lose weight, it might not be a bad idea to invest in one downsized place setting. If you’re feeling especially sassy, rediscover your youth and pick up a kids’ set decorated with your favorite character or sports team (I saw a Dodgers set on eBay complete with plate, bowl, cup, spoon and fork!). Or, if that’s a bit over the top, spend a Saturday browsing through estate sales and antique shops – back in the day dishes (much like people) were a bit more dainty.

For more info on the study, check out this link: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_37467.html

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How to Take Your Lumps

My last post dealt with body fat, a perfect seguay into the nasty world of …(drum roll please)… cellulite! Ugh! Ok, here’s the deal - cellulite is genetic. Believe it or not, even ultra thin models and super fit women can have it (did I just make your day?), and no diet can completely eradicate it.

If you don’t have cellulite, count your lucky stars! If you do, there are a few diet and exercise strategies that just might help. #1 – shrink your fat cells. Cellulite happens because fat cells are round, so they will always appear somewhat “bumpy,” even when they’re small (think of the surface atop a layer of loose grapes on a flat plate). As the cells grow in size, the width of the “valley” between the bumps expands (now imagine they’re apricots vs. grapes). Some people are lucky enough to have a thick layer of connective tissue covering the fat which masks the bumps, while others have a wimpy layer which reveals them (this explains why even heavier men rarely have “cottage cheese” legs when they sit – thicker tissue, those lucky blokes).

Alas, you’re stuck with the type of connective tissue you were born with but shrinking your fat cells may lessen the severity of cellulite. #2 - take in adequate fluids throughout the day. Some people believe that plump, well-hydrated skin can aid in camouflaging the appearance of cellulite (or it could be that dehydrated skin worsens it). In either case, aiming for six to eight 8-ounce cups of water each day isn’t a bad idea. And if all else fails, avoid mirrors and have all of your photos airbrushed – just kidding!!! Learn to love your body despite its lumps and bumps. After all, life is too short to obsess about cellulite.

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Where For Art Thou Adipose?

I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. And while I visit the beach less often than I’d like, I would say that I see my fair share of bathing suit clad residents and tourists all year round. And as we all know, bodies come in lots of shapes and sizes. For example, you may see a man with very thin arms and legs and not much of a tushy carrying a large belly (apple shaped); or a woman with a tiny waist, and lean upper body with full hips, thighs and legs (pear shaped). And some people carry excess weight fairly evenly from head to toe (I guess that would be pineapple shaped?).

Where we store fat is determined by where our fat cells are located, and that’s genetic (but don’t blame your mom, dad, or grandparents – they inherited their shape too!). Fat (a.k.a. adipose) cells are like little storage areas that collect the excess calories we don’t burn off. So if most of your “storage areas” are located in your waist, that’s where you’ll “expand” the most so-to-speak. And unfortunately, it’s not possible to spot reduce.

In other words, completing hundreds of crunches won’t burn belly fat, repeated leg lifts won’t melt saddlebags, and twists won’t whittle away love handles. That’s because muscle mass and body fat are two separate and distinct types of tissue. An exercise that makes a particular muscle group quiver and burn doesn’t actually affect the layer of fat over that muscle. The same is true of nutrition. There is no food, combination, diet, or style of eating that will cause the gain or loss of fat in a particular part of the body.

But, the good news is, losing weight in a healthy way (more on this in many more posts) can help you shrink your fat cells (thus slimming that "problem area"). The bad news is you’re stuck with the basic shape you have (wouldn’t it be great if we could rearrange those little adipose cells to our liking?). But you know what they say, “Variety is the spice of life!” So, embrace your body, play up your assets, and choose a wardrobe that best suits your shape (on the beach or inland).

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Baby Bump or Beans?

Ok, confession time. Each week when I go to my local supermarket, the first thing I do is read the celebrity magazines. It kills me to admit it, but I love seeing who’s wearing what (did you know ankle boots are really in right now?), who cut or dyed their hair, if baby Suri has been spotted yet, etc. But one magazine trend that’s been driving me absolutely bonkers is the baby bump watch. Practically every week there is a photo of a female celeb with a giant arrow pointed at her tummy and the caption, “Baby on the way?” I mean, come on! Can’t a girl eat a burrito without the world thinking she’s pregnant?

Having a perfectly flat stomach all the time is not normal. Food and liquids take up space inside the stomach and intestines and that means expansion (think of an empty balloon vs. an inflated one). And some foods are naturally gas producing, leading to extra bloating (beans, broccoli, soy, nuts, and dairy if you’re lactose intolerant). A few other dietary habits can also lead to gas build-up and belly bloat: smoking, chewing gum, drinking through a straw, carbonated beverages, eating fast (otherwise known as scarfing your food), and skipping meals. They all cause you to take in excess air which can get trapped in your system (ugh - not fun!).

So, whether you’ve got paparazzi stalking you or not, some tummy expansion after eating is inevitable. That said, there are a few things you can do to beat bloat: 1) avoid the above culprits, 2) eat condensed versions of healthy foods such as cooked vegetables versus raw, 3) eat smaller portions throughout the day, and 4) sip water all day long instead of guzzling. Or, you can just wear baggier clothes (thank goodness empire waists are still in ladies)!

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Moderation Isn't a 4 Letter Word

Ok, here's my $0.02 about dieting – it's for the birds! The other day I was reading a magazine in the checkout line. The article was about how popular actresses stay slim and one responded, "I stop dieting; it always made me binge." I nearly shouted out, "You go girl!" For me, not spouting off while reading diet articles is about as tough as a football fan not yelling at the TV when the ref makes a bad call. I get all fired up when I read that a newly svelte celeb ate only grilled chicken, egg whites, and vegetables to lose weight. Because while I won’t deny that a strict, repetitive diet will cause weight loss, the big question is, "what else will it cause?"

In my experience as both a registered dietitian and human being, the answers are: cravings, mood swings, fatigue, cravings, relationship and social problems (more on this in another post), nutrient imbalances, irritability, (did I mention cravings) and eventually, weight re-gain. I mean, who can go through the rest of their life never eating their favorite foods (and if you can't keep doing it, it stops working)? And let's face it, for most of us, the favorites list includes things like bread, chocolate, cheese, and ice cream – not exactly "diet" foods. Now, if a high calorie, low nutrient food isn't a "can't live without" food, I’m all for giving it up. But when your no-no list includes foods you know in your heart you can't (or don't want to) give up forever, you're bound to rebound. And losing weight doesn't have to be about deprivation. By making realistic changes you can stick to, you can lose weight and keep it off without feeling sentenced to diet prison.

In my previous post, I mentioned that my hubby has shed 50+ pounds since we met, and he's kept if off for over 3 years now. And guess what? He didn't diet or work out for hours a day. He just used good old fashioned moderation (i.e. 2 tacos vs. 5, a small hot fudge sundae vs. large, etc.). So my motto is: moderation makes sense. Now that's something you can sink your teeth into – pun fully intended!

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