Too Much Information

You may have heard that New York City is requiring more than 2,000 chain restaurants to post the caloric content of foods. The regulation was supposed to take effect yesterday, but a judge has delayed the enforcement after the New York Restaurant Association protested. The only restaurants required to post calorie counts are chain restaurants with at least 15 outlets nationwide.

While the regulation has not been enforced, some chains have started posting anyway. New Yorkers were in for a surprise when stepping up to the counter at Starbucks and seeing a 480 calorie "calorie tag" next to their blueberry scone.

What do you think of restaurant chains being forced to post the calories for their foods? Do you want to see the calories or would you rather enjoy your meal without thinking about the caloric price tag?

In my line of work, I am happy to see more awareness around calories. While some people are shocked and choose not to order a food item based on calories, others simply ignore the numbers and order it anyway. For those people trying to either lose weight or prevent future weight gain, having calories posted makes it infinitely easier to keep track of what they are eating. You don't have to pay attention to the calorie tags if you don't want to. It is still all about choice.

Photo of blueberry scone courtesy of megan @ flickr

Labels: calories, restaurants, Tara Gidus

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Thank You Doc Gurley

Thank you to Doc Gurley for hosting Grand Rounds "Smack Down" this week and including my TV Turnoff Post. I have to say it is the most creatively themed Grand Rounds I have seen yet. He managed to make a story revolving around wrestling for all of our medical blog posts. Entertaining and informative. Check it out!

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Eat a Banana for a Boy

You know I will look for any excuse to post a picture of my beautiful boy, Basil (10 months tomorrow). So when I saw this story on how the diet of a mother may affect the gender of her baby, I perked up with interest.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers found a few interesting correlations between a mother's diet and whether she has a boy or girl. Those women who had boys had:

• High potassium intake. On average, they ate 300 mg more potassium than women having girls
• Bigger appetites. Women having boys ate 400 calories more per day than those with girls
• Breakfast cereal. Women who ate a bowl of cereal daily were 87% more likely to have a boy than women who had one bowl or less per week. Researchers do not necessarily think it is the cereal that did it, but rather just eating breakfast that made the difference.

How is this possible?
It is well known that the man's sperm determines the gender of the baby. However, the question is which sperm actually makes it to the egg that is the question. The researchers think that certain nutrients or eating habits make women's bodies "more hospitable to sperm carrying the male chromosome," one fertility specialist said.
How do I get a girl?
Since I have my boy, I keep telling my husband Stephen that I need a girl. So do I swear off potatoes, beans, and bananas and reduce my calorie intake and skip breakfast? Not for this bean queen. I am just going to have to hope and pray that my body is hospitable for those little girl sperm!

Photo of Basil Gidus in March, 2007 at 8 1/2 months old

Labels: fertility, gender differences, potassium, Tara Gidus

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Turn It Off

We are mid-week through "TV Turnoff Week," a week devoted to turning off the television and focusing on other activities instead of zoning out in sedentary fashion in front of the boob tube. The Center for Screen-Time Awareness started TV Turnoff Week, and their mission is to provide information so people can live healthier lives in functional families in vibrant communities by taking control of the electronic media in their lives, not allowing it to control them. Even though we are halfway through the week, you can still participate! Start tonight!

Interesting stats (courtesy of TV-Free America):

• 66% of Americans watch TV while eating dinner on a regular basis
• 70% of daycares use TV during a typical day
• 50% of children aged 6-17 have a TV in their bedroom
• Average American youth watches 1,500 hours per year of TV (they only spend 900 hours in school)
• An average child spends 1,680 minutes watching TV
• A parent spends 3.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children

Studies show some other interesting correlations:

• Girls who had a TV in their room ate few vegetables, spent less time exercising, drank more sugared drinks, and ate fewer meals with their families
• Boys who had a TV in their room spent less time reading books and doing homework, ate less fruit, had lower GPA's, and ate fewer meals with their families
• A study on kids with hypertension found that those with high blood pressure watched an hour more per day of TV than kids with normal blood pressure
• When researchers cut screen time in half, the kids developed a healthier body mass index and ate fewer calories
  

What to do when the TV is off:

• Go for a walk
• Call a friend
• Write a letter to a friend or relative (maybe Grandma doesn't have email)
• Take a nature hike
• Visit a botanical garden (I don't think it is a coincidence that Earth Day was also this week)
• Plan and cook a healthy dinner together as a family
• Meet some friends to play soccer, basketball, or your favorite sport
• Visit the library and start reading a good book
• Plant some flowers

Check out www.familytabletime.com for ideas on how to interact with your children at mealtime.

Photo courtesy of Aaronyx

Labels: children, overweight, Tara Gidus, television

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Do You Eat TOO Healthy?

Are you a health food junkie? Do you refuse to eat anything that isn't totally healthy? Do you shun sugar and crave carrots? Or does this describe someone you know?

One doctor thinks eating too healthy can actually cross the line and he has named the disorder, orthorexia. Translated, it means "fixation on righteous eating." People with orthorexia are at risk of a more serious eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia. But orthorexia itself is not an official disease or disorder and has no diagnostic criteria. Often orthorexics are not thin like anorexics, but they can be just a strict with their diet.
Where's the line?
Some people believe that following a vegan diet or being a raw foodist puts you into the orthorexia category. I disagree because I have known some pretty junk-food-swallowing vegans in my time. Where do you draw the line between wanting to eat healthy and becoming, well, obsessed with healthy eating?

I think it becomes a problem when healthy eating consumes you, and even defines you. If you spend numerous hours daily reading nutrition news (blogs included!), searching for recipes, shopping, cooking, and eating, you could have crossed the line. If you avoid social situations because you will be tempted or "forced" to eat food that is not pure and healthy, you may have a problem. If you try to control everything that you eat and "preach" the virtues of good diet to anyone who will listen, you are probably losing friends.

Balance
As a dietitian, I have to be very careful how much I "preach" to people around me. I learned that in my first job when I thought no one wanted to eat lunch with me for fear I would judge what they are eating. I pride myself with having balance in my diet. I love sweets and the occasional french fry, and I enjoy indulging occasionally....OK....maybe daily. But that is balance. I firmly stand by the 80/20 rule in not just nutrition, but life in general. All work and no play makes for a boring life. Eating perfectly all the time is also unbalanced and can be unhealthy. Remember my post on eating too much fiber? It is ironic, but eating too healthy can be unhealthy!

Get help
Orthorexia, like anorexia or bulimia, is a psychological problem. It is a sign of reaching for perfection. If you are someone you know is unbalanced in their thinking and eating, seek help from a mental health counselor to get to the root of the problem. Talk to a Registered Dietitian to learn about how to balance your diet to include all kinds of food.

Labels: healthy eating, orthorexia, Tara Gidus

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Taste-y Tidbits Part 2

I started talking in my last blog post, Taste-y Tidbits about what goes in to tasting food. I think this is a fascinating topic, especially when you think about how our tastes develop.

Would you believe that you start tasting food when you are still in the womb? The amniotic fluid of Mom carries the flavors of the foods she is eating. And guess what flavor we prefer? Sweet! Even before we are born, we prefer sweet flavors from our mommies. Salty flavors start to be accepted at five months, but bitter, sour, and savory tend to take longer to be accepted. Throughout childhood, sweet and salty are the most preferred tastes.

Experiencing a wide variety of foods early in childhood can lead to the child accepting those foods and other new foods later in life. Do not give up if your child refuses something the first or even fifth time. It often takes at least 10-12 exposures to a food before a child will accept it. Don't push too hard and make the experience unpleasant because they can carry those memories of being forced to eat certain foods into adulthood.

Kids also develop food preferences based on their cultural experiences. Some cultures combine savory and sweet and some cultures do not enjoy the tastes together. Genetics also influence our tastes. Some people are much more sensitive to certain tastes, especially bitter taste. Most people with hypersensitivity to bitter will not eat very many vegetables because the bitter taste makes it extremely unpleasant for them. Those who do not taste bitter as strongly accept vegetables readily, even having a preference for them.

Our social environment can also influence how we eat. Kids are influenced by their peers and will accept certain foods (even broccoli and spinach) if their friends in their play group say they like those foods.

Did you know?
Popeye helped to make spinach the third favorite food of American kids in the first half of the 20th century.

On another note....Breaking news!

Healthline has been nominated for the prestigious Webby Award in the category of "Health".

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences will choose Webby Award winners, but the People's Choice Webby lets you decide. It's easy:
* Simply log on to http://peoplesvoice.webbyawards.com/

* Register to vote (or log in if you are a returnee)

* After registration, click on the "Website" icon and find the
Living section, under which the Health category falls

* Vote for Healthline.

Thank you for your vote!

Photo courtesy of lancefisher

Labels: infant nutrition, Tara Gidus, taste

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Thank You Women's Health News

Thank you to Rachel of Women's Health News for posting my blog post on Vitamin D in Grand Rounds 4.30 this week. Grand Rounds is a compilation of medical blog postings. Check it out!

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Taste-y Tidbits

Have you ever had a cold and eating wasn't any fun because you couldn't taste your food? Why is that? Because our sense of smell is connected to how we taste foods. We breathe in as we put food into our mouths, and that is the start of tasting the food.

We generally have 5 flavors that we taste:

• Sweet
• Salty
• Sour
• Bitter
• Savory (also known as umami)

Try this little experiment. Take an orange and eat one section. Pay attention to the taste and aromas of the orange. Now plug your nose and take another section. Is your experience eating that orange section different? Now unplug your nose and close your eyes and eat another section and take a deep breath as you are doing it. Most people find that when they plug their nose, they are not able to smell and therefore taste the orange very well. However, when you breathe deeply and close your eyes, you are fully concentrating on the experience and all of the taste and textures going into that bite of food. You can do this experiment with any piece of food. Next time you have a nice rich piece of chocolate, close your eyes and enjoy every calorie!

In addition to the smell, we also taste food based on how it looks and how it feels. The visual aspect of food is highly important to many people. If a food doesn't look appetizing, it doesn't get eaten. Texture also plays a part. Many people won't eat shrimp or raisins or tofu because of the texture of these specific foods.

Tune in tomorrow for part 2 of taste when I will talk about how our taste evolves from the time we are in utero and how it influences how your kids eat.

Photo courtesy of Mike Burns

Labels: Tara Gidus, taste

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Pot Luck

Do you go to Potluck parties? I went to one last night and had a fabulous time! Some people hate pot luck's because they don't know who made what and what is in anything they are eating. I love the mystery and excitement of not knowing if I will love or hate what I am about to eat.

Mmmm....that looks good!
We eat food based on sight. If it looks good, we eat it! We also tend to eat food that is familiar. The adventure of eating pot luck is not knowing what is in each dish. I don't eat meat (except for fish), so I am always asking questions about what is in different dishes for the reason of not wanting to end up with a mouthful of pork. The trouble with pot luck is asking what is in dishes without offending people by asking too many questions. And half the time you don't know who brought which dish and you can't even ask what is in it.

One way to prevent confusion is to bring a tent card with the name of the dish and the main ingredients. This will help tremendously for those people with allergies or for the just plain picky eaters.

Variety
One of the problems with parties that many people have is that they overeat. Studies show that the more variety that is offered, the more people will eat. That is one reason why all you can eat buffets are so dangerous. Think about it...if you are at a party and the only dessert is apple pie and you don't love apple pie, you may skip dessert. But if there is apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and carrot cake, you are likely going to eat at least one of the above, if not sample a few of them. And we all know that homemade food tastes the best!

Bring your best
Whenever I am cooking for baking to bring a dish, I try to find either a unique new recipe or I make something that I know is darn good. I want people to tell me how good that salad or banana bread is that I brought and as me for the recipe.

Enjoy your next Potluck and bring your best dish to share with all of your friends.

Photo courtesy of jannamordan

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Philly Schools Cut Weight

I read this story about 5 Philadelphia elementary schools who made some positive nutrition changes in the Washington Post the other day. I was so impressed with the results that I thought I would write about it and help to spread the word.

These schools made simple changes:

• Replaced soda with fruit juice, water, and milk
  
• Handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices (and won bikes and jump ropes)
• Taught parents, staff, and kids about good nutrition
• Snacks had to meet limits for fat, salt, and sugar
• Parents substituted fruit salad for baked goods at a fundraiser
• Children urged to exercise at activity stations during recess
• Food labels were used in classrooms to help teach fractions (LOVE IT!)
  

Grace McGinley, one of the school nurses said, "We found when you give children healthy choices, they pick them."

To me, this statement says it all. I hear so often from parents that their kids will only eat junk food. But kids actually like fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains if they are offered to them at an early age. I am not suggesting that potato chips and cookies will never pass by the lips of a child. But we can teach them that those things are "treats" and not everyday foods. One 10-year old girl was quoted in the article saying potato chips were still her favorite snack, but she now gets the little bag. Small steps lead to big results.

These schools were actually part of a research study, and the results are published in the April issue of Pediatrics. They found that after two years of following these kids with the changes in the schools, the overall number of overweight kids dropped 10% and at "control" schools that had no intervention the number rose a quarter to 20%. The study tested a program called The Food Trust, a local nonprofit which works to improve access to affordable, healthy food.

BRAVO to the researchers and these five Philadelphia schools. We have a long way to go in this fight against childhood obesity in America, but these results are extremely promising!


For more information on The Food Trust, visit www.thefoodtrust.org

Photo courtesy of The Food Trust

Labels: childhood obesity, children, schools, Tara Gidus

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More D-Tails on Vitamin D

I have had a lot of interest and more questions about the Vitamin D post from yesterday. Hopefully the following info will answer your questions.

You can find out if you are deficient in Vitamin D by getting a blood test. Your doctor can order a 25(OH) D blood test. If your level is <15 ng/ml, you are deficient. If it is greater than 15 but less than 32, you are insufficient. Anything greater than 32 mg/ml is fine (low end of normal range).

Low Vitamin D levels are common in pregnant and breastfeeding women. One study suggests that breastfeeding women get 4,000 IU of Vitamin D daily. A supplement of 200IU of Vitamin D is recommended for breast fed babies.

Vitamin D2 is 1/3 less potent than D3, so look for D3 in supplement form or fortified into foods. It is not vegetarian (comes from fish sources).

There is some very interesting research on Vitamin D and Autism.

Sun facts:
It takes 6 times as long for dark skin to make the same amount of Vitamin D.
African Americans are much more likely to be Vitamin D deficient than Caucasians.
Older skin only has 1/4 the conversion capacity to make Vitamin D than it did when it was younger (that is why the DV for Vitamin D is higher for older people)
Fair skin can make about 10,000 IU of Vitamin D in 15-20 minutes of exposure.
A little bit of sun exposure is healthy, but put sunscreen on after 10-20 minutes, depending on how fair your skin is.

Drugs:
Some medications decrease Vitamin D levels:
Calcium Channel blockers, Cholestyramine, Phenytoin, Tagamet, Steroids, Heparin, Warfarin
These medications increase Vitamin D levels:
Isoniazid, thiazide diuretics, estrogen


For more information:
www.VitaminDcouncil.com
www.UVAdvantage.org

Labels: Tara Gidus, Vitamin D

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"D" Deficient?

Vitamin D is the new "hot" vitamin that everyone is talking about. We have known for a long time that Vitamin D is necessary to build bones because it helps the body absorb calcium. A deficiency of Vitamin D is known as rickets, or softening of the bone. New research shows that Vitamin D may have a very important role in the prevention of numerous diseases such as:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Osteoarthritis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Depression
• Epilepsy
• Migraine headaches
• Cancer
• Autoimmune diseases
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Researchers are so convinced of the positive effects of Vitamin D and the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency that they are urging the Food and Nutrition Board to raise the recommended intakes as well as the upper tolerable limit. Right now the recommended intake is set at 200 IU for everyone up to age 50, 400 IU for age 51-70, and 600 IU for those 70 and older. The safe upper limit is set at 2,000 IU, but many experts think this is actually the level many people should be getting.

Sunshine Vitamin
Vitamin D is known as the "Sunshine Vitamin" because our bodies actually make Vitamin D when our skin in exposed to direct sunlight. Since I live in Florida (aka the "Sunshine State") I brushed off all of the Vitamin D reports thinking I was getting enough. However, even though I live in Florida, I still do not spend at least 10-20 minutes per day getting direct sun exposure on large areas of skin. Even though I am getting more Vitamin D from the sun because I am closer to the equator than my friends in Wisconsin, I may still not be getting enough. The fact that we are well informed about the need for sunscreen doesn't help our Vitamin D exposure, either. If the sun rays can't get through to the skin (sunscreen is blocking them), Vitamin D is not getting produced.

Food sources
Cod Liver Oil is actually the best source, but I don't recommend taking it. Salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines have about 200-350 IU per 3 oz serving. Milk is fortified and one cup has 100 IU. Margarine is also fortified with 1 T. providing 60 IU. Even though milk is fortified, cheese and other dairy products are generally not fortified. Some cereals are fortified, check labels to see how much of the Daily Value they provide. As you can see, we are lucky to get 200 IU in our diet, let alone the 1,000 IU many health professionals recommend.

Supplements
If you do not think you are getting enough sun exposure or Vitamin D in your food, you may want to consider a supplement. The best supplement will be in the form of D3. Many researchers recommend taking 1,000 IU of D3 for everyone.

For more information, check out the Office of Dietary Supplement's info on Vitamin D

Labels: Tara Gidus, Vitamin D

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Kids Love Flavored Milk

Milk does a body good. I grew up in Wisconsin and milk was a staple at every meal. I still love milk, but I confess I don't drink as much as I should. I get my calcium and protein from cheese and yogurt in addition to milk to get my three servings of dairy per day.

An interesting study came out in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association on the benefits of milk drinking for children. The researchers found that children who drink milk consume more nutrients (have a healthier diet overall) and have a lower or comparable Body Mass Index (BMI) than children who don't drink milk. It did not matter whether the kids were drinking plain or flavored milk.

Milk is naturally nutrient rich. It has protein, which provides satiety for kids and adults alike. It also provides calcium, phosphorus, Vitamin D, potassium, riboflavin, Vitamin B12, and more.

Kids tend to like flavored milk better, who wouldn't? If you add sugar to something it always tastes better! This study found that the kids who drank flavored milk did not have a higher intake of sugar for the day than kids who drank the plain milk. That leads me to believe that the flavored milk drinkers were using their flavored milk as their sweet snack/sugary food and the plain milk drinkers were getting sugar from other places.

I am all for kids drinking milk. If they need it to be flavored to drink it, then flavor it. Maybe you have a compromise in your house that it is not always flavored, though. We used to get chocolate milk occasionally growing up, but it was definitely a treat. The other option is to use these new milk straws. They have only 15 calories and make the milk taste just as sweet at the other flavored milks (but you save a lot of sugar calories). See my blog post on milk straws for more information on these lower calorie, lower sugar alternatives for flavored milk.

For more information, visit www.3aday.org
Also check out www.nationaldairycouncil.org
Sipahh straws: www.sipahh.com

Photo courtesy of National Dairy Council

Labels: children, dairy, milk, Tara Gidus

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Too Much Fiber? Dietary Fiber and Your Nutrition

Have you ever thought about whether you are eating too MUCH fiber? Most people probably don't have this problem, but it could be a problem if you are eating some of the very tasty new high fiber products on the market. One of my clients asked me this the other day, following a discussion we had on how yummy the new Fiber One granola bars are. These Fiber One bars a tasty 140 calories with 9 grams of fiber. I am also a fan of the new AllBran bars, which have 10 grams of fiber in each 120 calorie bar. We also have to mention my other favorite bar, the Gnu Foods Flavor and Fiber bar which has 140 calories and 12 grams of fiber. They are so tasty I have to remind myself not to eat more than one per day. If you have one of these bars for a few of your snacks every day, plus some high fiber cereal for breakfast, beans for lunch, and all of your other whole grains and fruits and vegetables, you are well on your way to 40-50 grams of fiber per day!

The mention of cereal brings me to another new treat I just discovered: Fiber One Carmel Delight cereal, which is quite tasty and has 9 grams of fiber per 1 cup serving. I often eat AllBran or Fiber One or some other high fiber cereal like Kashi, Shredded Wheat or oatmeal for breakfast. And we all know my love for beans. Allbran has even come out with Fiber Drink Mix, which has 10 grams in each powdered packet that you can add to water.

How much fiber should I get?
It is estimated that most Americans only get 12-15 grams of fiber per day. This is not nearly enough.
Adequate Intake Recommendations:
Women <50>50 years: 21 grams
Men <50>50 years: 30 grams

How much is too much?
As with anything, moderation is always best, even with 'healthy' foods like high fiber foods. I have seen clients before who are actually eating so much fiber that they are constipated! If you don't drink enough water along with your fiber, fiber can actually cause a blockage, and sometimes it can be very serious and require surgery. This is rare, but if you are a big fiber eater, make sure you are also an avid water drinker.

Effects of too much fiber:
Gas, diarrhea, general abdominal discomfort, constipation, possible blockages, or the need for urgent movements. Some research points to the inability to absorb certain nutrients, but other research refutes that.

I am not exactly sure how much is too much, but I am inclined to say anything above 50 grams per day may be a bit much. Try to stay less than 45 grams and you should be clear of any of these side effects.

Happy chewing!

Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com

Labels: fiber, Tara Gidus

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