Shake the Salt Habit

Do you love salty snacks but worry about getting too much sodium? Have you noticed that many of your favorite snacks are coming out in a lower sodium version?

The American diet as a whole is getting higher and higher in sodium, but some food manufacturers are offering a solution for lower sodium snacks.

Frito Lay has introduced a new line called "Pinch of Salt." Their Ruffles Potato Chips, Lay's Potato Chips, Fritos Corn Chips, and Tostitos Tortilla Chips are all just 75 mg of sodium per one ounce serving. I have tried the Pinch of Salt Fritos and Tostitos and both are fabulous. You would never know the difference if you did a blind taste test.

Orville Redenbacher has reduced the sodium in all of the Smart Pop varieties....I bet you didn't even notice! While Frito Lay is advertising that they are lower in sodium (and still have the higher sodium version available), Orville just cut the salt in the whole line. I LOVE Orville Smart Pop and now that it is lower in sodium...even better! I also love the fact that it comes in 100 calorie bags!

Kudos to Frito Lay and to Orville for offering reduced sodium snacks that taste great!

If you want more information on healthy snacking, check out this website: www.licensetosnack.com

Labels: salt, snacking, sodium, Tara Gidus

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McDonald's Diet

Did you hear about the guy who has lost 85 pounds by eating nothing but McDonald's for 6 months? His name is Chris Coleson and he is a 42 year old man from Virginia. He started out at 278 pounds and got down to 199 pounds in 6 months by eating two meals every day at McDonald's. He reportedly doesn't eat breakfast or snacks, so those two meals were the only food he ate. He had grilled chicken salads, wraps, apples without the caramel, and occasional hamburgers. He did not have french fries, Big Macs, fried chicken, or shakes. I saw him being interviewed the other day on The Today Show, and he said he just decided to do this on his own and McDonald's corporate had nothing to do with it.

Jared made losing weight by eating fast food (Subway) popular many years ago, but how healthy is it? I think it depends on what you choose, of course. You can get salads, lean meats (grilled chicken, turkey breast, etc.), sliced tomatoes on sandwiches, and sides of fruit at many fast food/sub places. But it is still not enough of the foods we want to fill our bodies with. Where are the whole grains? While some do offer whole grain breads, many do not. All too often sauces and mayo are added to sandwiches and the vegetables they do offer are covered in dressing, mayo, or deep fried. And the fruit is paired with high sugar dippers.

I applaud the fast food giants for offering healthier options. For those people eating at fast food restaurants occasionally, they can find a decent meal. However, if you are eating out often, you are going to be hard pressed to get at least 3 servings of whole grains, 9 servings of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of low fat dairy, and lean meats. That is without getting extremely burned out on grilled chicken salads and apple slices.

Bottom line
You can find some healthy choices at fast food restaurants, but don't try to eat fast food every day or twice a day. Pack a lunch or cook at home to get better nutritional quality.

Labels: fast food, McDonald's Diet, Tara Gidus

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Skyrocketing Food Prices

If you think food prices are out of control, you are right! And watch out...it is probably going to get worse before it gets better. The rise in food prices is the highest rise in 28 years!

Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that this year's increase in the price of cereals, baked goods, sweets and poultry will be higher than it expected a month ago because of sharply accelerating costs for grain and fuel.

USDA predicts that the price of cereals and baked goods will rise 9 to 10 percent in 2008 -- the greatest increase since 1980. Retailers are passing higher food prices to consumers as “global demand boosts U.S. exports, production is disrupted by harsh weather and more crops are used to make fuel,” according to USDA.

The food price inflation estimate -- up from the 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent given in May -- doesn't reflect flood damage in the Midwest where it is estimated that 4 million acres of cropland have been damaged. Corn prices have surged more than 20 percent in the last two weeks, approaching an unprecedented $8 a bushel midweek, as massive flooding engulfed corn and soybean fields in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Floodwaters also disrupt shipping on the Mississippi River, the most significant means for transporting grain in the United States.

What are you doing about the rising cost of food?

Click here for tips on how to spend wisely at the grocery store.

Labels: food costs, Tara Gidus

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More Mindless Eating

Did you know that we make 250 food decisions every day? All of that decision making requires a lot of self discipline and self control to choose the right foods and to control your portion and push away.

Did you know that we eat an average of 92% of what we serve ourselves? So if you serve yourself oversized portions, is it any surprise that you overeat?

The mindless decisions we make daily about food are what lead to mindless eating. These mindless decisions can easily add up to 250-300 calories every day, leading to unwanted weight gain.

More tips on preventing mindless eating:

1. Remove the candy jar or dish. When the candy jar is within arm's reach on your desk, you are much more likely to reach for it. Keep sweet treats in a cabinet walking distance away.
2. Make your own portion packs. The 100 calorie snack packs are really popular, but they are also expensive and create a lot of landfill waste. You can create your own by dividing a box of cookies or crackers into individual portions and reusing a snack sized baggie.
3. Reduce variety. Studies show that people eat less when there is less variety offered. If you are given a bowl of all blue M&Ms and a bowl of mixed color M&Ms, will you eat the same number? Most people will eat more of the colored than when just one color is offered.

Try the National Mindless Eating Challenge!

Labels: mindless eating, Tara Gidus

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Mindless Eating

How often do you eat in the car? In front of the TV? Have you ever eaten a bag of chips or started a pint of ice cream, only to realize that you consumed the whole container?

"Mindless Eating" is the name for eating when you are not completely aware of the portion that you are eating. Dr. Brian Wansink at Cornell University has written the book called Mindless Eating and has a website to go with it, too.

I found two of the studies he did fascinating. In one study, he had people come in to eat soup. What the people didn't know was that some of the soup bowls were "bottomless" because they had a tube that slowly refilled the bowl as they ate. Other people had regular bowls of soup. Not only did people with the bottomless bowl eat more, but they ate 73% more soup than people with normal bowls of soup. AND...the bottomless bowl eaters didn't think they ate more. Lesson learned: We cannot rely just on our stomach to tell us when we are full...we also have to look at how much food we are eating.

Another study gave people popcorn when they came into a movie theater. Some were given a medium bucket and some were given an extra large bucket. Another difference was that some were given fresh popcorn and some were given 5 day old popcorn. Results: People at 45% more fresh popcorn from the extra large containers than the medium ones. Even when the popcorn was stale, they ate 34% more out of the extra large than the medium ones. Lesson learned: When we are given a larger container, we eat more....even if it doesn't even taste very good!

What can we do to eat more mindfully?

• Eat from smaller plates
• Take smaller portions (and go back for seconds if you still need them later)
• Drink from tall narrow glasses instead of short and wide glasses (you will pour less)
• "Clean your plate" is out and "Leave a few bites behind" is in
• Be aware of when you are satisfied vs full or overfull
  

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Thank You For Grand Rounds

Thank you to Marianas Eye for including my post, Turn Up the Heat, in Grand Rounds this week. Grand Rounds is a compilation of medical blog posts and is done each week. Marianas Eye is a blog about what it is like being an eye surgeon on an island in the South Pacific and is written by Dr. David Khorram.

He has also authored the book pictured above, World Peace, a Blind Wife, and Gecko Tails. Buy it now on Amazon.

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Raw Milk

I was reading a story in the paper today about raw milk and how the FDA is cracking down on the sale of raw milk to consumers. Currently 21 states prohibit the sale of raw milk for human consumption, and the FDA does not allow cross-border sales.

What makes it "raw"?
Raw milk is very simply unpasteurized milk. It does not mean it is organic (although it could be either organic or conventional), but simply not pasteurized. Proponents of raw milk think pasteurization strengthens the immune system and helps prevent digestive problems. They also think that pasteurization kills healthy proteins and enzymes. Raw milk proponents claim it can even treat or cure certain diseases.

Benefits of Pasteurization
French doctor and scientist Louis Pasteur invented the process of pasteurization more than a century ago. Pasteurization destroys harmful bacteria (e.coli, salmonella, listeria, etc.) that may be in the milk but does not destroy any proteins or enzymes that are healthy for us. By destroying the harmful bacteria, it extends the shelf life of the milk.

The National Dairy Council reports that less than 1% of outbreaks of foodborne illness in the United States results from dairy products. The outbreaks that are a result of dairy products are from raw milk and raw milk products. Because of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and other safety systems, the American milk and dairy products are among the safest and most highly regulated foods in the world.

Pasteurization 101
Pasteurization involves heating raw milk to a minimum temp of 145 degrees for 30 minutes or to 161 degrees or more for 15 seconds, followed by rapid cooling.

Bottom Line
Since there is not known difference in the nutritional status of raw vs pasteurized milk, and there is definite risk to drinking raw milk, I recommend sticking with the pasteurized.

Labels: dairy, milk, pasteurization, Tara Gidus

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Mentos-Diet Coke Reaction

Have you heard about this experiment that some people have done with Mentos and Diet Coke? If you put a Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke, it causes a geyser type reaction, causing the Diet Coke to shoot up with a powerful force. I have heard people talk about this and claim that it proves that Diet Coke is bad for you. I don't see how it proves that anything is bad for you, but simply that a reaction happens.

Some students at Appalachian State University actually studied why the reaction happens. They just published their results in the June 2008 issue of the American Journal of Physics. Here is what they found:

"In an opened container of soda, carbon dioxide gas bubbles out over the course of minutes or hours until the concentration of carbon dioxide left in the soda is proportional to the carbon dioxide in the surrounding air. This de-fizzing reaction is slow because the surface tension of the liquid is very high, which keeps the gas bubbles trapped.

But when a Mentos is dropped in the beverage, it breaks the surface tension and as it falls the candy’s surfactant coating further reduces the surface tension of the liquid. The candy’s rough surface also provides growth sites for the gas, making it easier for carbonation to escape as a foam geyser.

The geyser also occurs when sand, salt or lifesavers were added to the Diet Coke, but the mass lost and volume traveled is much less spectacular."

I will be able to sleep better tonight now knowing why this reaction happens, how about you? If you do decide to try this experiment at home, use caution when you drop it in and run for cover. The liquid can explode nearly 30 feet!

Photo courtesy of oatmeal2000

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Tainted Tomatoes

By now you have no doubt heard about the salmonella outbreak link to certain tomatoes. The FDA is recommending that everyone avoid eating raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes and products containing these tomatoes. Grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and tomatoes on the vine are fine for consumption. Cooked tomatoes are also fine, no matter what the type. If you cook your tomatoes to 145 degrees, that will kill salmonella.

You cannot see, taste, or smell salmonella or any other bacteria, so washing all produce well is always a good idea. In fact follow these guidelines for all produce:

1. Always wash your hands with warm, soapy water before preparing or eating food. Wash your hands anytime you have gone to the bathroom, cleaned up a pet's waste, or changed a baby's diaper.
2. Wash all surfaces that the produce will touch. If you put unwashed produce on the counter, wash it afterwards.
3. Wash produce under cold running water. Even if you are going to peel it, wash it before you peel it. Rub the produce well with your hands. The action of rubbing it is what will remove the bacteria and the water will wash it down the sink.
4. Do not use the same cutting board for meats and produce. Wash all cutting boards well before and after use.

What is salmonella?
It is a bacteria that is found in feces in animals and humans. Many people think they have the "stomach flu" but it really is foodborne illness. The symptoms include fever, diarrhea, fatigue, and cramping. People who have impaired immune systems, young children, and elderly are at higher risk of getting foodborne illnesses.

Eat Them
Tomatoes are a nutritious food, full of important nutrients like Vitamin C, beta carotene, potassium, fiber, and lycopene. Don't avoid them just because of this outbreak. Choose the tomato varieties on the safe list, or simply used canned, jarred, or cooked tomatoes.

Image courtesy of JJ's Vegetable Garden

Labels: food poisoning, salmonella, Tara Gidus, tomatoes

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Turn Up The Heat

I wrote a post a few days ago about metabolism and what dictates your own personal metabolism. Metabolism is basically how many calories you are burning, so the higher the number, the more you can eat! That being said...I am sure you want to know how you can increase your metabolism so you can eat more and not gain weight, right?

Top 10 ways to increase metabolism:

1. Move more! Nothing ruins your metabolism more than being sedentary. Get more movement during the day (stairs, regular walks)
2. Do some aerobic exercise daily. Yes, that means every single day you should do some form of exercise for at least 30 minutes.
3. Strengthen your muscles 2-3 times per week. You can increase your burn by as much as 7% by strength training. The bigger the engine, the more fuel it can burn (remember that muscle burns calories even at rest). For every pound of lean muscle you add, you can burn an additional 30-50 calories each day. That adds up, especially over a lifetime.
4. Eat breakfast every day. You have heard it before...it is the most important meal to kick start your metabolism from the overnight fast. Eat within one hour of getting up in the morning.
5. Eat every 3-4 hours. If you skip meals or go too long between meals, you will just teach your body to conserve calories, slowing metabolism.
6. Limit refined sugars and carbohydrates.
7. Eat 25-35 grams of dietary fiber daily. Fiber takes a long time to digest and actually causes the digestive track to burn calories trying to digest it.
8. Eat earlier in the day. If you eat late at night, it goes to sleep with you. Move more food to earlier in the day to burn it more efficiently.
9. Drink water. Women should get 72 ounces and men 100 ounces of total fluid daily (try to get most noncaloric from water).
10. Don't "Diet". If you decrease your calories too much, your body will "starve" and your metabolism will try to match the low number of calories coming in, taking energy from your muscles along the way.

Photo courtesy of wikimedia

Labels: metabolism, Tara Gidus, weight gain

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Metabolism 101

Metabolism is a big word and I often get asked exactly what it means. Metabolism is simply how many calories you burn in a day. Your Resting Metabolism makes up the majority of your total metabolism.

Total metabolism for the day is made up of:

• Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): the number of calories it takes to keep your body going without any movement (brain function, heart, lungs, muscle, etc)
• Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): the number of calories that your body actually burns digesting food
• Physical Activity (PA): the number of calories you burn moving around all day during your normal activities
• Thermic Effect of Exercise (TEE): the number of calories you burn doing planned exercise

Most people's total metabolism each day is about 1800-2200 for women and 2200-2600 for men. The more you move, the higher your metabolism.
Factors that influence metabolism:

1. Gender: Men tend to have a faster metabolism (burn more calories) than women. Ladies, do you think this isn't fair? What do men have more of than women? See number 2.
2. Muscle Mass: The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn all day long. Muscle is metabolically active 24 hours per day. If you have more muscle, you will burn more calories while you sit at your computer reading these blogs, drive in your car, and most importantly, you will burn more calories while you sleep. How awesome is that?
3. Age: The number one reason people's metabolism slows as they age........they lose muscle. See number 2 above!
4. Heredity: Some people are just genetically gifted with a faster metabolism than others. They can eat a lot more calories than most people and not gain weight. If you are one of these people, thank your parents for good genes!

Tune in next time to learn how you can improve your metabolism and start to burn, burn, burn!

Photo courtesy of mscaprickell

Labels: metabolism, Tara Gidus

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Juice For Kids

A study in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that kids who drink juice are no more likely to be overweight and may actually get more nutrients than kids who do not drink juice.

The researchers looked at surveys from parents reporting what the kids ate and drank and actual measurements of the kids. On average the kids drink about 60 calories worth of juice, which is about 4 ounces. The kids who drank juice had higher intakes of whole fruit and they also took in more vitamins and minerals.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:

• Age 1-6 years: 4-6 ounces per day
• Age 7-18: 8-12 ounces per day

When I was growing up we drank from "juice glasses" that only held probably 4 or maybe 6 ounces. I still remember the first time I went to someone's house for a sleepover and saw them drinking juice from a large glass. That was foreign to me as a child.

I think some 100% juice is great for kids. But pay attention to the labels and make sure it is 100% juice and not juice drink. Also, pay close attention to portion size, though. The recommendations above equate to very small amounts. 4 ounces is just a half cup and 8 ounces is one cup. When you look at the standard glass that people have in their homes, they are usually 12 or 16 ounce glasses.

Another great idea is to water down the juice. A few companies now sell juice that is 40% reduced in sugar and don't have any artificial sweeteners added. Basically they are watering it down. You can do this yourself at home for your kids and pour half water and half juice into a small glass.

Cheers!

Photo courtesy of Apple & Eve

Labels: children, juice, Tara Gidus

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Grandma's Rhubarb

• In earlier days (and maybe still today), tender sticks of rhubarb dipped in sugar were used as a sweet treat for kids


• The term rhubarb in baseball describes a bench-clearing brawl

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