20 Reasons to Love Your Carbs!

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For whatever reason, the topic of carbohydrates fuels a firestorm of controversy.  Look anywhere on the Internet, and you will find a preponderance of carb criticism and vilification.  Indeed, not all carbs are created equally, and the carbs which should be emphasized for health are the complex carbohydrates.  These carbs are high in nutrient density.  Complex carbs include lentils, grains, fruits, and vegetables.  Here are 20 guilt-free reasons to include these nutrient-dense carbohydrates into your diet:

  1. They provide a rich source of B-complex vitamins, many of which are not derived from other food categories.
  2. In the form of fruits and vegetables, they are an excellent source of vitamin C.
  3. They provide significant sources of potassium.
  4. They are naturally low in fat.
  5. They are loaded with anti-oxidants and potentially health protecting      phytonutrients.
  6. Complex carbs are high in fiber to aid digestion and prevent constipation.
  7. Fiber-rich complex carbs aid in blood glucose control.
  8. Complex carbs fill you up and help you stick with a weight loss diet.
  9. Sufficient carbohydrates prevent ketosis.
  10. Adequate carbohydrate intake spares protein, allowing it to be used by the body for healing, repair, and growth in children.
  11. If you are decreasing your calories from carbs, you need to increase your      calories from another nutrient such as animal protein, which in excessive      amounts may weaken bones.
  12. If you are decreasing your calories from carbs, you need to increase your      calories from other nutrients such as fat, which may lead to plaque build up on your arteries.
  13. A low carbohydrate intake might increase cortisol levels, which may increase risk of some cancers.
  14. A low carbohydrate intake might lead to an increased animal protein intake, which can increase painful gout.
  15. You need carbohydrates in your diet to make glycogen-this is your storage fuel for endurance athletic events as well as what your body needs to rely on for fuel in the event you cannot eat for a day!
  16. Dairy products are nutrient dense carbohydrates and are important contributors of nutrients necessary for maintaining both strong bones and normal blood pressure.
  17. Most Americans fall short of magnesium requirements and many good sources of magnesium are complex carbs such as spinach, bran cereal, beans, lentils, and dairy products.
  18. Strong bones need more than just calcium, and many of the nutrients necessary for strong bones-vitamin K, various B vitamins, and magnesium are readily available from complex carbs.
  19. As food, they create less of a carbon footprint than growing animals to eat.
  20. They are satisfying and taste good!

Emphasizing unprocessed nutrient dense carbs such as lentils, beans, fruits, vegetables, fat-free dairy, and whole grain foods is not controversial, it is intelligent eating for the 21st century.

 

 

Mom’s Day Reflections, From a Dietitian Mom

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As I contemplate the weekend and Mother’s Day, I realize that I know and respect an awful lot of amazing mothers. These mothers are my clients that I have come to know very well over the years, my friends, my relatives, and finally, my children.  These mothers always put mothering at the top of the priority list even as they pull off multi-faceted roles as wedding planners, secretaries, doctors, teachers, nurses, dentists, lawyers, administrators, and so on.  The similar theme with these strong women who are amazing moms is their tenacity in nurturing and their instincts for being the driving force and support for their children.  It does not matter how old those children are, the “force” is still there. That “force” exhibits itself in various forms for various situations, but it is ever so present.

So to all those amazing mom’s out there, mom’s of little babies and adults already on their own and out of the nest, please take care of yourselves.  Remember YOU are worth your weight (no pun intended) in gold, and you deserve to replenish yourself to continue giving all that you give to others, including your babies of all ages.  Over the decades of counseling clients (as well as being a mother myself), I have realized that we can get “spent” very quickly as we go about our daily tasks of keeping our lives in line with ideals, and juggling all we do in a 24-hour period.  To keep up your pace, remember some guidance of self-care for YOU:

  • Mange your diet as you would manage your business, your children, and careers!  Eating is meant to keep you well, strong, and the best you can be.  It needs to be planned out as the rest of your life is planned.  The outcome of this planning makes the effort worth it!
  • Feed yourself the same quality of diet you want your babies and older children to eat. Kids of all ages have a keen eye on what you are doing, and will learn to imitate your food behaviors and patterns of eating eventually, be it good or bad.
  • Take the time to eat; it is the only fuel and nutrients you will take in.  Just thinking you should eat, or taking supplements, will not give you the energy to carry on, only good quality food will do so.
  • Make sure you take the time to actually enjoy your food.  Sit down at the table and teach your toddler that mom needs to enjoy her meal.
  • When sharing your meals with your children, enjoy the experience.  One day they will cook for you and they will pick up the dishes without being asked, because remember, you are a role model and what goes around comes around!

If you are reading this, you are probably a mother or know a wonderful mother.  I salute you all and wish you a wonderful day and upcoming week.  Happy mother’s day to all those truly remarkable women called “mom”.

Nutrition on the Net-5 Sites to Start Searching

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Type “nutrition for health” into your favorite search engine, and you may get literally millions of hits!  It’s no wonder it is difficult for consumers to navigate the Internet and find correct nutrition information.  With endless pages on an ever-growing World Wide Web, and bearing in mind that there are no editors on the Internet, it is very difficult for the average consumer to find accurate nutrition information.  Also, keep in mind that websites with the extensions such as org. or edu. are often good starting points for accurate information.  On the flip side, you may want to avoid commercial websites as sources of credible nutrition information because the purpose is often to promote a specific product!

Here are a 5 nutrition related websites you can use to start a search for timely nutrition information:

  • The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine-This is the “go to” site for information on supplements and alternative medicine. In particular, you can access some good information on herbs and botanicals, including safety and efficacy. Consumers really need to bear in mind that not all over the counter herbal supplements are either safe or effective.
  • The Nutrition Blog Network-If your preference is the blog approach to gathering your nutrition information, these blogs are written solely by registered dietitians (RD).  It is a vast amount of nutrition information with topics for all.
  • This website, UpToDate, was recently mentioned on a Chicago network morning talk show.  I thought I would check it out, and I approve.  It is a great website to become an informed patient, and depending on the diagnosis, there is also information on nutrition if applicable.
  • The American Institute for Cancer Research-You don’t need to have cancer to benefit from this wonderful website.  The site is full of healthy recipes and suggestions for reducing your risk of cancer through diet and healthy living.
  • The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics-Here the consumer can access a variety of suggestions on how to carry out a healthy eating lifestyle.  You can also find a dietitian in your zip code.

Additional links on various topics may also be found at: http://www.mydietmatters.com/links.html

Keeping a keen eye on the websites you rely on for accurate information will help you become a better educated and savvy health and nutrition consumer.  Happy surfing.

Do you have a favorite nutrition website to share?

Shrimp From Thailand, Please Consider Not Purchasing!

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Not very long ago, I was in a major Chicago suburban grocery store contemplating purchasing some frozen shrimp. With the globalization of our food supply, I am in the habit of checking where a food item originates from in order to be “respectful” to the planet.  I would prefer to avoid purchasing seafood from the other side of the world, and this shopping day I was actually unable to find any frozen shrimp other than shrimp from Thailand.  I put the shrimp back, as I just had an unsettled feeling about making such a purchase.

This week, tuning into the late hour US ABC Nightline news show, there was a story about a beautiful exotic cat from Southeast Asia which is becoming extinct. This wild cat, called the fishing cat, is a native to the wetland areas of Southeast Asia. These same wetland areas of Southeast Asia are also being utilized for the farming of shrimp, and much of that shrimp ends up in the United States.  According to the ABC Nightline story, as the shrimp farmers take over the wetlands and encroach on the native home of the fishing cat, the fishing cat population has declined to the point of near extinction.  As this exotic web-footed cat actually swims in the water for food, this encroachment by shrimp farmers has affected the natural habitat as well as the ability to access fish for food. With diminished capacity to find fish to eat, fishing cats are often forced to hunt for alternative food sources such as farmers’ livestock, which then allows them to meet their death with a shotgun.

Regardless of how you connect to this story, it points out there are multiple good reasons to purchase food locally.  If purchasing shrimp raised closer to home can stop a species from becoming extinct, that means a great deal to me as a human being.  If it means our planet degrades less quickly, it should mean the world to you.

For the complete Nightline footage on this story, http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/shrimp-farms-endanger-fishing-cats-16207450

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Dietary Supplements for Baby Boomers!

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While daily use of multi-nutrient supplements has fallen out of favor by some health professionals due to some recent studies, there are five supplements many of us 40+  may need. While food is always the best source of nutrients, certain circumstances with aging may warrant adding these supplements to your diet!  Here are the 5 supplements baby boomers may need to consider taking:
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acids- We have too little of these essential fatty acids in our diet.  While fish can be a good contributor of omega-3-fatty acids, eating fish a few times a week is not necessarily going to be insurance your requirements are met.  We have some other food sources such as walnuts and flaxseed, but consistency is key and that is where a fish oil supplement at least a few times per week may be helpful.
  • CoQ10- We make this nutrient, but we make less of it as we age. If you are taking a statin drug to lower your cholesterol level, the statin drug will limit your body’s ability to make this nutrient. So, if you are aging (and we all are), and taking cholesterol lowering medication, there is no logical reason to avoid this supplement and every reason to take it.
  • Magnesium- While distributed in a wide variety of foods, I have noted that my clients are often consuming too little of this nutrient through foods. Magnesium may be easily washed and peeled away from foods during processing, and a limited calorie consumption means less is being consumed through food.
  • Vitamin D- It is best to get your baseline blood vitamin D levels checked, but chances are you will benefit from at least some additional supplemental vitamin D.  While we can make this vitamin, we make less as we age. Increased use of sunscreen will further decrease production of vitamin D.  With mounting evidence that vitamin D plays roles in promoting strong bones, healthy blood pressure, fighting infection, and decreasing inflammation and cancer risk, supplementation is warranted if blood levels are low.
  • Calcium- If you skip out on the dairy group, there is a pretty good chance you may not be meeting your calcium requirements.  Calcium is important for more than our bones-it also protects against colon cancer and high blood pressure.  If you opt out of drinking regular milk and eating dairy products, simply choose soy, rice, or almond milk and make sure the brand you choose is fortified with calcium.  If you avoid these products altogether, consider a supplement.  Up to the age of  50, it is recommended you consume 1000 mg; for 50+ the requirements increase to 1200 mg.

While my preference is always going to be to get nutrients through food, eating less as we age, medication, and lifestyle may impact our ability to obtain the noted nutrients.

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Any one have other supplements they think we should be taking as we get older?

Be a Savvy Supplement Shopper- 5 Tips To Smarter Supplementation!

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We are a pill popping society, and we know it.  It is what Americans seem to love to do.  Recently, there has been a lot of press about the fact that perhaps we should not be taking multi-nutrient supplements-and that they may actually be harmful to our health.  I have even had patients come to my office telling me that their physicians have flat-out told them to stop taking supplements altogether.  The wise approach, however, is most likely somewhere between constantly popping supplements and never taking a supplement.  People who would benefit from supplements include those who have validated nutrient deficiencies (blood work can evaluate this), women of childbearing years, habitual dieters, the elderly who are on certain medications or have limited food intake for medical reasons, and those that skip over entire food groups. While it is always best to have your nutritional requirements met through a healthy food selection, appropriate dosages of supplements can “supplement” your diet by filling in the gaps.

The bad news about supplements is that overdoing dosages can be harmful to your health.  Many people have the “if some is good, more is better” mentality.  The truth is that scientists have documented upper limits of safety, and beyond those limits you are putting your health at risk.  Mega doses of supplements are actually categorized as drugs, and excessive amounts of supplements can cause symptoms ranging from nerve damage to liver failure.  Another little known fact is that just because you can purchase a supplement at a store, doesn’t mean it is safe.  Supplements sold in this country have virtually no regulation in terms of safety.  Under current law, the FDA is responsible for taking action on unsafe supplements already on the market, but does not need to screen or pre-approve a supplement before it is gets to the store shelves.  This means you need to be a savvy supplement shopper if you decide to take supplements.

Here are 5 tips to help keep your supplement selection safe:

  1. Look at the Supplement Fact label (example in above photo); choose a multi-nutrient supplement that does not have very high percentages of nutrients (around 100% Daily Value (DV) would be safe, if around 200% or higher, move on to a different supplement).
  2. Look for the USP symbol or text on a label.
    The USP symbol or text means that the supplement will dissolve in your digestive system, and the ingredients are guaranteed.
  3. Supplements with added ingredients such as parsley, alfalfa, and herbs offer no added health benefit to the consumer.  There would be too little added to the supplement-best to just eat the parsley!
  4. Don’t let terms such as “stress relief”, “time release”, or “natural” drive your brand selection-as these terms are only marketing terms!
  5. Because there is no regulation on supplements prior to arriving on the store shelves, consider purchasing supplements that are name brands.  These companies are more likely to have their own internal high quality control standards, as they have a reputation to be protected, which can also ultimately protect the consumer.

If in doubt about whether to supplement or not, a registered/licensed dietitian can assist you!

What are your thoughts about supplement use and safety?

 

 

5 Tech Strategies for Successful Weight Loss

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Sample view of Nutrihand, my client online food tracker

If you just ate too many jelly beans and chocolate bunnies, and are vowing to get back to a healthy diet this week, consider using some tech tools to help with weight loss.  With some time ahead of us before the next holiday, it’s a great time to start tracking your diet and physical activity.  Tracking your food intake allows you to avoid denial about your energy consumption, and keeps you honest with yourself on a daily basis.  If weight loss is your goal, then the only way you will reach that goal is to somehow take in less energy than your body needs, or use more energy than you consume through food.  To lose one pound of fat per week, you must go into a 3500 calorie deficit per week, doing so either with less food, more exercise, or a combination of less food and more exercise!  While crossing your fingers and “hoping” the weight comes off is a rather common occurrence, being systematic with your focus can mean the difference between hoping and happening.

Here are some of my favorite techie strategies for weight loss:

  1. Use the Internet for Nutrition Information- If you “must” dine out often, you need to be aware of the nutrients and calories you are eating through food consumed away from home.  While a full service restaurant is not required by law to provide the calorie content of its meals, franchises with 20 or more locations are.  This is very helpful to anyone who frequents Panera to P.F. Chang’s.  With some foresight and planning, you can access each restaurant website prior to eating there, and arm yourself with an effective eating strategy.
  2. Online Food Documentation- Nutrihand is one of the online food tracking platforms I now offer my clients. Clients log in their food intake and day-to-day, we can both see if goals are met.  Goals may revolve around not only calories, but also other specific nutrients such as carbohydrate, fat, protein, calcium, potassium, sodium, and fiber. There are similar programs on the Internet to serve a similar purpose, and it’s worth your while to experiment with a format that works for you.
  3. Using Smartphones for Food Related Decisions- At this point, there are so many great smartphone apps on the market and more become available daily.  Some can be used to track food on the spot, some to track your physical activity like a pedometer, and some can help us make better nutritional decisions at the grocery store. With the smartphone camera, you can even take photos of foods to share with your favorite dietitian for further discussion.
  4. A Pedometer-While basic pedometers are not exactly high-tech, they can be effective for assessing baseline physical activity.  Some of the slightly more expensive pedometers allow for downloading of collected data (steps, aerobic steps, calories, distance) to your computer through a USB port and cable.  This allows your data to be documented, graphed, and saved on your computer or shared with your dietitian.
  5. BodyMedia Armband- This is the ultimate assessment tool for determining how many calories you require for weight management.  Worn on the left upper arm, it measures your calorie burn in a 24-hour period.  It seems very accurate and after the collected data is downloaded, you are able to look at your energy expenditure in sections of the day.  This allows you to evaluate the activities and movements which are most effective at using energy and therefore facilitating weight loss. Another perk, it assesses your sleep quality which has been noted as being important in the weight loss process.

With the help of these technology driven self-monitoring tools, your behavior and diet will be both consistent and effective enough to help you reach your weight goals efficiently and effortlessly!

Do you have any special weight loss tech tools you would care to share?

 

 

 

 

10 Tips For Healthy Easter Eggs!

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The next best thing to getting the Easter basket!

It’s that time of year when families start thinking about the Easter ritual of dyeing Easter eggs.  It’s a fun tradition, and the eggs can easily be eaten as a snack, breakfast, or tossed on a salad if they are handled properly pre to post coloring.

A hard-boiled egg has only about 80 calories, but is rich in many nutrients, including protein, phytochemicals, many B-complex vitamins, and vitamins A, D, and E.  If eggs are from chickens fed an omega-3 rich feed, the hatched eggs will also contain omega-3 fatty acids.  Another nutritional perk of eggs hatched in 2012 is they have a slimmed down cholesterol content.  The cholesterol content of a standard egg has dropped from about 230 to 180 mg. of cholesterol.

Here are ten tips to keep those eggs safe to eat after Easter:

  1. When purchasing your eggs, make sure there are no broken or dirty eggs.  The shell keeps the inside of the eggs free of bacteria and a broken shell can allow for bacterial contamination.
  2. Be sure to check the date stamped on the carton.  Avoid purchasing eggs stamped with a “sell by” date close to the purchase date.
  3. After purchase, eggs should be refrigerated immediately at 40° or less.  Avoid placing eggs in the refrigerator door, as temperatures will be inconsistent and may not meet food safety temperature guidelines.
  4. For eggs already in your refrigerator, you may safely use them for both coloring and eating even if the “sell-by” date has already passed.  In fact, they can be safely eaten 2-4 weeks past that stamped “sell by” date.  If your eggs are typically stored in another container in the refrigerator, and you have no idea how old they are, pitch them!
  5. Consumers should not wash egg shells prior to hard boiling.  When the chicken lays an egg it has a protective film coating to protect the inside of the egg.  Washing the shell can actually remove that protective film, and hasten the likelihood of bacteria moving into the egg.
  6. Cook the eggs thoroughly.  For directions on how to cook a hard boiled egg, visit http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes-and-more/recipes/category/hardboiled-eggs
  7. After cooked, the eggs may be dyed, but must be refrigerated within 2 hours. If you are not dyeing them after they cool a bit, you must refrigerate them until you start the dyeing process.
  8. Be sure to use a food safe dye if you plan on eating your Easter eggs.
  9. Do not plan on eating Easter eggs which have been placed on the ground.  This becomes a perfect recipe for making you ill as the bacteria from the ground can enter the cooked egg.  Stick with the plastic version for egg hunting in the yard.
  10.  Leftover Easter eggs may be eaten within 7 days as long as they have been properly handled and refrigerated.

For more accurate information on eggs, visit the USDA website:  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_On_Shell_Eggs/index.asp

Do you have any tips on how to use leftover Easter eggs?

The Pressure (Cooker) is On!

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I was a child in the 50s. Mothers back then frequently cooked with a “scary” piece of equipment called the pressure cooker. I remember being afraid of the loud sounds it made, and always feared that the rattling piece of metal sitting atop the lid would fly off. When my mother gave me her pressure cooker after I myself became a mom, it sat in my cabinet and was never used. It was just way too intimidating to me with three small children to feed. After all, I was also concerned for their “safety”!

Fast forward to being a grandma.  Like many grandmas, I am very busy. But, as a practicing and working dietitian, I am still concerned about getting healthy foods on the table.  Modernized pressure cookers seem to be the perfect solution to preparing healthy food in limited time. They are equipped with a variety of settings, such as browning, sauteing, and warming, along with both low and high pressure settings, making it easy to prepare a complete gourmet meal in no time.  For instance, rather than going through the hassle of soaking lentils overnight, with a pressure cooker you can cook with them immediately.  What’s more, modern pressure cookers have safety features to help prevent kitchen accidents.  There are many other benefits to using a pressure cooker.  Aside from saving time, using a pressure cooker limits nutrient losses. Because all the recipe components are in one pot and the liquid is part of the main dish, all nutrients are retained. Additionally, preparing a meal with a pressure cooker saves money.  Tough and more economical cuts of meat can be used very successfully in the pressure cooker because the high pressure will tenderize the meat. Two of my favorite pressure cooker recipes can be found on this website.

So, if time is tight and healthy eating is a priority, consider lessening your personal pressure by increasing the pressure for cooking. Do you have any favorite foods you enjoy making in your pressure cooker?

Maybe Getting Too Much Iron? Then, Pick These Cereals and Not Those Cereals!

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Iron consumption is critical for the health of all-especially women of childbearing age, infants, and children.  Iron deficiency can cause a range of symptoms from energy draining anemia to disruptive behavior in children.  Because adequate dietary iron is so critical to health, many of our foods are fortified with iron to lessen the public health risk of too little iron.

Cereals are probably the most widely iron fortified food in this country.  For infants, iron fortified baby cereal is an excellent way for babies to get the iron they need to grow.  For older children and adults, a single serving of cereal can provide 100% of the recommendation for iron.

But what happens if a lot of this highly fortified cereal is eaten by men and older women who have significantly lower iron requirements than younger women and children?  Women of childbearing age need 18 mg of iron, but men and  women in menopause need only 8 mg of iron.  While a healthy body can actually exert some control over absorbing too much iron, once in the body, it can be problematic to excrete. If too much iron is absorbed on an ongoing basis, it can cause a range of symptoms from increased infection to organ failure in susceptible individuals.

If you walk down the cereal aisle and start looking at the Nutrition Fact Label on cereal boxes, you will see that some of the most popular cereals-including some of the healthier high fiber whole grain varieties- are often packed with 50 to nearly 100% of the recommended 18 mg suitable for younger women.  So, what about a man or older woman who chooses to eat multiple servings of a these cereals in a given day?  They would be ingesting much more iron than they need, potentially placing themselves at medical risk over the long run.

Let’s look at how some popular cereals stack up per serving with regard to the 18 mg iron requirement:

  • Cheerios have 6.3 mg
  • Special K has 6.3 mg
  • Corn Chex has 9 mg
  • Corn Flakes have 9 mg
  • Raisin Bran has 6.3-10.8 mg (depends on the brand)
  • Wheat Chex has 14.4 mg
  • Frosted Mini Wheats have 16.2 mg
  • Multi-Bran Chex has 16.2 mg
  • Total has 18 mg

For those who love their cereal, but need less iron, there are some lower iron choices such as:

  • Kashi cereals range from virtually no iron up to 2 mg depending on the variety selected
  • Puffins have less than 1 mg
  • Cooked oatmeal has less than 2 mg
  • Fiber One has 4.5 mg
  • Frosted Cheerios have 4.5 mg
  • Basic 4 has 4.5 mg
  • Flax Plus Multibran Flakes has less than 2 mg

Given that many people eat more than the standard  ½-1 cup serving size, there is little doubt that some of you are consuming very large amounts of iron from cereal.  Couple large serving sizes of iron fortified cereal with a glass of orange juice, and the iron absorption triples from the vitamin C in that orange juice!

Should you change your cereal choice based on your iron requirements?