The Fine Print on Priobiotics

When it comes to promoting good health and protecting against illness, many people turn to probiotics.

Probiotics are microorganisms that work by restoring the balance of intestinal bacteria and raising resistance to harmful germs. Many food companies often slap a "Contains Probiotics" label on their product without really explaining which strains are present and what said strains supposedly do.

In the Science section of today's Times, Tara Parker Pope delves into the murkiness behind probiotic health claims on food labels.

"When the label tells you the food you are buying 'contains probiotics,'" she says, "are you getting health benefits or just marketing hype? Perhaps a bit of both."

Read more here.

Paula Deen on the View

Oh. My.God. This segment is hilarious. It's from a recent episode of The View, on which author Paula Deen was promoting her new children's cookbook, which isn't exactly full of healthy recipes.

I think the best part is how uncomfortable Barbara Walters is! At one point early on, she asks, "Obesity is the number one problem for kids today. Everything you have here is enormously fattening. You tell kids to have cheesecake for breakfast... Doesn't it bother you that you're adding to it?"

Deen plays the "teach moderation" card and of course. "You don't eat like this every day," she says. True, but it still kind of sounds like a cop-out to me. I feel like a lot of people use the phrase "in moderation" when they can't think of anything else to say.

Then again, it's Paula Deen we're talking with here, not Gwyneth Paltrow. You want a healthy kids' cookbook, she's probably the person to write it.

Here's the segment.

Taking Responsibility

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a Q & A with actress Juliette Binoche at the SVA Theatre. I found a lot of her comments insightful and was struck by her independent approach. She kept stressing that as an actress, she has to be in charge of herself, of her own experience, rather than look to, say, a director to make or break that experience.

I think the same can be said of our health. It's so easy to blame Others or the Media or Work—or if not blame them, to let those influences dictate how we take care of ourselves. We put all these things before our own health. For example, people might skimp on sleep and exercise because they have a demanding schedule, or perhaps a girl sees pictures of actresses and models in magazines and thinks she has to look like that.

How can you perform, though, if you are not in good physical, mental and emotional shape? How can you take care of others if you don't take care of yourself? I believe that health begins on the inside. If you feel good, you look good.

Personally, I think there exists a link between the increasing pressure to be thin and the rise in obesity and overweight in general. What I believe is that, in an attempt to fit the mold, people lose touch with their own bodies, their own internal cues.

I know I struggle with this sometimes. I constantly have to remind myself that I follow a plan that is specifically for me. I am responsible for myself and need to treat myself well and think positively so that I can act positively and treat others well. For example, when I go to a restaurant, if I'm hungry, I eat a piece of bread and dip it in olive oil, ignoring a dining companion who waves the basket away and talks about watching their carbs. Or, if I'm not hungry, feeling okay about not having bread while the person across from me shovels it in.

This is easier said than done of course. Enjoying a big juicy veggie burger with cheese while a friend picks at a salad can require a lot of mantra-repeating. When it comes down to it, though, your body is your body—no one else's—and it's your responsibility to take care of it and to meet your own needs, not to worry about how your needs compare to others. There's room for all of us.

It may not sell as many magazine copies, but I think that should be headline-worthy. Tune in and listen, you know?

Soufflé for One

When Chris is out and I'm on my own for dinner, I often take the opportunity to cook something he'd never eat. Tonight was just such a night—I made a soufflé. It sounds really fancy, but it's actually quite simple.

I adapted a recipe for making 1 serving. That way, I don't have to do math every time I want to make this dish. Here is my recipe below:

Soufflé for One

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 teaspoons butter or margarine
• 2-1/4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar or Swiss cheese (I actually used parmesan tonight)
• 1 egg, separated
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, mustard and cayenne until smooth; gradually add the milk. bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Pour into four greased 10-oz. souffle dishes or custard cups. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Say "Yes" to Healthy instead of "No" to Unhealthy

While preparing for this week's Diet Assessment & Planning class, I noticed that one of the tips given in the section about how to help motivate clients to improve their diet is to emphasize positive behaviors rather than negative behaviors.

In short, focus more on the healthy changes and additions they can make and less on what negative foods and habits to avoid. Patients are more likely to reach for the fruit, vegetables and whole grains if told to do so than they are if the main message they get is "avoid white bread, sugar, and fried food, you fat f***."

While there has been clinical to back this up, I was already a believer that a little positive action goes a lot further than a whole stream of negatives—that's part of why I have the word "yes" tattooed on the inside of my right wrist. It may seem cheesy to some, but having a little reminder first thing in the morning gives me the boost I need to get to work on reaching my goals for that day, whatever they may be.

A new take on an old favorite

For years, I have been a loyal lover of oatmeal. It's nice to have a reliable go-to food for busy mornings. Oatmeal is especially convenient because it's easy to make and is packed with lots of nutrients like iron (great for people like me who aren't gonna get it from steak), fiber, and calcium.

Another thing I love about it is that you can add almost anything to it. Fruit, nuts, wheat germ, and lots more. I've even eaten it with ice cream. Sometimes I put protein powder in it when I need a little boost, and another favorite mix-in is pumpkin.

A friend was telling me recently that she likes to mix a tablespoon of almond butter into her oatmeal after it's cooked. "Tasty protein!" she raved. I tried it this morning, and wow. The almond butter does something cool to the texture of the oatmeal or the oatmeal does something cool to the texture of the almond butter. Whatever it is, it's awesome.

Soda Tax Could Raise Money and Shrink Waistlines

I wasn't sure at first what to think about the soda tax—in some way, it seemed like a way to inconvenience people out of buying sugary drinks. And by that, I mean sneaky instead of addressing the fundamental issues behind Americans' overconsumption of soda.

I think I'm in favor of it, though. Food companies have just kept giving people bigger and bigger portions, selling empty calories as a "good value." In the short term, perhaps it is better to simply discourage people from buying soda by putting a high tax on it—a penny per ounce, to be specific.

An article that ran on September 16th on Bloomberg.com discussed some of the benefits of the soda tax. According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, this could raise $14.9 billion dollars in the first year and cutting a person's daily calorie intake by at least 10%. Not too shabby. Thinking about it, my dad once cut soda out of his diet without making any other changes and lost, like, four pounds right away.

What I'm curious about it what will be done with those $14.9 billion. I'd love to see it go into, say, a campaign to educate consumers about how to eat a healthy diet.

On a semi-related front, I decided yesterday while sipping a can of diet pepsi at 9 a.m. waiting for a lecture to begin, that I need to reign it back in. This summer, I got back into drinking diet I'm drinking, it creeps me out. And I could totally save the money I spend each week on pre-class caffeine fixes to buy, like, one really good drink at some point later in the week. Now that the weather is getting cooler, my usual green tea is a lot more appealing!

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

Many studies show that the Mediterranean diet, one rich in vegetables, whole grains and unsaturated fat from fish and olive oil, is one of the healthiest around. While clicking around online, I found this great illustration of the Mediterranean diet pyramid. I wish the U.S. would adopt this one!

This pyramid was created by Oldways.

USDA Describes Organic Foods as "Increasingly Mainstream"

When you look in your fridge, chances are, you see at least something with "organic" on the packaging somewhere, am I right?

Last year, organic food accounted for more than three percent of US food sales, and according to the Organic Trade Association, organic food sales grew at a much faster rate in 2008 than general US food sales, which grew by 4.9 percent during the year – or about a third as much as organics.

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service said: “Organic products have shifted from being a lifestyle choice for a small share of consumers to being consumed at least occasionally by a majority of Americans.”

Though organic foods are still much more expensive and there are general trends to be noticed in terms of who's buying organic, overall, there are more and more people across the board purchasing organic foods. USDA went so far as to say that organic consumers have become "increasingly mainstream."

Does this mean that soon it's going to be ironic to eat, like, twinkies? Oh wait...

Read more here...

Housewife Food or In Which Jess Succumbs to the Chardonnay

So, those of you who know me may be aware of my general distaste for Chardonnay. To be honest, it has very little to do with the flavor and more to do with rebellion against family conventions. Unfortunately, this has led me to a love of rose wine, which is not exactly the classiest thing ever, though I like basically all wines, white and red and everything in between—anything but chardonnay. I just happen to be one of those people who orders White Zinfandel in earnest. This is why I am allowed to say what I'm about to—it's the equivalent of making a self-aware blonde joke.

So anyway, today I was at a bridal shower in DC, and one of the only (alcoholic) beverages available was white wine—chardonnay, in particular. So I said to myself, "When in Rome..."

And yeah, talk about Rome. I had always read about tea sandwiches and stuff (finger sandwiches to some), but I had never before witnessed for myself the shear oddity that is a plate of microscopic cream-cheese-on-date-nut-bread sandwiches. Or the cucumber-and-mayo. I did not venture near the egg salad ones. There was also a large bowl of what looked like chicken salad in addition to white, fluffy crescent rolls (Pillsbury?). Fortunately, there was also a fruit salad and a spinach-and-strawberry salad. There were also some spanikopita appetizer things (thank god).

While I don't technically consider myself a vegetarian, I was really not into the chicken salad, and the white rolls were just not my thing (they were cold, first off). As I filled my plate with green stuff and fruit, I found myself mentally planning a dinner party in which there would be no "housewife food." I'm talking, like, roasted garlic and a beautiful fruit-and-cheese plate, and roasted vegetables, etc. etc. etc. And that's just for the appetizers.

Read Laura Shapiro's Something From the Oven : Reinventing Dinner in the 1950's if you want a more in-depth description of what I mean by "housewife food." It's mostly the mayonnaise and the tea sandwiches I am referring to, but in general, the whole "sweet and light" thing, really. There was this whole category of cuisine that fell under the "women's food" umbrella, and basically all of it was disgusting, most of it involving mayo, marshmallows, or both.

I'm sorry, but a New York gal such as myself really has no idea what to do when confronted with that stuff. So what do we do?

This is where the wine comes in, chardonnay though it may be...

Big Food Vs. Big Insurance

On September 10th, the New York Times ran an Op-Ed by Michael Pollan titled "Big Food Vs. Big Insurance." In the piece, Pollan reflects on the health care debate and suggests that the fact that the U.S. spends twice as much on health care per person as most European countries is because that, on average, we're fatter, according to a recent study.

So many chronic diseases are linked to diet, yet people seem slow to use the power they have to eat better and help prevent the development of these illnesses, such as Type II diabetes (which the U.S. is spending $16 billion to treat).

"That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry," he says, calling the way American's eat the "elephant in the room" during the healthcare debate.

"To put it more bluntly," says Pollan, "the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup."

He praises the soda tax and the new "are you pouring on the fat?" anti-sugary beverage ad campaign as well as innovations in the approach to tackling childhood obesity.

Personally, I agree with a lot of what he says, but reforming the food industry is going to take a lot of time and energy. I'd love to see a bunch of people get on board for this and make it priority, but the U.S. really isn't so big on preventative medicine. You'd almost think they want you to get as sick as possible so you'll just have to spend more to "fix the problem." That's just my cynical viewpoint on it, though perhaps that "wait until a problem develops and then treat just the acute symptoms thing" is more subconscious, something deeply ingrained in our society and not a conscious attempt at making more money.

The main thing I feel after reading this is that I hope a lot more people wake up to the idea that if you work to maintain a healthy lifestyle during the course of your life, you're more likely to avoid preventable, expensive illnesses. The question is how are you going to wake them up?

Awesome Blossom: No longer in season

After this 2,710 calorie fried-onion-and-dip appetizer appeared on a "20 Worst Foods in America" list by the authors of Eat This, Not That!, Chili's finally decided to pull the dish from its menu. More info here.

I've always been more into sweets than greasy stuff, so I won't miss this fried flower, but if you're this news really bums you out, you can get your fix at Dallas BBQ in New York. You may recall from my May post about a trip I took there with friends visiting from Paris. Everything is bigger at Dallas BBQ, including the curiously crispy "onion loaf" (pictured).

I don't know if I want to go so far as to say I wish all restaurants would stop serving stuff like that (this is a free country, after all), but I do wish that portions would be regulated a little more closely. A few onion rings won't kill 'ya, and they make a nice accent, but a loaf really doesn't give you much nutritional value for your money—just empty calories.

Wouldn't you rather eat something that will give you energy to go do whatever it is you've got going on after lunch? To someone studying nutrition, it seems pretty basic, I guess, but I can understand how tough it can be to filter through all the FAT SUGAR SALT signals we are constantly being sent. What I really wish is that there were a way to make nourishing foods marketable. Maybe if we found a way to make them affordable, hm?

Fourth Graders Dieting?

In 1986, Jeffrey Zaslow conducted interviews with 100 fourth-grade girls about their dieting habits. More than half of the girls surveyed said that they were dieting, and 75% of them—even the skinniest girls—said they weighed too much.

In this article, Zaslow reflects on that study and checks back in with the girls, who are now in their early 30's. Recent research shows that societal obsession with thinness and pressure on young girls to attain that ideal are, unfortunately but not surprisingly, even stronger.

Since the 1980's, incidence of eating disorders have risen dramatically, and between 2000 and 2006, the percentage of girls who believe they must be thin went from 48% to 60%. Between the increasingly unrealistic images of "perfect" (aka "retouched") women in ads and the concern with preventing childhood obesity, it's no surprise that more and more nine-year-olds think they need to be tiny, not realizing that depriving themselves of the nutrients they need could put them at risk for stunted growth and brain development.

While there have been some efforts to improve girls' self-esteem (books, for example), I don't think that nearly enough is being done. I understand the precarious balance of the situation—encouraging healthy eating habits and self-acceptance without going overboard in either direction. This is one key area that needs more attention. Lots more.

Let your iPhone count calories for you

I'll fully admit to being one of those people who loves their iPhone. I especially love how many different applications there are. There seems to be something for everyone.

This is one I saw while doing "competitive research" for an idea I wanted to pitch. Not surprisingly, someone had beaten me to the punch a long, long time ago.

This application, Nutrition Menu allows you to look up nutritional information for thousands of restaurants as well as everyday food items like milk and fruit. It also has a good journal which you can email to yourself and upload to a spreadsheet.

I think it's a great idea for people on a specialized eating plan who need to keep track of what and how much they eat by keeping a food journal or just being aware. There's always the concern that someone with an unhealthy obsession with healthful eating could become even more obsessed with all this information right at the their fingertips, but all in all, I think this is a great tool.

Because the world totally needed one of these...

May I present KFC's Double Down. This sandwich consists of two fried chicken fillets along with bacon, cheese, and "Colonel's sauce."

In other words, your basic vegan's worst nightmare.

At first glance, it seems like you could file this beast under "low carb," but then you have to consider the breading on the chicken.

I just can't get around the idea of how you could eat this like a sandwich. I'd probably have to go at it with a knife and fork, but then, I eat pizza with a knife and fork. This is totally the kind of thing you'd want to split with someone, though I'm sure there are tons of people out there who'd call one of these lunch.

Someone on a blog quipped that pretty soon, it may become a hipster trend to double-down sandwiches ironically.

Dude, this thing is totally epic—and I'm talking, like, 1700 kcal epic, like, "I just got kicked off the island and just returned to civilization" epic.

One Drop at a Time

According to reports, 26-year-old Swedish father Ragnar Bengtsson has entered into an experiment in which we will stimulate his breasts with a pump in an attempt to produce milk.

"Anything that doesn't do any harm is worth trying out. And if it works it could prove very important for men's ability to get much closer to their children at an early stage," says Bengtsson.

He plans to pump at three-hour intervals every day until the beginning of December. His project will be documented by Swedish TV8, as well as in Bengtsson's blog, One Drop at a Time. Though Bengtsson's 2-year-old son is not involved in the experiment, he hopes to breastfeed his future children.

While male lactation is a common side effect of hormone treatments, it remains to be seen whether that milk has a high nutritional value which would be beneficial to a child.

You can read more about it here.

I don't know, I've read some negative press about this, but I think it's pretty interesting. I mean, why the hell not? I can't say I think it's something I'd want for my own children or that I think it's beneficial, but I don't consider it "sick," just unconventional.

Have you seen these ads?

This controversial new subway ad campaign, aimed at encouraging consumers to choose beverages with less sugar, asks New Yorkers if they're "pouring on the pounds." The image depicts human fat flowing from a soda bottle. Tasty.

(Read more here)

On the one hand, I think a little shock value never hurts. On the other, the wording is a little bit over-the-top, in my humble opinion. However, trying to get the message across as succinctly as possible was probably a priority.

I've seen a lot of different reactions to this ad ranging from laudatory to condemning, and I have to say, I'm split.

While I'm generally not a fan of scare tactics, that this ad at least offers a suggestion of what to drink instead of sugary beverages is somewhat redeeming. Offering alternatives is key to helping people eat healthier rather than just telling them that what they're doing is bad. I think too many little battles on obesity target people's body image, setting the stage for emotional eating that perpetuates the problem.

I'd like to see more out there promoting overall health in general, but a lot of people feel that may not be "aggressive" enough. They may or may not be right. A part of me worries too, about young girls and women who will see the ad and internalize it too much, that it may fuel disordered eating of a different sort. Either way, all I mean is that while wake-up calls and gross-outs will get people's attention, you're not going to get very far telling someone they're a fat slob. You need to encourage them to make healthy choices.

Of course, a lot of people think there needs to be a glaring problem before you actually fix anything. I think that's the fundamental issue, really. In our country, we don't focus nearly enough of preventative health and living a healthy life in general.

It's a precarious balance, I realize, but I think this ad at least makes an attempt at balance, so I'm more or less okay with it. I'm just not looking forward to seeing it on my morning commute.