Food and Health

We hear about importance of drinking enough water constantly. On the flip side, there has been a growing trend in the media lately that the commonly recommended eight cups of water daily is a myth, which is technically accurate, but not the whole story. Whether you need eight cups of water daily, or four or ten, most people are not getting the message that whatever their particular water needs are, they aren’t meeting them.

And even dietitians, nutritionists, and medical professionals are contributing to the problem by informing people that they get enough water in their diet in the form of fruits and vegetables. That might be true for some people, but after assessing the diets of countless people, I assure you that isn’t the case for most people.

Plus, have you ever noticed that when you throw vegetables in a pan and turn on the heat you’ll see liquid in the pan soon afterward, and then shortly after that you’ll see steam rising from them? That’s because you’re literally cooking the water out of the vegetables.

Researchers estimate that half of the world’s population is chronically dehydrated. And in America, that level is even higher at 75 percent of the population.

More than two-thirds of your body weight is water. Without adequate water your body’s biochemical and electrical (yes electrical, read on!) processes begin to break down. The list of reasons your body needs water is as plentiful as the functions in your body, so due to space limitations, here are 10 good reasons to drink more water:

1. Your blood is over 80 percent water and needs water to make healthy new blood cells.
2. Your bones are over 50 percent water and, you guessed it, need water to make healthy new bone cells.
3. Drinking more water actually helps lessen pain in your body by getting your lymphatic system moving. The lymphatic system is a network of nodes, tubes, vessels, and fluid that move waste out of your tissues. It requires water to function properly.
4. Water helps to eliminate wastes and toxins from your body through the lymphatic system, kidneys, and intestines.
5. Water lubricates your joints and helps reduce joint pain and protect against wear and tear.
6. Water regulates your metabolism so if you’re overweight chances are you may need more water.
7. Water balances body temperature.
8. Water helps to ensure adequate electrical functioning so your brain and nervous system function properly. Your brain and nervous system send out electrical signals to function properly. Researchers estimate that your brain gives off about the same amount of electricity as a 60 watt light bulb. So, there’s some truth to the image of a light bulb going on when someone has a good idea.
9. Water alleviates dehydration (and I’ve already mentioned that most people are chronically dehydrated).
10. Every cell and organ in your body requires adequate water to function properly.

So, one of the quickest and easiest ways to improve your health is to start drinking more pure water every day. Be sure to drink water an empty stomach or you’ll simply be diluting your digestive enzymes and making your digestion less effective.

And, choose purified water as much as possible (but get yourself a BPA-free water bottle so you won’t pollute the planet with all those plastic water bottles. In wealthy, developed nations with plentiful access to water, we really have no excuses for not drinking enough water.

Adapted with permission of the author from the book, The Phytozyme Cure. (Wiley, December 2010). Copyright Michelle Schoffro Cook.

Related:

• What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You: Nine Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
• 5 Simple Food Swaps That Might Save Your Life
• 15 Reasons to Eat Organic Food

A healthy food culture values food from farm to table and back to the soil. In this interview with Nourish, journalist Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It), explains how food waste squanders ecological resources and money. He also shares how families and food producers can reduce, recycle, and reuse that waste to feed more people and give back to the environment.

How much food do Americans waste, and where does it go?
Jonathan Bloom: Americans waste 40 percent of the food we grow and raise, when you look at the calories produced versus calories consumed. It’s staggering. As for how that happens, the short answer is that a decent chunk is squandered at each step of the food chain. Unfortunately, of the food thrown out, 97 percent goes straight into the landfill. Food rotting in landfills produces methane emissions, which contribute to climate change.

Why should we be concerned about food waste?
Jonathan Bloom: In addition to the issue of methane gas, wasted food represents a real squandering of precious resources. In particular, the large amounts of oil and water used to create our food go for naught when we waste as much as we do. Two percent of all U.S. energy consumption goes to producing the food that we subsequently discard.

Food waste represents a $240 billion annual loss on a national level. Closer to home, trimming your household waste can amount to savings of more than $2,200 for the average of family of four.

It’s shameful to waste nearly half of our food when more Americans than ever before are food insecure. It’s all the more disgraceful considering that we throw out enough food to feed all of the world’s hungry.

What are some examples of how we might create a less wasteful food system?
Jonathan Bloom: We can find ways to harvest all that we grow, then redistribute our excess to nonprofits that will get the food to those who need it. We can convince restaurants and supermarkets to donate all of their excess, not just the shelf-stable items, to hunger-relief agencies. We can streamline tax deductions and make them available to all farms that donate food, not just the incorporated ones. We can offer more choice in restaurant portion sizes, and work to make doggy bags cool, or at least commonplace.

We can connect kids to their food through gardening programs, communicating that food isn’t something to be squandered. Finally, we can ban food waste from the landfill to prompt waste reduction at all stages of the food chain.

There will always be some food that does not get used. We need to view food waste as the resource that it is, using it to create energy via anaerobic digestion, or returning the nutrients to the soil through composting. We need to encourage businesses and individuals to separate discarded food from the regular waste stream. But that source separation can’t happen without more infrastructure: haulers with dedicated collection routes and destinations for this food waste.

What are a few personal action steps for reducing food waste?
Jonathan Bloom: Buy less food. Plan meals and make a detailed shopping list, or making smaller, more frequent shopping trips.

Serve smaller portions. Give friends and family a bit less food to start, and have them go back for seconds. Using smaller plates helps.

Eat leftovers. Save time and money by keeping the excess from your restaurant and home meals. You can often repurpose them into a new meal.

Curb fridge and freezer clutter. By not overcrowding, you’ll reduce many of those refrigerator casualties. Keep a “use-it-up” shelf, and put newer groceries in the back to push older foods to the front.

What does the food movement mean to you?
Jonathan Bloom: Any kind of food movement must include more sustainable production, hopefully done locally. There is nothing sustainable about producing twice the amount of food that we need, unnecessarily taxing the soil and our precious oil and water supplies in the process. That’s why any food movement must include this simple idea: use what we grow.

Discover more Nourish perspectives on the environmental impact of the food system in Food and Climate Change and Food Chain. How do you reduce food waste in your home?

More healthy and green articles from Care2:

• Are There Natural Ways to Curb Nicotine Cravings?
• Recycling, Composting, and Toxics, Oh My!
• No-Waste Grocery Store to Open

 

What are whole foods? In this video from the Nourish Video Encyclopedia, pediatrician and healthy food advocate Dr. Nadine Burke discusses the difference between processed and whole foods.

Whole vs. Processed
Whole foods are ingredients in their raw, unprocessed, and unrefined state, in contrast to foods that have undergone processing and preservation methods like curing, cooking, drying, or canning. As Dr. Nadine Burke, of San Francisco’s Bayview Child Health Center, says, whole foods are “the kind of foods that don’t need a label.”

Food processing extends the harvest through the seasons, prevents spoilage during storage and transport, and transforms raw ingredients into something new. Many of the foods we enjoy today, such as butter, cheese, pickles, jam, and ketchup, would not exist without food processing. Natural preservation techniques, such as fermentation, can even enhance the nutritional benefits of certain foods.

Some modern processing methods, however, deplete raw foods of vital nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and healthy fats. For example, white rice is brown rice that has been milled to extend its shelf life. The milling process removes the husk, bran, and germ, destroying iron, fiber, magnesium, fatty acids, B vitamins, and other healthy minerals found in unmilled brown rice. In the US, the FDA requires that white rice be “enriched” with B1 and B3 and iron, in an attempt to add back nutrients that are naturally occurring in rice’s original, whole-grain state.

Industrially processed foods may also contain highly processed additives and preservatives of dubious nutritional value, including sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (also known as trans fats), refined grains (such as bleached white flour), MSG, and artificial colorings, flavorings, and sweeteners. Many of these processed ingredients are actually detrimental to our health. Corn syrup, a corn derivative that is used as a sweetener in many processed foods, has been linked to a host of health risks, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

The Whole You
Seek out unprocessed or minimally processed foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and real dairy, fish, and meat. Buy direct from the farmers market, or shop around the perimeter of the grocery store (as Michael Pollan recommends), where fresh foods are generally shelved.

When buying packaged foods, read labels. Avoid artificial ingredients, like corn syrup, trans fats, and difficult-to-pronounce additives. Foods that have fewer—and more recognizable—ingredients are generally better for your health.

Enjoy whole foods in their raw goodness or simply cooked or prepared. Besides the nutritional benefits, adding more whole ingredients to your diet means that your food will be fresher, tastier, and closer to the source—which is better for your health and the environment.

Resources
How does a glass of orange stack up nutritionally to a whole orange? Check out the nutritional facts on Nutrition Data. The World’s Healthiest Foods provides a wealth of whole food info, recipes, and tips. For recipes and tutorials on real food cooking, go to The Nourished Kitchen.

What whole foods do you enjoy?

Related:

• Could You Go 100% Unprocessed?
• 12 Foods With Super-Healing Powers
• 6 Big Ideas on Eating Green

 

By Gina DeMillo Wagner, Experience Life

Most common excuse for not exercising? Survey says: “No time.” But examine that excuse at close range and you’ll see it’s usually about something deeper, says Lavinia Rodriguez, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of Mind Over Fat Matters: Conquering Psychological Barriers to Weight Management (iUniverse, 2008). “Typically, it’s lack of motivation, lack of enjoyment, negative associations, fear, or maybe low self-esteem,” she says.

Busy as we may be, we have less trouble finding time for television, social networking, or even dull household tasks, Rodriguez observes, because there simply aren’t the same steep psychological barriers to those activities.

If you want to exercise, you’ll make the time. We interviewed psychologists, exercise scientists, celebrity trainers, authors, and busy everyday people to get a handle on the 25 most promising strategies.

 

1. Make a plan.
“The best way to make time for exercise is to have a written plan,” says Chris Evert, 18-time Grand Slam tennis champion. “Decide on the best time for exercise in your schedule and actually enter it into your computer or cell-phone calendar as a repeat event. This way it shows up daily and there’s less chance of you scheduling something during that time.

Also, when you check your schedule in the morning, you’ll see it there and form a mental picture of when and how you’ll be exercising that day, which helps you stay motivated.”

 

2. Subdivide your to-do list.
Rather than making one long to-do list you’ll never complete, divide your list into three categories, advises Lisa Druxman, MA, exercise counselor and founder of the Stroller Strides and Mama Wants Her Body Back programs. “It’s not enough to get things done,” she says. “You need to get the right things done. It’s OK to have dirty clothes in your hamper. It’s OK if you don’t read every email the moment you receive it. It’s not OK to cheat your health.”

Druxman suggests the following to-do list makeover:

• Take out a sheet of paper and create three boxes that represent the most important parts of your life (e.g., family, work, yourself).
• List the top three to-dos that would make the most difference in each category. For family, it might be cooking or helping with homework. For work, it might be returning phone calls or completing a presentation. For yourself, include exercise, plus something else nurturing, like calling a friend or having a healthy lunch.
• Finally, block out times on your calendar for those specific to-dos, and honor those very specific commitments.

Having trouble deciding which to-dos are most important? “Think about the things that will have the most impact, not just today, but a year from now,” Druxman says.

 

3. Find five minutes.
Even if your day is packed with meetings and other commitments, you absolutely can eke out five minutes for yourself, says Simmons. And that simple act of self-care has the potential to change your life. “I tell people it’s OK to start very, very small.” A five-minute walk now can easily turn into daily 30-minute walks a few weeks from now. “You have to start somewhere,” he says.

 

4. Limit screen time.
Don’t aimlessly surf cable channels or the Internet, says Rodriguez. That’s a surefire way to waste time you could be spending in more active ways. Before you sit down, set a time limit (consider keeping a kitchen timer nearby to alert you when time’s up).

Most of us occasionally watch shows we don’t love because we’re bored, notes Franklin Antoian, CPT, founder of iBodyFit.com. “Consider trading just 30 minutes of that low-value television time for exercise,” he says. “My guess is you won’t miss it.”

 

5. Be an active watcher.
When you do watch TV, make the most of it. Do some ball-crunches, planks, yoga poses, squats, lunges, or pushups while you’re watching. Keep fitness equipment, such as a kettlebell, resistance bands, and a jump rope near the TV. Or use the commercial breaks to mix in brief cardio intervals. Run in place or up and down the stairs; do some burpees or jumping jacks.

 

6. Delegate like crazy.
Reassess household chores: Can the kids do laundry? Can your spouse cook dinner? What professional tasks can you hand off so you can get out for a walk at lunch or stop by the gym on the way home? Don’t think you’re the only one who can do all of the things you’re currently doing. Look, too, for things that could be done less often — or that might not need to get done at all.

 

7. Be motivated by money.
Putting some money on the line may provide you with the motivation you need to show up for activity. Sign up for a yoga workshop, book some sessions with a personal trainer, or plunk down some cash for a race or other athletic event you’ll have to train for. Schedule a babysitter to watch the kids while you go for a run. Or take a few salsa lessons.

 

8. Think positive.
Psychologists suggest that actively editing your negative self-talk patterns is a powerful way to support healthier lifestyle choices. For example, anytime you catch yourself thinking, “I am too busy to work out,” rephrase the thought in more positive, empowering terms, such as, “I choose to make myself a priority.” Or, “I do have time to be healthy.” Or, “I am willing to do something active today.”

Over time, those positive thought patterns will elbow out the negative ones, helping you to see your available choices more clearly.

 

9. Be a hot date.
Dinner and a movie is so cliche, says Shannon Hammer, motivational speaker and author of The Positive Portions Food and Fitness Journal (Fairview Press, 2010). What if, instead, you took your date/partner/love-interest to a cycling class or a ballroom dance lesson, went on a hike or a picnic, or kicked a soccer ball around the park? Bonus: Research shows that shared activity builds attraction.

[ Related: Eight Ways Exercise Makes You Gorgeous ]

 

10. Do brisk business.
Chances are, many of your coworkers are in the same boat as you: They want to exercise, but have trouble finding the time. So, what if you move the weekly progress update or brainstorm session to the sidewalk or stand during meetings? Can your group hike to the coffee shop rather than order in? Can you woo a new client over a tennis match instead of dinner? The fresh air and endorphins will spark more creative ideas, Hammer says.

 

11. Socialize on the move.
Next time a friend suggests meeting for lunch, dinner, or drinks, counter with an active invitation. How about joining you for a yoga class or a quick walk around the lake? Instead of spending time on the phone or emailing back and forth, suggest that you catch up on the latest news over a leisurely bike ride or bond by trying an athletic pursuit, like indoor climbing, that neither of you has ever tried.

 

12. Work it in.
Diedre Pai, 35, is a mom to two girls under age 3. With an infant and toddler constantly in tow, she’s had to get creative with her exercise routine. While picking up toys, towels, and trash off the floor, she increases glute and leg strength by doing squats instead of bending at the waist. “I do calf raises whenever I’m standing at the counter or stove, and when I’m going upstairs to change a diaper,” she says. Whenever she picks up her baby, she does a few overhead lifts. “That always makes her giggle.”

Kids playing outside? “I get in there and run and climb at their speed, which gets my heart rate up,” she says. Over the course of a single day, Pai estimates she gets about 60 minutes of exercise this way.“I consider parenting to be a full-contact sport,” she says, “and being in shape makes me a better player.”

 

13. Find a cheerleader.
What looks like lack of time is often lack of motivation, so consider recruiting emotional support. “I decided 35 years ago that I would be the court jester of health and get people excited about fitness,” says legendary activity advocate Richard Simmons. “Because, when you’re excited about something, you find time to do it.”

Nominate a friend, family member, life coach, or personal trainer to be your cheerleader and encourage you (positive messages only; no nagging) on a daily basis. Or, join an online community like www.fitlink.com that emphasizes can-do camaraderie.

 

14. Be yourself.
Part of the reason you can’t make time for exercise may be because you’re not focusing on the right workout for your personality, says Marta Montenegro, MS, CSCS, CPT, celebrity trainer and exercise physiology professor at Florida International University. For example, don’t assume you’re a runner just because your best friend loves to run, she says. “Instead, analyze your lifestyle and personality to find a routine that suits you.”

Once you understand your fitness personality, you’ll be able to identify activities you actually enjoy, and squeezing them into your schedule won’t be nearly as hard. (For more, see “Your Fitness Personality.”)

 

15. Bring the family.
If family obligations prevent you from fitting in regularly scheduled workouts, rope your gang into other types of group activities. Schedule family hikes, soccer games, after-dinner walks, bike rides, or family trips to the gym. Let the kids suggest family-activity options.

And remember that exercise is something you’re doing for your family, says Pai. “When the kids see that exercise is important to Mommy and Daddy, it will be important to them, too.”

 

16. Take your show on the road.
As you’re packing for a business trip or vacation, be sure to include your workout clothes, says tennis champ Chris Evert. Just packing them signals to your brain that you intend to make time for exercise.

As for what to do? “Spend 15 to 20 minutes swimming laps, running stairs, or jogging on the hotel treadmill first thing in the morning,” she says. No gym or pool? Ask the front desk if they offer guest passes to a neighborhood gym. “Or, when my schedule is tight,” says Evert, “I do some yoga while catching the morning news on TV.”

 

17. Hit “play.”
“Exercise DVDs are cost-effective, private, and flexible, and they allow you to stop and start your workouts based on real-life time constraints,” says Hammer. So, for example, you can do laundry while working out. Hammer used this approach to shed more than 100 pounds while going to school full-time and working.

Try Pilates workouts from Brooke Siler (Anchor Bay), fitness training with Erin O’Brien (Acacia), or yoga with Shiva Rea (Acacia).

 

18. Rise and shine.
For most people, the day only gets more demanding as it goes on, says celebrity trainer and fitness DVD star Sara Haley. “Exercising first thing in the morning will ensure you fit it in,” she says. Lay out your workout clothes the night before, she suggests. “This way you won’t waste any time and can’t claim you forgot anything.”

 

19. Ditch your ride.
Whenever feasible, hop on the bus, train, or subway, or ride your bike to work or to run errands, says Haley. If you can’t do it every day, try for once a week. People who take alternative transportation tend to get more exercise than daily car commuters.

 

20. Master the micro-workout.
Whether you’re at work or home, never let yourself sit idle for more than a couple of hours, says Mark Lauren, certified military physical-training specialist, triathlete, and author of You Are Your Own Gym (Light of New Orleans Publishing, 2010).

Build in a loop around the block when you grab a cup of coffee, or plan 10-minute breaks at regular intervals to stretch or do a brief circuit workout. “I like to throw in random sets of body-weight exercise throughout the day. One hard set of 12 or fewer reps won’t make most people sweat if they’re in an air-conditioned building, but it will be enough to make a difference if done several times throughout each day,” says Lauren. It takes less than 30 seconds to do 15 pushups or sit-ups, he points out.

So don’t say you don’t have time. Set an alarm on your computer to remind you. (For specific exercise ideas, see “Workday Workouts.”)

 

21. Hit it hard.
“When you’re short on time, focus on higher-payoff workouts,” says Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (Crown Archetype, 2010). “If you’re focused, there’s no reason you can’t get results in less than 20 minutes a week.”

His favorite routines? Kettlebell swings (consider keeping a kettlebell by your desk) and slow-motion resistance training. “One female case study cut her body fat 3 percentage points in roughly four weeks with only five minutes of kettlebell swings three times a week,” he says.

The key is staying focused and maintaining a high intensity throughout the mini-workout session. For a fast and furious workout idea, check out weightlifting complexes in “Simplicity Complex” — or search on “HIIT” (short for high-intensity interval training).

 

22. Wear your pedometer.
“As we get older, we typically take fewer steps per day,” says Wayne Andersen, MD, medical director of Take Shape for Life, a nationwide health and lifestyle coaching program based in Owings Mills, Md. “By age 60, most people are down to about 4,500 steps. Your goal should be to maintain 10,000.”

The best way to do that is to get a pedometer at your local sporting goods store, or download an app that converts your cell phone to a pedometer. Those wearing pedometers tend to walk more because they’re more conscious of their steps.

Looking for extra credit? “Climbing a flight of stairs is the equivalent of walking 100 steps,” says Andersen.

 

23. Adopt a DIY mentality.
“Start doing things by hand instead of letting a machine do them for you,” suggests Andersen. This might include snow shoveling, pushing a lawn mower, raking leaves, or hanging laundry to dry. “Also, ditch remote controls and other automatic devices that undermine your body’s energy use.”

 

24. Work while you wait.
Katy Gaenicke, mother of two boys, found a creative solution to her “no time” dilemma. She spends a lot of time on the sidelines of football practices and games near their home in Boston. “I started bringing my bike with me and riding around near the fields while my son practices,” she says.

Evert has used this technique, too: “Instead of cramming in one more errand while your kids are at their activities, put on your sneakers and take a walk for the hour.”

 

25. Phone it in.
Have a conference call you can’t miss? Need to return a few phone calls to family and friends? Grab your cell phone (and, ideally, a headset) and get walking. Assuming your area has reliable reception, strive to walk whenever you’re on the phone.

A note of caution, though: Talking and listening will tend to distract you from the fact you’re exercising. That can be a good thing, or a dangerous thing. So always take care to remain aware of your surroundings, traffic and so on. The goal is to squeeze exercise in wherever you can — safely.

 

Related:

• What Is Your Fitness Personality Type?
• Nine Ways Exercise Gets Easier as You Go
• Eight Ways Exercise Makes You Gorgeous

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How much sugar can you eat without compromising your health? The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends women limit their consumption to less than 6 teaspoons per day. The AHA wants men to stick to less then 9 teaspoons, and for kids 4 to 8 years old, only 3 teaspoons of sugar are allowed.

Six teaspoons of sugar might seem like a lot if you visualize a pile of table sugar, but is it? One teaspoon of sugar is equal to 4 grams.

These foods each contain about 24 grams, or 6 teaspoons, of sugar:

• 3/4 of a can of Coke
• Half a bag of Skittles
• 1/2 cup of Haagen-Daz sorbet
• One 6-ounce container of Yoplait yogurt
• 3 1/2 tablespoons of Kraft Honey BBQ sauce

Kid’s snacks can be loaded with sugar too:

• Nature Valley chewy granola bar – 4 teaspoons
• Stonyfield Organic smoothie – 9 teaspoons
• Horizon Organic chocolate milk box – 5.5 teaspoons
• Mott’s Original applesauce – 5.5 teaspoons

Registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, Vandana Sheth, underscores how quickly sugar consumption creeps up: “For breakfast, if you drink a cup of coffee with one teaspoon of sugar and eat a bowl of lightly sweetened cereal, you have had your maximum for the day.”

Consequently, most of us, including children, eat much more than the recommended amount of sugar—Americans eat about 22 teaspoons of sugar per day on average (or nearly six times as much as young kids should consume). Of all age groups, 14 to 18 year olds have the biggest sweet tooths and eat the equivalent of about 34 teaspoons a day, the majority of which is consumed through soft drinks.

Sugar is like mother's milk

Donuts, cookies, candy, ice cream—it all tastes so good. In fact, we are biologically programmed to crave sweets. Mother’s milk contains lactose, which has a double sugar hit of galactose and glucose. A predilection for sugary foods comes naturally to all babies.

So, if it tastes good and we are predisposed to eating it, why is it such a problem? The body copes fine with naturally occurring sugars—such as those contained in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Where we run into trouble is with “added sugars,” which means sugar in various forms that is added to processed and manufactured foods. Added sugars include regular table sugar, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, sugar cane syrup, fruit juice concentrate, molasses, and other sweeteners that are chemically similar to each other and have virtually the same effect on the body. These substances contain calories with no nutritional value.

Added sugars, added disease

The overconsumption of added sugar has many negative effects on our bodies. According a study published by the American Heart Association in 2010, it can lead to obesity and cardiovascular disease, both of which are epidemic in the United States. The study also points out a growing body of research that indicates too much sugar is linked to high blood pressure. Plus, sugar causes tooth decay. A 2010 study published in the journal Diabetes Care reported that people who drink one 12-ounce soft drink a day have a 15% greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes and people who drink two soft drinks a day have a 26% greater chance.

How to read labels

Cutting back can be difficult since sugars are added to many processed foods. Sheth recommends that you try to “enjoy foods in their natural state”—choose whole fruit over fruit cocktail or juice, for example, and read labels closely. Determining how much added sugar a product contains is tricky because manufacturers are not required to distinguish between naturally occurring sugars and added sugars on nutritional labels.

The Harvard School of Public Health suggests skipping foods that have any form of sugar close to the top of the ingredients list since ingredients are listed in order by weight. They also say to watch out for foods that include more than one type of added sugar in their ingredients.

When it comes to sugar, it's very easy to have too much of a good thing. Watch where and how you're getting it so you can make those 6 to 9 teaspoons of sugar count.

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It’s well-documented that vegetarians are healthier than the general population. People who do not eat meat, fowl, or fish have a lower risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, less incidence of type 2 diabetes, lower rate of hypertension, and lower overall cancer rates.

Now research shows vegetarians are skinnier, too.

Weight loss benefits of vegetarianism

According to the article “Vegetarian Diets and Weight Status” published in the Nutrition Journal by Susan E. Berkow, PhD, certified nutrition specialist, and Neal Barnard, MD, vegetarians weigh “significantly” less than non-vegetarians. After surveying 40 studies on the relationship between a vegetarian diet and body mass, the authors determined that female vegetarians weigh between 6% and 17% less then their non-vegetarian counterparts and male vegetarians weigh between 8% and 17% less. People who follow a vegan diet (not eating any animal products including milk and eggs) are the slimmest of all.

Dr. Barnard, who is also the author of the recent book, “21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health” and accompanying PBS special, attributes the results to a combination of factors. He says:

• Because of the way the body metabolizes different types of food into energy, a plant-based diet can actually boost calorie burning by up to 16% for three hours after eating a meal.
• Vegetarians tend to consume less fat, especially saturated fat, which mainly comes from animal products.
• Vegetarians consume more fiber, which is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, but not in animal products.

Dr. Barnard calls fiber the “Clark Kent” of nutrition - boring on the outside but possessing extraordinary powers. Fiber holds water and fills a person up with zero added calories. He contends that the average person will lose weight on a low-fat, plant-based diet with “no exercise, portion control, or calorie counting.”

Dr. Berkow, who is also an adjunct professor of nutrition at George Mason University, suspects that vegetarians may lead more health-conscious lifestyles in general, which could contribute to their relative leanness.

Fat traps

Dr. Berkow points out that replacing meat with a pile of white pasta or bread is not a healthy way to go. She recommends a balanced (and slimming) vegetarian diet consisting mainly of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and the judicious use of nuts and beneficial fats such as olive oil and canola oil. Eat eggs in moderation and choose low-fat milk products.

Beware of the many highly processed products on the market that are touted as vegetarian and vegan. They can be loaded with sugar, corn syrup, salt, and trans-fats. It’s always prudent to read the back of food labels no matter how “natural” or “healthy” a product proclaims itself to be.

Getting started on a vegetarian diet

If you are eating a variety of whole foods, getting enough protein shouldn’t be a problem. However, you should consider a B-12 supplement since the vitamin is only found in animal products.

You can test the waters of a vegetarian diet by subscribing to Meatless Mondays, an initiative started out of the John Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health and supported by food luminaries such as Mario Batali, Michael Pollan, and Padma Lakshmi as well as schools, businesses, and hospitals across the nation.

Alternatively, Dr. Barnard recommends taking the plunge by giving up animal products completely for three weeks and seeing if you like the results. So, what have you got to lose other than a few pounds?

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If you are a vegan, what is the first argument you hear from meat-eating advocates? Well the sarcastic ones might say something about plants having feelings too, but the most popular rebuttal usually has something to do with iron. And yes iron is an essential mineral because it contributes to the production of blood cells. The human body needs iron to make the oxygen-carrying proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin. But just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean your going to wither away with anemia.

However, anemia is not something to be taken lightly. (Although I realize I just did.) The World Health Organization considers iron deficiency the number one nutritional disorder in the world. As many as 80 percent of the world’s population may be iron deficient, while 30 percent may have iron deficiency anemia. The human body stores some iron to replace any that is lost. However, low iron levels over a long period of time can lead to iron deficiency anemia. Symptoms include lack of energy, shortness of breath, headache, irritability, dizziness, or weight loss.

So here’s the 411 on iron: how much you need, where you can get it, and tips to maximize its absorption.

Iron requirements
The Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine recommends the following:

Infants and children
• Younger than 6 months: 0.27 milligrams per day (mg/day)
• 7 months to 1 year: 11 mg/day
• 1 to 3 years: 7 mg/day
• 4 to 8 years: 10 mg/day

Males
• 9 to 13 years: 8 mg/day
• 14 to 18 years: 11 mg/day
• Age 19 and older: 8 mg/day

Females
• 9 to 13 years: 8 mg/day
• 14 to 18 years: 15 mg/day
• 19 to 50 years: 18 mg/day
• 51 and older: 8 mg/day

Non-animal iron sources
Eating red meat and organ meat are the most efficient ways to get iron, but for vegans, obviously, that’s not going to happen. Here are 12 plant-based foods with some of the highest iron levels:

Spirulina (1 tsp): 5 mg
Cooked soybeans (1/2 cup): 4.4 mg
Pumpkin seeds (1 ounce): 4.2 mg
Quinoa (4 ounces): 4 mg
Blackstrap molasses (1 tbsp): 4 mg
Tomato paste (4 ounces): 3.9 mg
White beans (1/2 cup) 3.9 mg
Cooked spinach (1/2 cup): 3.2 mg
Dried peaches (6 halves): 3.1 mg
Prune juice (8 ounces): 3 mg
Lentils (4 ounces): 3 mg

Tips to get the most iron out of your food:

• Eat iron-rich foods along with foods that contain vitamin C, which helps the body absorb the iron.
• Tea and coffee contains compounds called polyphenols, which can bind with iron making it harder for our bodies to absorb it.
• Calcium also hinders the absorption of iron; avoid high-calcium foods for a half hour before or after eating iron-rich foods.
• Cook in iron pots. The acid in foods seems to pull some of the iron out of the cast-iron pots. Simmering acidic foods, such as tomato sauce, in an iron pot can increase the iron content of the brew more than ten-fold. Cooking foods containing other acids, such as vinegar, red wine, lemon or lime juice, in an iron pot can also increase the iron content of the final mixture.

Do you have iron sources that you depend on not mentioned here? Share them with us in the comment field!

Related:

• Vegan Sources of Vitamins & Minerals
• 21 Sources of Protein for Vegetarians
• Iron: Dark Chocolate Has More Than Beef?

All of my life I have eaten wild plants. My father would bring in dandelion greens and boil them up for us (sometimes it was out of necessity as there simply was no food in the cupboards).

Benefits of Eating Wild Plants:

• Full of more nutrition than the same plant grown domesticated.
• Are fresher than store bought as vegetables and fruits are shipped long distances to market, sit on shelves, losing flavor and nutrition.
• They are organic as no fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are used in the wild (if there is, don’t pick them there; I won’t pick them in the parks in my city as I know they spray for mosquitoes).
• There is no need to add salt, sugar or artificial flavoring or sweeteners.
• Not grown in depleted soil as nature replenishes itself.
• By using these plants that are easily available, you save the earth the energy, water and transportation it costs to create grocery store foods. It is one step you can do to BE GREEN.
• Best of all they are free!

...and they are gourmet foods.

A few of my favorites are nettles, dandelions, chickweed, fiddleheads & lamb’s quarters. Some of these foods fall into the category of weeds, but I am so busy gathering and cooking, I don’t try to categorize them.

Nettles:
Now you might wonder how to pick these since they are called stinging nettles and they do sting. They are a great spring tonic. Every year in spring, I would make nettle soup when I lived in England. I will post that recipe later. You can even put them in your smoothies.

Nettle leaves contain: flavonoids, acetylcholine; lecithin; carotenoids, vitamin C, and many minerals.

Dandelion Greens:
They are one of the most useful of food herbs. More importantly, they are there for the picking. I dig them up with the roots intact and keep the roots in water in a bowl until I am ready to eat them, thus keeping them as live food. I usually simply steam them along with my other vegetables. The most common thing to do is boil dandelion greens until tender (changing the water once will take away some of the bitter taste if they are not young greens), then garnish with olive oil, butter or lemon juice.

The leaves are very high in potassium, vitamin A, B, C and D – the A content being higher than that of carrots. They also have iron, fiber, protein and a little carbohydrate. Read more: Dandelion Madness

Fiddleheads:
The fiddlehead is a delicacy that appears in the early spring (April and May) in places like the coasts of Canada and the US and all over England. We do not see them much here in Edmonton. Simply eat them the way you would asparagus in salads, steamed or in soups.

Fiddleheads contain protein, vitamin A, vitamin C and minerals including iron.

Chickweed:
Grows almost everywhere! It is very easy to pull up as it grows in clumps of bright green with tiny white flowers. I simply add them to my salads and occasionally to soups, steamed vegetables and stews.

Chickweed contains beta-carotene, B vitamins, vitamin C, bio-flavonoids, GLA/gamma-linoleic acid and lots of minerals.

Lamb’s quarters (also known as pigweed):
They are very profuse in all gardens. The young leaves are great in salads as they taste like spinach. When they are more mature, the leaves are better steamed, in soups or in smoothies.

Lamb’s quarters have a number of vitamin Bs, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, and minerals including iron.

Which wild plant foods are your favorite?

Recipes with wild plants:

Saskatoon Crumble made with my favorite wild berry from northern Canada, Saskatoons.

Diana’s Green Smoothie With a Difference: This video shows the best way to make a green smoothie. You can easily add dandelion greens and lamb’s quarters.

More healthy and green articles from Care2:

• 11 Precautions and Tips for Safe Foraging
• First GM Plants Found in the Wild
• Growing Potted Herbs in City or Country

 

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but summer is coming to a close. For most of the country it will be sweet relief from the oppressive heat wave that made the past three months unbearable. But whether you sweated out the summer or soaked up the sun, the payoff for bidding yet another season farewell is a whole new batch of in-season produce.

For those committed to eating a local, in-season diet means that they don’t get to enjoy any ‘ole fruit or vegetable any time they want. No, they have to wait patiently; much the same way others have to wait to throw on a tank top or sweater at just the right time of year.

Eating seasonally is also a simple way to support the environment and your local economy. Picking up fresh fruits and vegetables grown in your local area puts money in the farmers’ pockets, and therefore right back in to your city. It also means that the food didn’t travel by plane, boat, and train to get from the farm to your over-priced grocery store, burning fuel and increasing the edibles’ carbon footprint.

The nice thing about September is that it eases us out of summer and in to fall, so you’ll get to enjoy the last of the summer harvest, while taking your pick from the first of the fall harvest.

Vegetables: Salad greens, tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, corn.

Fruit: Grapes, plums, figs, melon varieties, blackberries.

There are, of course, endless ways to enjoy any of these fruits and vegetables, but a few of our favorite recipes are listed below.

• White Grape Gazpacho
• Roasted Cauliflower
• Plum Compote
• Fig and Kalamata Olive Tapenade
• Sauteed Leeks and Carrots
• Tomato Basil Quiche
• Blackberry Yogurt Pie

Curried Chicken and Grape Salad
Created by Terry Grieco Kenny for DietsInReview.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 2 Tbsp reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp curry powder, preferably Madras
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 oz roasted skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks (about 2 cups)
• 3/4 cup seedless grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
• Garnish: Lettuce leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, stir the yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, curry powder and salt until blended.
2. Add the chicken, grapes, celery, cilantro and onion and toss to mix and coat.
3. Line individual plates or a serving platter with lettuce if desired. Spoon chicken salad on top and sprinkle with almonds.

More healthy and green articles from Care2:

• Tender September Apple Roly-Poly Recipe
• My Sister’s Glazed Fruit Pie With Whipped Cream
• Fall Garden Chores

 

By Margaret Badore for DietsInReview.com

Last fall, Wal-Mart announced their plans to increase the amount of local produce sold in their stores across the United States. The decision was arguably one of the most visible indications that the local food movement has hit the mainstream, gaining followers for both economic and environmental reasons. Yet it is necessary to approach such an announcement with a dose of skepticism when it comes from a company that seems to be driven so heavily by the bottom line. Is this a case of green-washing?

Critics say Wal-Mart’s new policy to promote local food was little more than a marketing scheme, and have accused the company of re-labeling products that were already procured locally. However, a recent Wall Street Journal article reports Wal-Mart says that the consumer demand for local produce is aligned with cost-savings objectives. Wal-Mart, like many other national chains, says money can be saved on transportation by purchasing food near its point of sale and also cut down on waste due to food spoilage. In a press release, the company announced that they hope to source up to nine percent of all produce locally.

Many grocery stores also spotlight their local produce, although the definition of “local” varies from store to store, just as it might vary from person to person. Here is a look at how some of the major grocery chains defined local produce.

• A&P: Grown within New York and New Jersey, according to a company representative.
• Kroger (and subsidiaries): The term “local” can refer to produce grown in the same state or region.
• Safeway: Produce is only local if it can reach the store in less than an 8-hour drive.
• Sweetbay Super Market: Within the state (all stores are located in Florida).
• Publix: Local produce comes from the five states within which the stores are located (Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama).
• Wal-Mart: Grown within 450 miles of distribution centers, but only fruits and vegetables will be highlighted as local if they come from the state in which they are sold.
• Whole Foods: Must be able to reach the store within 7 hours by car or truck.
• Wegmans: At least within the state.

An important goal of the local food movement is about increasing the transparency of food systems: Consumers want to know where their food comes from.

I was surprised to find many grocery stores express a dedication to local produce, yet fail to qualify these statements. For example, Wegmans has a website page dedicated to explaining the importance of food miles, yet offers no hard definition for what the maximum number of food miles is acceptable for a food to be labeled “locally grown.” On the other hand, Wegmans has a Twitter account dedicated to tweeting out the arrival of local produce to their stores (@WegmansLocal), often indicating where the food is coming from. A tweet at this account provided me with the definition listed above.

Hannaford is another example: Their site features stories from local farmers and an interactive map of farmers and producers, but no hard definition of what qualifies as “local.”

However, these definitions seem very reasonable for the term local. Of course, defining local as “within the same state” is a kind of common-sense definition that is obviously more useful in smaller, East Coast states, whereas defining “local” within a certain mile-radius leaves less room for debate. Kroger’s definition sounds the most vague, but it also has many different subsidiary chains. It should also be noted that although this list is not comprehensive, some grocery stores could not be included because they do not have a local produce policy whatsoever, such as Aldi and Target.

Once I began researching definitions and talking to grocery store representatives, I quickly became very aware of the challenges facing store managers that wish to stock their shelves with local produce. “Customers have grown to expect products year-round,” explains Maria Brous, the Director of Media & Community Relations for Publix. She explains that Publix strives to stock produce from their five states of operation first, but that this simply isn’t always possible while also providing customers with a diversity of fresh produce. “Product is not available year-round in the same place, and sometimes product is not available in a certain area at all.”

Even the grocery stores that are the most dedicated to locally grown produce find it challenging to source exclusively from local farms. Ellwood’s Thompson’s Market, an independent grocery store in Richmond, Virginia, works to buy their produce from within a 100-mile radius of the store. “Eighty percent of our greens and things might be local for two weeks,” say Paige Bishop. “But then all of a sudden they’re sold out of that crop and then we’re sourcing some things organically instead of locally.”

Although local produce may only represent a fraction of the nation’s grocery purchases, benefit to the local economies can be significant. Independent We Stand, a movement of small business owners who support buying local, has calculated that if every family in Wichita, KS, spent $10.00 at a local business, over $19,000,000 would be re-invested into the local economy (learn more about their economic impact calculator). “The more that you buy local, the more that money is going back into the community,” says Bishop.

Related Articles:

• In-Season Produce Calendar
• No Waste Grocery Store to Open
• Easy Greening: Shopping Bags