For parents who struggle with getting their children to eat vegetables, the results of a recent study conducted by Dutch researchers may be helpful.  In this study, vegetables were cooked in a variety of ways (i.e. steamed, boiled, grilled, deep fried, stir-fried and mashed) and then children, ages 4-12 years old, were asked which way they tasted the best.

Perhaps surprisingly, the children preferred steamed and boiled vegetables the most.  The researchers believe that this may be because the vegetables are crunchier, more familiar tasting and have less browning when prepared in these methods.

Keeping things simple when preparing vegetables, may actually be the best method for getting children to increase vegetable consumption.  You can also try serving the vegetables raw, if your child doesn’t seem to go for the cooked veggies.  Also, remember that a child’s taste buds are constantly evolving.  Just because a child doesn’t like a vegetable when they first try it doesn’t mean that they won’t like it at some point down the road.

For more information about the study, click here.

Making smart choices when snacking can help to add nutritional value to the diet and can also be a great way to prevent getting overly hungry so it is easier to make good choices at meals.  However, many of the snacks on the market have little to no nutritional value and they are often high in calories, fat, sugar and/or salt.  These types of snacks often have a negative impact on our waistline  and our health (i.e. affecting blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugars)  So next time you reach for a snack, bypass the vending machine and try one of the following healthy snacks that supply important nutrients in the diet and taste great too!

Healthy Low-Calorie Snacks (Under 100 Calories)

• ½ Cup Cottage Cheese
• 1 (6 oz) Container of Light or Plain      Non-fat yogurt
• 1 Glass Non-fat Milk or Soy Milk
• 1 Piece of String Cheese
• 1 Small-Medium Piece of Fresh Fruit
• ½ Cup 100% Fruit Juice
• ½ Cup Canned Fruit (look for varieties canned in their own juices)
• Frozen Fruit Bar (made with 100% fruit juice)
• Fruit Crisps (freeze-dried fruit)
• 1 Cup Veggies with 2 Tbsp Fat-free Salad Dressing
• 1 Cup Vegetable Juice (try the low-sodium varieties)
• 3 Cups Air-popped Popcorn
• 1 Mini Bag Low-fat Microwave Popcorn
• Soy Crisps (15-20 crisps depending on brand)
• 1 Packet of Plain Oatmeal (Try adding cinnamon for flavor)
• 1 Cup of Broth-based Soup (look for low sodium versions)
• 1 Hard Boiled Egg
• 1 oz  Beef Jerky (may be high in sodium)

Healthy Snacks (100-200 calories)

• 1 oz Nuts
• 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter with a Piece of Fruit OR 5 Whole Wheat Crackers
• 100% Whole Grain English Muffin with ½ Tbsp Peanut Butter
• Veggies with 1/3 Cup Hummus
• Many Granola Bars (read labels for calorie levels and look for ones with <10 grams of sugar and at least 3 grams fiber).  Kashi, Luna & South Beach are good options.
• 1 Packet of Flavored Instant Oatmeal
• 1/3 Cup Dried Fruit
• ¾ Cup “Whole Grain” Cereal with  Skim Milk
• Fruit and Yogurt Parfait (8 oz Yogurt with Berries.  Instead of granola try bran flakes or Fiber One cereal for some crunch)
• Fruit Smoothie (made with 1/2 cup frozen fruit and 1 cup milk or non-fat plain or light yogurt)
• 1 Small High-fiber Muffin (2.75” diameter)

Healthy High-Calorie Snacks (usually over 200 calories)

• Whole Food Bars (made with nuts, seeds and dried fruit)
• Trail Mix

Pay attention to serving sizes…even healthy snacks can add up in calories if portions are large!

I would like to thank all my readers for your patience as I have taken some time off of my blog for my wedding and my move to North Jersey.  I have now started working for the Hartzband Center for Hip and Knee Replacements located in Paramus, NJ.  I updated my profile page with my new name (Amy Regina) and there is a link to the right where you can find out more about the Hartzband Center.  As always, you can e-mail me through my blog if you have any comments or questions or if you would like to schedule an appointment.  Continue to check back as I will be updating this website regularly again.

There are four basic flavors that the human tongue can detect: sweet, salty, bitter and sour.  We also have the ability to identify protein-rich foods and now fat is added to the list.  New research suggests that some people are more sensitive to this taste than others.  Those that are more sensitive to the taste of fat tend to eat less of it and are often at healthier weights compared with those who are less sensitive to the flavor. 

While the threshold for fat may be genetic and this may make some people more likely to choose high-fat foods, it is also important to know that taste buds can get desensitized over time.  Fat is a very strong flavor and when people get accustomed to eating high-fat foods, they often need more fat to continue to get the flavor they desire.  However, when you cut back on fat (just like when you cut back on sugar or salt), you begin to become more sensitive to the flavor and need less of the ingredient.

Researchers are still studying what makes people more or less sensitive to fat, and they hope that the answer to this question can help people to make better food choices.  However, in the mean time, I think it is important to remember that by limiting fat in the diet, you will not need as much to taste the flavor. 

Check back for my next post which will include tips on how to decrease fat in the diet.

With all of the social gatherings around the holiday, there is often an increase in alcohol consumption.  These extra drinks can add a lot of unwanted calories and can make weight management more difficult.  However, there are some simple strategies that can help keep your calories in check.

First, know the calorie content of the various types of drinks.  The following is a breakdown of the typical calorie levels of alcoholic beverages:

If you’re going to have a drink, think about the following tips:

• Start the party with a calorie free beverage before reaching for the alcohol.  Sometimes just having a beverage in your hand can make people feel more comfortable.  By starting off with diet soda, water or club soda you can save some calories and can often make better food choices because alcohol acts as an appetite stimulant and lowers inhibitions. 
• Alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.  Often when we have a drink in our hand we will finish it.  By switching between alcoholic and calorie-free beverages you will be cutting the calories in half!
• Try diluting your drink to cut the calories in half.  Turn your glass of wine into a wine spritzer by mixing it with sparkling water.  If you’re going to have a mixed drink, mix it with club soda or a diet soda.
• Beware of sugary drinks.  The combination of sugar and alcohol makes mixed drinks very high in calories.  They can range from 200-500 calories!  A glass of wine or a light beer would be a much better choice with around 100 calories.    
• Moderation is the key.  No matter what beverage you choose, just try to limit the quantity.  You will keep your calories under control and you’ll feel better the next day so you can keep up with your exercise program:)

Potassium has many important functions in the body.  It helps regulate blood pressure and is important for a healthy heart and blood vessels.  Potassium also helps maintain the water balance in the body, aids in muscle contractions, proper nervous system functioning and it helps us to digest protein and carbohydrate in the diet.

It can be fairly easy to meet your potassium requirements with the diet if you are including fruits and vegetables.  It is estimated that the minimum requirement for potassium is 2,000 mg per day for a healthy individual.  However, some individuals need more potassium because of medications, absorption problems or losses due to heavy sweating.  People with kidney disease or ulcers may need to limit potassium consumption.

Individuals who take thiazide diuretics, long-term steroid therapy, insulin or laxatives are at risk of a potassium deficiency.  Deficiencies can also be caused by high sodium diets, chronic diarrhea or vomiting, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, kidney disease or heart disease.  Athletes with heavy sweat losses who do not replace potassium can also run the risk of low potassium levels as well. 

A severe potassium deficiency can cause the following symptoms:

• Fatigue, drowsiness and confusion
• Muscle weakness and/or cramps
• Low blood pressure
• Loss of appetite and/or intense thirst
• Heart arrhythmias

The best way to prevent a potassium deficiency is to eat potassium rich foods.  Some people may need potassium supplements to meet their needs, but this is something that should be discussed with a doctor because high doses of potassium in supplement form can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  Extremely high doses (>18,000 mg) can even lead to heart attacks.  However, a healthy person cannot get toxic levels of potassium from food.

Good sources of potassium in the diet are: 

• Fresh fruits, dried fruits and fruit juices
  • Bananas, cantaloupe, oranges, strawberries and watermelon
  • Dried Fruits like raisins, prunes and apricots
  • Orange, grapefruit and prune juices
• Vegetables
  • Beets, potatoes, lima beans, green peas, spinach and tomatoes
• Meats
  • Fish, ham, beef and turkey
• Nuts/Legumes
  • Beans, Pistachios and peanuts

When it comes to portion control, there are few foods that are more confusing than pasta.  Some questions I get frequently are: What is a serving?  Is a serving based on dry or cooked pasta?  How do I know how I measure uncooked pasta, so I get the appropriate amount of cooked pasta?  Today, I will try to answer these questions.

So, what is a serving of pasta? According to the Food Guide Pyramid and the Diabetic Exchange System, a serving of pasta is ½ cup of cooked pasta (this is equivalent to about 2 ounces of cooked pasta).  This would provide approximately 80-100 calories and 15-20 grams of carbohydrate.

How do I measure pasta? Pasta can be measured before or after cooking.  A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that pasta doubles in size and weight when it is cooked.  Here are some guidelines to follow when measuring pasta.

• Cooked pasta can be measured by using a measuring cup or a food scale.
  • 1 serving = ½ cup or 2 ounces of cooked pasta

If you would prefer to measure the pasta before you cook so you are not making too much food, the following tips can be helpful:

• The most accurate way to measure uncooked past is to use a food scale.
  • 1 ounce uncooked pasta = 1 serving
• If you are making strand pasta (spaghetti, angel hair, etc.), they do make tools to measure pasta.  Typically on a pasta measure, there are several holes that are different diameters.  This allows cooks to know that they are making 1-4 servings by filling the holes.  Pasta measures are inexpensive and can be a great way to achieve portion control when making strand pasta!   Take a look at my store to see what a pasta measure looks like.
• Measuring out pasta shapes can be a bit trickier for those who are not using a pasta scale.  Shapes vary in size, so they do differ slightly, but a good rule of thumb is:
  • Approximately ¼ cup of dry pasta shapes = 1 serving for elbow macaroni, shells, rotini, cavatelli, wheels, penne or ziti.

In summary, a good generalization to measure pasta measures is as follows:

1 Serving cooked pasta = 2 ounces or ½ cup

1 Serving uncooked pasta = 1 ounce or ¼ cup

Yes, I know that your thinking…a half-cup of pasta might not be enough to satisfy a hearty appetite.  Remember, the average person needs 6-11 servings from the Grain food group per day.  So, feel free to have more than a half-cup of pasta at a meal, just be sure to count it as more than one serving.  Also, try adding extra vegetables to the sauce, have a side salad or a small chicken breast along with the pasta.  This will help you to fill up while keeping your pasta portions in check.

Do you feel overwhelmed when it comes to menu planning?  Are you bored with the same old meals?  Eating healthy doesn’t have to limit you to plain chicken breasts and steamed broccoli day after day.  Adding variety keeps things interesting, and can help you to stick with a healthy eating plan long term.  Many people struggle to come up with new ideas for balanced meals, and it can often be a struggle to determine the nutritional value (i.e. calories, fat, carbs) of home prepared meals.

If you feel that meal planning is a struggle, MealsForYou.com could be a great website to check out.  On this website, you can do an “advanced search” for recipes which allows you to choose recipes that include or exclude foods (which is great for those with food allergies) or choose recipes that are high or low in certain nutrients.  For example, you could pick a chicken recipe that is low in calories and high in fiber.  Perhaps you are looking for a meal that is high in calcium that does not include dairy products.  The possibilities are endless!

If you are looking for help with planning a whole meal, then you can click on the “meals” tab at the top of the page.  They have several categories such as kid’s meals, international meals, meals by ingredients, etc.  I would recommend looking under the “Healthy Meals”.  If you are trying to control calories, their “weight loss” meals are all less than 500 calories.  One great thing about this website is that it gives you the nutrition facts (calories, fat, protein, carbs, etc.)  for each menu item and for the entire meal.

If you would like to know the dietary exchanges (how many servings it provides from each food group), you can click on “Tips & Guides” page and use the ”Dietary Exchange Table”.  One other great feature is that it creates a printable shopping list.  For any recipes that you put into your shopping list, it divides them into groups based on grocery store layout and includes the amount you need. 

I think MealsForYou.com makes meal planning as easy as possible…I hope you do too!

 Detox diets are all the rage right now despite the lack of research on their effectiveness.  There are many types of detox diets that are popular.  Some examples include:

• Excluding all solid foods
• Only eating fruits and vegetables
• Drinking special drinks (i.e. a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, water, and cayenne pepper)
• Taking herbal supplements, laxatives or enemas

Just as there are many types of detox diets, there are also many reasons why people decide to try these diets.  Some people do it to lose weight, others do it to “detoxify their system” and yet others for religious reasons.  The later of which seems to be the only valid reason to go on a detox diet.

For weight loss, these diets are usually ineffective.  Yes, it is true that most people will lose weight on detox diets, but this will likely be regained when people go back to their normal eating patterns and most people will end up with a less desirable body composition (less muscle and more fat). These diets are usually very low in calories (so you are losing some fat weight), but they also provide insufficient protein and carbohydrates (so you are also losing muscle and water weight). The following is an example of what happens with 20 pounds of rapid weight loss:

As you can see, you end up with less muscle and more fat after the diet.  The muscle loss ends up slowing down the metabolism which lowers calorie needs.  This is why it can get more difficult to lose weight after yo-yo dieting.

As for detoxification, our body has its own built-in detoxification system…the kidneys, liver and intestinal tract.  Some proponent of detox diets suggest that you need to give your system “a break” so that the cells in your intestinal tract can rid themselves of toxins and regenerate.  However, these cells are constantly regenerating at a rapid rate (even without detoxifying the system) and I would have to ask if you would ever consider giving your heart or lungs “a break”?  If not, I wouldn’t worry about giving the other organs a break.

For a healthy individual, following a liquid diet or eating only fruits and vegetable for 3-5 days will probably not cause harm.  However, following any extreme diet for long periods of time can lead to nutrient deficiencies or more serious problems.  Taking laxatives can lead to dependence and some herbal substances can be very dangerous, especially when combined with certain medications.  People with medical issues need to be even more careful.  For example, a person with diabetes could end up with hypoglycemia (low blood sugars) within a few hours on some of these extreme diets.  Physician supervision is always recommended for any extreme diet or adding laxatives, herbal supplements or enemas.

If you really want to keep your intestinal tract “cleaned out”, I would recommend a diet that is high in fiber and drinking plenty of water on a regular basis.  (Unlike detox diets, there is a lot of scientific evidence behind this recommendation.  Please see my post on the benefits of fiber.)  If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume, but a more moderate approach (i.e. creating a 100-500 calorie deficit per day)is much safer and much easier to maintain in the long run.

“There is at least as much sugar in several kids’ cereals as there is in as a glazed doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts”.  This is what consumer reports found when they analyzed the top 27 cereals marketed to children.  In fact, they found that “2 cereals are more than 50% sugar, and nine others are more than 40% sugar”.   What’s even worse is that “several cereals sold in the U.S. had more sugar and sodium than the same brands sold overseas”. 

Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it is time to take a closer look at what we are serving our kids and ourselves (because we all know that kids aren’t the only ones eating these cereals).  The following kids’ cereals rated best and worst according to Consumer Report’s nutrition score:

Highest rated:

• Cheerios (General Mills)
• Kix (General Mills)
• Life (Quaker Oats)
• Honey Nut Cheerios (General Mills)

Lowest rated:

• Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch (Quaker Oats)
• Cap’n Crunch (Quaker Oats)
• Rice Krispies (Kellogg’s)
• Apple Jacks (Kellogg’s)
• Fruit Loops (Kellogg’s)
• Golden Crisp (Post)
• Honey Smacks (Kellogg’s)
• Corn Pops (Kellogg’s)

How can you determine if a cereal is a good choice or not?  Take a look at the nutrition label and the ingredient list for the following things:

• Always look at the serving size. (A serving often ranges from ¾ cup – 1 ¼ cup)
• Try to choose a cereal with a minimum of 2 gm of fiber per serving
• Pick cereals with no more than 9 gm of sugar per serving
• Look for the word “whole” in front of the first ingredient on the label (i.e. whole wheat, whole grain oats)
• For weight management, take a look at the calorie level and try to choose the cereals that give you more volume for the calories

If you are having trouble switching from a sugary cereal to a healthier variety, try adding fruit to cereal for a natural sweetness.  Or, gradually reduce the sugary cereals by mixing half of a sugary cereal with half of a lower-sugar variety (i.e. mix Frosted Flakes with Corn Flakes or mix Cocoa Puffs with Kix).  If you just can’t seem to switch the type of cereal you eat, then portion control is the key.  Use smaller bowls to keep serving sizes down and add a piece of fruit on the side for volume and to add nutritional value to the meal.

Reference: Better Breakfasts: Some Cereals are More Than 50 Percent Sugar.  Consumer Labs.  November 2008: 16-17.