Why Oatmeal is good

Oatmeal helps lower cholesterol and is high in fiber, low in fat and packs in vitamins A, B, calcium and iron. And all that soluble fiber means that oatmeal keeps you feeling full longer, which makes it a good morning option. But no one says a slow-cooked pot at breakfast is the only way to eat oats. There are a number of ways to get the whole grain into your diet — and the recipes that follow are surprisingly delicious.

The Supernut: Walnuts Pack a Powerful Dose of Antioxidants

If you’re eager to boost your body’s levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants, look no further than the walnut. It turns out that walnuts are the superheroes of the nut world, at least when it comes to content of antioxidants, which can fight the free-radical damage that contributes to cancer, heart disease, premature aging and cell death. In a presentation to the American Chemical Society, Joe Vinson, a professor of chemistry at Scranton University, reported that a gram of walnuts contains nearly 70 units of polyphenols, a form of antioxidant — more than any of the other nuts Vinson tested. The polyphenols were also up to 15 times more potent than those found in other sources like vitamin E. Vinson told WebMD: “Twenty-eight grams of walnuts (an ounce) have more antioxidants than the sum of what the average person gets from fruits and vegetables.” He’s not advocating people replace their apples and spinach (both of which are also high in antioxidants) with handfuls of walnuts, but it’s worth noting that the average American could probably afford to add a few nuts to their diet: nuts account for only 8% of our daily intake of antioxidants. Many people may have avoided nuts because they are also high in calories and fat, but experts have reported that the unsaturated fats found in nuts is not as dangerous for the heart as the saturated fats packed in meat and dairy products. And nuts are low in carbohydrates, which means they could play a role in a balanced diet for weight loss, and may even help curb hunger. If you’re not a fan of walnuts, you can get polyphenols from other nuts. Based on antioxidant content, according to Vinson, here’s how they stack up, from highest to lowest: Brazil nuts pistachios pecans almonds peanuts macadamia nuts While the findings haven’t been replicated yet by other researchers, they certainly suggest that walnuts might be a good source of healthy antioxidants. “A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut,” Vinson told MyHealthNewsDaily. “But unfortunately, people don’t eat a lot of them. This study suggests that consumers should eat more walnuts as part of a healthy diet.”

What’s the Healthiest Breakfast? Here’s What the Experts Say

Veggie Omelet with Berries

Plenty of studies show that eating breakfast is good for your health. It can help maintain weight loss and even reduce lead poisoning. But a 2011 report found that 31 million Americans still don’t eat in the morning.

Oz Garcia, celebrity nutritionist for stars like Hilary Swank and Naomi Campbell, never skips breakfast. His meal of choice: an omelet made with two organic egg whites, one egg yolk, spinach and tomatoes, with a half-cup of organic berries on the side. “This breakfast has a lot of protein and will help keep you feeling full throughout the day. The omelet contains a healthy serving of vegetables and the berries are a terrific antioxidant,” says Garcia.
Eating protein in the morning can reduce cravings and hunger throughout the day, according to a 2011 study published in Obesity. “Incorporating a healthy breakfast containing protein-rich foods can be a simple strategy for people to stay satisfied longer, and therefore, be less prone to snacking,” study author Heather Leidy, assistant professor in the department of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, said in a statement at the time.

Oats with Milk

Cristina Rivera, a registered dietician and president of Nutrition In Motion PC, relies on breakfast for training recovery. “I work long hours and I am training for a marathon, I rely on this meal to provide me with the energy I need to get me through days jam-packed with work and intense training regimes,” says Rivera.
According to Rivera, our muscles and brain need fuel immediately upon waking. Neglecting to eat breakfast will force your body to break down glycogen — stored energy in muscle used during exercise — so it can fuel up. This results in less available energy and can lead to sugar cravings later in the day.
 “For an athlete, this translates into an inability to perform to your potential and an increased risk of injury. For those who are weight conscious, eating within an hour of waking up stimulates metabolism, which means you burn more calories throughout the day,” says Rivera.
After eating a small snack and going on a run, Rivera cooks herself a breakfast of a half-cup of oats with 1 cup of skim milk. “Raw oats are minimally processed, contain energy producing B vitamins and are a great source of carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen after a run. I make it with milk instead of water so that I have the added benefits of calcium, vitamin D and protein to aide in muscle growth and recovery.”

For flavor, she adds cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries and 2 tablespoons of sliced raw almonds to her oatmeal. “The cranberries are loaded with antioxidants, which counteract oxidative stress that happens to your body during an intense workout,” says Rivera. “Almonds are high in omega-3s, which is a heart-healthy fat known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Adding foods rich in omega-3s to your recovery meal decreases muscle soreness and decreases your risk of injury.”

Sprouted Grain Toast with Almond Butter

Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian and author of The Flexitarian Diet, starts her day with sprouted grain toast with almond butter, sliced apples and coffee.
What’s sprouted grain bread, you ask? The name refers to how the bread is prepared: grains are soaked in water and allowed to “sprout” before they are added to other ingredients. It’s harder to find than standard bread, but you can usually get it at grocery stores that specialize in organic foods like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
“Sprouted grain toast has more absorbable minerals than standard whole grain bread,” says Blatner. “The almond butter gives healthy fat and protein while the sliced apple adds wholesome nutrition and volume for fullness. It’s a good source of fiber and other disease-fighting plant compounds. The coffee in moderation offers mental morning clarity.”
Blatner recommends about 16 ounces a day of coffee to decrease the risk of diseases like diabetes and dementia. Studies have also found that coffee drinkers may be less depressed and have a lower risk of cancer, including fatal prostate cancer, and a smaller chance of stroke.

Fresh Fruit and a Glass of Milk

“Breakfast for me is an absolute must,” says Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian and associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Ayoob always eats fresh fruit, followed by a glass of low-fat or fat-free milk. Later in the morning, he eats protein — usually Greek yogurt or a hard-boiled egg — and whole-grain cereal.
“The extra protein keeps my appetite quiet for the morning,” says Ayoob. “Cereal and milk are great, but I like additional lean protein in the morning. Sometimes the cereal tops off the yogurt, or is put into a Ziploc bag and taken to work with me as a mid-morning snack.”

 

Ayoob also indulges his sweet tooth in the morning — but only a little. “The milk is usually turned into my homemade hot chocolate. I’ll make it with lots of unsweetened cocoa powder, and a sugar substitute, like stevia. I’m not anti-sugar, but I’d prefer to spend my calories elsewhere when I can — like on a little dark chocolate later in the afternoon.”Having something sweet in the morning isn’t necessarily a no-no. A recent study found that eating dessert in the morning can help dieters lose weight. The trick is in the timing: in the morning, the body’s metabolism is most active and there is still an opportunity to work off the calories later. During the 32-week study, participants who consumed a 600-calorie breakfast that included a sweet — like chocolate — lost an average of 40 lbs. more per person than their peers who ate a 300-calorie breakfast without dessert; both groups ate very low-calorie diets overall. As always, moderation is key.

Greek Yogurt, Walnut and Banana Blend

Jay Cardiello, founder of the workout system JCORE and trainer for The Real Housewives of New York and 50 Cent, likes variety in the morning, but one of his go-tos is a blend of Greek yogurt, walnuts, cinnamon and banana.
Cardiello starts with a 6-ounce serving of Greek yogurt for protein. “I am getting approximately 15 to 20 grams of protein, which will help me feel more satisfied throughout the morning,” says Cardiello. “Greek yogurt is mostly made up of the slow-digesting casein protein, so my body is constantly being fed, which is important for the long mornings where I may not be able to grab a healthy snack.”

Next, he adds a handful of walnuts, one banana and a little cinnamon. “Walnuts are a wonderful source of omega-3 and help decrease my cholesterol levels,” says Cardiello. “Bananas provide energy because they contain carbohydrates, fats and protein. I sometimes eat a banana as a pre-workout or afternoon snack when I am starting to fatigue.”
In 2011, researchers from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania found that walnuts contain more healthy antioxidants than any other nut. “A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut. But unfortunately, people don’t eat a lot of them,” said study author Dr. Joe Vinson in a statement.

As for the cinnamon? “I have had 13 surgeries, and I use cinnamon to help reduce the pain from arthritis that I sometimes feel in my joints,” Cardiello says.

 Fruit-and-Veggie Smoothie

Kim Snyder, celebrity nutritionist for Drew Barrymore and Channing Tatum and author of The Beauty Detox Solution, starts off her day the same way as her clients, with a “Glowing Green Smoothie” made with all organic lettuce, celery, spinach, apples, pears, bananas and lemon.
“It’s pure fuel that gives you the energy you need to go shooting into your day, supplying your body with essential vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and fiber,” says Snyder. “Because it’s blended, it efficiently nourishes your body while taking very little energy for digestion. One 16- to 20-ounce serving contains more leafy green vegetables that most people get in a week…or a month. It’s made up of about 70% green vegetables and 30% fruit, so it’s as delicious as it is energizing and beautifying.”

Here’s Snyder’s recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped
3-4 stalks organic celery
1/2 head of a large bunch or 3/4 of a small bunch of spinach
1 organic apple, cored and chopped
1 organic pear, cored and chopped
1 organic banana
Juice of 1/2 fresh organic lemon
Optional:
1/3 bunch organic cilantro (stems okay)
1/3 bunch organic parsley (stems okay)
Directions: Add water and chopped head of romaine to blender. Blend at a low speed until smooth. Add celery, apple and pear and blend at high speed. Add cilantro and parsley. Finish with banana and lemon juice.

Oatmeal with Cottage Cheese

Keri Gans, a registered dietitian in New York City and author of The Small Change Diet, eats the same breakfast every morning: quick-cooking oatmeal made with nonfat milk, topped with low fat cottage cheese, chia seeds and cinnamon.

“I get fiber from the oats, protein and calcium from the milk and cottage cheese, and healthy fat from the seeds. The combo keeps me satisfied until lunch,” says Gans.
Gans makes sure she gets her dairy in the morning because “it’s an opportunity for calcium and both are good sources of protein which help keep me full.”
Dieters tend to cut back on diary products, but studies have shown a moderate consumption of dairy calcium and vitamin D won’t stymie weight loss goals. Government guidelines also recommend that Americans increase their intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese, or fortified soy beverages.

The Benefits of Berries to the Brain

The Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has reviewed the studies and found that berry fruits protect brain cells from damage and prevent inflammation.
Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
Developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) or some other form of dementia is a very real concern for older adults. The potential loss of dignity, identity, and independence is a frightening thought. There is good news on the nutrition front, however. Berries may provide protection against Alzheimer's as well as age-related memory loss and other types of cognitive decline.
Marshall G. Miller and Barbara Shukitt-Hale, researchers with the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, reviewed cellular, animal, and human studies on berry fruits and the aging brain and found strong evidence that blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other berry fruits have beneficial effects.
They found that berry fruits protect the brain in several ways. They contain high amounts of antioxidants that protect cells from damage. Berry fruits also change the way that neurons in the brain communicate, and this may prevent inflammation in the brain that can damage neurons. Components in berries also improve cognition and motor control.
With people living longer today and the first of the baby boomers having reached the age of 65, there are increasing concerns about the toll that AD and other types of mental decline will have on individuals, their families, and the cost of health care. An estimated 5.4 million people (or one in eight) have AD at an estimated cost of $183 million annually.
Plant foods, including fruits and vegetables, are the primary source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Berry fruits contain high amounts of phenolic compounds, particularly anthocyanins, potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory chemicals that give berries their bright red, blue, and purple colors. Berry fruits also contain a wide variety of other antioxidants, but their role in brain health is poorly understood. Other berry fruits include raspberries, huckleberries, cranberries, wineberries, bilberries, mulberries, grapes, and currants.
More research is needed to fully understand how the wide variety of phytochemicals found in berry fruits work. Whether there is a single component that is responsible for the benefits of berries or whether there are many phytochemicals that work together to provide benefits is unknown. It is also unknown if there are critical periods in the lifecycle during which increasing the intake of berries can prevent, or possibly reverse, the negative effects of aging on the brain.
In the meantime, eat more berries.

A Vegetarian Burger Bash

For burger lovers who want to cut back on meat, vegetarian burgers can be a tasty and healthful way to recreate the burger experience. In this week’s Recipes for Health, Martha Rose Shulman offers five ways to create vegetarian burgers at home. She writes:

I wanted to work on veggie burgers because I have never had a commercial one that I liked. They all taste overprocessed to me, with no fresh flavors. I’ve had much better luck making burgers from Lukas Volger’s excellent cookbook “Veggie Burgers Every Which Way.” I especially like his bean and vegetable combos.
Puréed beans make a great binder for grain and vegetable burgers, and an egg added to the mixture will help to hold it together. (If you want to keep them vegan you can, though you have to be careful when you flip the burgers over because they tend to fall apart.) I found that all of these burgers somehow tasted better a day after they were assembled ― the flavors had gelled, the burgers held together better, and a burger that seemed a bit dry to me right after cooking did not seem so dry the next day when reheated. I can’t tell you why.
Like Mr. Volger, I found the best way to cook these vegetarian burgers was to brown them on one side in an ovenproof frying pan, then turn them and stick the pan in a 375-degree oven for 10 minutes. Turning can be tricky, but if the burgers do crumble, just patch them back together with your spatula, apply a little pressure and put the pan into the oven.

Here are five new recipes for homemade veggie burgers.
Beet, Rice and Goat Cheese Burgers: Make these ahead for quick meals through the week and reheat in a medium oven or a frying pan.
Curried Lentil, Rice and Carrot Burgers: Indian spices liven up these burgers. The turmeric offers bonus antioxidant health benefits, but even without it, they’re in abundance in this recipe, with all the carrots and ginger.
Quinoa and Greens Burger: Rainbow quinoa is a great choice for this recipe — because it’s pretty, and because the red, black and golden quinoa grains all have slightly different textures.
Quinoa and Vegetable Burgers With Asian Flavors: This vibrant burger is made with both cooked and uncooked vegetables.
Mushroom and Grain Cheeseburgers: Barley is a traditional hearty partner for mushrooms, but brown rice is just as tasty in this burger.

Curried Lentil, Rice and Carrot Burgers

 

love the Indian spices in these burgers. The turmeric offers bonus antioxidant health benefits, but even without it, they’re in abundance in this recipe, with all the carrots and ginger. 2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil

1/3 cup finely diced onion

1 cup finely diced carrots

6 ounces mushrooms, sliced or finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Pinch of cayenne (or to taste)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup cooked brown rice

2 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils, drained

1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a heavy ovenproof skillet and add the onion and carrot. Cook, stirring often, until just about tender, about 3 minutes, and add the mushrooms, ginger, turmeric, cumin, curry powder, mustard seeds and cayenne and a pinch of salt. Cook for another 3 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender and fragrant and the spices aromatic. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add the rice.

2. Purée the lentils with the egg and add to the vegetable and rice mixture. Stir together, season with salt and pepper, and shape into 6 patties.

3. Heat the ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and, working in batches if necessary, cook the patties for 2 minutes on one side, or until nicely browned. Carefully turn the patties over and place in the oven. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the patties are lightly browned and don’t fall apart. Remove from the heat and serve, with or without buns, chutney or ketchup and the works.

Yield: 6 burgers.

Advance preparation: These can be put together and shaped up to 3 days before browning. They can also be cooked ahead and reheated in a low oven or in a pan on top of the stove. Keep them well wrapped in the refrigerator.

Nutritional information per serving (6 servings): 208 calories; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 31 milligrams cholesterol; 29 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 33 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 11 grams protein

Healthy eating can reduce overall cancer risk

The American Cancer Society says, "Yes."
The society released updated nutrition and physical-activity guidelines earlier this year that stress the importance of lifestyle in cancer prevention.
"The research continues to show that we can make a difference in our risk for cancer," said Michelle Eckhart, a Louisville dietitian who manages Jewish Diabetes Care, a service of KentuckyOne Health.
The cancer society's guidelines call for limiting some foods and beverages, such as red meat and alcohol, and greenlight others.
"There's no evidence that coffee causes cancer," said Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society. Also, "there's no evidence that artificial sweeteners increase cancer risk" in the amounts people typically consume.
But the society recommends no more than one alcoholic drink a day for women and no more than two a day for men, said Doyle, a registered dietitian who co-authored the society's guidelines.
"When consumption increases above those levels, you start to see a variety of cancer risks go up," Doyle said. And it appears that breast-cancer risk "can increase even at less than that one drink per day."
To reduce the risk of a variety of cancers, Doyle suggests paying attention to your "overall dietary pattern."
For example, "eating more fruits and vegetables, especially the colorful ones; eating more whole grains; eating less red and processed meat -- we know those combination of things can really make a big difference," she said.
Exercise and not overeating also are important when it comes to cancer prevention, Doyle said, noting that "if you don't smoke, the biggest risk factor is overweight and obesity."
"Physical activity is certainly important from a weight-control perspective," she said, but there's also evidence that it "directly reduces the risk of breast cancer and directly reduces the risk of colon cancer -- separate and apart from its impact on weight control."
Eckhart encourages the public to strive for a normal BMI (body mass index), adding, "Trying to reduce your body weight by 7 to 10 percent, I think, is a realistic goal to start with," she said.
She also suggests "aiming to increase your physical activity as much as possible," noting even "15 minutes a day is a start in the right direction" if you're inactive now.
In terms of diet, the guidelines encourage the public to cut back on sugary foods and beverages.
"Foods and beverages that are high in sugar tend to not be high in €1/8 nutrients that we think are important, certainly from an overall health perspective, but a cancer-risk perspective, too," Doyle said.
"If we've got people loading up on cakes and cookies and pies and sodas €1/8 that means they're probably not eating as many fruits and vegetables or whole grains as certainly we would like to see people eating to help reduce their risk."
There are a number of possible ways in which fruits and vegetables might cut cancer risks, from reducing inflammation to protecting cell membranes. In some types of cancer, it's cell-membrane damage "that has the potential to spur a cell to grow on and develop and eventually turn into cancer," Doyle said.
"We tell people to focus on the most colorful (types of produce) because they tend to have the most antioxidants/phytochemicals in them, and then we encourage a variety because we don't know which of those antioxidants and phytochemicals are most protective," she said.
Fruits and vegetables also are prized for their fiber.
"We believe there's some role for fiber in reducing the risk of colon cancer," Doyle said. And "there's more and more evidence that the more fruits and vegetables people eat, the healthier weight they are at, and so especially since weight control is so important to reduce your risk of cancer, eating more fruits and vegetables is really critical for all of us."
Eckhart recommends fresh fruits and vegetables and says it's not difficult to get at least 2 1 / 2 cups a day as the cancer society recommends. But it does require a different way of thinking.
"People have to focus on, 'Oh, I can't just have burgers and fries,' or 'I can't just have a slice of pizza.' "
The public also needs to focus on whole grains, which help contribute to a fiber-rich diet and tend to be more nutritious than their refined counterparts, Doyle said. Examples include whole-grain pastas and breads.
But "make sure you're flipping the package over and reading the actual label," Eckhart said. Before buying the bread, for example, "you want the first ingredient to be '100 percent whole wheat,' or sometimes it will say, '100 percent stone-ground whole wheat,' or it may say, '100 percent whole oat flour.'
"It has to have the word 'whole' in it."
The society encourages the public to limit consumption of red meat and processed meat, noting the possible presence of nitrates and other constituents that could increase cancer risk.
"The evidence is very clear that red and processed meat increase the risk of colon cancer," Doyle said. "We do encourage people to look at other lean protein sources and even plant protein sources like beans or tofu."
Eating a variety of fish is another recommended option, but precautions are advised for some groups, such as pregnant women, because some fish can be high in mercury and other contaminants. For example, pregnant and nursing women, those planning to become pregnant, and young children are told to limit their consumption of albacore tuna to no more than 6 ounces per week and canned light tuna to no more than 12 ounces per week.
The society also recommends preparing meat, poultry and fish by baking, broiling, or poaching rather than by frying or charbroiling.
When it comes to soy and alcohol, Doyle offered these caveats.
Alcohol consumption "really is a double-edged sword," she said. "Moderate cosumption reduces the risk of heart disease, reduces the risk of overall mortality, so in particular with women, we encourage women to look at your risk of heart disease, look at your risk of cancer and breast cancer, and make an informed decision about whether you consume any alcohol or not. Also, it's a pretty high source of calories."
As for soy, "the jury's still out, whether soy reduces your risk for cancer; however, it's a great source of nutrients," Doyle said. "It's a great plant protein source that could take the place of red meat in your diet."
That's even true for breast-cancer survivors, Doyle said. "Eating up to about three servings a day of soy foods really is not a problem for breast-cancer survivors," though she discourages use of concentrated soy supplements.
If you're a breast-cancer survivor, "if you want to eat tofu or edamame or drink soy milk, great," Doyle said. "But (you) probably want to stay away from those supplements."

Links of the day

(1) Can Food Really Be Addictive? Yes, Says National Drug Expert  Read more
(2) In India, a Small Pill, With Positive Side Effects To Kill Intestinal Worms in Poor Kids . Read more

How much fiber is good to have in a daily diet ?

How much fiber is good to have in a daily diet, and what does it do for our bodies? What are good sources of fiber — cereal bars, granola bars? How much is too much fiber?

Answer: You, like most Americans, probably get less than half the fiber you need. You can fix that by eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, peas and whole grain breads and cereals. Fiber occurs only in plants.
Eating these foods at every meal will do wonders for your digestive system. They help protect you against obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and even some cancers.
Fiber refers to a bunch of plant carbohydrates that human enzymes cannot digest easily. These come in two types: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fiber, the kind found in grains, almost completely resists digestion. It has no calories.
But soluble fiber from beans and other vegetables can be digested to some extent by bacteria in your colon. They produce a little energy you can use.
Research shows that people who eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains with both kinds of fiber develop less chronic disease. But these benefits do not show up in studies using fiber supplements.
This means you are better off eating vegetables than power bars. If you must eat those bars, choose the ones with fruits, nuts and whole grain — real foods — high up on the ingredient list. Watch out for misleading claims about “good source of fiber.” Check the Nutrition Facts panels — 3 grams is minimal, 5 is better.
If you are not used to eating fruits, vegetable and grains, eating more of them may make you feel gassy. Gradually include more. Your digestive system will be happier, and you will be healthier.

Calories Are Everywhere, Yet Hard to Track

Americans are having a passionate love affair with something they cannot see, hear, feel, touch or taste. That something is calories, billions upon billions of which are consumed every day, often unwittingly, at and between meals.
Certainly calories are talked about constantly, and information about them appears with increasing frequency on food labels, menus, recipes and Web sites. But few people understand what they are and how they work — especially how they have worked to create a population in which 64 percent of adults and a third of children are overweight or obese, or how they thwart the efforts of so many people to shed those unwanted pounds and keep them off once and for all.

Enter two experts: Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University; and Malden Nesheim, professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at Cornell University. Together they have written a new book, “Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics,” to be published April 1, which explains what calories are, where they come from, how different sources affect the body, and why it is so easy to consume more of them than most people need to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

“The human body does a superb job of making sure that it gets enough calories to meet biological needs but is much less effective at knowing when calories are in excess,” they wrote. “The result is that it is much easier to overeat than to stop eating when you are no longer hungry.”

Out of Control

People living in affluent societies today swim in a sea of redundant calories. Food is everywhere, and it is relatively inexpensive, accounting for about 10 percent of Americans’ disposable income on average, Dr. Nestle said in an interview.

“When did it become O.K. to eat in bookstores?” she asked. “Or in Staples? Bed, Bath and Beyond, or drugstores?”

Portion sizes — especially restaurant portions — have mushroomed out of control, she noted.

“People who pay attention to calorie labels on menus are shocked, for example, to discover that a single cookie contains 700 calories,” Dr. Nestle said. “You may want that cookie, but then you can’t eat anything else. Cookies didn’t used to be this big.”

Nor were bagels, now 500 or 600 calories each, or sodas, available in sizes as large as 64 ounces.

The shock extends to those supposedly in the know. Recently Lisa Young, a colleague of Dr. Nestle at New York University, asked the students in her nutrition class how many calories were in a Double Gulp, a 64-ounce soda available at 7-Eleven convenience stores. She’d already told them that an eight-ounce soda has 100 calories, but the students guessed a Double Gulp contains less than 400 calories.

When Dr. Young asked why their estimate was off by 100 percent, they simply said, “800 calories — that can’t be!”

People who do check calorie information on nutrition labels often fail to note the size of the serving it applies to. A serving of ice cream is just a half-cup, a burger is three ounces, and uncooked pasta is merely two ounces. A pound of pasta, therefore, should feed eight people, not two or four; two ounces per serving is about what Italians consume as a first course.

A typical American restaurant meal is more like dinner for two. Dr. Nestle said restaurants have resisted her suggestion to serve half the amount of food for about a third the price. She recently found at one New York restaurant that a “personal-size pizza” contained 2,100 calories, the amount the average woman needs in a day.

“And that didn’t include the soda and dessert,” she said. “Unless you’re in the kitchen watching what the chef is doing, you have no idea how many calories are being packed into a given dish.”

Health claims for foods are another seductive factor encouraging overconsumption, Dr. Nestle said. She’s found that words imparting “a health aura — like ‘organic’ or ‘low-fat’ or ‘heart-healthy’ — can prompt people to forget about calories.”

Ending Excess

The human body has a very complex and redundant system to make sure the brain gets the sugar calories it needs to function, Dr. Nestle and Dr. Nesheim explain in their book. At least 100 different hormones, enzymes and other chemicals — with more likely to be discovered — act to regulate appetite and to assure that people eat enough to maintain brain function.

But it is these very systems that go into overdrive during starvation (translation: a reduced-calorie diet), making it so difficult for people to lose weight.

As seductive as the current food environment is, it is still easier not to gain excess weight in the first place. Most people seriously underestimate how much they eat. For example, participants in the Nurses’ Health Study report consuming 1,600 calories a day, but their body mass index on average is 26 or higher — well into the overweight range and supported by many more calories than the women seem to think they are eating.

“I don’t count calories, and I don’t recommend counting calories,” Dr. Nestle said. “I recommend eating food. You have to pay attention to eating better and in moderation: plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains in reasonable portions, and not too much junk food.”

She applauded the current campaign by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to get people to stop “pouring on the calories” by consuming fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

Dr. Nestle and Dr. Nesheim also review the weight-regulating effects of different sources of calories. Is it high-fructose corn syrup that makes so many people fat? Are other carbohydrates to blame, or fat — or what?

They found scant evidence to support the popular notion that any one nutrient is responsible for our obesity, or that a low-carbohydrate diet is everyone’s secret to success.

Although a diet low in carbs and high in fats and protein may enhance satiety and curb snacking, few people seem able to refrain indefinitely from the carbohydrate-rich foods they love. The long-term effectiveness of low-carb diets for a vast majority of people who try them has yet to be assessed.

“The source of the calories may make a small difference in weight maintenance or loss, but it appears to be much less important than the ability to resist pressures to overeat calories in general,” the authors wrote.

And since most people cannot come close to estimating how many calories they consume or expend in a day, a better way to monitor intake and output, Dr. Nestle said, is to regularly check the notches on one’s belt or numbers on the scale.

“It’s much easier to lose a pound or two than 20 or 30,” she said.

Of course, the amount of calories consumed is not the only factor influencing weight. Calories expended count as well, and the more active people are, even if they are simply fidgety, the better able they are to balance intake with output.

Chicken: white meat with many antibiotics and growth harmones

 Arsenic in Our Chicken?

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Let’s hope you’re not reading this column while munching on a chicken sandwich.

That’s because my topic today is a pair of new scientific studies suggesting that poultry on factory farms are routinely fed caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and even arsenic.

“We were kind of floored,” said Keeve E. Nachman, a co-author of both studies and a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future. “It’s unbelievable what we found.”

He said that the researchers had intended to test only for antibiotics. But assays for other chemicals and pharmaceuticals didn’t cost extra, so researchers asked for those results as well.

“We haven’t found anything that is an immediate health concern,” Nachman added. “But it makes me question how comfortable we are feeding a number of these things to animals that we’re eating. It bewilders me.”

Likewise, I grew up on a farm, and thought I knew what to expect in my food. But Benadryl? Arsenic? These studies don’t mean that you should dump the contents of your refrigerator, but they do raise serious questions about the food we eat and how we should shop.

It turns out that arsenic has routinely been fed to poultry (and sometimes hogs) because it reduces infections and makes flesh an appetizing shade of pink. There’s no evidence that such low levels of arsenic harm either chickens or the people eating them, but still...

Big Ag doesn’t advertise the chemicals it stuffs into animals, so the scientists conducting these studies figured out a clever way to detect them. Bird feathers, like human fingernails, accumulate chemicals and drugs that an animal is exposed to. So scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Arizona State University examined feather meal — a poultry byproduct made of feathers.

One study, just published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, Environmental Science & Technology, found that feather meal routinely contained a banned class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. These antibiotics (such as Cipro), are illegal in poultry production because they can breed antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” that harm humans. Already, antibiotic-resistant infections kill more Americans annually than AIDS, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The same study also found that one-third of feather-meal samples contained an antihistamine that is the active ingredient of Benadryl. The great majority of feather meal contained acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. And feather-meal samples from China contained an antidepressant that is the active ingredient in Prozac.

Poultry-growing literature has recommended Benadryl to reduce anxiety among chickens, apparently because stressed chickens have tougher meat and grow more slowly. Tylenol and Prozac presumably serve the same purpose.

Researchers found that most feather-meal samples contained caffeine. It turns out that chickens are sometimes fed coffee pulp and green tea powder to keep them awake so that they can spend more time eating. (Is that why they need the Benadryl, to calm them down?)

The other peer-reviewed study, reported in a journal called Science of the Total Environment, found arsenic in every sample of feather meal tested. Almost 9 in 10 broiler chickens in the United States had been fed arsenic, according to a 2011 industry estimate.

These findings will surprise some poultry farmers because even they often don’t know what chemicals they feed their birds. Huge food companies require farmers to use a proprietary food mix, and the farmer typically doesn’t know exactly what is in it. I asked the United States Poultry and Egg Association for comment, but it said that it had not seen the studies and had nothing more to say.

What does all this mean for consumers? The study looked only at feathers, not meat, so we don’t know exactly what chemicals reach the plate, or at what levels. The uncertainties are enormous, but I asked Nachman about the food he buys for his own family. “I’ve been studying food-animal production for some time, and the more I study, the more I’m drawn to organic,” he said. “We buy organic.”

I’m the same. I used to be skeptical of organic, but the more reporting I do on our food supply, the more I want my own family eating organic — just to be safe.

To me, this underscores the pitfalls of industrial farming. When I was growing up on our hopelessly inefficient family farm, we didn’t routinely drug animals. If our chickens grew anxious, the reason was perhaps a fox — and we never tried to resolve the problem with Benadryl.

My take is that the business model of industrial agriculture has some stunning accomplishments, such as producing cheap food that saves us money at the grocery store. But we all may pay more in medical costs because of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Frankly, after reading these studies, I’m so depressed about what has happened to farming that I wonder: Could a Prozac-laced chicken nugget help?

USDA is changing the way its inspectors oversee chicken processing.

As Dana Milbank of the Washington Post puts it, this is

a proposal to allow chicken slaughterhouses to inspect themselves — eliminating those pesky federal monitors who have the annoying habit of taking diseased birds out of the food supply.
Even if the Obama administration were inclined to bring down capitalism with an orgy of overregulation, there isn’t enough money in the budget to enforce the rules on the books. That’s what the chicken fight is about: Spending cuts…are a form of de facto deregulation (my emphasis).

The New York Times account of this policy change notes that inspectors:

had observed numerous instances of poultry plant employees allowing birds contaminated with fecal matter or other substances to pass. And even when the employees try to remove diseased birds, they face reprimands….
The Agriculture Department proposal allows poultry plants to speed up their assembly lines to about 200 birds per minute from 140, hampering any effort to examine birds for defects.

But that’s not all. The Center for Livable Future at Johns Hopkins reports that meal made from chicken by-products (in this case, feathers) contains arsenic and antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones that have been banned by the FDA for use in poultry.
A study published in Environmental Science & Technology found fluoroquinolone antibiotics in 8 of 12 samples of feather meal collected from six states and China.
A second study found arsenic in every sample of feather meal tested.
These findings indicate that poultry producers are using these drugs, even though they are not allowed to.
The U.S. poultry industry raises about 9 billion chickens and 80 million turkeys for human consumption each year. Meal made from their feathers is commonly added to feed for chickens, pigs, cattle, and fish. This could be a reentry route into the human food supply for such drugs.
Nicholas Kristof explains in the New York Times that these studies also found feather meal to contain

an antihistamine that is the active ingredient of Benadryl…[and] acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. And feather-meal samples from China contained an antidepressant that is the active ingredient in Prozac.
Poultry-growing literature has recommended Benadryl to reduce anxiety among chickens, apparently because stressed chickens have tougher meat and grow more slowly. Tylenol and Prozac presumably serve the same purpose.

Such findings indicate some of the worst problems with industrial poultry production. They result from pressures to produce chickens cheaply. The faster chickens can be pushed to grow, the less feed they consume and the cheaper they are to raise.
I don’t know what the best system for inspection might be, but I’m quite sure that leaving food safety oversight to the discretion of the packers is not a good idea. Neither is speeding up the line. And neither is feeding chickens drugs that can affect human health.
Here is even more evidence for the need for an overhaul of our food safety system.
A single food safety system anyone?

 

consumers junk Centre for Science and Environment report

NEW DELHI | BANGALORE: Fast-food chains McDonald's and KFC, and packaged food brands like Lay's chips and Maggi noodles reported normal sales this weekend, despite a study on Friday alleging high levels of trans-fat, sugar and salts in their food on Friday.

Analysts say it is natural for consumers of chips, burgers and noodles to ignore Centre for Science and Environment's warning because they know what they are getting into when they consume chips and fast food.

"The perception is that these food are junk anyway. If they want health, consumers would turn to salads," a consumer goods analyst said on condition of anonymity.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), headed by health and environment activist Sunita Narain, on Friday said most junk foods contain very high levels of trans-fat, sugar and salt, enough to cause obesity, diabetes and hypertension, and called for stricter regulations.

But the new study apparently failed to have the same impact as its findings of high levels of pesticides in colas in 2003 and again in 2006 that dented sales of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo during 2004-06. "The incidence of pesticides is considered unsafe as the consumer did not know the product contained it," the analyst quoted earlier said.

Store managers of McDonalds' in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore and Kolkata and a manager of KFC told ET that their outlets did not report any drop in footfalls over the weekend and on Monday afternoon.

Executives of the country's top two organised retailers, Future Group and Reliance Retail, said they did not witness any drop in potato chips and instant noodles sales over the weekend.

"We haven't seen any significant changes in buying patterns of these products," Devendra Chawla, food & FMCG president at Future Group, said. But Spencer's Retail, which runs more than 200 stores across India, said sales of instant noodles and chips dropped 20-22% in the weekend as compared to usual sales.

"Since chips and instant noodles are impulse-driven categories, consumers tend to react to any negative news," Spencer's Retail Executive Director (Marketing) Sanjay Gupta said.

"However, usually such phenomenon does not last long and sales tend to revive over time," he added. He did not share specific numbers for the brands cited in the CSE report. When ET visited the outlets of KFC and McDonald's in Kolkata's Park Street on Monday lunchtime, the footfall and occupancy was less than on usual days. And an employee of the KFC outlet said sales have been impacted by around 8-10%.

But, largely, Indian consumers have ignored the CSE warning.

Social commentator and advertising industry veteran Santosh Desai says food-related controversies have rarely dented consumption. "There's a fundamental difference in food consumption habits in India and the West. Here, if anything, people think going to McDonald's occasionally is a healthier option because it's cleaner," he said.

And there has not been much demand for healthier baked and sugar-free foods. In fact, some high-profile sugar-free and low-calorie foods have fallen flat in recent times, as Indians prefer taste to health.

Pepsi Max, PepsiCo's no-sugar, 'next-generation' cola, was withdrawn within a few months of launch, while the country's largest biscuit maker Parle Products took its baked chip brand Monaco Smart Chips off shelves barely a year after its national launch.

Desai said that the case of pesticides in colas was different, because pesticide is recognised as a contaminant. The CSE report, which tested 16 popular brands, had said that food items such as potato chips, burgers and noodles almost wipe out one's daily permissible limits of trans-fat, salt and sugar in just one serving.

Junk food: eat at your own risk

Junk food is bad for health. Its definition tells its inner story—food that is high on calories and saturated fat but low on nutrition. Junk food is all about pleasure and empty calories. So, the world is worried. It is now linked to the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases—the ‘fat’ problem. Every ailment from heart diseases to hypertension and diabetes is linked to how one eats and how one exercises. Junk food has become the world’s biggest health headache. And some governments are taking action—banning junk food advertising in children’s programmes, removing it from schools and even imposing a fat tax. Sugar, salt and fat are items that need to be regulated. This means governments have to step in to control the powerful processed food industry. But this is not happening in India. It believes food industry has full privilege to sell anything—and kill people slowly and sweetly. So, the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of the Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit in Delhi, decided to investigate the food people love to eat—everything from chips to bhujia and instant noodles to burgers. All the food that is sold to us through persuasive and glamorous advertisements; all the food that our film and cricket stars tell us to eat. The laboratory checked for fats, carbs, salt and trans fats. The results are deadly and damning. Eat at your own risk, is the message.
Photo: Harsha K R

Fat of the matter
FRIED POTATO CHIPS It has around 33% fats. This means if one munches a standard-sized packet of chips (65-75gm), he or she consumes about half of the daily fats quota. Unlike in a balanced diet, where a maximum of 30% of calories should come from fats, 50-60% of calories come from fats in chips	INDIAN SNACKS Fats and carbohydrates combined, 100 gm of Kurkure has enough calories to satisfy one-fourth of one’s daily recommended quota. If you are fond of aloo bhujia with tea, you get high doses of salt and trans fats, along with a high amount of calories
INSTANT NOODLES The “tasty and healthy” meal comes with high salt, empty calories. A packet of noodle has around 3 gm of salt; recommended intake is 6 gm/day. Addition of vitamins, as claimed by Maggie Noodles, doesn’t make it a healthy food as it has negligible fibres; 70% of it is just carbohydrates	POTATO FRIES Fries that one eats with burger and soft drink are laden with fats: 20% of its weight is fats, 1.6% of its weight is trans fats. By eating a large serving (220 gm), one exceeds the safe limit for trans fats. Additional trans fats come from accompanying burger too
BURGER KFC’s Chicken Zinger has 16.9% fats. McAloo has 8.3% fats. How unbalanced diets are they is gauged from the fact that 35% of calories in a veg burger come from fats. In non-veg burgers 47% calories are from fats	CARBONATED DRINKS The 300 ml serving that one drinks with all kinds of junk food has enough sugar (over 40 gm) to exceed one’s daily sugar quota of 20 gm. After this, forget the cup of tea, one should not even eat fruits. Any additional sugar will make one fat
FRIED CHICKEN Regular consumption of this product is likely to make one obese. A two-piece fried chicken of KFC (about 250gm) has nearly 60 gm of fats, which is recommended for the whole day	PIZZA By far, pizzas were found to be healthy compared to the other junk foods tested. They have low levels of salt and fats; levels of trans fats were also low. CSE tested only the basic pizza. Those with extra cheese are more popular and might not be very safe

Consumers duped
There is no proper definition for junk food. According to the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006, foods like burgers, pizzas and chips fall under the category of “propriety or novel” food, for which standards have not been specified but they are not unsafe. So this category of foods declare their composition only broadly. Fast food giants take advantage of this provision to dupe consumers. Even though Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) mandates food companies to declare the information of the total energy, carbohydrates and sugars, proteins, fats and transfats on the product label, the study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reveals that the consumer has no way of knowing what he or she is eating.
Flouting norms: Haldiram Aloo Bhujia and Top Ramen instant noodles claim to be trans fats-free. But CSE study found they are not. As per FSSAI rules, a product can claim to be trans fats free if it contains less than 0.2 gm of trans fats per serving. As per the CSE study, a packet of Top Ramen instant noodles has 0.6 gm of trans fats; 100 gm of Haldiram Aloo Bhujia has 2.5 gm of trans fats. Though Haldiram claims its serving size is 10 gm, it is nothing but a gimmick. Consumption habit of people exceed this serving size and they end up consuming more trans fats.
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Dangerous of Sugar

Links: Sugar - Sweetened Drinks Linked to Heart Disease
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/health/research/sugar-sweetened-drinks-linked-to-heart-disease.html?_r=2&src=tp

Regulating Our Sugar Habit

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/regulating-our-sugar-habit/?hp

What Eating Too much sugar does to your brain

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/04/01/what-eating-too-much-sugar-does-to-your-brain/

Kids eat and drink way too much added sugar, the CDC says

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/29/news/la-heb-added-sugar-kids-diet-20120229

How Sugar Affects Kids
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/08/childrens-cereal-more-sugar-than-a-twinkie/#sugar

5 Natural Sweeteners Demystified
http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/29/better-than-sugar-5-natural-sweeteners-demystified/#turbinado-sugar

Should Sugar Be Regulated like Alcohol and Tobacco?

http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/02/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol-and-tobacco/#ixzz1qr6KZrUt

Debunking Sugar-Consumption Myths
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/debunking-sugar-consumption-myths/

Kids’ Cereals Pack More Sugar Than Twinkies and Cookies
http://www.ewg.org/release/kids-cereals-pack-more-sugar-twinkies-and-cookies

The researchers say their findings upend the popular belief that social networks and environment heavily determine our personal norms about healthy weight. The upshot is this: habits formed in childhood related to eating and exercise carry over in adulthood, long after you’ve left home For parents, Brown says the message is to be a culinary role model. If you choose healthy foods and moderate portions, your children will take note. Moreover, it’s important to start early. When researchers looked at 10-year-olds, their behavior had already stabilized, suggesting they learn eating norms in early childhood. “If we don’t form good habits in childhood, obesity will continue to increase over time,” Brown says.

Is Sugar Toxic ?

Sugar and Kids: The Toxic Truth