Finally! Research that blasts BMI

I've come to detest those BMI tables over the years. It's a purely personal thing. You see, people like me who are curvaceous (and not naturally thin) and definitely heavier than we look don't do so well against this torture table of numbers. I've always said, "eat and exercise for the health of it and let the pounds fall where they may". The truth is, sometimes the numbers (of weight to height), just don't tell the whole story. Sometimes it isn't as simple as this. Factoring in whether or not the extra weight is fat or muscle mass, or fat deposited in the less dangerous thigh and buttocks area or in the more dangerous visceral abdominal fat area is not part of the equation. Remember muscle weighs more than fat!

(A person's BMI or body mass index is a comparison of a person's height to weight. It is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared.)

Well, just the other day an analysis of the BMI related to heart disease risk was published in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal The Lancet. The researchers looked at 40 previously published studies involving 250,000 patients with heart disease followed for an average of four years.

And you know what they found?

* The patients with the lowest BMIs had the highest rates of death from heart disease and all other causes.
* Patients considered to be overweight but not obese, (I AM A MEMBER OF THIS DISTINGUISHED GROUP), had lower risk for death from any cause than patients whose BMIs fell in the normal range.

The researchers suggested that this doesn't mean carrying excess weight is good for heart patients, but it does suggest that better ways of measuring true obesity are needed!

According to one of the researchers, "Underweight patients often have very little muscle mass and they often have other health problems." Pardon me while I scream, "Hah!" "Told you so!"

~~Elaine

Related Topics: 13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life, Do You Really Need to Lose Weight?

Technorati Tags: BMI, obesity, underweight, heartdisease

Carnival of Healing

Better late than never - check out the latest Carnival of Healing where they were kind enough to include my recent post about the benefits of soy. There are some very interesting blogs linked in this carnival.

If you've found your way here from the Carnival, here is a link to the soy post you are looking for.


~~Elaine

Cooking With Kids

Strategy #1 for getting kids to try weird food

How do you get kids to try foods they would normally turn their nose up at faster than they can say, "no way mom!"? These are foods that they might describe as weird because they look a little different than a similar food or because they just haven't tried them before.

Answer: have them help you make something that includes those foods. The minute they are the ones in the kitchen pouring the smoothie or chopping the fruit, they tend to develop a sudden strange case of willing-to-try-it-itis. I've witnessed this many times myself.

What kinds of weird food are we talking about? How about tofu, soy milk, dried fruit, okra, barley, spinach, water chestnuts, jicama, etc... Recently I had one of my cooking sessions with my friend's daughters and one of my daughters and the theme for the hour (although I didn't let them in on it) was "how to get your kids to try weird food and like it." We made a tropical mango smoothie with vanilla soy milk (you know, that milk that looks funny). We made a spinach dip with frozen spinach and water chestnuts or chopped jicama, and we made a tasty treat by dipping dried apricots in a little melted white chocolate then pressed into chopped peanuts. They loved all of it.

My daughter believes she is "allergic" to yogurt, that it gives her a tummy ache after she eats it. Not that I doubt it, but I'm guessing a little yogurt would be just fine. We added yogurt to the smoothie and I don't think she even realized it. No tummy ache ensued.

Bottom line: Kids love to cook. As their involvement goes up with the making of the meal or snack, so escalates their willingness to try new foods. Just keep that in mind the next time you are staring at a tub of tofu or a box of barley.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Ask Dr Parker: Picky Eaters, Parenting the Picky Eater

Technorati Tags: cookingwithkids, pickyeaters, weirdfoods, tofu, soy, jicama, smoothies

Who is to blame for the obesity crisis?

Know this about me right now, when talking about controversial topics, be it political or moral, I usually always see the "gray" - I hardly ever see something as black or white - right or wrong. When discussing important topics and hearing both sides of the story, I usually think the true answer lies somewhere in the middle. I'm not wishy washy, I'm usually quite passionate about seeing gray.

Lately there have been articles, books, and movies in essence laying blame for a fatter world at the feet of the food industry. Again, I see gray.

Are some companies within the food industry continuing to produce greasy meals dripping with saturated fat or continuing to produce beaucoup beverages basically glazing the average American in a sea of sugar? Absolutely. Do I wish fast food chains offered more healthy, tasty options? You betcha. Could they do more to encourage Americans to choose health? Yes. Until they put the nutrition information right there on the Big Mac box, there is more they can do.

But when they do offer the healthier options, we consumers need to actually purchase them to keep it alive as an option. They are running a business after all. Healthy food isn't going to do anyone any good if no one is eating it. We have to actually choose health, when we can. The blame for that, my friends, lies in our lap. Ever heard of the phrase and concept, supply and demand? Well the food and fast food industry is, to a certain extent, responding to our demand with what they supply.

Is it good to apply a little pressure to the food and fast food industry? I think so. A little prodding is often necessary to get the capitalist ball rolling. Some companies genuinely care about the health of their customers (although other companies clearly don't and their innovations are mostly reactionary and an effort to cash in on a health "craze" such as the Low Carb craze). A healthy faithful customer is a customer who is likely to live longer and therefore have many more years to buy their products.

Is part of the reason we have a hard time choosing "health" because we are confronted at every corner with (and with copious advertisements for) tasty, tempting high calorie food? Sure. We are mammals after all. We are in many ways slaves to suggestion and tormented with the urge to satisfy our taste buds.

And whom shall we blame for our inactivity? That is a big portion of why many Americans are obese. If we eat more calories than we burn, our body stores the excess as body fat. Do we blame computer companies? Do we blame the car companies?

So whom do we blame?

A. The Food Industry and Fast Food
B. The media for giving us a mixed message of unrealistic female and male models--eye candy--while at the same time giving us constant images of real candy (irresistible food).
C. Our parents for not surrounding us with healthful food and eating habits.
D. Ourselves for not taking better care of our bodies and for being so vulnerable to overeating and choosing high calorie/high fat/high sugar foods too often.

How about "E. All of the above?"

That works for me! To fix the obesity crisis it is going to take change, ladies and gentlemen...BIG change in all the areas discussed above. We as individuals and parents can start making health a top priority (which does in no way mean making it an obsession, by the way). And we can try our hardest not to buy magazines or listen to TV shows and ads that promote the double message. And we can continue to buy the more healthful options out there in fast food and supermarket land and we should probably continue to put pressure on food companies to do more to help. Oh yes, and we need to do whatever it takes to get ourselves off our butts for ideally an hour a day. I didn't say it was going to be easy!

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Obesity Linked to Mood Disorders, WebMD Video: Fast Food Survival

Technorati Tags: obesity, obesitycrisis, fastfood, exercise, healthydiet

Taste Test Tuesday: Slow Churned Ice Cream

Summer has officially ended for some families whose kids are back in school. Some of us have just one precious week left before the craziness of advanced algebra (did we even learn this stuff?) and getting two kids to two different schools kicks back into high gear. So, enjoy the last days of summer and check out this new slow-churned ice cream if you haven't already (from Dreyer's brand,or Edy's brand I believe on the East Coast).

The other night I was making a late night run to the grocery store to get a couple of urgent items and I yelled out, as I always do, "does anyone need something while I'm there?" My husband answered, as he almost never does, "Can you get us chocolate chocolate chip ice cream?" I didn't know what that whole "double chocolate" thing was about but I searched the Dreyer's Light selections for the most chocolatey and found this NEW flavor:

Double Fudge Brownie
1/2 cup =
120 calories
4 g fat
2 g saturated fat
0 g trans fat
20 mg cholesterol
50 mg sodium
18 g carbohydrate
13 g sugar
3 g protein

First 5 ingredients:
Skim milk, sugar, cream, corn syrup, fudge swirl

How did it taste?
Like a scoop of heaven. You would never know it was "light". Not that I taste the regular or rich ice creams that often. Everyone LOVED this new flavor. Ben & Jerry - be afraid, be very afraid.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: The Best of the New Frozen Desserts, Healthy Lunchbox Tips

Technorati Tags: icecream, lowfat, healthydiet, dryers, edys

Maple syrup is for pancakes, not weight loss

You may have heard about a combination of syrup, lemon juice and spices that Beyonce used to lose over 20 pounds in a couple of weeks. It sounds like something used for a detox type of short-term fast. Lemon juice has been used as a type of body cleanser (I think) for years, if not decades. The other fasts I've heard about use fruit juice as one of the only calorie containing foods...which is similar to maple syrup in that they both contain mostly easy to absorb carbohydrate calories.

This is not anything I've researched or done personally, but I would imagine that there is quite a big difference between doing a 3 day body cleanse or detox fast and a two week "diet" with quick weight loss in mind. I do not recommend quick weight loss schemes as a rule, nor do I agree with going through extreme measures that might trigger eating disorders or that promote obsession. It's safe to say that losing 20 pounds in two weeks qualifies as quick weight loss (we generally can only lose 2 pounds of body fat a week at best, so more than that could be other stuff that we only lose temporarily like water and glycogen stores in muscle and liver.) Only drinking a liquid of a type of syrup and lemon juice for two weeks is definitely an "extreme" measure.

It sounds like Beyonce felt she had to lose weight for a movie she was doing and that's just plain sad. She looks amazing just as she is! Without climbing on my soap box for a tirade about weight obsession in our culture, I personally think... the maple syrup is better off on pancakes and the lemon is best served in a cup of green tea!

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Spotting Fad Diets, Celebrity Diets

Technorati Tags: beyonce, faddiets, celebritydiets, weightloss, maplesyrupdiet

Love Those Bag O' Salads

I confess! I love having those bags of ready-to pour salad greens in my crisper. In my defense, let me add though that I always get them on sale. I'm probably in reality saving myself, what, a measly 5 minutes? But this is an example of mind over matter. It "seems" so much more convenient to throw a salad together that you are that much more willing do it. The two bags of greens I tend to buy? Hands down, baby spinach and chopped romaine lettuce (we love light caesar salads in my house).

Just having the lettuce part of the salad be done already, just helps, what can I say. I often have the sliced carrots and the sugar snap peas (they come in small bags) handy as well, then all I end up doing is throwing in some cherry or grape tomatoes and some sliced cucumber. Sometimes I open a can of kidney beans, rinse them while they are still in the can, and sprinkle them over the top of the salad. I've never timed myself, but I'm guessing all of this comes together in about 5 minutes.

The Spinach and Romaine lettuce options are going to be your best in terms of phytochemicals and nutrients. Spinach is way up there nutritionally; after all, it's a member of the acclaimed "dark green leafy" vegetable grouping!

Check out these numbers:
[2 cups]
Spinach leaves, chopped
25 calories, 3 g fiber, 88 mg sodium
% Daily Value for:
vitamin A 94%, vitamin B1 8%, vitamin B2 16%, vitamin B3 5%, vitamin B6 14%,
folic acid 121%, vitamin C 52%, vitamin E 24%, calcium 14%, magnesium 32%,
potassium 31%, iron 20%

[2 cups]
Romaine lettuce, chopped
18 calories, 1.5 g fiber, 9 mg sodium
% Daily Value for:
vitamin A 37%, vitamin B1 10%, vitamin B2 8%, vitamin B3 4%, vitamin B6 3%,
folic acid 85%, vitamin C 45%, vitamin E 6%, calcium 5%, iron 8%,
potassium 16%

Are you a bag salad fan?

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Farmer's Market Finds, 10 Tips & Tricks for Healthy Summer Salads

Technorati Tags: bagsalads, salads, lettuce, spinach, phytochemicals

Healthy Eating, Diet and Fitness Carnival #5

Oh look there's a part one and a part two for the Healthy Eating, Diet and Fitness Carnival tihs week. Isn't it terrific to see so many healthy blogs?

Nutrition News - Another Reason to Eat Soy

I don't know about you but I'm of the age that I need to take a list to the grocery store. Because if I don't, I will inevitably forget something. It's the curse of the "forty-somethings" - well, that and needing reading glasses for the first time in my life. So I am personally very motivated to preserve what's left of my forty-something brain and memory.

A few years ago I wrote about what to eat to boost brainpower after menopause in my book, THE CHANGE OF LIFE DIET AND COOKBOOK. And there was already some research back then suggesting that eating fish omega-3s may help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. And some animal studies and a few short-term human studies had already suggested that soy foods and isoflavones might improve several aspects of cognition and memory, particularly in postmenopausal women.

Well, according to a press release regarding the upcoming conference on "soy and health" in Germany, two more studies demonstrated a statistically significant effect of the consumption of soy isoflavones (the phytoestrogens in soy) on specific aspects of memory in postmenopausal women. In one study with 21 postmenopausal women, the soy isoflavones improved specific indices of verbal learning and memory after 4 weeks and frontal lobe functioning after 8 weeks. I don't know about you but keeping my frontal lobe functioning over the next few decades, is a top priority! Just another reason to eat soy.

[The studies were conducted by Prof. Louise Dye with the Human Appetite Research Unite, The Institute of Psychological Sciences at the University of Leeds.]

Eating more soy can be as easy as ordering your Starbucks latte with soy milk or deciding that the convenient frozen edamame (shelled or whole) is your new favorite afternoon snack. I also make a point of ordering a tofu and vegetable dish every time I go to a Chinese restaurant.

What are your favorite ways of working in a serving of soy?

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Fit and 40-Plus, WebMD Video: Menopause Myths

Technorati Tags: soy, memory, activeaging

Taste Test Tuesday: For Peanut Butter Lovers

There are people who like peanut butter and there are people who LOVE peanut butter. Over the years I've learned that people can get very passionate about their peanut butter.

Certain brands seem to have their unique characteristics and fans... so while one person may be a "JIF man" another person may be a "Skippy woman". Me? I prefer my peanut butter au naturelle... as close to ground peanuts as possible. I think I developed this preference when I lived in Berkeley (grad school) and would go to this natural foods market that had these peanut butter machines that looked just like the type that grind coffee beans. No kidding you would flip the switch and with your plastic tub positioned directly under the square metal opening... the ground peanuts would protrude out from the machine in a brown, log-like mass. Thinking back, this could probably look pretty gross to innocent bystanders not passionate about peanut butter... only because it resembles something else we all don't like to think about. If you know what I mean.

But I digress... I actually wanted to talk about this new peanut butter called SMART BALANCE OMEGA NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER. I'm all about omega-3s, so it got my attention. I'm guessing the Smart Balance Margarine Company makes it. There's .5 gram (500 milligrams) of omega-3s per tablespoon. This is coming from the added ingredient, flax oil.

The ingredients are simple:
Peanuts
Natural oil blend (flaxseed and palm fruit oils)
Salt
Molasses

The Nutritional analysis is (per 2 tablespoons):
200 calories, 17 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 12 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 6 g carbohydrate (1 g sugar), 110 mg sodium, 2 g fiber, 7 g protein
1000 milligrams omega-3s
1300 milligrams omega-6s

What's good about it?
They don't use any refined sugar! The sweetener used is molasses and they don't use much as evidenced by the 1 gram of sugar per 2 tablespoon serving. And there is a much better ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s than your average peanut butter (peanuts have a pretty high amount of omega-6s). And because they don't add any partially hydrogenated oils, there isn't any trans fat to be found. The saturated fat, however, compares to the amount in a reduced fat peanut butter (store brand) that I sometimes buy.

How does it taste?
It tastes great to me. More like natural peanut butter, probably because there isn't a lot of sweetener added to it. Nutritionally speaking I would probably be better off stirring some ground flaxseed into my peanut butter, that way I'm getting the plant omega-3s in a balance with other helpful components in flaxseed (plant estrogen and fiber). That might not go over as well with the general population though.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Peanut Butter Banana Shake, Bad Foods That Are Raally Good

Technorati Tags: peanutbutter, healthfood, omega3, omega6, flax

Pomegranate Power

As a kid I would be one of the only people in my family willing to "work" at eating a pomegranate... Patiently peeling away each pomegranate kernel until you got a mouth's worth in your hand, then popping them into your mouth and carefully sucking away the juicey outside then spitting out the hard internal seeds. Somehow no matter how careful I was, I still ended up with pink hands and a few surprise pomegranate juice stains on my shirt.

Now all that fruity fun has been eliminated for you and you can buy pomegranate juice in bottles at your friendly neighborhood grocery store! It's rather pricey though in terms of the green stuff and calories, so you might think about mixing it with some mineral or seltzer water so a little goes a longer way.

Why should you give these pomegranate juice bottles a second look?

It does have a unique, pleasant flavor.

The color is amazing and can add a splash of red to your smoothies, beverages or other recipes.

Pomegranates are a rich source of antioxidants

Pomegranates have a plethora of phytochemicals! About half of the fruit's antioxidant ability comes from the phytochemical, punicalagin, a member of the polyphenol phytochemical family. When you eat or drink pomegranates you are also getting some catechins (phytochemicals we also get in green tea), isoflavones (phytoestrogens we get from soy), and anthocyanins (like we do when we eat dark berries and other purple foods).

Pomegranate juice may improve blood flow to the heart in people with ischemic coronary heart disease (CHD).

In a small study with 45 people who have CHD and myocardial ischemia (not enough oxygen getting the heart), half of them received 8.5 ounces of pomegranate juice each day for three months and the other half received a placebo drink (fake drink with similar calories, color and flavor). The researchers reported that blood flow to the heart improved by about 17% in the pomegranate juice drinkers and decreased by 18% in the placebo group. No negative effect to drinking pomegranate juice were noted (even on blood glucose levels or body weight).
[The Am J of Cardiology Sept 15 2005, vol 96 Issue 6 pages 810-814 Ornish D., et al. "Effects of Pomegranate Juice Consumption on Mycardial Perfusion in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease"]

What about those of us fortunate enough not to have ischemic coronary heart disease? Lead researcher, Dean Ornish, M.D., believes pomegranate juice may even be able to help prevent heart disease in people who do not already suffer from it.

Pomegranate juice has potent antiatherogenic effects

Pomegranate juice has potent antiatherogenic effects in healthy humans and in atherosclerotic mice-possible due to its antioxidative properties, some researchers from Israel recently concluded. In their study with healthy male volunteers, pomegranate juice decreased the LDLhttp://www.webmd.com/content/article/102/106690.htm "bad" cholesterol susceptibility to aggregation and retention and increased the activity (by 20%) of an HDL ("good" cholesterol) - associated enzyme (called esterase), that can protect against lipid peroxidation.
[Am J Clin Nutr May 2000 Vol 71 No. 5 pages 1062-1076 Aviram M., et al, "Pomegranate juice consumption reduces oxidative stress, atherogenic modifications to LDL, and platelet aggregation: studies in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice"]

Pomegranate juice could slow prostate cancer growth

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer who have already had preliminary treatment, may benefit from a daily dose of pomegranate juice - which appears to suppress further growth and delay the need for further therapies, according to brand new research from UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center. The researchers also found that drinking the juice decreased the amount of free radicals in the blood by 40% compared to baseline. Lab tests during the study showed a 12% decrease in the spread of the cancer (cell proliferation) and a 17% increase in the programmed cell death of the cancer (apoptosis). [Clinical Cancer Research 2006 Vol 12 pages 4018-4026 Pantuck, A., et al]

To what (in pomegranate juice) do we owe this pleasure? UCLA researcher, Allan Pantuck, M.D., guesses it is probably a combination of elements in pomegranates, rather than a single component, that is responsible for these favorable health effects in the body. Could it be the power that seems to be in pomegranates is another example of plant synergy? Makes sense to me!

Yes, more research needs to be done on pomegranate juice for us to know anything definitive about its benefits and possible side effects, but so far, the future certainly looks bright for this vibrant, fushia-colored fruit.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: 7 Designer Products Worth Buying, Juicy News for Fruit Lovers

Technorati Tags: pomegranate, pomjuice, pom, antioxidants, deanornish

Taste Test Tuesday: Size Does Matter

Weight Watchers Lemon Cake (individually wrapped)

Personally I would rather bake cakes and such at home and use all the ingredients I like to use (whole wheat flour, canola oil, higher omega-3 eggs, etc.) But I'm not a ninny. I recognize the sheer convenience of buying individually wrapped bakery items at the store to stash in your desk at the office or surprise your family members in their lunchbox.

It is with this in mind that I bought a box of Weight Watchers Lemon Cake (individually wrapped). In my mind I was picturing a lemon cake version of the raspberry Zingers from my youth and the "1 point per cake" designation on the box was very impressive. I was about to experience two BIG disappointments.

Disappointment #1
With high expectations I opened the box and pulled out a pitifully sized mini version of a lemon cake "zinger"... the first thing that came to mind was "SIZE DOES MATTER!" If a Twinkie had an itty-bitty baby, this would be it!

I proceeded to measure this mini cake in bites and inches. It is 2 1/2 inches long and about 4 bites worth. I guess you get what you pay for in POINTS and since it's only 1 point, what more should I expect to get? I will say though, that I do know a few people who buy these and they tend to eat 2 or 3 in a sitting. So just know that going in.

Disappointment #2
I was half expecting some type of creamy Twinkie-like filling when I bit into my first lemon cake... not that the box said that it would have it. It was just a secret hope, that's all. Again though, did I really think I would get that for just 1 point?

How did it taste once I got past the disappointing size and lack of creamy filling? It tasted quite nice. I would recommend putting them in your refrigerator. There's something about enjoying them chilled that works.

1 Lemon cake (27 grams) =
80 calories
2.5 g fat
1 g saturated fat
0 g trans fat
1 g protein
14 g carbohydrate (10 g sugar)
2 g fiber
5 mg cholesterol
90 mg sodium

Size does matter, though.

~~Elaine

Related Topics:Diet Plans and Programs, Snack Attack: 10 Ways to Lose Weight

Technorati Tags: weightwatchers, snackcakes, 1point, lemonsnackcake