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Archive for February, 2011

Friday cat blogging

Posted in Friday cat blogging on February 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »

LOLcat

Nice cat version of the Groucho Marx quote.

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Whole grain white rice?

Posted in Real food, WAPF on February 21, 2011 | 2 Comments »

So today’s annoying TV ad is for Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice. Sound like an oxymoron? Umm, yeah!

What are whole grains? They are:

cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.

So this product is a “whole grain” because they’ve taken white rice and added stuff that processing removed? This does not compute!

Check out the Washington Post’s review for lots of details (e.g., a ~4oz box of Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice costs about $2.79, while
a 2-pound bag — or 32 oz — of Uncle Ben’s Natural Whole Grain Brown Rice goes for $2.58).

If you’re going to eat grains (and there are arguments for avoiding/minimizing them), see Darya Pino’s intact grains vs whole grains and WAPF’s be kind to your grains for some useful info.

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Today’s annoying study

Posted in Health & wellness, Real food, Research on February 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Well, it was Friday’s, but I’m just getting around to blogging about it. Anyways, it looks like some researchers at the University of Missouri–Kansas City decided to look at fast food consumption just prior to and six months after a heart attack.

So how did the media report this? As “Many stick with fast food after heart attack.” Here’s the lede from the Reuters article:

You might think that people who’ve had a heart attack might cut back on fast food, which usually has unhealthy amounts of fat and salt.

And in fact, some heart attack patients who are frequent fast food eaters do cut back, researchers found in a new study. But 6 months later, more than half of them can still be found at their favorite fast food places at least once a week.

“You might think that” because of course you’d think that all these people had heart attacks because of all the fast food they ate and because of course if you had a heart attack then you’d somehow start channeling Michael Pollan and eating food, mostly plants, and not too much.

Snark aside, I found the following nuggets from the study curious:

  • The study’s definition for “frequent” fast food consumption was “weekly or more often.” Once a week would qualify as frequent? Hmmm.
  • Nearly two-thirds of those who’d just had a heart attack (the study subjects) said they ate fast food infrequently (“less than weekly”). Very interesting. I’d love to see food logs for these “infrequent” fast food eaters (I’m biased, but I think we need to focus less on “fast food” and more on “processed food.”)

That 503 of the 884 “frequent” fast food eaters were still “frequent” fast food eaters six months after their heart attack is far less of a surprise to me. But more on that in my next post on food & addiction.

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Of hot dogs & eggs

Posted in Real food on February 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I read a post last week on Primal Toad about easy paleo meal planning. In the protein category, Toad listed Applegate Farms hot dogs, saying:

These hot dogs are organic and 100% grass-fed. The only ingredients are beef and spices. … They are fully cooked and so I simply cut them up and add to my salad or to my egg scramble. They are great as a snack too and I am sure for traveling!

I got kinda excited about this, as I’ve been a big fan of Applegate’s cold cuts for a while now. They make a very easy protein source for a fast lunch or dinner; their roasted turkey, for example, has 10g of protein/serving, 3 servings per pack. And I use their roast beef as a wrap for the braunschweiger I got from US Wellness. Yum!

So I really liked the idea of adding some healthy hot dogs to the mix. However, after picking up a pack of their beef hot dogs, I learned that each hot dog is 6g of protein and 6 g of fat. I was surprised by the fat content, but then found out that Applegate’s are actually lower in fat compared to other brands (a Hebrew National hot dog is 14g of fat).

Who knew hot dogs had so much fat in them?

Now, on the bright side, this suggests that Applegate’s hot dogs would make a good fat source in the diet, especially since they’re made from grass-fed beef. But for me, for now, they won’t be a go-to protein source. I’ve put mine into the freezer to save for a summer barbecue!

Which brings me to the incredible, edible egg. Hate to break it to you, but it’s not much of a protein powerhouse either (despite what the folks at Kashi would like you to believe).

A large egg has about 6g of protein. So if you have a three-egg omelette, you’re certainly in the ballpark for a meal’s worth of protein. Me, I typically add a couple of eggs to my salad … but I do so for the amazing nutrients in the egg yolk, not for the protein.

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Back to school

Posted in Me, me, me on February 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I feel like I’ve been informally studying nutrition for decades. But — better late than never? — I’ve decided to add some formal study to the mix, and have signed up for the Nutritional Therapy Association’s Nutritional Therapist Training Program.

I’m doing their distance learning program; it’s 14 modules over 9 months, with 3 resident weekend workshops that will take place less than a mile from my home — seemed like a sign!

Another good sign is that I learned about the NTA from Nora Gedgaudas, whose book Primal Body, Primal Mind is one of my fave nutrition books.

I don’t know that I will agree with everything the NTA promotes, but given that they start from a Weston Price foundation, I’m much happier than I would be doing a program that teaches the lipid hypothesis.

If nothing else, should provide lots of good fodder for the blog!

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Kids Are What They Eat

Posted in Food industry on February 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I don’t normally write these kinds of posts. One, I’m afraid if I started, I’d write nothing else, as the list of obnoxious industrial foods masquerading as healthy foods is unfortunately long (as Yoni Freedhoff’s badvertising series shows).

But some of the ads for these foods are just horrendous … like the ones for the Special K challenge, which has been raked over the coals here and here.

So what’s my entry for this category? It’s the ad for PediaSure Sidekicks:

(Apologies for the extra click to view the video.) Here’s the relevant copy from the ad:

(Boy dressed as French fries playing on field)

Tyler’s Mom: Does Tyler look a little …slow? Maybe we should have skipped the drive-thru.

Brittany’s Mom: Well, kids are what they eat.

Voiceover: Introducing great-tasting PediaSure SideKicks, from the #1 pediatrician recommended brand. With 7 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber in every bottle.

Kids are what they eat, eh? Well let’s just see what they are when they’re eating PediaSure Sidekicks. First, in addition to the 7g of protein and 3 g of fiber is 17g of sugar: more than 4 teaspoons worth in the 8-oz serving.

Here’s the ingredients list:

WATER, SUGAR (SUCROSE), MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY OIL, COCOA POWDER (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), SHORT-CHAIN FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE; LESS THAN 0.5% OF: CELLULOSE GEL, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM CITRATE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, CELLULOSE GUM, SALT (SODIUM CHLORIDE), CHOLINE CHLORIDE, ASCORBIC ACID, CARRAGEENAN, SOY LECITHIN, MONOGLYCERIDES, m-INOSITOL, POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE, TAURINE, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, FERROUS SULFATE, SUCRALOSE, dl-ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, L-CARNITINE, ZINC SULFATE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, NIACINAMIDE, MANGANESE SULFATE, THIAMIN CHLORIDE HYDROCHLORIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, FD&C RED #3, RIBOFLAVIN, CUPRIC SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, POTASSIUM IODIDE, SODIUM SELENATE, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, PHYLLOQUINONE, VITAMIN D3, AND CYANOCOBALAMIN

As if the sugar wasn’t enough, there’s the soy oil (yuck) and the artificial coloring. But what really got me: the two artificial sweeteners buried among the added vitamins & minerals (ACESULFAME POTASSIUM and SUCRALOSE). Despite my decades-long addiction to Diet Coke, I’m adamantly opposed to feeding kids artificial sweeteners!

So if kids are what they eat, I feel pretty sorry for the PediaSure Sidekick kid. All in all, you might as well feed the kid the fries and throw in a gummy vitamin!

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Today’s really annoying study

Posted in Health & wellness, Research on February 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Argh. This really, really annoys me. Here’s Science Daily’s headline: Link Between Obesity, High-Fat Meals and Heart Disease Reinforced by New Study. What’s the lede?

The effect of a high-fat meal on blood vessel walls can vary among individuals depending on factors such as their waist size and triglyceride levels, suggests new research at UC Davis.

Hmm. Sounds scary! Until I read what they fed the study participants: “two breakfast sandwiches, hash browns and orange juice.”

Whoa … two Egg McMuffins, hash browns and juice? Not exactly the healthiest of breakfasts, but it’s not exactly what I picture as “high-fat” either.

Courtesy of McDonald’s “Bag a Meal,” let’s see what our study participants actually consumed (click image for larger version):

That’s 950 calories, 34g of fat, 115g of carbs, 45g of sugar. So their “high-fat” meal is about 33% calories from fat, which is just a little higher than the 27% calories from fat in the DASH diet prescribed to reduce high blood pressure.

So the meal’s not exactly high in fat. Yes, it’s higher in saturated fat, but even if that was an issue (I don’t think it is), that’s not the biggest problem with this meal.

Consider these:

  • it’s half your daily calories if you’re eating 2,000 calories/day
  • there’s only 5g of fiber
  • there’s nearly 2g of salt, which is nearly the daily limit
  • there’s twice the added sugar that the AHA thinks you should have daily

But yeah, it must be the fat.

Argh. Don’t get me wrong, the fat is no picnic either, especially given that two-thirds of it (the non-saturated fat) is likely omega-6-laden vegetable oils. And perhaps it’s possible that these folks had the sausage breakfast sandwiches, which would have doubled the fat (and raised the calories to 1240).

But as far as I’m concerned, all this study (as reported anyways) does is link highly processed industrial food with inflammation. Color me surprised … NOT!

Oh and BTW, someone probably needs to tell them that the idea that carbs can raise triglycerides is now mainstream.

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