I do agree that this article is largely irresponsible. Basically, it points to people that exercise and subsequently eat too much thinking that they’ve “earned it”; the article is saying that these people gain weight, thus exercise makes people gain weight. Yes, sure, that does happen. But I think that is a gross oversimplification of the exercise/weight issue. There are so many factors (genetics, efficiency, previous experience, diet) that you can’t simply make that sort of deduction. Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think!

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Enjoy!!

It’s not that I’m lacking ideas – I’m not (really). But I’d like to know what people want to read/read about! That way I can better please my “audience.”

Thanks!

Isn’t that an odd statement? It’s become practically common knowledge that trans fats are “evil.” The nutrition industry has demonized trans fats over the past few years, leading to the slow but steady elimination of partially hydrogenated oils from the food market. Good! They should be removed from our food, and they are unhealthy. But trans fats can be good for you. That is the problem with reductionist science; oversimplification of the issue at hand results in faulty conclusions. For example, take a look at this short Harvard article regarding fats. It essentially commands you to get rid of both saturated and trans fats. That’s ridiculous! Saturated fats are an essential macronutrient – you couldn’t survive without them.

Similarly, you can’t just get rid of trans fats from your diet. Trans fats is the term that refers to any fats with a strucuture similar to the carbon chain on the right:The type of trans fatty acids produced via industrial hydrogenation are bad for you, absolutely. That seems to be a fairly concrete fact. And it shouldn’t be surprising – it’s a type of fat that rarely if ever is seen in nature – we haven’t evolved to effectively process it. As a result, it gums up our arteries, resulting in increased  chances of heart disease.

However, there IS a trans fatty acid that occurs in nature. Conjugated linoleic acid – CLA – is a trans fat that has been associated with lower rates of cancer and decreased storage of body fat. To be fair, there are also studies that do not find positive benefits. It seems silly, however, to group CLA in with partially hydrogenated oils by using the overarching term “trans fats.”

Essentially, demonizing “trans fats” instead of partially hydrogenated oils – or at the very least, failing to make that distinction – is a reductionist error that will result in the careless elimination of another ‘good’ macronutrient from our diets.

Sources:

More info in this fairly neutrally-written powerpoint. Other sources linked above.

Thanks for understanding, blog. I hope I haven’t hurt your feelings.

Why is dark chocolate healthy? Let’s take a look. Researchers are still trying to elucidate the exact mechanism of action, but there is a lot of evidence to back up dark chocolate’s health benefits. There seem to be several antioxidants in dark chocolate that are absorbed into the bloodstream with relative ease. These antioxidants promote a lower blood pressure (usually a good thing, especially for those of us with the typical Western diet). For example: epicatechin, an antioxidant found in cocoa (a cocoa phenol), can be found in the blood post-chocolate consumption. If the chocolate is dark – these antioxidant levels are particularly high. However, the blood level is much lower if the dark chocolate is consumed with milk, or if the chocolate is milk chocolate. I’m unsure as to why this is the case, but I would propose that it may be some chelation of the antioxidant – similar to the reason iron doesn’t absorb well in the presence of calcium. But I digress; the important thing is that you keep your milk and your chocolate seperate if you’re looking for health benefits!

Two different studies, via WebMD:

Taubert’s team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure — on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.

Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.

Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.

In the second study, Serafini’s team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.

An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.

As far as how much to eat on a daily basis? I’ve read everything from 1.6oz to 100g (~3.5oz). It’s up to you to decide, really. Can you afford the extra calories? Do you have room in your daily intake to eat that much? Do you even want to make dark chocolate a daily routine?

Whatever you decide, make sure that you enjoy what you eat – because that’s half the battle. What am I currently eating? Grenada Organic Dark Chocolate, from the Grenada Chocolate Company. Its a surprisingly good chocolate; smooth, creamy, but strong. It’s typically single origin (Grenadian cocoa), but it’s currently a double origin chocolate because a significant amount of Grenada’s cocoa trees were destroyed in Hurricane Ivan (2004). Hopefully they’ll be able to return to usual in the near future!

My go-to dark chocolate, however, is any of the Amano lines of dark chocolate, one of the few small chocolate producers in the US (most is produced by Hershey, Nestle, etc). This is brilliant chocolate – I discovered it through Wine.Woot (My favorite? The Jembrana and the sold-out Cuyagua). They will occasionally come onto Wine.woot with a coupon code, so that’s when I buy – it’s a very expensive chocolate otherwise; even with the discount it’s a steep price, but worth it.

Needless to say, I eat it sparingly – but then again I’m not trying to eat 1.6oz a day – that’s a lot of dark chocolate! I just want to eat what I feel like, and enjoy it while I do. What’s your favorite dark (or milk!) chocolate?

Sources:

http://www.amanochocolate.com/

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030827/dark-chocolate-is-healthy-chocolate

http://www.grenadachocolate.com/

]]> http://livingthroughnutrition.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/dark-chocolate-and-you/feed/ 1 allawayr http://livingthroughnutrition.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/produce-spotlight-okra/ http://livingthroughnutrition.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/produce-spotlight-okra/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:38:02 +0000 allawayr http://livingthroughnutrition.wordpress.com/?p=33 ]]>

Before I talk about okra, I just want to mention that yesterday I found out that this week is Eat Local week in Maryland – I didn’t know that before I posted yesterday- so it’s just a coincidence. Still, it’s a good promotion for the local farm industry!

Okra, or Abelmoschus esculentus; Lady’s Fingers; gumbo, is a vegetable currently in season in several areas of the US. It’s an underused vegetable with a gooey inside (when raw). It is typically fried or used as a component of soup (can be used dried nearly as easily as if it were fresh). Additionally, the oil of the ripe vegetable can be used as a substitute for other vegetable oils (and often is, in the Mediterranean, for example).

According to Tamu.edu,

Okra apparently originated in what the geobotanists call the Abyssinian center of origin of cultivated plants, an area that includes present-day Ethiopia, the mountainous or plateau portion of Eritrea, and the eastern, higher part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Considering the little contact between that region and the rest of the world within historic times, it is not surprising that little is known about the early history and distribution of okra.

Although the plant has been well known in India for a long time, it is not found wild there. Modern travelers have found okra growing truly wild, however, along the White Nile and elsewhere in the upper Nile country as well as in Ethiopia.

Because of the outstanding popularity of okra in the French cookery of Louisiana, and its slow gain in popularity elsewhere in this country, it is safe to assume that it was introduced to this country by the French colonists of Louisiana in the early 1700′s. It had been introduced to the New World, however, before 1658, reaching Brazil supposedly from Africa. It was known in Surinam in 1686.

The seeds have also been used as a cheap and local (and caffeine free) coffee substitute; apparently roasted okra seeds taste similar to roasted coffee beans (not extraordinarily supriszing).

Okra is a highly nutritional vegetable as well. It is full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Just a cup of okra has 3.2g fiber, about half of which is soluble fiber (good for reducing cholesterol) and half of which is insoluble fiber (good for reducing the chance of developing colorectal cancer). It also has 300mg potassium/cup, 35% RDA of vitamin C, 81% RDA calcium, and a ton of other nutrients – too many to list here. If I were to speculate, I’d hope that okra would rise in popularity over the next few years – it’s a healthy food that people should incorporate into their diet!

So try some okra (especially if it’s in season where you are). Roast it, fry it, or if you’re brave and like “gooey” vegetables, have it raw on your next salad! (Or have some pseudo-coffee)

Sources/Further Info:

Okra, or “Gumbo”

Okra

Okra@TheDailyPlate

There seem to be so many benefits to being a locavore:

• Environmental reasons: reduce carbon emission by eliminating shipping as well as voting with your wallet: you support the local farmers who farm sustainably – thereby promoting sustainable agriculture.
• Health: fresher food (that hasn’t been in refrigeration for a long time like many supermarket foods) is more nutritious – vitamins, for example, degrade over time.
• Taste: Anecdotal – local food tastes better because it’s fresher.
• Economical: Infuse your local economy with money, know where and how your agricultural neighbors spend this money (as opposed to some Colombian banana farmers)
• Animal welfare: Again, vote with your wallet. Are animals slaughtered humanely or do they suffer?

These are just a few of the benefits – if anyone reading wants to add anything, let me know in the comments or via Twitter and I will add it.

Cons? There aren’t many to speak of that I can think of (let me know if you disagree, and why) – other than perhaps a slightly increased cost (local operations tend to be smaller, and thus have higher costs as they cannot produce in bulk).

Personally, I’ve made a big step today: I placed my first order with Polyface Farm – the same one in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I recently rediscovered a local “buying club” that receives a shipment from Polyface every 5 weeks. This is my first attempt at getting local beef and poultry (FYI, I got eggs, steak, a broiler chicken, ground beef, and some sausage links). Local lamb/goat is available very close by (as well as venison) but I don’t know of many things nearby that have beef or poultry. So next Tuesday, I’ll be picking up my purchase from somewhere in Leesburg, VA (not too far) – I will let everyone knows how it is! Perhaps I’ll stop at a farm stand after picking up my order…!

Do you want to start becoming a locavore? It’s not that hard. I’ve found several farmers markets, farm stands, and locavore restaurants in my area simply by going to LocalHarvest – it has been an invaluable resource in my quest to begin eating local. Also, if you want more info about the Locavore movement, visit SustainableTable.com, another good resource. Have any other good resources? Let me know!

I don’t understand why people take fish oil capsules. Sure, it’s a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids – but why can’t you just eat fish? You’re removing a lot of good stuff if you only take fish oil capsules. Fish is a great source of protein and other nutrients. It’s especially good for those on high protein diets – red meat has a lot of saturated fats – by switching to fish you can limit your saturated fat intake.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Methylmercury, PCBs, dioxins, etc. Sure, there are certain types of fish (usually high in the food chain – like yellowfin tuna) that are contaminated to the point that consuming them is unsafe. Fish oil supplements only have traces of these contaminants because they’re found primarily in the meat of the fish. However, if you follow the Seafood Watch Program – run by the Monteray Bay Aquarium, you can avoid most of these contaminants (i.e. have your fish, and eat it, too).

The whole allergy issue is bunk as well – most people sensitive to fish are still allergic to fish oil.

So it would seem that the only reason that people have to avoid fish are those that don’t like fish. Sorry that you have to miss out!

Health Benefits of Fish