7 October 2011
10 Stubborn Food Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science 
Love all of these, but here are my faves:
Myth 3: Low Fat Foods Are Always Better For You
Alannah DiBona, a Boston based nutritionist and wellness counselor made this her number one food myth. She said:
“Without fat, the human body is unable to absorb a large percentage of the nutrients needed to survive. Additionally, fat deprivation prevents messages from being passed between neurotransmitters, resulting in all kinds of neural misfiring in the body! While good fats and bad fats do exist, the right fats in the proper amounts can actually aid in weight loss and cholesterol management.”
The high-fat/low-fat food myth is one that’s been around for a long, long time. Ultimately, it’s more important to flip over the food you’re about to buy and read the label, see what kinds of fats are in it, and then make an educated decision instead of immediately reaching for the low-fat version of whatever it is you’re planning to buy, thinking it’ll be healthier. In fact, many products that are “low-fat” are low in good fats as opposed to the bad ones, or substitute in other ingredients like sugars and sodium that you don’t want more of in your diet.
Seattle-based Registered Dietitian Andy Bellatti also called out this particular myth. He said, “A good intake of healthful fats is beneficial for cardiovascular health. Prioritize monounsaturated fats (avocados, olives, pecans, almonds, peanuts) and omega-3 fatty acids (hemp seeds, chia seeds, sea vegetables, wild salmon). Virgin coconut oil and dark chocolate (80% cocoa or higher) also offer healthful fatty acids. Many low-fat diets are high in sugar and refined carbohydrates (i.e.: white flour), which are increasingly becoming linked to increased rates of heart disease.”
Myth 7: Eating Eggs Will Jack Up Your Cholesterol
A number of you took me to task on this one the last time I insinuated that eggs may not be healthy, and rightfully so. Alannah Dibona cleared this one up once and for all, and notes: “More often than not, a person diagnosed with high cholesterol will go out of his or her way to avoid eggs, which is really unnecessary. The body’s cholesterol levels are influenced by certain saturated and trans fats; eggs contain very little saturated fat (1.5 grams of fat per large egg) and absolutely no trans fat. Depriving yourself of an egg means foregoing 13 naturally occurring vitamins and minerals (and a really delicious breakfast option).”
Ultimately, eliminating eggs from your diet because you’re concerned about cholesterol will do absolutely nothing for you, and instead may actually be harmful because you’re missing out on the health benefits they have. The Harvard Medical School agrees, as does the Mayo Clinic, although they take a more metered approach to the issue, and suggest that if you love eggs, eat the whites and not the yolks. Both agree that even though the yolks have a lot of cholesterol, very little of it actually makes it into your bloodstream, where it matters.
Myth 10: Don’t Eat After 6, 7, 8PM
Both Andy Bellatti and Alannah DiBona called this myth out in different ways. Andy went right for its throat, noting that it is “A silly weight-loss gimmick. What matters is what you’re eating throughout the day. Food eaten after 7 does not magically turn to fat. This is also a ridiculous ‘tip’ for someone who goes to bed at midnight or 1 AM. This tip often ‘works’ because people end up reducing their total caloric intake.”
He’s right: this myth comes from a half-scientific understanding of how digestion works. The idea is that if you eat too late and go to bed on a full stomach, your body’s metabolism will slow down and instead of burning the food you just ate, you’ll turn it all into fat and gain weight. That statement is only partially true, and isn’t universal for all people. While it’s true your metabolism slows down when you go to sleep, it doesn’t stop, and you still churn through the food in your stomach, albeit slower. If your diet, exercise, and activity habits mean that a meal is more likely to metabolize into fat because you sit at a desk all day, eating it at 5pm versus 7pm isn’t going to change that.
In reality, what really happens for the people who swear by this trick is that they don’t wind up eating breakfast the following morning on top of a stomach full of food, and that they’ve blocked off areas of their night when they’re not consuming food-as opposed to someone who would be tempted to have a late-night snack. In essence, they’re just eating less overall. This myth is so popular that the ADA has a page dedicated to debunking it.
Bellatti also makes the point that if you’re the type of person who’s up very late, setting an arbitrary time to stop eating at night isn’t going to help you lose weight, it’s just going to make you skip a meal. DiBona had something specific to say about meal skipping, and how dangerous it can be: “Just several years ago, I remember reading in Cosmopolitan magazine that skipping breakfast or lunch following a “night of indulgence” could aid in one’s efforts to lose weight. The editors couldn’t have been more wrong. If a meal is skipped, the body begins a process of metabolic slowing commonly referred to as ‘starvation mode.’” She continued, “Additionally, surges of hormones then encourage overeating at the next meal, resulting in a higher caloric intake at the day’s end. Keeping one’s blood sugar balanced with small meals and snacks throughout the day is a much more successful approach for weight maintenance and mental alertness.”
See ‘em all here.
Thanks to Terry for pointing me to this article!
5 October 2011
The Most Common Cooking Mistakes and the Fixes
I definitely learned a few things from this! Some of my favorites:
#1: You don’t taste as you go.
#4: You boil when you should simmer.
#11: You overcrowd the pan.
#13: You turn the food too often.
#31: Your bacon is burnt and crinkly (though sometimes, I like it this way!).
#34: Your hard-boiled egg yolks are greenish-gray.
30 September 2011
Why School Lunches Are Much More Than Just a Health Issue
It’s not often that someone sends me a link to an article that I actually want to share, but this was the case when Angela from Mochi Magazine reached out to me. I’m happy to share the fall issue’s article on why school lunches matter more than we think:
For those of us beyond the schoolyard years, being healthy isn’t just about taking care of your health. It’s also about improving your self-image, keeping a positive perspective of your life and setting yourself up for long-term success. Healthy people are able to succeed because they are in good health, feel energized and can focus on their goals. Unhealthy people, on the other hand, may worry about developing serious medical conditions, affecting the quality of the life they lead.
26 September 2011
I’m always fascinated by articles like this one, furiously trying to refute the argument that junk food is cheaper than home-cooked food. In his latest New York Times column, Mark Bittman breaks down the cost of a meal at Micky D’s versus homemade fare:
…A typical order for a family of four — for example, two Big Macs, a cheeseburger, six chicken McNuggets, two medium and two small fries, and two medium and two small sodas — costs, at the McDonald’s a hundred steps from where I write, about $28. (Judicious ordering of “Happy Meals” can reduce that to about $23 — and you get a few apple slices in addition to the fries!)
…You can serve a roasted chicken with vegetables along with a simple salad and milk for about $14, and feed four or even six people. If that’s too much money, substitute a meal of rice and canned beans with bacon, green peppers and onions; it’s easily enough for four people and costs about $9. (Omitting the bacon, using dried beans, which are also lower in sodium, or substituting carrots for the peppers reduces the price further, of course.)
This, I think, is the easy part of the argument. The cost breakdown is pretty clear.
Homemade wins. But the literal cost of food, and the time it takes to make it, is really only a small part of the battle for home cooking.
Smartly, Bittman also dives into the other reasons people don’t cook:
The core problem is that cooking is defined as work, and fast food is both a pleasure and a crutch. “People really are stressed out with all that they have to do, and they don’t want to cook,” says Julie Guthman, associate professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz…
And then we dive even deeper:
The ubiquity, convenience and habit-forming appeal of hyperprocessed foods have largely drowned out the alternatives: there are five fast-food restaurants for every supermarket in the United States.
And finally, there’s this:
Furthermore, the engineering behind hyperprocessed food makes it virtually addictive. A 2009 study by the Scripps Research Institute indicates that overconsumption of fast food “triggers addiction-like neuroaddictive responses” in the brain…
I think Bittman was smart to go beyond the common arguments of cost and time (yes, real food is cheaper, and yes, most Americans actually do have time). Those two obstacles are only maybe half of the equation.
The other half, Bittman points out, is comprised of stress (cooking = work, and most people feel they work enough as it is), the omnipresence of fast food restaurants versus supermarkets, and the highly addictive nature of fast food. Those obstacles are much more difficult to overcome.
So what can tip the scales in favor of cooking? Bittman proposes this:
Real cultural changes are needed to turn this around. Somehow, no-nonsense cooking and eating — roasting a chicken, making a grilled cheese sandwich, scrambling an egg, tossing a salad — must become popular again, and valued not just by hipsters in Brooklyn or locavores in Berkeley. The smart campaign is not to get McDonald’s to serve better food but to get people to see cooking as a joy rather than a burden, or at least as part of a normal life.
We have to celebrate real food and make it cool, joyful, and fun. This is no small task. I can testify that in this country, most people view cooking as a chore — even if they like to cook. Heck, sometimes cooking feels like a chore to me, too. We could even say that junk food IS cheaper psychologically (if that makes any sense).
I think we have to make cooking non-negotiable, an inevitable part of our everyday lives, instead of a luxury we take part in if we have time and feel good. Of course, this can’t happen when fast food is so readily accessible. But it’s possible to give cooking a better reputation; to make it less intimidating by incorporating it easily into everyday life. Bittman suggests (and I agree) that we “cook at every opportunity, to demonstrate to family and neighbors that the real way is the better way. And even the more fun way.” As much as I know this sounds like hippie liberal nonsense, I do think it’s the only way we can fight for cultural change.
One of my goals with this blog is to show that cooking isn’t intimidating, it’s not hard, and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming. You don’t have to be a top chef, you don’t have to use fancy ingredients, and you don’t even have to use a recipe. It helps to reframe the way you see cooking and food. Even if it feels like work to you now, hopefully it can become the type of work that’s rewarding and eventually, even a little fun.
Read the full New York Times article here.
22 September 2011
I’m just copying this whole post in its entirety, but please, do yourself a favor and check out BBQ Jew. I think I jut found my new favorite blog.
I recently lived my nightmare. I ate–”consumed” is a more appropriately clinical term given I did it only in the name of research–most of a package of “Certified Vegan” tofucue. (You can pronounce that last word however you see fit.) I will return to the scene of the crime soon to give you a full report on how this vile product tasted (preview: vile), but today’s post focuses on the packaging.
The Front of the Box
Where to begin? Perhaps the name itself–”bbq pulled shreds.” Shreds of what? Pulled what? And don’t think the small print “meat-free” above the word “bbq” gives me any comfort. Plus, aren’t the words “pulled” and “shreds” redundant?
Was the budget too small to afford paying for capital letters on the packaging? must every word be written in lower case like a jr high text msg? omg luv u tofu, lol!
Why do the words “contains no poultry” appear at the bottom of the picture? You’ve already flaunted that you’re meat-free. Is this small print poultry-free message supposed to make me happy? Or is it an apology? If so, why apologize simply that you’re poultry-free? You look like you’re pretending to be a pulled pork sandwich, so why not mention that your pork-free too? Are you too high falutin to write the word pork?
Why did you think the phrase “enjoy me I’m new” would catch my interest? I’d enjoy you if you were pork, new or old, and not so full of yourself.
Please never use the word “delish” again. Rachel Ray came up with that inane word years ago. And yes I know Rachel Ray’s first name has an “a” in it after the “h.” But frankly I don’t give a damn. (Plus, the second “a” serves no purpose, just like you, bbq pulled shreds.) She can’t cook barbecue and neither can you. Even Rachel Ray knows better than to serve lettuce on a BBQ sandwich. Lettuce, really? Go to the store and buy some cabbage for slaw like you give a crap.
I concede that you have an impressive 19 grams of protein per serving. That’s as much protein as a serving of ham. But where’s your “delish” fat and cholesterol? That’s right, you have no cholesterol and only 2 grams of fat, and both of those puny grams of fat come from your sticky, ketchupy sauce. Loser.
Speaking of sauce, why does your label say “saucy in 2 mins!” anyway? It’s already saucy when I open the package, no two minutes needed. And since the back of the package says it takes 2 1/2 minutes to cook, the 2 minutes claim is doubly wrong.
The Back of the Box
First of all, when a product looks as disgusting as you do, please don’t reveal it with a cutaway. It’s like Aretha Franklin wearing a peek-a-boo dress, nobody wants to see it.
By the way, the phrase “whichever way you make it, it’s all good” isn’t fooling anyone. Nobody likes bbq pulled shreds any which way.
And now the guilt trip. You promote that your product uses “protein from renewable resources.” Unidentifiable slop is a renewable resource? Who knew? I’ll tell you what IS a renewable resource–pigs. And they taste great. Now you know!
And is your brand name really “gardein,” short for “garden protein?” Seriously?! I tried to ignore that on the front of the box but now you’ve gone and put it on the back of the box too. Do you have no shame? And you couldn’t even afford a capital letter for your brand name?
Oh, and don’t even get me started on your ingredients. I’ll deal with that in a few weeks when I explain just how bad you taste. You should be ashamed.
(via BBQ Jew)
