Books! Past Present and Future.

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! A popular gift to give and to get is always gift cards to places like Borders and Barnes and Noble. I really like them cause I can get something I want but might not normally spend money on. I thought as an After-Christmas post I would put up some of my favorite foody books I have read so far, ones that I am about to read over this break, and ones that I hope to read in the future. I figured it was timely because some of you might be looking for something to spend your gift cards on!

Books I Have Already Read

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

In this book Gary Taubes goes through a lot of research and studies to explain why we have the current nutritional dogma that we have in America. I really enjoyed it because although it is pretty heavy reading and quite sciency (for me at least) Taubes does not dumb down the info he is telling you at all. A lot of other authors, especially in what you see in the online and magazine circuit, will give you info that is based on real research but they sort of exaggerate or dumb it down to much so that it doesn't really make sense in context anymore. Taubes assumes his reader wants to know the research, not a watered down version of it, and really is through and backs up all of his statements. This book was harder to read on the subway and I found that I really had to dedicate my full attention to it. I would save this book for a vacation or time when you can really sit down an read it in big chunks. 

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

This book is really popular so it might be old news, but it really deserves a shot out. In it Pollan takes you though four different types of food (I say types for lack of a better term) He takes you through highly industrial food based on corn, GMOs, and conventional American meat farming, Industrial organic farming (which is sometimes not that different from regular farming), "Beyond Organic" farming which is sort of what regular organic farming was supposed to be like before capitalism took it over (and which makes you want to drop everything and move to a farm like these), and hunting and gathering for food which sounds like a lot more fun than it actually turned out to be for Pollan. It was a really great read and definitely changes your perspective on food. If you are just going to read one book about food, this might be the one I vote for.  

The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler MD

This book is a great read for those of us who have trouble having "just one cookie". In it Kessler goes through the science of the chemically based cue and reward system in our brains that drive us towards foods that are super palatable. He explains how the food industry knows enough of this science to make their processed foods pretty much irresistible to people, especially if you are sort of prone to compulsive behavior. After reading this book it is really no wonder that so many Americans suffer from compulsive over eating and because of it, metabloic syndrome. However, after explaining how the food industry works and shedding light on reasons you may not have thought of as towards why you might have trouble with compulsive eating, Kessler gives a lot of helpful advice on how to sort of treat yourself and make it easier to avoid harmful foods. 

Books Waiting on My Shelf

What to Eat by Marion Nestle 

This book is sort of a hand guide to the grocery store. Although she is a little more mainstream than say, Taubes, Nestle does a good job of going through all types of food (produce, meat, milk, processed foods) and telling you what she thinks you need to know about them. These days, the supermarket can be a lot more overwhelming than it should be, so unfortunately there is a big need for a book like Nestle's.  I am only a few pages into the book, but I am enjoying it so far. To give you more insight, here is one of the quotes on the back of the jacket : "The industry wants you to believe there are no good foods or bad foods. Well, that's not true. And I can't think of anyone who knows the difference better than Marion Nestle"- Eric Schlosser

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

After Pollan came out with The Omnivore's Dilemma, many people asked him the question of "Ok, then, what should I eat?"In response to that question, Pollan came out with this book. From what I can tell, it looks like it is going to be a combination of The End of Overeating and What to Eat. Pollan explains the food industry as well as giving instruction on the best way to navigate through it and pick the best foods.  I am sure that it will repeat a lot of stuff from the other books but Pollan is a great author and the book is a quick read.

Next on the List....

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig

This book comes with the stamp of approval from Dishing up Nutrition and it is definitely what I will be spending MY Barnes and Noble gift card on. Part nutritional education, part cookbook, Nourishing Traditions explains what is wrong with the American view that dietary fat = body fat. Fallon is a leader in the Weston A Price foundation that calls for nutrition reform in America. Price was a dentist who did research on healthy primitive people and what they ate. They call to attention the need for REAL fat in the diet and the return to real foods including butter, lard, fatty meat, whole protein, fermented foods, and unrefined vegetable carbs. I have heard Sally Fallon speak before and I am excited to read the cookbook and test out what is in it. 

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom by Julia Child

Besides Nourishing Traditions (because it is so much more than a cookbook) I am not generally too interested in having a ton of cookbooks because I find a lot of good stuff online. However, I think this book will be great to have because it is more about kitchen technique and things that you might not automatically know like, the best way to braise meat or how to keep your vegetables from wilting too much when you cook them. Although I like to cook a lot, I think a lot of us could use tips like this and based on what I read in the reviews, I think that this could be a great kitchen aid to anyone who already sort of knows how to cook.

  

So I know some of my pics are obvious, but hopefully there were a few in there that you weren't sold on that you might want to get now or a few you didn't know about at all! If you are still going to get the Twilight Series or  the Hungry Girl low fat cookbook, I guess I failed you, but at least I tried!

Happy New Year!

Holidaze: Flourless Brownies!

Again, it has been forever. Finals week was rearing its head earlier this month and ever since Thanksgiving I had been finding it hard to find time for nutritional escapades. However, I now have weeks ahead of me of nothing but eating, cooking, working out, and working a little bit on my fashion portfolio. After Christmas I am even going to Seattle for a few weeks to see Dan so hopefully I will be able to put up some good Seattle foodie posts while I am out there.

So as everyone is either happily or painfully aware, Christmas almost upon us! I know between Starbucks attractive drinks in their nice red cups, people bringing in Christmas treats to school/work, or just the cold weather and stress all adding up, I have have the urge to eat a lot of bad things more often then I normally do. I also find it quite unhelpful when people talk about "holiday poundage" because generally I wasn't thinking about Christmas cookies until it was brought up, but then I really want some! Whatever reasons you have, many people struggle to stay on track around this time of year.

Just can't get enough holiday treats!

However, not all treats were created equal. There are some treats that, although they should still be eaten in moderation, are much better for you than their overly processed peers (and I'm not talking just fruit salad!). In general, it is better to eat a dessert that is home made rather than one that is processed or made with HFCS and veg. oil. That is pretty obvious. There are also some great desserts that go a little further by cutting out some other ingredients that can be harmful if eaten in excess....

On Sunday, my mom and I were craving some chocolate, and I remembered a recipe for flourless brownies that I saw on the Nutritional Weight and Wellness website. This recipe was gluten free so my dad could eat it and getting rid of the flour will really cut down on the excess carbs. There is also no added sugar so the only sugar in the recipe is coming from the dark chocolate. Not too shabby. Also, there were only FOUR ingredients, all of which we just happened to have in the house so it's not some fancy recipe that you have to buy stuff you will only use once for. So here is how to make it ....

1) 2 cups (or one bag) of dark chocolate chips (try to get a better brand that has as few harmful ingredients as possible)
2) 1 1/2 sticks butter
3) 6 eggs
4) 1 Tbs. vanilla extract

So you can save your flour for hiding your jewelery

1) First Pre-heat the oven to 350.
2) Take the chocolate and butter and melt them together in a double boiler and stir occasionally

Try to resist putting your head in the pot of melting chocolate

3) Take the eggs and crack them into a large mixing bowl. 
4) Take a hand beater and beat the eggs on high for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are thick and very well beaten.
5) When the chocolate is fully melted cool it a little bit and add the vanilla extract.
6) When the eggs are ready, slowly add the chocolate to them, stirring very fast so that the chocolate gets fully blended into the eggs.
7) When the mixture is fully combined, line a 9X9 pan with parchment paper and pour the mixture in.
8) Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes

Let cool and enjoy! Sorry I forgot to take my own pictures again, I was living in the chocolaty moment.


Oh and Happy Holidays! Hope Santa brings you something as good as these brownies.....

Seafood! And SOUP!

So as I am sure you have seen before, I am really into the idea of making a big batch of something and then having it for the whole week. It's really good for my busy schedule and frees up my time so I am not CONSTANTLY cooking. This week I made New England Clam Chowder. I went though a bunch of recipes online, and found one on epicurious that boasted being totally authentic. It said in the recipe that real New England Clam Chowder should be simple and thin like milk, rather than rich and creamy with tons of ingredients.

So here is what I used:
1 can of crown prince boiled clams
1/2 bottle of crown prince clam juice
1 1/2 cups of organic half and half
1/2 yellow onion chopped
A bit of olive oil to saute the onions
3 Smallish red potatoes, cubed
 a bunch of shallots chopped
1/2 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
3 strips of uncured bacon

So first what I did was fry up the bacon in a pan and put it on a few paper towels. Then I chopped it up into chunks

 Then I began to fry the chopped onions in the bottom of a soup pot. After they softened I added the broth, shallots, and potatoes. I then simmered it covered for 10 minutes, and uncovered for 15 minutes until the potatoes were soft and most of the stock was evaporated or absorbed into the potatoes and onions.

Then I added the drained the clam juice, putting it aside, and rinsed the clams in a strainer. I then added the clams clam juice from the can, and about half the bottle of clam juice. I let that simmer for about 3 minutes.

Then I added the half and half, and bacon that I had prepared earlier, and let that come together for about five minutes. It was great!

Ready to go!

This recipe provided about four servings.

Another great seafood to make are sardines. They are really high in Omega 3, and taste great when they are good. You can get good brands of canned ones like crown prince or others (just make sure it's not packed in a low quality oil like cottonseed) Also, if your sardines come in oil you might want to USE the oil in whatever you are making, since some of the Omega 3 oil will probably leek into the oil used to pack it.

Even better though, are fresh sardines cooked on the grill, although I couldn't be there, my parents made sardines last weekend on the grill and my dad sent me this picture of him cooking them!

Jealous!

 If you can't get all your Omega 3 from fish, as so few of us can, make sure that you are taking a high quality fish oil supplement. If you are getting a bargain price you want to be wary because fish oil, like any other oil, can go rancid and then it is doing more harm then good. If you are getting fishy burps, its a sign that your fish oil is rancid.

So enjoy your seafood everyone!

Name something better than SNACK TIME! Nope, you can't!

Snacks are just great! How often are you working on something boring and distract yourself with a snack? All the time, if you are me. Many experts say that it is important to try to eat more than just 3 times a day, so it is good to have healthy snacks around so you don't get driven into the vending machine routine.

Hey now.

Although there are a lot of simple snacks that are good like nuts, fruit and raw veggies, I thought I would provide an idea for if you want something new and maybe takes care of more of a snacky craving.

Last week, I made swis chard chips!

1) Preheat your oven to 350
2) I started out with a nice big bunch of organic swiss chard. You can also use another type of green like kale or spinach.

3) Wash and dry the greens and roughly rip in into sections, keeping in mind that it will shrink a little bit in the oven
4) Spread the greens out on a cookie sheet
5) Coat the leaves lightly in olive oil and toss them around for an even coverage.
6) Spread out the leaves on the cookie sheet, and send it into the oven for about 20 minutes! Check on it every once in a while. You want them to be crispy like chips.
7) After the leaves come out, sprinkle with sea salt.

THATS IT! So easy and tasty

PS, Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

My Favorite Breakfast

One thing that really keeps people from eating healthy is forgetting to eat breakfast. I know we have all heard it a million times, but it is really important to eat not only a breakfast in the morning, but a healthy breakfast that will also keep you satiated until it is time to eat again.

I for one, find that if I only eat fruit in the morning, I will be hungry again in a really sort amount of time. And when it comes to breakfast bars and breakfast substitutes you can just forget it.

This is the ingredient list from a Nutrigrain bar.

Another thing I hear a lot is that people are not hungry, or even disgusted by food, when they first wake up. I don't really see this as an issue because there are ways (like the recipe I am about to share with you) to bring an easy breakfast with you that make it possible for you to eat whenever you feel ready.

So here is a sweet potato quiche that you can make on a Sunday, cut it up, and freeze it for the week!

This is you cooking up your great breakfast

I got the original recipe from the Weight and Wellness website but I tweaked it a bit so this is how I make it.......

What you will need for 6 portions:
12 eggs
1 of the little cartons of whipping cream
1 large Sweet Potato
1/2 a chopped onion
1 bag of frozen spinach (you can use fresh too)
Olive Oil or Butter
Another veggie like Broccoli or Cauliflower, or some healthy sausage (whatever you like in your quiche, I like the Applegate farm sausage with apple!)
Some Cheese to sprinkle on top
Salt, Pepper, hot sauce and Garlic to taste

9X13 pan for the oven, and a big pan for the stove

1) So first what I do is I peel the entire sweet potato until you just have a big pile of peels.

Just keep going!

2) then I take the onion and begin to saute them in a big pan with olive oil and some garlic.
3)After a few minutes I add the potatoes and fry them until I basically have a big pan of home made sweet potato hash browns
4) While your potatoes are frying crack all of the eggs in a bowl and whisk them a little to break the yolks.
5) Add the cream and mix it in fully.
6) Take the 9X13 pan and grease it either with butter or oil.
7)Take the hash browns and spread them through the bottom of the pan. Try to make it even but it's okay if you have a few bald spots.
8)Take the Spinach and defrost it a little so you can work with it. You might also want to get any excess water out of it with a strainer. Then spread the spinach on top of the sweet potatoes.
9)add the eggs mixture, and then put in the sausage and other veggies you want to add.

Here are some fall veggie ideas that might be good ideas for add- ins

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 mintutes or it looks golden(ish)on top.  When there are 5 minutes left you can add cheese to the top if you want to. This is a really great breakfast because it is healthy and also has a good amount of fat and protein to start your day and feel full for quite a few hours!

Enjoy!

OH MY GOODNESS OH MY GOODNESS!

So I was listening to my favorite show on the Radio, Dishing up Nutrition which I listen though a podcast. And I was listening to the menopause episode which I had missed a few weeks ago and all of a sudden I hear that they are making a shot out to my blog on the radio!!!!!!! I was so excited I started jumping up and down in my living room shouting! It was so unexpected!

So thanks to Dishing Up Nutrition! I find them so motivating to try to eat healthy and even though everyone slips up, they have been a HUGE part of my weight loss thus far. I love them and I can't wait to eventually have a phone consultation with them!

Now I am really motivated to keep this blog up since I might have people in the St Paul area looking at it! WOAH!

Busy Schedule Solutions

So I haven't updated in over a month! It's so sad but I just haven't had much free time since school started to keep up the blog. However, I have been trying to keep up with developing healthy eating habits, which in the end is what it's supposed to be about. It's not always easy, and requires a lot of planning.

A lot of people complain that they, like me, are too busy to make lunch and bring it to school/work. I think that this is one of the pitfalls for people trying to eat healthy, because they either end up not eating, or eating out which is very hard to control.

Healthy *LOOKING* muffins and the like start to look pretty good when you are on the run, hungry, and didn't pack a lunch. However, this really isn't what you want to be eating through the day (you can just ask my friend Martha, she was a witness and occasional causality to my former muffin addiction)

One thing that I find a real life saver is to make big batches of food, pre-package it into Tupperware and freeze it. Then I just pull it out through the week and everyone I eat with is jealous of me. It's great!

Tonight for dinner I came home (after a full day of school, just like you!) and made asparagus soup!

This is not the soup I made! But it looks just like it and I forgot to take a picture!

 

Here is what I did:

Ingredients: Asparagus, cauliflower, a can of chick peas (I think mine was around 10 oz), some butter, water, salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: I originally was going to use a broth for the base, but obviously I didn't have time to make a broth at home. So I went to the deli under me and looked at the broth they had. College Inn was the only brand they had and it was FULL of chemicals including autolyzed yeast extract, which is actually a re-branded version of MSG. So be careful that you don't turn your healthy soup into a pot of chemicals!

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

1) I took a bunch of asparagus and cut off the white part at the end because I thought it would be too tough.
2) I took about 1/4 of a head of cauliflower and chopped it.
3) I boiled the two together in a pot of water for about 7 minutes with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and some REAL butter (This is all I had, but onions and other stuff would be good too)
4) I took out the veggies and put it in the blender with some of the water that I originally boiled it in (but not ALL of it, you sort of have to eyeball it to see how much is enough)
5) I added a whole can of chickpeas to add protein and thicken the texture
6) I blended it all and added more salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top

This was super super easy and I made enough for three meals. It probably doesn't really have enough protein to be an ideal dinner but I ate a lot of protein through the day today so I wasn't too worried.

So if you have time for Facebook and  showering and watching TV, you have time to make your meals most of the time. I'll admit that I don't ALWAYS have a lunch packed, but I try to do it at least four times a week or so. Now I need to follow my own advice and start blogging more regularly!

How much cooler are the french than us?

Prompted by my friend Connie's comment on my Seattle post, I decided to investigate and give my opinion on why America has such a different relationship with food than the rest of the world.

One example that is often referred to is the "French Paradox": how the French seem to be able to eat very palatable foods and as a population have a low heart disease and obesity.

Sign me up!

Although this is accepted to be true, I think it would be unfair to say that Americans are the only ones dealing with poor eating habits and obesity. America seems to have exported a culture of processed food that is now reeking havoc on previously healthy populations.

When I was in Italy I noticed that there was just as much processed packaged food in their grocery stores as there were at ours, and Italians have really welcomed McDonald's into their lives.

YEAH MCITALY!

As a result, most European nations are becoming increasingly concerned with a higher presence of obesity in their populations. I have even heard news stories reporting that there is even concern in Asia over an increase in obesity, especially among children.

Not only are the processed foods that we eat on a regular basis making us unhealthy, they are taking the fun and social aspect of nutritious food out of our culture. A family that prepares a totally home cooked meal every night in present day America is somewhat of a rarity. I am sure that it is no coincidence that the faster we consume and the less we cook, the bigger and less healthy we become.

I am actually reading a book that is highly relative to this topic. It is called The End of Overeating by David A Kessler MD. In it he discusses how Americans have literally become addicted through our brain's reward system to highly palatable, highly processed combinations of salt fat and sugar that leave us in a very tricky situation. We fall victim to food scientists' (who lets face it, know more about what I like and why I like it than I do!) and large corperations' brilliant ways of making us literally addicted and conditioned over eaters, having unhealthy emotional attachment to food, and losing a relationship with REAL food.

Evil scientist knows you can't resit!

And believe me, I KNOW how hard this can be to resist and I am not always successful. Knowing that it's not all your fault is helpful, but I think we need to find ways to really fight the odds. It is hard to plan meals and cook everything you eat yourself. The sheer availability of food at any time of day from any selection of lovely chain restaurants and convenience stores make success sometimes seem impossible. But if you have to make the choice between spending an hour on Facebook at night, or making sure that you cook something healthy and satisfying for the next days lunch, I think we should make an effort to prioritize eating healthy and enjoying eating food that we can be proud of, with people we care about.

Calorie Counting, striking a balance

I initially lost some weight by calorie counting. Basically, I would track EVERYTHING I ate as well as logging all of my work-outs and calculating my deficit. It could be time consuming but I really didn't mind too much. The problem is that this isn't a truly realistic way to lose weight and keep the weight off. Now that I am in school again, it is really hard to continue to calorie count.

Eating clan when you are always on the run really is hard, and I keep making resolutions to do better every day, but then something happens to mess it up. So this week (Friday to Friday) I want to try to see how closely I can eat to my healthy calorie counting ways and still lose some weight (hopefully 1 pound) without calorie counting. Hopefully I will be able to post often to report how this goes. Also, I want to try to not eat even a gram of refined sugar if I can avoid it and see how I feel. I have tried to do this a few times but I always mess up. It's amazing how food can just sneak up on you like that. This is Especially true if I wait until I am really hungry to eat, which I will have to try to avoid this week.

Long overdue: A trip to the west coast

So I haven't posted for a while! I was in Seattle for a week and then school started right away so I have had to play catch up.

The reason I went to Seattle and Vancouver for a week is that I was going with my boyfriend to the American Cheese Society conference in Seattle (he is a cheesemaker). We went to Vancouver first for a day and took a bus tour down to Seattle see a few really cool farms!

One of the creameries we visited along the way

The ACS is a really great because they are pretty grassroots and are focused on promoting American artisinal foods. However the BEST thing about the ACS conference is allllll the great cheese everywhere for the entire conference.

My boyfriend Dan making cheese at Beecher's cheese at the Pike Place Market

The other thing that really struck me was the west coast attitude about food in general. Even the people behind the counter where I would get coffee or a sandwich would be so stoked on the great food that they were serving. Although being a "localvore" is now labeled as a somewhat shallow food trend, these people were so excited to be serving products they could be proud of.

Great turkey sandwich from the Seatown Snack Bar that the guy literally talked to me about for like 5 min.

Even when I went to a coffee bar, the girl who took my order talked to me about the cool espresso beans they had, and then I had the same exact conversation with the guy who actually made my drink. And they were both SO EXCITED about the coffee they were serving that day.

And it looks pretty great right?

Not that New Yorkers aren't more interested in food than they used to be (including myself), it was really cool to see this attitude that people have about food where it isn't just something you grab and go with as a matter of sustinance, but something that you can really enjoy and be proud of.

I hope that we see more of that here on the East coast, along with a focus on healthy and environmentally responsible foods that people are excited about, not just eating because they want to lose weight.

Agave Noway

The first time that I remember hearing about agave nectar was when I worked at a tea shop in Chelsea Market. My boss there insisted that everyone used it as the new natural sugar. We had to endure plenty of customers complaining that we didn't have regular or artificial sugar. However, I was under the impression that agave was better for you! We were told at work that agave was a "natural" sugar that the body knew how to process better than other sugars. Unlike white or even regular raw sugar, the body supposedly knew what to do with agave, so that it wouldn't be stored as fat.

This is the type of marketing misinformation that is just ridiculous. Then there end up being plenty of people (myself included) who think that it's okay to have agave and that is better for you than regular sugar.

The problem with agave is that it has an even higher percentage of fructose than the dreaded high fructose corn syrup! It is also a myth that agave is unprocessed or "raw" although agave nectar is not AS processed as HFCS, it is processed to get it into the nectar state you buy in the store.

Also, I do understand that HFCS isn't much worse for you than regular sugar, so we should be just trying to avoid ALL processed sugar really, and the higher the fructose percentage, the worse it is.

Just as a reminder, these are the reasons why fructose in excess is so bad for you (weather is is in the form of regular sugar, HFCS, or agave) :
1) Fructose does not release the hormones insulin or lechten, which would normally tell the brain that you are full. Therefore if you are eating fructose you will continue to feel hungry even after you have eaten.
2)They raise your triglyceride levels and LDL cholesterol levels (all sugars do).
3) High fructose products are highly processed (including agave!)
4) Fructose is processed entirely by the liver whereas glucose is processed only 20% by the liver. This leads to the liver turning the fructose into fat cells and this not only leads to storing fat on the body, but also non-alcoholic fatty liver syndrome or gout!

So I'm sorry that it turned out this way, but agave is not better for you than regular sugar, it is actually worse for you, because it has a higher percentage of fructose.

If you are interested in learning more about this on your own, I got the information for this post from the Dishing Up Nutrition Podcast, a q&a with Marion Nestle, and Sugar: The Bitter Truth .

Anti-Inflammatory minus the meds....Can it be done?

So yesterday I had some cavities filled!

Basically!

 So after the novocaine wore off, I noticed that if I tried to eat on the right side of my mouth, a shooting pain went through my gums! Oh no!

When I called the Dentist they said it MIGHT be normal, but I should come in Monday anyway. And then in the meantime I should just keep popping advil all weekend until it feels better! Of course to that I asked myself "is there a way I can get the anti-inflammatory benefits of taking pills nutritionally?" I figured that I couldn't get the anti-pain benefits but it wasn't that painful unless I actually tried to eat on that side. Of course I also understand that the inflammation that nutritionists talk about is probably chronic inflammation involving the whole body, not just a random tooth issue. But I still thought it would be worth it to talk about on here. 

This is what I discovered:
According to the Nutrition Diva (who actually has a book The Inflammation Free Diet Plan) foods that fight Inflammation also happen to be all of the foods that we should be trying to be a lot of anyway! Anything that is particularly high in anti-oxidants like berries and carrots fight inflammation (making sure you are eating these foods containing fiber is also a bonus for inflammation). Also, fish oil, nuts, olive oil, and basically all healthy fats are foods that fight inflammation.

What I found from an article in Natural Health Magazine is that inflammation can also be caused from processed food chemicals like nitrates and msg, sugar, and (I'm assuming they mean low-quality only) red meat and dairy.

Also many articles I came across mentioned turmeric as an important spice for its anti-inflammitory properties, something I have heard many times before.
 

The turmeric plant!

Since inflammation can be traced to MANY diseases, it is a good idea to pay attention to including foods that promote an inflammation-free body and excluding foods that cause inflammation like trans-fats, added chemicals, and so on. According to some sources, saturated fat can cause inflammation too. I have already made peace with saturated fat though, and since I don't think I have an inflammation problem, I'm going to go on with life pretending I never heard this.

Funny how all of the foods we already knew were healthy fight inflammation and those we knew weren't healthy, seem to cause inflammation!

Canned Sea Food and Evil Oils

So yesterday I was at Whole Foods with Dan and as usual I got distracted from the main goal (blue cheese) and started wandering around the isles. When I got to the canned fish area I paused and started investigating. First of all, I really like smoked oysters in a tin. They are really tasty and as I posted before, oysters are really good for you. Unfortunately I stopped buying them because I realized that they are generally in cottonseed oil.

You may be wondering: What is wrong with cottonseed oil? The problem is that it is an industrially produced damaged oil that is just not good for you. There is a lot of processing involved for oils like cottonseed, soy, corn and so on so that just makes them unnatural unhealthy fats that will not support your body the way that natural fats will. As the Agriculture Society put it, "processing of oils like cottonseed and other industrially-produced oils causes the substance to become unstable, rancid, and are essentially trans-fats due to the nature of their processing. But you won’t hear the industries producing these products admitting these facts to the public."

Another big problem with them is that according to the San Fransisco Pesticide Action Network cotton crops account for 10% of the total pesticide use in America. That is a really large percentage when you think about it. I guess it's not as big of a deal for clothes (maybe) but we should generally try to limit the amount of pesticides we consume. Also, cotton, along with corn and soy is one of the most likely crops to be genetically modified. All together not something you want to be putting in your body.

So the good news for me is that I found a brand, Crown Prince that does not put its oysters in cottonseed oil, but puts it in olive oil! How great! Also, I bought mustard sardines. For those of you who don't think that you like sardines, maybe you would if you tried another flavor! It's worth a shot since they are so good for you!

Lunch: falafel black bean cakes over a salad/ Why you should eat more fiber

Today after the gym I came home pretty hungry so this was a really great quick meal.

I took 1/4 cup of falafel mix with water added to make it mushy. Then I added 1/4 cup of re-fried black beans from whole foods. So simple, full of fiber, and really tasty! I split it into 4 little meatballs and flattened them into pancakes on the pan. Then I made a salad with avocado and carrot, topped with a dressing made out of the ricotta I got at the market yesterday, mustard, and balsamic vinegar. Really satisfying and flavorful!

Since I had this lunch that on it's own had 17 grams of fiber, I figured I would discuss the general benefits of fiber. According to the book I am reading, Good Calories Bad Calories, when fiber first started to be studied, scientists claimed that it had over-the-moon health benefits that turned out not to be true, like preventing colon/rectal cancer. Also, it turns out you can't just eat fiber along with tons of sugar and still be healthy (surprise, surprise). However, this does not mean that fiber is not great for you.

I for one notice that I am way fuller when I eat more fiber, because fiber is naturally bulky and non-digestible. According to The Nutrition Diva, who I also follow on Itunes, fiber slows down the entire digestive process, also inhibiting the amount of calories absorbed in the digestive tract. Sounds pretty good right? Another reason is that while people are out buying weirdo risky "cleanse" products at health food stores, they are forgetting that nature has provided us with all of the cleansing products our body needs: fiber. Every reputable source I have ever heard from has said that those cleanse products are a waste of time and money. Also, make sure that you get fiber from natural sources (sorry, fiber one) because the fiber found in added fiber processed food doesn't seem to be as effective (again, big surprise!). So get your fiber! I know I'm trying!

Photo from TheDailyGreen.com

My day in food

So today was another fun food day. Last night we went to a really cool place in Dumbo Vinegar Hill House. It was really great, fresh food. BUT.... I forgot to take pictures, so I will focus on today.

This morning Dan and I went to one of my favorite places, The Lighthorse Tavern for brunch. The only thing you really have to look out for there is the live music they occasionally have has never ever been decent. We went an unusual route and got oysters to start, which is one of my favorites.

They are really tasty and high in iron and protein (31% and 6 grams respectively per 6 oysters) so I think they are a really great option for a healthy appetizer.

Then for my meal I got an omelette with house smoked salmon, feta, spinach, and roasted potatoes on the side. Had I know it came with toast I would have told them to hold it because it was totally overkill. I felt bad wasting food but I couldn't eat the toast. Overall everything was great though.

Later in the day, I went to the union square green market which was really hectic. But I got some really nice green beans and some fresh goat ricotta (made yesterday!) that I wanted to use tonight for dinner. So I made myself green beans and zucchini with a sauce I made with the fresh ricotta and basil (from my little window herb garden!) and I had it with a tin of sardines in water. It came out pretty nice, although next time I might leave out the onion I added. Despite all this healthy eating, (along with some fruit throughout the day) I still found that according to caloriecount.com I was STILL under in my protein. So annoying! So I heated up some edamame even though I wasn't particularly hungry. For the future, I need to figure out some high protein snacks to have on hand for situations like this!