Think of this piece as a companion piece to my September post on Not So healthy Health Foods. Just as there are plenty of foods out there that undeservingly get labeled health foods by misguided (and possibly unprincipled) marketing executives, there are also many foods that for some reason or another get a bum rap as being "bad" or "unhealthy" when really, as long as they are consumed in moderation, are healthy or at least health neutral in my book. The fear of several of these foods is lingering around from the fat-phobic 80s and early 90s, while a few of them are feared for their high carb content as a result of the more recent low carb-craze. While I see positive signs that people are finally starting to realize that being healthy is more about eating fresh, whole foods from the earth than about counting out fat and carbohydrate grams, there are still some foods I hear people despair about that I think can be a part of a healthy diet as long as you don't overdo it.
1. Eggs, especially the yolk. While we all hear of egg white omelets as being the breakfast of choice for celebrities and fitness fanatics, those of us who are more concerned with proper nutrition than our body fat percentage should know that a) most of the nutrients in the egg are located in the yolk and b) an entire egg still only has 70 calories which means you could scramble 2 eggs and eat them on a piece of lightly buttered toast for less calories than you find in most bowls of milk and cereal (and way less sugar). Because eggs are an animal product they do contain cholesterol; however, few people know (and this is a fact) that eating cholesterol does not actually raise your bad cholesterol levels, but eating saturated fat does. Eggs contain some saturated fat but not enough to worry about and the nutrients in eggs, including selenium, B12 and Vitamin D (which are necessary nutrients not found in many foods) more than make up for the amount of fat. Many people (including me) find that starting their day with a couple of eggs instead of cereal helps keep their blood sugar levels stable and cuts cravings for sugar and carbs later in the day. Given the recent salmonella scare, choose organic eggs from the supermarket or fresh eggs from a local provider you trust. I think the extra money is worth it regardless because few animals are treated more poorly than the chickens kept in battery cages to produce cheap supermarket eggs. So, choose wisely and eat up! Veggie omelets and frittatas make great brunch and dinner meals as well. Once a week my husband and I enjoy a veggie frittata and salad for dinner. It's a great way to get rid of unused veggies and get your protein too.
2. Butter. Ever notice how packages of butter never tell you they are healthy but packages of margarine always do? Well, the truth is that neither of them are health foods, but my choice: real butter in moderation every time before any type of margarine. While most margarine no longer contains high amounts of trans fat (warning: due to ridiculous FDA laws in America, food companies can call their product "trans-fat free" if it contains 1 g or less of trans-fat so many still contain trace amounts), it is still a highly processed food made in a factory. The very thing about margarine that makes in convenient - it's spreadability - is also what makes it suspicious. To keep the fats from becoming solid at cool temperatures, they undergo chemical processes such as partial hydrogenation, that render them unrecognizable and useless to the body, therefore causing the body to store them purely as fat. However, butter is a natural product that has been consumed for hundreds of years. Yes, it is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, but let's not forget that these are things your body actually needs, just in small amounts. A few teaspoons of butter (about 50 cal) can go a long way for flavoring steamed veggies, and because veggies contain fat soluble vitamins, butter can actually help you absorb the nutrients in the veggies better. Where people go wrong is cooking something already high in sat fat like a steak in loads of butter and then placing another pat of butter on top and eating it with a baked potato loaded with butter and sour cream. Yes, that's overkill. But a little butter on whole grain toast or broccoli? Go for it!
3. White potatoes. I will never understand how white potatoes got lumped in with white foods like white bread, flour and sugar in the low carb craze, but they did and have been sworn off by many well meaning people as a result. First a personal anecdote: I have never been thinner in my adult life than when I lived off white potatoes for dinner every night. I was so broke in NYC for a time that I literally ate a microwaved baked potato (with light sour cream and fake butter - GROSS) and steamed broccoli every night for dinner. I also ate plain bagels at breakfast during that time but I just didn't eat very much in general so I was Mrs. Poor Quality Control for sure. Now for the more scientific explanation of why they are not evil: white potatoes come from the earth. They contain loads of vitamins and minerals (especially in the skin) and are low in calories as long as you don't load up on the toppings. A medium size baked potato has 130 calories. Yes, they have a higher "glycemic load" than most vegetables but that doesn't make them bad for you as long as you are not living off french fries or "scattered, smothered and covered" hash browns at the Waffle House. So, find a medium size potato, brush the skin with olive oil, sea salt and pepper, bake it at 400 for about an hour, add a touch of real butter or sour cream and experience heaven for about 250 calories. Eat this with a small piece of salmon and some steamed veggies and you have a perfectly balanced meal. Another delicious treat that's healthier than it sounds: oven-baked french fries. Use a mandolin to slice the potatoes (keep the skin on), toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed garlic and roast on a large baking sheet at 400. Be sure to spread the "fries" out so they crisp and brown on all sides.
4. White Rice. As I mentioned in my Not So Healthy Health Foods post, many nutrition experts are now coming forward and claiming white rice to be healthier than whole wheat bread. Why? It's less processed. It's just brown rice with the outer shell removed but it's still a fairly in tact whole grain, unlike the pulverized flour used to make breads. This doesn't mean you need to have your turkey sandwich on white rice patties, rather that you shouldn't fear one and consider the other a health food. While brown rice is better for you, white rice just works better for some dishes and you should feel free to cook with it in moderation. Stick to 1/2-3/4 cup per person. The trick is to measure out the dry rice before you cook it and know that 1/4 cup dry=1/2 cup cooked. Top it with lean protein and/or veggies and for a balanced meal. In England, they serve chili over white rice, which is not something I have had here but is really delicious. A bean and grain combo makes for an excellent vegetarian meal choice as a grain+ a bean forms a complete protein.
5. Nuts. While I think most people of my generation and younger understand that nuts are good for you, there are still a lot of older people (yes, I'm talking to you mom) avoiding them for fear of the fat content. Nuts are high in good fat and full of minerals. They are high in protein and low in carbohydrates. I can't find it at the moment, but a few weeks ago I read a study in which they gave two different groups of people about 1500 extra calories a day for a few weeks but one group got it all in candy and the other all in peanuts. The peanut group gained very little or no weight, while the candy group gained what you would expect. The candy group had an increase in insulin levels but no increase in metabolism, while the peanut group had an increase in resting metabolism and no increase in blood sugar levels. The point of the study was to prove that a calorie is not just a calorie and, it's just one study, but it did. The problem with nuts is that most store-bought nuts are overly salted and people eat them in too large of portions. A proper portion of nuts is 1/4 cup (about a handful). If you can't handle the unsalted variety, do what I do: buy one bag salted and one bag unsalted and throw them all into a big ziploc and shake it. The less salt on them, the less addictive they are and you may find you can actually stick to the portion size. Of course some nuts are healthier than others, but any can be used as a garnish on a salad, stir-fry or oatmeal without guilt. Personally, if I'm going to take in the fat and calories found in a 1/4 cup of nuts (about 170 cal, 16 g fat), I prefer it to be from the most nutrient dense nuts like walnuts (highest in omega 3s - brain food!) and almonds (highest in calcium and fiber).
One caveat about the above: when I am discussing a food that is high in animal fat like butter, keep in mind that if you are overweight or have a history of heart disease in your family, this is still a food that should only figure into your diet on special occasions. Likewise, a food with a higher carbohydrate content like white rice is still a food someone who is overweight or has high insulin levels may want to be wary of. However, if you are healthy and do not need to lose a lot of weight, enjoy these foods in moderation without guilt.
For more information on how to eat a balanced diet and other health concerns, consider hiring a health coach. Visit my website www.inhabithealth.com for more information on my programs.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Quality and Quantity: Why Both Matter
When I talk to people who are unhappy with their weight or their energy level (or both), they tend to be either sacrificing quantity control or sacrificing quality control. Once of these will lead to being overweight; one will lead to being low on energy and generally unhealthy. In order to both feel and look good, we must pay attention to both the quality of the foods we eat and the quantity of food we eat. Let me offer you an example of each problem:
Ms. Poor Quality Control:
Breakfast: Venti skim latte, a chocolate-peanut flavored Slim-fast snack bar eaten in the car
Snack: Another venti skim latte
Lunch: One slice of pizza and a diet coke
Afternoon snack: pretzels or chips from the vending machine at work
Dinner: 2 glasses of wine, a Lean Cuisine pasta entree and a Skinny Cow ice cream bar
Total Calories: About 1500
This calorie count is on the lower end for a woman but would be healthy for a smaller, only moderately active woman so this person is exerting good quantity control. She only had one piece of pizza and one real snack and her portions of everything were reasonable.
Nutrient Value: ???????????? I hate to say it but the antioxidants in the wine might make alcohol the healthiest thing this person had all day. This woman would probably look very thin and wear a size 2 or 4, but she could still be at high risk for certain health issues like hypoglycemia, insomnia or chronic fatigue, infertility and even cancer because of the poor quality of her diet. She would also likely not feel very good and may appear tired and pale from the lack of nutrition or jittery from all the caffeine.
Ms. Poor Quantity Control:
Breakfast: Large bowl of all-natural granola with organic soy milk and a banana
Snack: half a 12 oz bag of roasted almonds (3/4 cup)
Lunch: Baked brie and roasted veggie sandwich on crusty 9-grain bread from a gourmet vegetarian sandwich shop; Greek Yogurt, honey and blueberry parfait from the same shop
Snack: Lara Bar
Dinner: 1 glass of red wine, 8 oz piece of salmon, 2 heaping helpings of brown rice, spinach salad with a a generous splash of a bottled "all natural" balsamic vinaigrette and 6 squares of dark chocolate
Total Calories: Almost 3000
Although this person ate only healthy foods, she consumed way too many calories for anyone not training for a marathon. Granola is very calorically dense and is better as a garnish on yogurt than eaten as a cereal. A serving size of almonds is 1/4 cup; she had 3 x that. Sandwich shops tend to use thick cuts of bread and overdo the cheese. An appropriate serving size of brown rice is about 1/2 to 3/4 cup and 5-6 oz of salmon should be enough. A Lara Bar is a high calorie snack if it is eaten between large meals and one or two squares of dark chocolate is a great sweet treat, but she overdid it. Bottled salad dressings are very high in calories and she probably used more than the average serving size of 2 Tbsp.
Nutrient Value: Very high. She has ample servings of fruit, veggies and whole grains as well as excellent protein sources and a good amount of healthy fat. This could in fact be an ideal diet if she trimmed about 1000 calories from it. This person has excellent quality control but poor quantity control. This woman would likely be quite healthy by medical testing standards and have very low risk factors for disease yet still be on the heavy side and unhappy with her appearance.
The comparison: If these women were the same height, the woman with the poor quality diet would be significantly thinner because she takes in considerably less calories; however she would likely have much less energy than the woman with the quantity control issue. She would also be likely to have pale or sallow skin and more cellulite, both of which can be caused by eating a diet high in processed foods and low in nutrients. The thin woman could actually have higher total cholesterol because she eats bad fat but no good fat, and she could also have unstable blood sugar levels because too many of her calories come from nutritionally empty foods that are high in sugar and low in fiber.
The Compromise: So ideally, in order to maintain a healthy weight and healthy energy levels and to have that healthy glow, we need to control the quality and quantity of what goes into our body. The ideal diet would actually be a calorie-controlled version of the second diet. Something like this:
Breakfast: Greek Yogurt with 1/4 cup granola and a 1/2 cup of blueberries
Calories: Approximately 1800-2000
Nutrient Value: Very high
Some people still do better when they allow themselves to eat what they want (within reason) but control the portions and some people do better when they cut out certain poor quality foods but still allow themselves generous portions. However, if you let either your quantity or quality get out of control, you will sacrifice either your waistline or your health. A good rule of thumb: when eating a poor quality food, eat a very small quantity of it; when eating a high quality food, allow yourself more of it but still don't exceed a reasonable portion size.
To find out more about how to add high quality foods to your diet or what an appropriate portion size of every food is, consider signing up for one of my health and nutrition coaching programs. You can find out more on my website www.inhabithealth.com.
Ms. Poor Quality Control:
Breakfast: Venti skim latte, a chocolate-peanut flavored Slim-fast snack bar eaten in the car
Snack: Another venti skim latte
Lunch: One slice of pizza and a diet coke
Afternoon snack: pretzels or chips from the vending machine at work
Dinner: 2 glasses of wine, a Lean Cuisine pasta entree and a Skinny Cow ice cream bar
Total Calories: About 1500
This calorie count is on the lower end for a woman but would be healthy for a smaller, only moderately active woman so this person is exerting good quantity control. She only had one piece of pizza and one real snack and her portions of everything were reasonable.
Nutrient Value: ???????????? I hate to say it but the antioxidants in the wine might make alcohol the healthiest thing this person had all day. This woman would probably look very thin and wear a size 2 or 4, but she could still be at high risk for certain health issues like hypoglycemia, insomnia or chronic fatigue, infertility and even cancer because of the poor quality of her diet. She would also likely not feel very good and may appear tired and pale from the lack of nutrition or jittery from all the caffeine.
Ms. Poor Quantity Control:
Breakfast: Large bowl of all-natural granola with organic soy milk and a banana
Snack: half a 12 oz bag of roasted almonds (3/4 cup)
Lunch: Baked brie and roasted veggie sandwich on crusty 9-grain bread from a gourmet vegetarian sandwich shop; Greek Yogurt, honey and blueberry parfait from the same shop
Snack: Lara Bar
Dinner: 1 glass of red wine, 8 oz piece of salmon, 2 heaping helpings of brown rice, spinach salad with a a generous splash of a bottled "all natural" balsamic vinaigrette and 6 squares of dark chocolate
Total Calories: Almost 3000
Although this person ate only healthy foods, she consumed way too many calories for anyone not training for a marathon. Granola is very calorically dense and is better as a garnish on yogurt than eaten as a cereal. A serving size of almonds is 1/4 cup; she had 3 x that. Sandwich shops tend to use thick cuts of bread and overdo the cheese. An appropriate serving size of brown rice is about 1/2 to 3/4 cup and 5-6 oz of salmon should be enough. A Lara Bar is a high calorie snack if it is eaten between large meals and one or two squares of dark chocolate is a great sweet treat, but she overdid it. Bottled salad dressings are very high in calories and she probably used more than the average serving size of 2 Tbsp.
Nutrient Value: Very high. She has ample servings of fruit, veggies and whole grains as well as excellent protein sources and a good amount of healthy fat. This could in fact be an ideal diet if she trimmed about 1000 calories from it. This person has excellent quality control but poor quantity control. This woman would likely be quite healthy by medical testing standards and have very low risk factors for disease yet still be on the heavy side and unhappy with her appearance.
The comparison: If these women were the same height, the woman with the poor quality diet would be significantly thinner because she takes in considerably less calories; however she would likely have much less energy than the woman with the quantity control issue. She would also be likely to have pale or sallow skin and more cellulite, both of which can be caused by eating a diet high in processed foods and low in nutrients. The thin woman could actually have higher total cholesterol because she eats bad fat but no good fat, and she could also have unstable blood sugar levels because too many of her calories come from nutritionally empty foods that are high in sugar and low in fiber.
The Compromise: So ideally, in order to maintain a healthy weight and healthy energy levels and to have that healthy glow, we need to control the quality and quantity of what goes into our body. The ideal diet would actually be a calorie-controlled version of the second diet. Something like this:
Breakfast: Greek Yogurt with 1/4 cup granola and a 1/2 cup of blueberries
Snack: 1/4 cup of roasted or raw almonds
Lunch: Open-face veggie sandwich on one piece of whole grain bread with one slice of cheese, an apple
Snack: Lara Bar
Dinner: 1 glass of red wine, 5 oz piece of salmon, 1 scoop of brown rice, 2 cups steamed spinach with fresh lemon juice and 1-2 squares of dark chocolate
Calories: Approximately 1800-2000
Nutrient Value: Very high
Some people still do better when they allow themselves to eat what they want (within reason) but control the portions and some people do better when they cut out certain poor quality foods but still allow themselves generous portions. However, if you let either your quantity or quality get out of control, you will sacrifice either your waistline or your health. A good rule of thumb: when eating a poor quality food, eat a very small quantity of it; when eating a high quality food, allow yourself more of it but still don't exceed a reasonable portion size.
To find out more about how to add high quality foods to your diet or what an appropriate portion size of every food is, consider signing up for one of my health and nutrition coaching programs. You can find out more on my website www.inhabithealth.com.
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