The Cubans have it

Many people find it hard to believe I am entering the field of nutrition after they have eaten a meal with me. I have the appetite of a twelve year old boy and am a sucker for desserts. I can't tell you how many people have said "I didn't think dietitians ate desserts!!" But we do. lots of them. Anyone majoring in nutrition is obsessed with food, and not always in a good way...so it's best to follow what is called the 80/20 rule. Eat healthy 80% of the time, 20% of the time, splurge on a dessert or french fries. You need to enjoy life to live it to it's fullest which is why God created a little place called Azucar....

Azucar web site


It is the most wonderful Cuban style Patisserie across the street from our apartment. Oscar and I love their pasteillto de guava y queso. I have to control myself and only get their treats once a month but they are SO good. And the coffee is only a buck and supposedly very delish but I wouldn't know so we'll have to take the local's word on that one....

This will change your life

Okay maybe not really, but maybe really!!

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Please watch this movie. It's so interesting, and funny in places too-keep you ears peeled for when the organic farmers meet the buyers from Wal-Mart. But if nothing else, it may change your mind about a few things and you can sound super smart by dropping sound bytes from it at cocktail parties.

Other cool things to make you sound informed:

• Food travels and average of 1,300 miles before it gets to you...even organic! Those "fresh" tomatoes we buy, not so fresh. They're picked green so they can be transported (all the while soaking up awesome and nutritious fumes and chemicals from gasoline) and then gassed so they turn red and then coated with an edible film, YUM!


• In the US, Canada and UK, we feed over 50% of our grain to our LIVESTOCK. Tell the hungry people in your community to go ask the cattle rancher if his cows would be willing to share their dinner.


• China is the number one exporter of organic foods. Pretty sure China is kind of far away.

What can we do? Buy local! Shop at farmer's markets and try to buy foods that come from 100-150 mile radius of where you live.

Buy foods that are in season! This way you know they came from your area.

Support local agribusiness! Join a CSA (community supported agriculture). The money stays in your community and supports your local economy.

The low carbon diet

This is exciting news...a diet that works AND saves the planet!!


Here are a few snippets from an article in the September 2008 issue of Today's Dietitian:


About 22% of GHG emissions in the United States come from the food sector, explains Marissa Cloutier, MS, RD, a biology and nutrition instructor at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. “The beef industry is the biggest contributor, with dairy running in second,” she says.

Bon Appétit Management Company, an on-site restaurant company that offers foodservice management to corporations and universities, is hoping to change consumers’ perception while curbing its own bad environmental habits. On Earth Day last year, the company launched a national campaign to not only reduce its own GHG emissions but also help its guests do the same.With 400 cafés nationwide, Bon Appétit is increasing the environmental awareness of both chefs and diners by creating its version of the low-carbon diet, which involves buying foods that have a lower environmental impact on our planet.

The main ideas of the diet:

Decrease beef consumption by 25%: first cut back on portions, then on the number of times consumed per week, then ease out such foods as much as possible while substituting other foods, such as chicken and poultry-switching to poultry is also a great way to reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease.

Buy seasonal and local: Examples of so-called high-carbon foods are out-of-season perishable food items, such as berries in winter or “fresh” fish. “Also, avoid produce grown in hothouses during winter (unless the hothouses are powered by renewable energy). This practice is extremely carbon intensive. The easiest way to tell where foods are coming from is to buy directly from the source: local farmers. And farmers’ markets could be the easiest recommendation for consumers looking to eat for a healthier planet. Subscribing to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) produce box, if it’s available in your area, is another way to enjoy fresh produce that’s in season.

Decrease food waste: Try to buy items without a lot of packaging. Buy only what you will eat and use and compost.

Use common sense: the more processed a food item, the more energy intensive. Go for foods with minimal ingredients and as close to the original as possible—that is, apples instead of apple fruit roll ups. Choosing to eat to sustain the environment includes many considerations. Focusing only on GHG in terms of environmental impact is like only focusing on vitamin C when it comes to nutrition.

Bon Appétit Management Company’s Low Carbon Diet Calculator is a fun and interactive Web-based tool that reveals the relative carbon impacts of specific foods and is based on best-available science. By dragging and dropping menu items, ingredients, or suggested meals onto the virtual skillet, users can see which of their food choices are contributing more to climate change. For more information, visit http://www.eatlowcarbon.org.

Reference:

September 2008 Issue
The Low-Carbon Diet: A Protection Plan for the PlanetBy Juliann SchaefferToday’s DietitianVol. 10 No. 9 P. 42

That's Amore

One of my very close friends moved to Italy for a few months a couple weeks ago. We never really got to see each other all the time because she travels a ton for work, (I know rough life-living in Italy, travelling all over the world for work), but every time we saw each other we just picked up where we left off. It was never awkward or weird. Anyway, I really miss her and in her honor I'm going to post a recipe I made up for a delish pasta dish. Very healthy and fresh. I want to get out to Italy before she leaves but I'm eyeballs deep in school stuff, so until then, I'll celebrate my half Italian side and a good friendship with this tasty recipe:








Many of these measurements are approximate:
1/2 box thick spaghetti or linguine noodles
16 oz. bag small bay scallops, thawed
olive oil
2 tbsp. chopped fresh or 1.5 tbsp. dried parsley
Juice from 1 large lemon
1 red bell pepper julienned
garlic salt, salt and pepper

Boil pot of water with 1/2 tbsp. olive oil. Add noddles and reduce heat to medium high. Rinse scallops in colander and pat dry in paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Saute in separate pan with 2 tbsp. olive oil until opaque, season lightly with garlic salt, DO NOT DRAIN, set aside. Test pasta for doneness, when al dente, strain noodles, toss with scallops and liquid from cooking, lemon juice, parsley, red bell peppers, add a little garlic salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a little shredded Parmesan cheese if desired, but that will add to the calories....

Nutrition facts for this dish are:
Total calories: 1440 (800 for pasta, 600n for scallops, 40 for bell pepper)
10 grams of fat total

Don't get freaked out by the calories, you will be able to eat at most 1/4 of this dish (350 calories) and have plenty for leftovers.

Filth for dinner

I know (believe me I know) how overwhelming it is at the end of a long day to figure out what to make for dinner. It is sooooo tempting to pop something in the microwave or make something convenient that comes out of a box.

I'll save my rant on how much sodium, preservatives and packaging go into processed food and save this post for something we can all appreciate: caca. Literally.

Did you know there is actually an allowable amount of filth the FDA has decided can fall into processed food? There is rodent hair in our chocolate, rodent pellets (poop) in our popcorn, rodent hair/pellets/god knows what else in our flour. It's all right here, in the good old food contaminants and adulteration handbook published by the FDA for all to see in its nasty glory.


FDA allowable contaminants handbook



Now I'm not saying I'm noble or principled enough that I never buy processed products, I do. But limiting the amount of processed foods we eat is not only better for us nutritionally, but health wise as well. That E. coli outbreak last year in the peanut butter? That came from bird feces coming into the factory from vents located in the ceiling. The FDA may have their list, but I'll take my food minus the rat poop thank you very much.

Insomniac

Ever have those nights where for no reason at all you just can't sleep? I had one of those nights last night. I was so tired all day, couldn't wait to get home and go to bed, and then couldn't sleep. Of course the longer I couldn't sleep, the more stressed out I became since I had to be up at four in the morning this morning for work. All of this amounted to me, on my couch, watching TV until my alarm went off this morning. I am exhausted. Which brings me to an interesting topic: caffeine.

I'm not a coffee drinker. Don't get me wrong I love the way coffee smells and tastes, I just can't handle the caffeine. After I get over the fact that I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack, I am so hyper and wound up I can't concentrate on anything and am basically worthless until the effect wears off, at which point I am so tired all I can think about is going to bed, which usually happens around noon, and the cycle starts over again. But, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest a whopping 9 out of 10 Americans drink coffee and insist it keeps them alert and some report caffeine even makes them happy.Most people have their opinions on caffeine, I even had a friend who once told me he looked down on people who drink coffee in the morning, of course he looked down on people for just about anything, but I digress. What's the real deal with caffeine?

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and they way it works, in overly simplistic terms, is it shuts off your cells ability to relax by taking up adenosine, hence the feeling of alertness reported from ingesting caffeine. How much caffeine does it take to do this? Usually about 200 mg, and to give you an idea, a Starbucks cup of coffee contains about 330 mg. And for those of you who may be drinking energy drinks thinking they don't contain caffeine all the goodies in anything that keeps you alert (Red Bull, 5 hour energy, Monster, etc.,) are derivatives of the caffeine molecule.

The good, the bad and the perhaps

In addition to providing a feeling of being awake, coffee has also been associated with reducing risk for Parkinson's disease and gallstones, improving mood and physical performance (it is an anabolic), reducing headaches and increasing mental performance. It also contains the theobromine, which has been reported to have some positive health benefits.

Caffeine is also associated with increasing the risk for infertility, sleeplessness, migraines, miscarriages and birth defects. And no matter what your buddies at the bar may tell you, coffee is NOT going to sober you up.

Research goes on to say heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and PMS were also not necessarily associated with high intakes of caffeine (more than about 400 mg)but cutting caffeine down or out all together won't hurt you either. Some research would say coffee is not a diuretic and does not dehydrate you but I say no way. But that's just me.

Hopefully this made you feel a little better or worse or smarter about that cup of coffee you just drank. If you want more information check out the March 2008 Center for Science and Public Interest Newsletter.

So here we are...

So here I am I should say. I have officially entered this world of blogging.



I am starting this blog to keep in touch with everyone I don't and hopefully to help spread a little nutrition knowledge while I'm at it.



Today is my one and only day off and I get to spend it reading Journal of American Dietetic Association articles trying to figure out what I want to do a study on for my manuscript. At State we get a choice whether we'd like to write a thesis or do a study and publish a manuscript as the finishing touches on our masters program. Since I would rather have Kim Kardashian drive one of her tacky stiletto heels through my temple than write a thesis, I'm opting for the manuscript option. However, I have no idea what to do a study on. If anyone has any ideas I'm open to anything, related to the field of Nutrition of course.



This semester should be very interesting. I'm taking 5 classes, working part time and starting my own business with my very good friend from years past. The business idea is a great one and I think we'll be successfull but damn getting the wheels in motion is a gigantic pain in the ass. Luckily my awesome brother is doing our website for the bargain price of my unconditional love and with Schwan's looks and my brains we should be unstoppable. Adn my unstoppable I mean I am probably way in over my head. But we'll see. For now, peace out and have a great weekend!!