Hello there.
You may or may not have noticed I've been out for a bit. Well, I'm
back.
Let's see. Let me just sum up the last few months here. I finished
my thesis, defended my thesis much to the chagrin of my PI, faculty, staff and
students of SDSU. FINALLY took surfing lessons much to the chagrin of all
involved. I am no longer terrified of the ocean. That's a lie. Celebrated my
34th birthday. Oscar and I broke up. I moved out. Was placed in
a dietetic internship which I start in July. I have joined
a climbing group. I only go because we go out for beers at
Smallbar after every Wednesday. I deleted my face book (no I didn't defriend
you I just am over FB right now). And I think that about does it. Oh and I
graduated last Friday.
So now that we have that out of the way, let's get updated on the
nutrition world, because really, isn't that the more exciting thing here?
The American Dietetic Association is now
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. I am not sure why although I
assume it's because they feel it sounds fancy to call themselves the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics. I'm not sure they thought this one through however
because the acronym is going to be AND. Doesn't sound fancy when you see it
like that does it? Anyway, that is the new institution and that is how they
will be addressed. I have been paying extra special attention to AND lately and
it's position on the new health care laws; it has been very interesting
watching how this whole health care reform business plays out in regards to
nutrition professionals. Many of the billing codes are going to be changed to
limit certain nutrition related therapies or remove them all together. Obviously
this is a concern moving forward and has a lot of us wondering what exactly our
careers will look like in the future. Time will tell I suppose.
But onto a little blurb from my Food and Nutrition magazine. This month had an article on juicing and I thought
I'd pay it a little mind since everyone from my new roommates to my brother are
juicing these days and it's something I get asked about quite a bit.
Juicing is the process of using a juicer to separate fruits and vegetables from their peels, pulp,fibrous materials, etc., into a purely liquid form. It's different than blending since the juicing process actually removes the other components of fruits and vegetable whereas blending them uses the entire fruit and/or vegetable.
Juicing has also been getting a ton of attention lately. Many hail it THE a way to lose weight and others insist it is the best way to consume fruits and vegetables. Movies, movie stars and fitness advocates alike seem to be hopping on the latest industry trend.
In an attempt to figure out what the fuss was about, I made a few juices
of my own. Tasty, diarrhea looking things from kale, ginger, lemon, parsley and
carrots. I juiced a whole bag of oranges one time and got two whole glasses of
juice out of it. After a particularly rigorous week of post break up drinking I
juiced for what was supposed to be ten days but was chiseled down to six after I just about got fired from my job for being so darned cranky from
being so darned hungry. Don't get me wrong, my juices were tasty!! Seriously
they were so good. And I actually felt pretty good too after drinking them. I
didn't get the fit of hypoglycemia I assumed would follow a strict
juicing diet. My main concern wasn't what was in the juice, but what wasn't in
it.
After I reduced a weeks worth of produce to a glass of liquid, all
the fibrous material (the stuff that contains almost ALL the fiber) was still
in my juicer. One time I tried adding it back into the juice but to be honest
it was pretty gross, but I digress.
I think this article from Food and Nutrition Magazine gives great
tips on how to be a smart juicer and hopefully get the most benefits from juicing. A few main points:
1) There is no advantage to consuming juice over whole fruits and
veggies
2) Juice-only diets which severely restrict calories may result in
short term weight loss (and later to weight gain) but the lack of protein won't
sustain muscle mass
3) Other deficiencies like fiber, fat soluble vitamins D and E, essential
fatty acids and B vitamins may result
4) Always thoroughly wash fruits and veggies and consume juice immediately
5) Aim for a 3-to-1 vegetable to fruit ratio
And it's important to remember juicing really shouldn't be replacing meals and its hold no benefit over consuming fruits and vegetables in their raw, whole form but can be a great way to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet if you have a hard time doing so.
Do you juice? If so what's your favorite recipe?
