Healthy Cooking by design

“Low-Fat”, “Healthy”, “No-Trans Fats”, “Cholesterol-Free”, etc.  Advertisers know the latest buzz words and how to jump on the band wagon.  Let’s consider this dilemma  in another context.  A shampoo commercial shows the model with shiny, shoulder-length, wavy hair and tells you that if you buy their brand, your hair will look the same.  Do you believe them?  If not, it is probably because you realize they have an ulterior motive.  Their top priority is selling shampoo.  Or even worse - the used car salesman.  Think of all the clever stickers and slogans he’ll put in the windows because his goal is getting the car off his lot, not having it run faithfully for the next number of years.

Food companies are no different.  They want to sell their product.  And, most of them, are not researching what is best for our bodies and selling that.  But, they are not the only ones to blame.  We are the ones clamoring for the “quick-fix” product.  We would rather take the fiber pill than eat nutritious food containing fiber.  And we like to eat all the sweet things without consequence, so companies create sugar substitutes.  And the list goes on.

We don’t have to be suckered by advertising any more.  Let’s care what goes into our bodies…enough to research it and then make adjustments in the food we buy.  To get you started, here are a few things I look for on product ingredient label and RDA lists:

• whole wheat, oats, or other whole grain
• a short list with recognizable ingredients
• serving size and number of calories, RDA percentage of fats, and sugars per serving

Remember that the Recommended Daily Allowance percentages are based on a 2000 calorie per day diet.  Most people watching their weight eat significantly less calories than that.  So if it says this product will give you 30% of your recommended fat intake for the day, just realize that it will be a higher percentage if you are consuming less calories.

Some things I avoid when reading a product ingredient and RDA list:

• unbleached enriched wheat flour (This is white flour with very little nutrition.  It is “enriched” because when it was not enriched, people who consumed it were malnourished.)
• soy fiber, inulin fiber (Added so they can up their fiber numbers.  Whole grains are so much more effective at providing fiber, as well as nutrition and other health benefits.)  This Los Angeles Times article says all fibers are not created equal and I agree.
• corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (Makes you crave carbs, and signals your body to store fat.)
• hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated oils (Clogs arteries.)
• excessive calories, fat, or sugar.  This Web MD article provides some label-reading wisdom.

I hope I’ve inspired you to check out labels for yourself.  And don’t be afraid to start small.  Pick on thing - like your bread, or your breakfast cereal to educate yourself and start eating something nutritious.  You will feel so much better, that you’ll look forward to the next thing.

*Special photo thanks to vancanjay at stock.xchng.

Wikipedia says “A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics), from the Greek “macro” (large, long) and “bios” (life), is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.” Macrobiotics has lots of healthy recommendations and has similarities to the Mediterranean Diet that my cooking and lifestyle is based on.  Except that I believe in variety and moderation of all kinds of natural foods, so I would not adhere to the macrobiotic recommendation that certain vegetables be avoided, etc.

I hung out on one particular site which grabbed my attention with phrases like “Trying to understand the true potential and essence of your food through nutritional analysis alone is like trying to understand the current US political agenda using mainstream media spin on the subject as your only source of information. (nutritional analysis alone being people who just count calories or carbs, or buy a cereal because it has lots of fiber)- taken from the article titled Understanding Food Energetics; and

“Today we have a nation that is addicted to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup.” “- taken from the article titled The Hidden Story of Big Sugar.  One of my biggest problems with sugar is that it hinders your immune system and makes it sluggish - not at all what I want when my body (or my children) encounters a germ - a sleepy, half-hearted attempt to fight it off.

The site with the above articles and others like Raising Healthy Children and Whole Grains for Whole People is called Macrobiotic Guide.  They even list their Top 15 Super Foods.  Please don’t hear me saying that I agree every suggestion offered in this guide.  Instead, like most every site I find about diet and nutrition, they provide a lot of information that is thought provoking, much of which lines up with commonly accepted beliefs.   I always appreciate reading research and theory, and just apply the suggestions that mesh well with my family’s outlook on diet and nutrition.

We sometimes struggle with the “all or nothing mentality”.  Its either carrot sticks and water or a Big Mac meal with ice cream later in the day.  But let’s imagine that our dietary and lifestyle choices all equal either a positive number or a negative number on a number line, and we tally them up each day.  Viewed that way, you have an infinite number of increasingly healthy choices or increasingly unhealthy choices, with the occasional choice being neutral.   So even the smallest healthy choice - like parking a few spaces farther out in the parking lot or drinking green tea in the afternoon - are small positive numbers that get added in to the overall result of the day.  And we know this is true, because we clearly see it working in the reverse - lots of little choices over time at the drive thru, or the vending machine, or ice cream at night gradually add up to make a negative difference.

Let’s say a Big Mac meal equals negative 20 as a choice.  That same meal, if you skipped the fries might only be a negative 15 - a better choice.  And if you drank unsweetened tea instead of the coke, then that meal might only be a negative 5 choice.  Later today, you could walk around the block, a positive 10 choice, and have a fruit and yogurt smoothie instead of DQ, another positive 10 choice, and now you’re solidly in positive territory for the day.

I was thinking about all this today, because I was craving pancakes.  Now I could have bought buttermilk pancake mix, syrup, etc and had a lot of negative numbers for my day.  Or I could have made whole wheat pancakes and topped them with fruit and nuts and had only positive numbers added to my day.  Instead, I compromised.  I made whole wheat pancakes (positive), spread them with natural peanut butter (positive), sprinkled some chocolate chips (negative), and drizzled them with honey (neutral).  So, my overall effect was positive.  Not as positive as it could have been, but also not as negative as it could have been.  And it was very satisfying.

It is helpful to me to look at each small choice I make as adding positive numbers to my day - and therefore having a positive result in my overall health.  I am wanting to live in positive territory, so I look at each choice I make as either helping me get there, or negating some of the good choices I have already made.

Special photo thanks to TheD at Stock.xchng.

I constantly challenge myself to learn.  Whether about being a better mother, wife, Christian, or healthy cook.  Not only do I want to know more information, I want to apply it practically.   One of my favorite ways to learn about healthy foods is my library.

When I have a client for whom I am creating recipes, I tend to study what they like or need in their diet.  Recently I have learned more about Columbian food, gluten-free food, and diabetes-friendly food.  And when I don’t have something specific I’m trying to learn more about, I just go for generally nutritious and natural foods and healthy cooking methods.

I typically go to my library’s section on cooking and start browsing titles.  Ones that sound like my style of cooking and eating, I pick up and thumb through.  If I find ingredients that are too expensive (black truffle mushrooms), things my family wouldn’t like (squid), or cooking methods I wouldn’t use (deep-fried) then I put it back.  Otherwise, I look further.  If I find it in line with what I believe is healthy, or see several recipes we would probably like, I check it out and take it home.

I read it in my spare time (ok, I have to TAKE time), write down any recipes I’d like to try and then return it.  I always keep the name of the author with the recipe in case I like it and pass it on so they get the credit.  Well, I’ve got to get back to looking through the small stack I brought home from the library yesterday…