Calorie Awareness While Traveling

I recently spent a week at a Residence Inn in Alabama. I attended a research methods workshop for obesity prevention and treatment. On several occasions, I was aware of the 'conspicuous' absence of calorie disclosures. The biggest one... the hotel 'free breakfast.' Except for the cartons of yogurt and milk, nothing was labeled. Considering that a slice of bread can have as little as 40 calories (if you search hard) and as many as 100+, that's a big deal. I imagine the range for the available muffins, bagels and waffles make them equally hard to 'estimate.' Sure a day or two of incidental over consumption should't have lasting effects on your health, but if you travel  - and eat away from home - often, the information will come in handy. 
When I travel, attend workshops, meetings and just go to work, I try to keep within the bounds of what is healthy for me. That is another observation I had while at the workshop. It is not enough for the planners to serve 'healthy' food, because healthy, especially these days, is a relevant term and a moving target. Healthy for me mostly meets with the updated recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: 

The overall body of evidence examined by the 2015 DGAC identifies that a healthy dietary pattern is higher in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low- or non-fat dairy, seafood, legumes, and nuts; moderate in alcohol (among adults); lower in red and processed meat;i and low in sugar-sweetened foods and drinks and refined grains. Vegetables and fruit are the only characteristics of the diet that were consistently identified in every conclusion statement across the health outcomes.

*The fruits and vegetables are highlighted as being prepared with spices and without adding salt and saturated fat. See the full report here.

So for me, healthy is not about organic or 'all natural,' and healthy doesn't mean no artificial sweeteners, but that is exactly how some others might define healthy for themselves. My healthy diet includes mostly whole foods, minimally processed; no meats, lots of vegetables, soy based lean protein, fish, almond milk and no or low fat dairy (yogurt, cheese, ice cream), fruit, coffee, plenty of whole grains, like popcorn!, fiber and yup, alcohol and diet soda. So to eat the way I like, I usually bring my own food, and in Alabama, though I ate out a few nights, I went to the grocery store and prepared my lunch and dinner in the nice hotel room kitchen.  (The reason the workshop lunches weren't 'healthy' to me is because they were often sandwiches, pasta, or meat based. I did enjoy the fruit and diet soda though!)
Interestingly, my friends and I were out walking one evening and one or two got very excited when we passed the Insomnia Cookies store. (remember this was an obesity prevention workshop, and cookies can be part of a calorie controlled diet). So, my friend was more than a little excited as she went into the store - there was quite a line at the counter - but she came right back out, with a brochure (for me) and disgust. WHY? THEY POSTED THE CALORIE CONTENT!  HAHAHAHA, she said that seeing the calories took all the fun out of it. Hilarious. (BTW, we have one of these Insomnia Cookie food trucks at Temple University, and the shop in Alabama was within a mile of the UAB campus. Sense a theme?)

Notice the ranges, also on the right is ice cream

Learned Food Preferences

   Our food likes and dislikes are learned at early ages and these preferences, once instilled, are hard to change.  It is especially hard to change when you are as old as the Cookie Monster (He is 40 something).   
   Keep this information in mind when you are responsible for feeding children (whether its every day, as a parent; some days, as a school or restaurant chef; or holidays and special visits, as a relative).  You can make a difference in their preferences- well you will make one,  I just hope it's positive.

Don't Let this Happen to Your Kids! (ha ha )

Diet Quality Not Based on Organic

   I have written for at least three years that science does not support a health benefit from organic foods or one that are labeled as all natural.  Organic produce may contain less pesticide residue (but you still need to wash what you buy). 
   I cannot locate the post, but I remember recently pointing out that none of the three healthy eating indexes I shared with you (the HEI from the Dietary Guidelines, the AHEI from Harvard and the heart healthy diet defined by AHA)  mention the word organic when making recommendations on what to include in a diet pattern.
   In case you missed it, the networks are abuzz with results of a recent study that confirmed these already known facts.  A new  finding was that non organic meats were more likely to be contaminated from bacteria because of non-medicinal antibiotic use in livestock (creating resistance).  This finding supports the argument for some kind of regulation on the use of antibiotics in animals that are not sick (which I thought we already had).
   Watch the video embedded here or click this link instead. 

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Odds and Ends

HPV and Herd Immunity  I believe I've mentioned herd immunity when discussing seasonal flu.  Basically, it means that if enough people in your group are immune to an illness, your chances of getting sick decrease even if you are not immune.  The disease gets blocked before reaching you.  I mention it today because there is a suggestion that herd immunity may working to protect some people from HPV.  Public health advocates hope that young men and women will NOT depend on herd immunity.  I am sure that Merck and GSK also hope that you don't skip the vaccines.

Pretentious Grocers  I frequent stores such as Whole Foods and Earth Fare as rarely as possible as I cannot afford to shop at them. I only go if I cannot find a product somewhere else.  In the last week or so I have had to visit both stores.  As usual, the visits led me to gasp at the prices.  Prices on items that I buy at other grocers were priced, not a few cents more, but dollars more.  That is nuts.  The items come from the same place!  These stores promote themselves with offerings of all natural, organic, people and environmentally friendly products, but exclude a great number of people with their prices.  It must be noted that none of the healthy eating indexes (HEI, AHEI and the AHA version) or the DGA, explained here in the last month, mention all natural or organic items in terms of reducing the risk of overweight or disease.  This is because science has yet to make such a link.

Physical Activity When I first presented my exercise tracker, I noted that I did not include general physical activity.  Instead, I focused on what would be considered exercise, by definition.  I did not include all the activity breaks that I take in a day.  Many of those are walks around the block which I have had to limit with my calf injury. So I noticed that in the last 7+ days, I've done more physical chores than usual.  I have cleaned my bathroom and kitchen, using an old fashioned sponge mop instead of my 'swifter,' and getting better results.  I went to the local coin car wash and washed my own car.  Again, it was cleaner by my own hand.  I spent extra time at the community garden, watering, harvesting and pruning.  These are activities that people do much less these days - meaning we are sedentary in general and specifically.

Hyatt Menus The company press release included a statement on the increase in overweight and obese children, but the menu description does not mention any SoFAS or calorie moderation.  It does note choosing food suppliers whose agricultural practices involve sustainability which I value as an environmentally focused person.  However, the rest of the focus is on organic foods.  Intuitively, organic foods should be better for us if they contain less contaminants or additives, but there is nothing to suggest that using them leads to less calorically dense meals.  So if the hotel chain wants to address obesity they are going to have to do it by lowering calories.  If they want to cater to the deep pockets that shop at Whole Foods and Earth Fare, well, they have that covered then.

Aerosol I learned today that aerosol cans are recyclable.  I thought that disposing of the 'contents under pressure' cans was problematic and checked my city's recycling website to see what I could do.  Indeed, I can recycle as long as the can is completely empty and the nozzle is removed.  Pretty cool.

Beware the Food Bargains

(First - I did not blog yesterday because after I wrote my last post and viewed it in my email - I saw how very long it was. I heard my Mother's voice "Sometimes they are too long and people get tired of reading."  Hence, I gave you an extra day to absorb it.  I really loved that post myself!)

As you prepare to live a healthier 2012, the purveyors (suppliers) of calorie dense (high fat high sugar), nutrient poor foods are looking for ways to increase their sales.  In other words, they are out to sabotage your efforts and their strategies will be especially directed at persons with limited incomes.

I came across an article on a financial webpage which describes some of the tactics, such as the dollar menu (and more meat(i.e. even bigger portions)) as well as ten dollar pizza's, coupon books, cheaper buckets of chicken and promises not to raise prices.  You can see the story here.

I hope that you will not succumb to their tricks, gimmicks, ploys or strategies because what the special ads do not tell you is how many grams of fat and sugar the items contain, nor what large amounts of calories and sodium(salt) they have.  I believe it was the same news story that offered this link, but here you can see a picture of some of the highest calorie items along with the numbers.

So I offer you another thing to add to your list of 2012 commitments - packing your own meals. 
I hope that in the future, a future I plan to impact, foods that are nutrient dense and lower in calories will be offered as two for one deals and found on dollar menus.  I hope that  coupon books - like the two I received this week (BK and McDs) will include salads and healthier items for cheap prices, too.

What you Eat - How you think - Memory Booster

 Several popular press stories are covering the research cited at the end of this post.  The work is published in the journal Neurology.  It is a legitimate scientific study.

I think that you will get a lot from reading one of the news stories, this one for example, but let me make a few points before you go.

The scientists did a small study and they based their associations  on what people reported eating and their subsequent blood work.  Most of the time food frequency recall is fine, but people may forget some items and may list things that they think others want to hear instead of what they really ate.  
Still, the results of the study are most likely accurate, though they need to be duplicated.

The researchers found that people in the study who had certain levels of certain nutrients in their blood streams, had better brain functioning and memory outcomes.

They associated the nutrients with the intake of fruits and vegetables and the type of fat - omega 3 fatty acid - that is found in fish like salmon.  People in the study who ate more processed foods and fried foods (like burgers and fries) had worse outcomes.

The most important thing I want you to understand is this:
The results are related to FOOD - they are not about taking supplements.  When someone tries to use the study to sell you vitamins - don't be fooled.  

As January rolls around, consider eating a more plant and fish based diet.  It can be good for your waist and your brain (as long as you don't fry the veggies and add oil, fat and butter to them!)

Bowman, G.L. ND, MPH; Silbert, L.C. MD, MCR; Howieson, D. PhD; Dodge, H.H. PhD; Traber, M.G. PhD; Frei, B. PhD; Kaye, J.A. MD; Shannon, J. PhD, MPH; Quinn, J.F. MD

Title	Nutrient biomarker patterns, cognitive function, and MRI measures of brain aging.
Source	Neurology.

Misinformed or in Denial

I am not sure which it is (lack of info or aversion to restriction) but the products displayed in the pictures below are not the answer to anyone's weight problems.  Instead, the only scientifically proven safe and effective way to manage weight is through energy balance. If weight loss is necessary, and for most of us it is, then a negative balance must occur.  This means that the energy you take in is less than you need to maintain the current weight.  You can eat less (the strongest factor) or exercise more or both.  The only problem with this approach is that most people, without the help of experts (not those on TV or in fashion mags, but licensed nutritionists or health educators), do not know how many calories they are consuming now (energy in) or how many calories are burned in the exercise that they do. 
Also, the change in calories in or out has to be consistent every day.  If you are going to exercise more to lose weight, you must do the extra every day and you must not eat more because you have exercised!
Imagine that you know you are eating 2000 calories a day now - for the next year you might try eating 1800 calories a day (but you have to know the amount of calories in the food you eat) and/or, you are walking 20 minutes a day now, and to lose weight you double that to 40 minutes a day, you have to do that EVERY day. 
It is much easier to get 200 calories off your plate than to burn them so I suggest you learn about food. I also recently reviewed an article which discussed effective strategies and the ONLY commercial program on the list was Weight Watchers.
 However, for your health, mood, aging, fitness and such - I and other health promotion specialists, recommend daily exercise.
But the most important thing, for anyone is that they Do NOT get tricked into buying the scam products seen here !!

Whatever it takes??  Seriously??   It takes eating less that is what it takes!

Really Large/X Large?? Because a size small makes sense??

Magnets do NOT cause weight loss...

Dining Out

In preparation for a meal out tonight, I went to the restaurant's on line menu.  I was surprised to find that there were certain entrees and sides that were categorized as fit and trim and which had caloric content listed.  
I should not have been surprised because it was a chain restaurant and soon all items will have to have this information as part of a new national policy.  I love this policy.  I like to be informed when making important choices and what is more important then the food we put in our bodies?  Well - there are more important things, but this is one that is worthy of some diligence.

I was delighted to have the calorie information but also perplexed by it.  In the vegetable section, steamed broccoli had close to 100 calories.  Why is that?  If you get something steamed you do not want oils or butters, generally speaking (or you would get it sauteed).  A whole cup of broccoli has about 60 calories. 
I tell you this to remind you that healthy by default is NOT the nature of restaurants and to be certain, you should tell your server, no oil, fat or butter - if even it is a steamed item.
I had a great meal of broiled tilapia and dry steamed broccoli and even though the light dishes offered weren't perfect, they are appreciated.
The restaurant and its menu information is available here.

Odds and Ends

For this week's odd and ends I bring you two pictures.
The first is a picture of three box tops from cereal.  Each box has its own front of pack labeling scheme.  The manufacturers chose to include six items instead of the three that are recommended by the Institute of Medicine(IOM).  If the system was standardized, as I have previously explained, the cereals would look the same with different numbers (perhaps) in the scheme.  I drew a box in the picture to give you an idea of what I am mean.

The next picture is one I snapped at the grocery store yesterday.  It would qualify for my "outrageous" or "are you kidding" segment, if I had one.  I believe that the product is meant to be similar to margarine or some type of butter spread.  It contains 50 calories for 14 grams (this qualifies as a very small RACC - or reference amount customarily consumed).  It would be considered an energy dense food.  Recall that fruits and vegetables have ranges of 0.3 to 0.7 cals per gram and this item has 3.5 cals per gram.  This product is also an example of something the IOM wanted to prevent when it came up with a front of pack labeling system.  That would be the fortification of products so that they would get a point or some other kind of shout out when they really should not.  That appears to be  what this company is trying to do with the name of the product and the supplements they added.  The truth is this.  IF something is bad for you, adding something that is good for you does not change that!  (for example fiber in your honey buns or soda).  Also, the ingredient list on this product is pretty scary.

National School Lunch Program

In a follow up to the NLSP and the recommendations from the USDA and the IOM, I give you this video because I am too depressed to actually write about it. [recall that by law, the school lunch program has to align with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  It does not.]  Someone else has written about the recent events and you can read that here.  Also, you can contact your congressperson with a form letter (very easy email activity) to request that they support the recommendations. 

Click here for more.

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A better My Plate

I knew this would come and I am thrilled to present it to you with a link to learn more.

As I said a month or so ago, the My Plate healthy eating tool that was released by the USDA/FDA leaves just as much to be desired as the now defunct pyramid did. 

My hero, Walter Willett, and his peers at Harvard School of Public Health made a better pyramid then and today they   give us a better plate.

Here it is

Read more here

Copyright © 2011, Harvard University. For more information about The Healthy Eating Plate, please see The Nutrition Source, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, www.thenutritionsource.org, and Harvard Health Publications, health.harvard.edu.

Vending Machines

I am working on vending machine issues with two different groups in  different settings.  One involves a group of highschools and the other a college. 

In case you missed it, Healthy Vending is all the rage these days :)

I met with my university partner today and we etched out a strategy that we are going to take to one of the muckety mucks and then we hope to engage the nutrition club/students.

We may use 9 machines. Our idea is that we will have two conditions and four factors - so 8 scenarios.

The machine content will either be changed or not changed - that is the condition.  In each set we will have one of these factors - education only, product info only, education and info, or nothing at all.  With the education component we will also refer them to a website and there we could possibly collect some additional data (you know I love the survey).  

With our machines we want to see if any of the factors change purchasing behavior.  The factor I liked the most is the product info only one.  I simply want to turn the packages around so to speak.  In actuality, we would put the back of pack information for each product on a poster board outside of the machine.

I will keep you posted on the status of our work.  First we have to gain access to machine receipts and the ability to adjust the product selection - we have to have a baseline to measure etc.

Odds and Ends

Step Class "oh no!" I have said so many times that lifting weights should be an activity in and of itself and not done simultaneously with any other activity. I have noted times when I have seen people walking or RUNNING with weights in their hands or on their ankles and even considered putting up PSA flyers at local parks to discourage this behavior. WHY? Because it does not work the muscle correctly and because it puts the person at very high risk of overuse injury, especially of the shoulder. Now if you are trying to save time and get a cardio and strength training workout in the same hour, then by all means, in between weight lifting, jog, jump rope, cycle etc - but NOT at the same time. And so this week I watched a woman take an entire step aerobics class with two, three to five pounds weights in her hands. So she stressed her shoulders but didn't challenge her muscles. NUTS! or lack of information - but you cannot claim ignorance, because you just read this post.

Testing, testing, testing So we are having too many diagnostic tests. DUH. I am glad anyway to see some popular news sources note that the Xrays, CTs and even blood work have gotten out of hand. I was speaking with a physician this week after that story made the headlines and he agreed with my thought, which is this - before having a "test" one should know the answer to this question, "How will that Xray, Blood Test, Ultrasound, etc - change the treatment ?" If it isn't going to change what the doctor would do, then it is an unnecessary test. Remember, some of those imaging complexes are actually OWNED by the doctor's who send you there. BTW, my aunt and I were talking today about mammograms - and though she is a breast cancer survivor - she too thinks they are over used.

Bone Loss Drugs This week a study and an FDA warning were released in regards to long term use of drugs that are meant to slow or reverse bone loss - Fosomax and Actonel are popular examples. The drugs already carry an unusual warning of esophageal damage and jaw bone problems, now there is concern that FRACTURES can occur in the thigh bone of people on these drugs longer than five years. Here again, an example of a drug causing what it is supposed to prevent. The FDA is looking into this matter and persons on the drug are to discuss long term use with their physician. I wrote about the issue of prescribing a medication to prevent a condition that can lead to another condition, some time ago and this is exactly the kind of thing one must worry about. If the medication is given to 30 or 40 year old women because they are at risk for getting osteoporosis which would then mean that they are at risk for getting a fracture (hip and spine) - they will be on the drug for 20-40 years!!! Read more about the osteopenia debate here.

Without the Calories??? I almost did a post about the crazy things I heard people say or saw people do this week. Here is one. I was at another doctor's office (this is work related, I am NOT sick :)) and as I waited for the doctor, his office manager, nurse was talking with me. She offered me some cracker like chips out of a large bag( kept on her desk). I think they were some kind of Ritz baked something or another - she said that they were just like chips without the calories !! What? Too funny that she would say that to ME. I had already said, thanks but no I just had my lunch, blah blah blah, when she said that about the calories - to which I had to respond, "Well, I wouldn't quite say that!"

Treadmill Grip Hmm, If the incline is so high that you have to hold on to the treadmill for dear life - you are not really working your legs. Additionally, if you run and hold on to the treadmill, well, I don't know - how do you run without your arms? Is it too fast - is it painful? I don't know, but it just can't be right.

Weight Machine Mistakes As I said, I saw a lot of quizzical things this week. This one was a lady sitting at a machine where you hold a long bar over your head and out wide, you pull the bar down towards your chest and then release. This is a lateral pull down. Form is so very important in weight training. If you cannot do the exercise while keeping your form, the weight is TOO heavy. This is a mistake most often committed by men, but this woman was all over the place with her body, nearly rocking back and forth hard enough to catapult herself off a runway. So um, that is not effective.

Smoker's Say the Darndest Things I am the first person to frown on the use of medication for almost anything, however, it is my job to educate people on the 7 FDA approved medications that are effective in helping people to quit smoking. This week I was discussing one of them called Zyban (wellbutrin/bupropion) and one of the persons in the group said that the medicine had made her hair fallout. Well - everyone else in the room, ALL smokers, gasped and declared that they would NEVER take that pill. (that really isn't one of the reported side effects, but anyways). Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, insulin resistance, emphysema, wrinkles, SIDS , impotence, infertility, oral cancer - and more and more - which apparently isn't near as scary as hair loss.

Do Not Add Salt I am 100% in favor of banning trans fats and of reducing the amount of sodium in processed foods. I am an advocate for getting nutrient content information on every product and dish, store or restaurant, I think that sugary drinks should be taxed to the max, but now I think NYC might have gone too far. Some politician has proposed making it illegal for restaurants to add salt during cooking. Then again, I don't add any when I cook - but seriously, the biggest problem we have is eating too many calories - and though salt can add to blood pressure problems, is it really the cause of most?