Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 101

Paleo in the Press

There’s no doubting that Paleo is definitely making its presence known more often these days, and while most of the media is still presenting it as ‘difficult to stick to’, ‘possibly lacking in calcium’, ‘too high in protein’ and other skewed negative commentary, the thing I fail to understand is why so many are spending so much time trying to bash it.

I could understand if everywhere we looked, we saw another article about why eating candy was bad for us because… well, it is!  Or if at least once per week there was a snippet in the newspaper about how drinking soda is really something we should all stop, immediately.

Those two issues are rather straightforward and I’d be hard pressed to find even the slightest argument that anyone could present to the contrary, and as such, it’s doubtful anyone is making too much of an effort to prove that candy and soda really are good for us because they offer ‘x’ health benefits.

Back to Paleo, then.   First off, it’s all too often misunderstood and consequently reviewed unfairly.

Look at it this way:  if we took the name “Paleo” away and called it (guess what?) “A balanced diet of local, organic produce, natural fats and protein from wild sources”, what’s the problem?   Why do some have to keep getting so up in arms to say ‘there is no science behind it’ (um, really?) and ‘our bodies have evolved to be able to eat grains’ (oh, so then why do 1 in 133 people – and that is only what’s officially reported- have at least mild to very severe gluten intolerance issues?).

Even if our digestive systems were able to break down the toxic anti nutrients of grains (and yes, this includes the currently trendy ‘ancient grains’), which they are not, why would that in and of itself be a good reason to eat them when we can get every single last mineral, vitamin and nutrient you can think of just by eating real food.

Hey, we could eat paper if we wanted to, but does that mean we should?  I’m not being silly here, I’m completely serious.

Personally, I observe that anytime anyone is adamant about angrily trying to show everyone they’re right, it tends to be because they’re trying to convince themselves, too.

As I’ve said many a time before, this is precisely why I feel the best approach is to lead by example and answer questions about Paleo when asked, but even better, let people come to you and ask what your secret is to how you’ve lost weight/cleared up your acne/increased your energy/ gotten rid of your migraines and so on, and so on, and so on…

And chuckle when you read yet another article by another RD or doctor suggesting we eat any of the crap (oops, did I write that?) that is the majority of the MyPlate food system along with a silly and inaccurate rationale about why Paleo simply doesn’t work.

Whatever (smile).

 

Leek Technique

For some veggies, like a hearty bunch of broccoli, we can wash it by placing it in a colander in the sink with cool running water  while we’re doing the rest of our mise en place.  For others, like wild arugula, it’s two or three rinses and spins in the salad spinner.

Enter the leek, and you’ve got to be just a little bit more particular.

Because they grow in sandy terrain, it’s almost always the case that you’ll find grains of dirt and sand within the layers of the leek once you cut them open.

Don’t make the mistake of washing them too quickly or simply removing the very outer layers instead of a proper clean, or you’ll likely end up with a mouthful of dirt, and that, unfortunately, is not a culinary mishap that is easily remedied!  (I suppose one might argue that a little bit of dirt won’t harm you, but I’d prefer to pass, personally, and even more so if I’m serving a dish to others!).

Simply cut the bottom bulb off, then split the whole thing in half lengthwise and then, stand upright in a tall glass container (a vase actually works well) and let them rest in cool water, then drain, and repeat a few times.  Then, take the time to inspect them with an eagle’s eye, and you can then rest assured that neither you nor any of your guests will end up with an unexpected and unpleasant texture.

One easy way to prepare them is to slice them, along with some carrots, into even pieces about 3 – 4″ long, toss with olive oil and bake at a low temp, stirring occasionally, for about thirty minutes.  The natural sweetness of the leeks pairs in the most lovely way with a roast chicken, as one suggested serving idea!

Strawberry Milk has No Strawberries, Cheese Product Has No Cheese

What are we doing here?  Playing make-believe?

I always loved cooking, as early on as I can remember.  If I wasn’t  helping in the kitchen at age four, I was playing in my make-believe kitchen, as kids do, preparing make-believe anything!  When you’re four, an empty plate can contain an imaginary anything, and it’s fair game.

But does this somehow now apply to what we as adults advertise, sell or buy?

Two cases in point, for reference:  Nesquik Strawberry Milk and Kraft Cheese Product.  Both are labeled as being something they do not have in the product.

Need proof?  Here are their respective ingredient panels:

Nesquik Strawberry Milk Mix

SUGAR, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, RED 40, SALT, BLUE 1. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: CALCIUM CARBONATE, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), ZINC OXIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), COPPER GLUCONATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, BIOTIN

Kraft Cheese Product

MILK, WHEY, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MILKFAT, SODIUM CITRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SALT, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, CHEESE CULTURE, ANNATTO AND PAPRIKA EXTRACT (COLOR), ENZYMES, VITAMIN D3. CONTAINS: MILK

 

Maybe I’m being presumptuous in thinking all of us would know something that was reminded to me in culinary school when I was being graded on a cake I’d baked (keep in mind, this was about four years prior to Paleo); my instructor, Chef Rosier scolded me for garnishing a vanilla butter cake with butter cream frosting with a strawberry.

Tsk, tsk, he said, one should never garnish with something that does not represent what’s inside the product.  To this day, I do not know if that is a long standing culinary principle or just his own advice, but it made sense to me.

So what is it going to take for us to stop fooling ourselves?  Are we still playing make-believe here?

At the very, very least, even if companies are choosing to deliver product that contributes so negatively to people’s diet and subsequent health with complete disregard, how about at least ‘fessing up to it?

Can we change the name from Strawberry Milk to ‘milk dyed red’?  Not that it would help the root problem, but it would add a touch of honesty to it…

 

 

It’s Not Always About the Salmon

Don’t get me wrong… I love, love, love wild salmon- raw, cedar-plank roasted or grilled, but if you’re thinking it’s the only healthy fish out there, get ready to stand corrected.

Think Black Cod.

Also known as Butterfish (and they are, indeed, oh-so-buttery in terms of texture) or Sablefish, and coming in from the not too distant shores of the Pacific NW, it, like Salmon, is very high in Omega 3s.  Aside from their obvious place in the Paleo protein family, they’re also quite sustainable, low in mercury and PCBs and a great source of iodine, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc, calcium and iron.

Pan-sear them with coconut oil, ginger, garlic and shallots, or bake in parchment with fresh basil, oregano, parsley and lemon.

While they’re trickier to de-bone than your typical filet of salmon, the extra little bit of diligence needed to make sure you slow down and eat more carefully is not only worth their lovely flavor, it will ensure you have more time to enjoy and less time to gulp!

I’m having mine simply broiled on a bed of steamed chard for dinner this evening. Simple is sometimes the most devine!

 

 

Soda Ban on Hold

CBS news reported yesterday that “smaller sodas were set to hit New York City eateries tomorrow until New York Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling struck down the plan and ruled that the city may not enforce the new regulation. The ban, which was set to take place today, applied to sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces sold at restaurants, fast food establishments, delis, sports venues and movie theaters. The limits do not apply to milk-based and alcoholic beverages sold at these eateries. Also exempt are sugar-sweetened drinks sold at grocery stories and convenience stores.”

Mayor Bloomberg had recently appeared on Face the Nation, stating ”This year, for the first time in the history of the world, more people will die from too much food than from too little food. More people will die from the effects of obesity than from starvation. And we’ve got to do something about this. This is going to bankrupt the country. Our medical system cannot handle it. We’ve just got to do something. And all we’re doing in New York is reminding you that it’s not in your interest to have too many empty calories.” 

Would the soda ban really help?  

Is the act of literally taking away something that so many people still covet and crave the answer?  Or would a better approach be to perhaps reallocate time and funds spent on this time of act to outreach organizations focused on making healthy, fresh foods available to everyone, regardless of their income?

I’m not saying it is, or isn’t, but it’s definitely an interesting topic for discussion.  I’m reminded of a child being told he or she can’t have something, regardless of whether it is a food or not, which results in them wanting it even more.

Here, if we tell adults they can’t have soda yet they still want it, opt not to see how much it contributes to the state of ‘unhealth’ of our nation as a whole and will clearly find ways to get it elsewhere (like in New Jersey), is it really going to help?

One waitress interviewed in a brief piece in the Times on Monday expressed her own frustration with the idea and said she was going to ‘drink as many 20-ounce sodas as she can, just to irritate the mayor’.

Now, that should do the trick.

Food Revolution Day is Coming

One needn’t necessarily be a fan of cooking shows or celebrity chefs to have heard of Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution.

I, for one, am a fan.  The idea of raising awareness of the appalling state of ‘food’ given out to kids across America at lunchtime when there in school is desperately needed.

Jamie Oliver and all of us who are interested in giving our time or contributions are helping their cause which is “to develop unique and hands-on food education training programs, for children and adults, to revolutionize the way we think about food, what we eat and instill cooking skills and food knowledge that can become commonplace in homes, schools, communities and businesses alike and passed on to the next generation.  Funds raised through the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation Giving Assistant go directly towards these training programs, helping to invest in better food education for everyone”.

A few important pointers from the Food Revolution site:

Many kids are so out of touch with what’s on their plate they don’t realize real food doesn’t come from a box.
Children who plant their own fruit and vegetables are more likely to eat them.
Both children and adults who learn to cook make better food choices and are empowered with confidence when it comes to food. 

Food Revolution Day this year is just around the corner, on May 17th.

What are you going to do, to do your part?

Click here for more…

This March is the 40th Anniversary of National Nutrition Month

So what does that exactly mean?  

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states on their site that the 2013 theme is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day” and that they it “encourages personalized healthy eating styles that recognize food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions and health concerns that impact all food choices”.

And, of course that “registered dietitians play a critical role in helping people eat right, their way, every day”.

Hmmmm….

While there are some RDs out there who are doing an outstanding job at teaching it like it is; in other words not trying to parlay the silly MyPlate recommendations to everyone, unfortunately, the majority have been taught the antiquated approach to ‘healthy eating’ and still believe and instruct patients and clients to eat servings of whole grains every day, along with some low-fat dairy and to not overdo eating too much red meat.

Here are a few questions I’d like to pose to whomever is organizing National Nutrition Month:

How about officially including Paleo as one of the options that people might choose as their ‘personalized style of eating’?   Veganism is recognized, as is being vegetarian or gluten-free, so why not include Paleo, too, rather than constantly giving it the brush off for ‘being too restrictive’ or ‘not having enough calcium’ or other nonsense associated all too often with Paleo?
When will you publicly recognize that everything in moderation is not ok, and that even a little bit of refined sugar is toxic?
How about more programming to fund getting fresh veggies and fruit and clean proteins to low-income areas who eat at fast food establishments not because they don’t know better but because they can’t afford not to, via the contributions you receive from companies such as Coca Cola, the National Dairy Council, Kellogg’s, Pepsico and Mars, just to name a few of your sponsors?

If this is an event that’s been going on for forty years and the state of obesity and “unhealth” of our nation has progressed to such a dire place, this is a seriously broken model.   How many more decades will elapse before something changes?

As If Milk Wasn’t Already Bad Enough…

Now we’ve got to contend with the idea of having aspartame hidden in the dairy products, too?

Of course, the best case scenario would be if none of us would buy milk anymore, however the likelihood of that happening anytime soon is slim to none.

However, there seems to be a huge out-cry, thankfully, at the concept of what the IDFA (International Dairy Foods Association) and the NMPF (National Milk Producers Federation) are pressuring the FDA to allow which is to enable Monsanto to use non-nutritive sweeteners like aspartame in milk products. The FDA already allows the industry to use “nutritive sweeteners” including high fructose corn syrup. “Nutritive sweeteners” are simply sweeteners with calories. Now, the big industry wants to manufacture milk with aspartame, and they want it to go unlabeled.

According to a piece in the Huffington Post this week, one consumer group (SumOfUs) is urging the FDA to “reject a dairy industry petition currently being considered by agency, which asks that the requirement to label milk and other dairy products as “artificially sweetened” be dropped when they contain sweeteners like aspartame. A counter petition from SumOfUs outlining its cause has already gathered 93,142 signers.”

It goes on to state that “Hyper-sweet additives like aspartame rewire children’s brains so that they always want sugary foods, turning the kids into tiny consumption machines…this constant craving fattens up the food companies’ bottom lines as it fattens up their customers, leading to our current obesity epidemic. … the industry has moved into formerly healthy foods, pumping them up with sugar, salt, and fat until they, too become part of the problem.”

The FDA’s comment period on the dairy industry petition lasts through May 21. Click here to make your voice heard.

Marketing, Advertising, Blood Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates

One needn’t have any training in marketing or advertising to understand one often seen common goal- to sell something.

So, think about this- you’re a big company with lots of product to sell.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was some way you could do something to make your customers automatically buy more product?  Make them want it so much they feel they just have to have it otherwise they won’t feel right?  Make it seem like it’s something they really need and even convince them it’s good for them?

Ah!   What a concept.

How about this- a group of food-products that people can eat first thing in the morning to raise their blood sugar, which would cause a subsequent crash, which would then make them want, and buy, more product!

There could even be different sub categories- some could be just for kids (add more sugar, some dye and some cartoons on the box), another group could be for those trying to lose weight (add fake sugar and make them think the 1990′s low fat/low calorie approach is a good idea) and yet another for those wanting something ‘comforting’ (here, why not play on making them feel ‘it’s ok to give in and eat absolute junk once in a while, if you’re seeking solace, and on that same tip, maybe a reminder to accept themselves the way they are, even if they weigh 400 pounds?)

This could work wonders.  People would naturally eat more and more of these products, stretching their stomach receptors which would further increase their demand to need more volume of said product.

The health care industry could come on board, too, and help broadcast the message that everyone should eat these foods.  And students working on degrees in the health field could be instructed under these guidelines to make sure future generations would continue to partake.

The pharmaceutical industry could help, too, and let everyone know that once they get sick, and they will get sick, there would be no need to stop eating any of these products because their pills will help offset their symptoms by placing bandaids on top.  Then, both industries can really bolster one another’s profits!

What a perfect synergy!

Why not begin tomorrow?   

Start the day with a breakfast made purely of refined carbohydrates  (yes, I’m putting every grain product in this category, from instant oats to Froot Loops and from bagels to corn flakes) and before you know it you’ll be on your way to weight gain, blood sugar issues and maybe even diabetes, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, headaches, GI issues and maybe even some joint pain and acne!

Alas, I wish this were nothing but a silly joke; a figment of my imagination, but in actuality, it’s what’s going on every single morning in millions of people’s homes. 

Wish we could wake everyone up.

We’ve got to keep on keepin’ on! Go Paleo, please! For your own good, as well as that of your family and future generations to come.  

Must, must be realistic and see where this is going…

 

Getting Paid to Work Out

“Never miss another workout. Commit to exercise. Check-in at the gym, track outdoor workouts via RunKeeper, or workout at work or home with GymPact Anywhere .Earn cash for meeting your goal, paid for by non-exercisers!”

What’s this, then?

Ah, a new APP which was created by two recent Harvard grads, which is based on the premise that the “sting of losing money for missing a visit and the promise of collecting money for going is enough to keep you on the treadmill.”

Using technology that we’re all familiar with these days, such as checking in at the gym on your smart phone (or not, and then you’ll pay!) and then receiving cash deposited into your PayPal account, which comes from money withdrawn from others in the program who opted not to work out that day, the principle came from one of the founders after taking a course in behavioral economics.

Interesting.

I find it sad that so many people find working out to be so cumbersome, such a chore and so far from being remotely enjoyable that they’ve got to try to seek financial gain from it.  

I suppose, though, that there’s always the chance that during one of these paid workouts, they may stumble upon some form of exercise that they actually enjoy and then (gasp) decide they’ll do it because they actually have fun and find they’ve got more energy (no, way!) and are shedding some extra pounds (seriously?).

Could happen…