“Do you want cheese with that?”
We live in an age where the terms “super-size,” “low-carb,” and “low-fat” are part of our vocabulary; but how do these words and phrases affect our health? As Americans we get 45 percent of our calories from sugar, fat and soft drinks and only 7 percent from fruits and vegetables. Fifteen per cent of Americans are now considered obese and almost half are overweight. The top three leading causes of death are related to nutrition: heart disease, cancer and stroke (diabetes, also related to nutrition, is sixth on the list). One of the major factors affecting our nutrition is the “nutrient poor” status of the foods we are consuming. In other words, we are eating more of the “bad” foods and less of the good foods. So which are good and which are bad? And how much is too much of any one food? Let’s start with the portion problem.
Fast food portions past and present
In the 1970s when we went out for a burger and fries, we got on average a 2.8 oz burger (202 calories) with lettuce tomato and pickles on a sesame seed bun with a 2.4-ounce bag of fries (210 calories). The cola we got with it was about 8 ounces and a hundred calories, making the entire meal about 510 calories. The same meal now tops out at 1120 calories—which by the way is about what I consume in an entire day as I am less than 5 feet tall and over 50years old. The normal size of the burger has gone up to 4.3 ounces. Just think how many calories are in one of those double or triple burgers with bacon and cheese! (We’ll talk about the saturated fats contained in such a meal at another time.) The order of fries has almost tripled in size to 7 oz and 610 calories and the cola has doubled to 16 oz and 200 calories.
Then there is our love affair with cheese: we eat 162% more cheese than we did thirty-five years ago. I love it too, and it is a good food, but in moderation! A serving (1.5 oz) is three dominoes in size and that portion contains roughly 150 calories and 9 grams of fat, 5.5 of which are saturated fat! Nowadays there is cheese on almost everything, and pizza topped with cheese and stuffed with cheese. My husband and I went to a popular Italian chain restaurant and the waitress got so used to asking us if we wanted grated cheese on that, that she literally offered it with our coffee!
Don’t eat fast food you say? Well, good for you, except that when you order a meal out at your favorite steak house or Italian restaurant, the portions are all also at least twice what they should be. A serving of meat should be 3 to 4 ounces, not 8 ounces. A portion of pasta should be half a cup (the size of a standard computer mouse), not a plateful. What can you do to control portions?
· When at your favorite restaurant, select the portion you are going to eat and put the other half or so of the meal on the bread and butter plate.
· Speaking of plates, most of our plates are also super-sized, so use smaller bowls for your morning cereal and smaller plates for your meals at home.
· Put the appropriate amount of food on your plate and leave the rest in the kitchen for leftovers. Then when you are too busy to prepare a meal you have one ready to go.
· When at the grocery store’s meat counter or seafood department, order the correct portion. Ask for 4 ounces per person being served. If you’re making a roast or some larger meal, plan for ways to make casseroles or other interesting dishes with the rest of the meat. Don’t waste it, but don’t eat it all at once!
· Eat slowly. Chew thoroughly. Relish the flavors.
If you follow these simple steps to reduce portion size, you will automatically reduce the amount of calories, fats and sugars that you take in everyday. Combine that with 30 minutes a day of exercise and you will be on your way to a healthier, slimmer you!
The Good, the Bad and the Ordinary
One of the first things I tell my nutrition clients is to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store first. This is where most of the good, nutrient dense foods are: the fresh produce, dairy, meats and seafood. These foods are all whole, un-processed, or nutrient dense foods. But there is something missing from the outer aisles: grains. You have to venture down center aisles to find beans, rice, barley, flour, pasta and breads. Now things start to get complicated. The first three items are what they are, but one has to know how to read food labels to get the most nutrition and the least amount of processing and preservatives from bread and pasta. I’m afraid this will be yet another installment in this column! The one thing I will say about food labels now is “wheat bread” does not mean the same thing as “whole grain wheat bread.” We all know we should be eating more fiber, but the bread companies make it difficult by inferring you are eating healthy bread when in fact you might as well eat plain old low fiber white bread as some of the breads labeled “wheat.” If it says, “enriched wheat flour,” it is NOT whole grain. Enriched simply means they processed out the original 29 vitamins and minerals contained in the wheat grain and added back the iron, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin required by law since the 1940. Folate was required to be added to the enrichment process in 1996. Still, the enriched bread products contain only a quarter of the fiber, vitamins and minerals of whole grain bread.
In general, whole foods are good because they are nutrient dense. Processed foods are less good because they have less nutrients and, usually, added sodium, fat and preservatives. So fill your cart with fresh vegetables and fruits, add rice and other whole grains, sprinkle with cheese and you’re on your way to better health!
(A note on saturated fats: Saturated fats are the artery clogging fats that your doctor tells you to reduce to lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health. Red meats, even the leanest cuts, contain more saturated fats that any other meat. Yes! Chicken and fish are meat too! Only animal based foods—meat and dairy products, contain cholesterol.)
Jamie Risedorph has a Masters degree in holistic nutrition and is the nutritionist at The Community Wellness Center in Gloversville.
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