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 START WITH SALAD TO LOSE WEIGHT
A Pennsylvania
State University study confirms common sense diet strategy: Load up on greens to lose weight. Women given
large, low-calorie salads before being served the rest of their
lunch ended up eating 100 less total calories. If you'd like to do
the same, here are a couple things to keep in mind:
Bulk
it up: Salads must be large (3 cups). Salads half that size were
shown to reduce the calorie count by only half as
much.
Keep it low fat: Starter salads drowning in
high-fat dressings and toppings such as cheese will actually
increase your total meal calorie count by 17%.
By making just
this one change in your diet, you could lose more than 10 pounds a
year. While weight loss alone can lessen your risk of heart
disease, diabetes, cancer and a host of other ailments, all the
extra fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins and nutrients you are getting
in the process will do double-duty in terms of protecting you from
disease.
That's the Dole Diet way: Filling up on fruits and
vegetables lets you cut calories without feeling
hungry, while increasing anti-aging antioxidant activity in your
blood. So turn over a new leaf today -- just make sure it's iceberg,
spinach or romaine!
LOW-CARB QUITTERS OUTNUMBER LOW-CARB DIETERS
It's official: According to a recent ACNielsen survey, more households include people who have tried low
carb and quit than have members currently on the diet. And
no wonder: The Atkins diet and its imitators have little staying
power because their extreme restrictions lead to boredom, cravings
and are too difficult to maintain over time.
Dieters are also being led astray by the explosion of
low carb foods such as protein bars, desserts, fast food
entrees, etc. Just like dieters of days gone by who ate fat-free
cookies then wondered why they were gaining weight, today's fad
dieters are making a similar mistake, equating low-carb with
low-cal. Atkins apologists may claim that such products were never
meant to be substituted for healthy eating habits. Spare us. The
diet itself perpetuates the something-for-nothing mentality that
sabotages dieters before they even begin.
For a provocative
evaluation of both the efficacy of Atkins and its impact on health,
we highly recommend Dr. Dean Ornish's article in the April Journal of
the American Dietetic Association. The case for effective,
healthy weight loss through a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is
succinctly made by the Penn State University study Ornish cites,
which found that healthy women instinctively ate 3 pounds of food
a day -- regardless of its calorie count.
Other
eye-popping pointers from Ornish's article:
Body weight is inversely associated with dietary fiber and
carbohydrates and positively associated with protein intake. In
other words, thinner people eat more fiber, while heavier people eat
more meat.
A wide body of scientific evidence links the consumption of
animal protein, saturated fat and cholesterol with coronary heart
disease, cancer and other chronic diseases.
High-protein diets may case loss of calcium, leading to
osteoporosis and kidney stones. On the other hand, a diet rich in
fruits and vegetables tends to inhibit urinary excretion of
calcium.
In another study, 70% of patients on an Atkins diet for six
months were constipated, 65% had halitosis, 54% reported headaches
and 10% had hair loss.
The only peer-reviewed study on how diet affects the underlying
factors that contribute to coronary heart disease found that
blood flow improves on a very low-fat, whole-food diet but
worsens on an Atkins diet.
Bottom line -- don't
compromise your health to lose weight, especially since such extreme
dieting offers poor prospects for long-term weight maintenance.
Better to lose weight while enhancing your health with the
foods that not only keep you full, but slow aging and fight disease
at the same time!
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 ODE TO SOY
Studies have long shown that adding
soy to a low-fat diet may help reduce your risk of heart disease.
But new research from Tufts University suggests the cholesterol lowering effect comes from soy protein
-- not soy's powerful isoflavones, which some studies have linked to
relief of menopause symptoms.
According to The American Heart
Association, 25 grams of soy protein per day is needed to show
significant cholesterol-lowering effects. Incorporating soy into
your diet is easy and delicious: Try pre-packaged marinated tofu,
tempeh in your chili, soymilk with your breakfast, soy protein
powder in your smoothies, or soy cheese in your recipes. Soy can be
an excellent source of protein, calcium, and manganese, and is a
good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorous, copper, selenium and
folate.
GREEN TEA SECRETS REVEALED
To take a twist on
Ovid: The result is visible, the cause may soon be
known.
Green tea is known to protect against a deadly array
of cancers -- including lung, prostate and breast cancer. Another recent study adds leukemia to the list. But up til
now, the mechanism behind these benefits has remained shrouded in
mystery.
Scientists in Japan may have found the answer to how green tea works. Their study suggests one of
green tea's powerful catechins (known as EGCG) actually binds to a
receptor thought to be behind the spread of cancer. In an
examination of human cancer cells, the malignant mechanism slowed
considerably after exposure to a level of compounds available in two
or three cups of green tea.
Obviously the myriad benefits of
this beneficent brew have long been recognized, as aptly illustrated
by the ancient Chinese proverb: Better to be deprived of food for
three days, than tea for one.
For further reading, try
these:
Green Tea Turbo Charges Your Immune
System
Greet Tea May Keep Dentist Away
Green Tea KO's Cholesterol
Green Tea Tackles Nose Tickles
Could those
green leaves of the camellia sinensis plant be a diet aid as well?
Subjects in a small Swiss study burned an additional 80 calories a
day by taking green tea extract, while another study done by the
USDA found that those who drank five cups of tea (not green) a day
burned almost 70 extra calories a day. Green tea is worth taking for
its health benefits alone -- but if you need to lose weight, well,
every little bit helps!
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 MOM WAS RIGHT!
Like many children (maybe even
your own) you might have regarded mother's admonition to eat your
vegetables as cassus belli, justifying passive resistance if
not outright insubordination, and the occasional brussels sprout
launched in a tactical move against your younger
brother.
With Mother's Day around the corner, why not take
this opportunity to acknowledge that Mom was right -- not just with
regard to eating your vegetables, but a whole host of other
nutrition-related issues as well. These days science is supplying
backup to "because I said so" as a reason why mother's much-maligned
advice ought to be followed.
Though every family is
different, here are a few of the most oft-repeated alimentary
aphorisms of Melanie Grossman, Ph.D., with acknowledgement and
thanks. May they inspire you to thank your own mom for all her
nutritional nagging over the years:
"Resume normal
eating." This was my mother's slightly sarcastic response to my
periodic announcements that I was going on a diet. Translation: It's
abnormal eating -- compulsive nibbling, bingeing on bags of junk
food, eating out of boredom or beyond the point of satiation -- that
leads to weight gain. Going from abnormal overeating to abnormal
under-eating sets up a cycle of extremes, neither of which is
healthy.
"Don't say you're stuffed." Say, "I have had
enough to eat and I require no more," which in retrospect sounds
kind of ridiculous, but her point was that saying you're stuffed not
only sounds vulgar, but it also means you ate too much! Research
shows that children past the age of 4 tend to eat what is in front
of them, just like adults, so this injunction is meaningless unless
coupled with kid-sized portions -- as well as the next piece of
advice, which if I remember correctly, was usually aimed at my
father:
"Don't eat so fast!" When food is digested,
the body releases a chemical called cholecystokinin (CCK) which
tells the brain when you've eaten enough to satisfy your appetite.
But it takes about 20 minutes from the time you begin your meal for
your mind to get the message. If you speed your way through a meal
you may already be on your second serving of dessert before your
mind has caught up with your hors d'oeuvres.
"Sit up
straight!" Why does this qualify as dietary advice? Because
proper posture allows for proper digestion, letting food settle in
the bottom of your stomach, which helps the body recognize when
you've had enough to eat. No wonder feasting Romans preferred to
recline (and no wonder they frequently felt the need to throw up
afterwards).
"Turn off the television!" This may not
sound like digestive discussion, but in fact several studies have
correlated the amount of time children spend in front of the TV and
their weight. According to research published in the International
Journal of Obesity, children who watch more than three hours of television
a day are 50% more likely to be obese than kids who watch fewer
than two hours.
That's pretty darn scary when you consider
that the average child spends about four hours in front of the
television set. Over the course of a year, that child will watch
10,000 food commercials -- 95% of which are for fast food, soft
drinks and candy. Keep daily TV time under two hours says the
American Academy of Pediatrics.
And saving the best for last
...
"Eat your vegetables." Not only do vegetables and
fruit supply the nutrients necessary for healthy development, they
also serve as a bulwark against obesity and a host of diseases once
thought of as adult maladies -- but whose roots we are now
discovering in early childhood.
Autopsies of children who
died in accidents show fatty build-up beginning in heart valves as
early as the age of three and arterial buildup in children as young
as ten. In a Wall Street Journal article on "How to Give Your Child
A Longer Life," correspondent Tara Parker-Pope observed: "It may be
hard to believe that the health decisions you make for a 5-year-old
today will still count when he or she is 50. But a growing body of
evidence shows that childhood is actually the best time to start
protecting an aging body, buckling it in for a lifetime of good
health."
How? An even larger body of evidence has long
concluded that a diet rich in vegetables and fruit can help protect
against cancer, coronary heart disease and a host of other
diseases.
Fruits and vegetables have also been linked to
better respiratory health and reduced risk of asthma in children.
Other
recent research from the University of Tennessee suggests fruits and vegetables may strengthen girls' bones.
The study found that those study participants who ate at least three
servings of fruit and vegetables each day had bigger bones than
those who passed on produce.
This isn't to say that all your
mother's tableside-tutelage turned out to be true. If mom
guilt-tripped you into cleaning your plate because children were
starving in India, you may have continued to follow this advice into
adulthood, only to find the food you so conscientiously refused to
waste has gone to your waist (and to find obesity replacing
malnutrition in the Third World as well).
If that's the case,
then dropping such childhood baggage will help you drop unwanted
pounds. Most of us, however, can remember more than a few
contentious issues we fought mom about, without ever getting around
to conceding that she was right after all.
So if you're
stumped for what to write in this year's Mother's Day card, send her
your own list of overdue acknowledgements of ways in which she paved
the way for future healthy eating -- even if you fought her those
few steps of the way.
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April 25th is National Zucchini Bread Day and the 20th is
National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day (we kid you not).
Fortunately you can almost celebrate both with this super-healthy,
low-calorie, extremely moist and delicious recipe. Don't be
intimidated by the ingredient list -- it's not as complicated as it
looks and we promise you, it's worth it! Just grab some extra
zucchini for the face mask below, so you can beautify while you
bake.
Spiced Pineapple Zucchini Bread
from The
Enlightened Kitchen, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ©Marie Oser
2002
Baking with fruits and vegetables adds vitamins,
minerals and fiber to the diet and also helps to reduce dietary fat.
In Spiced Pineapple Zucchini Bread, shredded zucchini is the
signature ingredient, dried pineapple adds a unique flavor and
chopped almonds a delightful crunch.
Makes two 9" by 5"
loaves.
2 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup oat
bran
1/3 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1
teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1
teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8
teaspoon ground clove
1 cup diced dried pineapple
1/2 cup
chopped almonds
1 (12.3 ounce package) lite silken tofu
1/2
cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups evaporated cane juice
1/2
cup enriched soymilk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups
coarsely shredded zucchini
Preheat oven to 350°
Spray
two 9" by 5" loaf pans with olive oil cooking spray. In a large
bowl, combine the flour, oat bran, cornmeal, salt, baking powder,
baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Stir in the dried pineapple
and chopped almonds. Set aside. Place the tofu in food processor and
blend until smooth. Add applesauce, evaporated cane juice, soymilk
and vanilla. Quickly fold the tofu mixture into the dry ingredients,
and add the zucchini. Do not overbeat. Divide the batter between the
prepared pans. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 minutes or until
tester comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
Enlightened
Spiced Pineapple Zucchini Bread
Nutrition Analysis: per
serving: 1 slice
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrate: 34 g
Fiber: 3
g
Fat: 2 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0
mg
Calcium:42 mg
Sodium: 188 mg
Calories: 162 (Calories
from Protein: 10%, Calories from Carbohydrates: 79%, Calories from
Fat 11%)
Traditional Spiced Pineapple Zucchini
Bread
Nutrition Analysis: per serving: 1 slice Protein: 4
g
Carbohydrate: 34 g
Fiber: 2 g
Fat: 13 g
Saturated Fat:
2 g
Cholesterol: 27 mg
Calcium: 45 mg
Sodium: 232
mg
Calories: 262 (Calories from Protein: 6%, Calories from
Carbohydrate: 51%, Calories from Fat: 44%)
ZUCCHINI FOOD
FACT:
Zucchini contains the antioxidant carotenoids
lutein and zeaxanthin which may help protect against age-related
macular degeneration, according to research from the John's Hopkins
University School of Medicine. A 1/2-cup cooked serving of zucchini
contains only 15 calories and is high in vitamin A, which the body
needs to keep bones strong, skin bright, and infections at
bay.
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MOTHER EARTH MASK
Both Mother's Day and Earth
Day are coming up -- so we decided to celebrate both with this
Mother Earth Mask. This vitamin-rich antioxidant mask will soften
your skin while protecting it from environmental damage. The result
is Gaea-gorgeous!
1 cup baby carrots
1 cup fresh spinach
leaves
1-2 zucchini
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup French green clay (can be bought at natural food
stores or online)
Blanche fresh ingredients in 1/2 cup water
until they are tender enough to combine and puree in a blender. Let
cool completely. Mix clay according to package directions. Combine
puree with clay. Apply a thick layer of mask to face, let dry (10-15
minutes). Rinse well with tepid water, pat dry. Follow with your
usual toner and moisturizer.
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