Category: nutrition

Cheese–The New Superfood?!

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According to the fall issue of Women’s Health magazine certain kinds of cheese–not the shelf-stable queso; industrial mozzarella; or powderized poof sprinkle–can be a boon to our health.

As in real cheese having “tons of protein, bone-strengthening calcium, gut-healthy probiotics, and stomach-satiating fats.”

Only 3 ounces is all you need to pack in 20 to 30 grams of protein.

I’m fond of burrata. Gruyere is great too.

Aged Manchego has 21 grams of protein. The Italian staple parmigiano-reggiano has 30 grams of protein in a hard 3 ounce block.

The fall issue of Women’s Health gives three Pro Tips for how to make a high protein cheeseboard. Plus a cheese map to find your new favorite flavor.

Who knew that real cheese in moderation could be a superfood. I’m skeptical yet willing to try my hand at a cheese board.

Mangiare un poco formaggio that is “to eat a little cheese” as Italians would is okay if you ask me.

Snack on!

Choosing Sanity Over Vanity

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In here I’ll detail in this post further thoughts on a sane approach to consuming food and drink. Choosing sanity over vanity is what matters. Instead of caring how we look to others it’s healthier to think about whether we can live with ourselves at the end of the day.

It was the singer P!nk in a magazine interview easily a decade ago who told the reporter that if you feel bad about what you’re eating then you’re swallowing guilt.

Indulging in food or drink that we label a “good” or “bad” item has the tendency to make us think that we’re good or bad people for eating or drinking it.

Let’s face things so often what we choose to do is because we care how we appear to others. Taking the pressure off happens when we decide that the only person we need to impress or to have approve of us is ourselves.

My days of eating bags of chips are over. I stopped doing this for me.

What I’m saying and I’ve said this repeatedly before in one of the other blogs too is that whittling yourself down to skin and bones to attract others is what’s not ideal.

Are we really counting calories for our health? Are we choosing and using what to eat because the food improves our mood or does it just conform to what we think is healthy?

There’s a ton of products that the editors of the Nutrition Action newsletter expose as not really health-boosting.

Far better to indulge in a real food treat like a pastry every so often. Not bolt for a drink that’s supposed to give us energy or nutrients.

My goal is to share stories and teach others to be well as I’ve written before. Wellness is not the absence of illness. It’s not unachievable to be well when you expand the limits to the definition of wellness.

The online dictionary defines wellness as: the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal. Within the limits we have with our bodies and minds we can strive to be in good health.

This starts when you and I ask ourselves: “What does good health look like for me? How can I get there? What do I need to do to sustain this lifestyle?”

Having the radical grace to be flexible and adaptable and open to change when this routine no longer fits our life. Just going easier on ourselves when we slip up or fall down here and there. Understanding that most setbacks are only temporary. Picking ourselves up and recommitting to the path we chose.

In the coming blog entry I’m going to talk in more detail about the ethic of going in a steady rhythm.

Chemical Chow

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How and what a person consumes in terms of food and drink is a personal choice. I’m not going to judge anyone else for chowing down on chemical cuisine. Nor am I going to glorify a person who is a total saint in their nutrition practice.

“Everything in moderation” is what I think is the best approach. Striving to have a healthy balance and not overdoing it with the extreme in either direction.

My aversion to using food and drink “products” containing natural flavor I found out is a real issue after eating two different bags of potato chips within four days of each other. I could taste the different taste between the Siete chips with three real food ingredients and the Deep River regular chips that use canola or safflower or cottonseed oil.

Though the Deep River didn’t use natural flavor I could taste that their chips tasted funny compared to the taste of the Siete chips.

There’s a chemical taste to food using natural flavor too. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) calls natural flavor a drug like crack because it’s an addictive food additive. The EWG goes so far as to say this.

I ordered the Nutrition Action booklet Chemical Cuisine that lists the chemicals in food products that cause ill health like common caramel flavor. The other chemicals in the guide are too numerous to list here.

It can appear that I’m nuts writing about this repeatedly. This shall be the last time I detail my thoughts on the topic of natural flavor. Though trust me real food tastes better.

I would like to say that it’s because I’m Italian American that using chemicals to cook food with leaves a distaste in my mouth. And of course, too I’m a fan of the Slow Food movement that started in Italy at the time of the rise in fast food restaurants there.

I don’t use a microwave either. It’s a matter of personal choice. In the coming blog entry I’ll talk about Choosing Sanity over Vanity in adopting a nutrition practice.

For one as a person who weighs 107 pounds I don’t like when other women tell me either that I’m too thin or else tell me “That’s good!” for fitting into a size 2P. My workout routines and weekly eating plan are not habits that I think 90 percent of Americans would want to adopt.

For the 212 loyal followers to this blog that I have after WordPress deleted the inactive accounts I think the readers who’ve stayed on this long might be the ones getting value from my approach.

Takes what works and leave the rest as the saying goes.

I eat well to feel good. That’s the story.

Protein Powder Economics

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The Truvani vanilla protein powder package I order from Amazon has 18 servings and costs $45. Eighteen servings will last 18 days if you have one protein drink each day.

That’s $2.50 per drink which is cheaper than getting a coffee at Starbucks. Not including the tax and shipping fee if you don’t have Amazon Prime and load up on AMZ deliveries regularly.

Cheaper products were sold that I found by typing protein powder into the AMZ search box. My thinking is that they contain natural flavor not real vanilla bean or cocoa powder for the chocolate version.

I’ve seen that with the 12-ounce cup after I shake the powder with a spoon in the almond milk a clump of thick powder settles on the bottom of the cup. I’ve ordered a 16-ounce pint glass to use for the protein drink in the future.

In the coming post I will write about how I accidentally found out that I have a justified aversion to consuming food products that contain natural flavor.

Chips Ahora

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This is a photo of potato chips.

You can buy these potatoes, avocado oil, and sea salt chips from Fresh Direct online in New York City. Potato chips really aren’t the best snack however I approve of the Siete version. The brand’s origin story is that a family of 7 who are the Garzas founded the company due to health reasons. The family members are Spanish and in that language siete is7.

You can only go right with potato chips like these if you ask me. No questionable fat like canola or sunflower or cottonseed oil. No chemical additives called natural flavor.

The real taste of potatoes not tainted by a chemical flavor. Is it just me and am I the only one who doesn’t like the taste of food products made with natural flavor?

I think that food “products” with real ingredients can be OK to have in a weekly eating plan. The goal as said is not to eat right in every meal of every single day. The outcome to strive for is to eat food guilt-free. I realize it can be easier said than done when so-called experts fly flags advertising various stripes of acceptable diets.

Come on–it’s time to recognize that with a little market searching online and on in-store shelves we can find better alternatives to the standard junk.

I was not paid to promote the Siete potato chips. They also sell corn-free tortilla chips how about that? I reserve these kinds of chips for holiday time or for an every so-often “side dish” to a lunch with sandwiches.

Weekly Eating Plan

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The following is the health coach vetted nutrition practice that I try my best to follow every week:

It’s a fact that the oceans have been overfished. Farmed salmon is not OK to eat though. What do I think? I’m going to have baked salmon once a week. There’s a deli counter at a food market that sells this fish.

It’s quick and easy: heat for 20 minutes with Brussel sprouts (also from deli counter) in a baking dish at 350 degrees.

I can also get from the deli counter roasted vegetables which don’t need to be cooked. The deli vegetables are not organic and I’m OK with this. Otherwise I buy online frozen bags of organic broccoli, spinach leaves, cauliflower, and green beans.

As well once a week or every other week I order grilled shrimp from the online grocery delivery service. I also order dry sea scallops with the weekly delivery.

For lunch I order a mixed greens salad with no dressing. Add organic cashews and chickpeas and Cento pitted olives. Toss Boticelli finishing olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the salad.

This is the standard fare. I have the salad for lunch 3 times a week. I read a while ago that bringing your lunch from home to your job 3x/per week is OK and a viable option. It can be impossible to expect ourselves to bring lunches from home 5 days a week.

The goal as I see it is to have the grace to accept that you and I cannot do the right things 100 percent of the time every day of every week of our lives.

Coming up I’m going to review a food product I found. The origin story of the company might be a come-on. Yet I’ll talk about this food because it shows that there are alternatives to common products laden with chemical additives or questionable kinds of fat.

Breathe Mediterranean Diet Edition

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Breathe magazine has out a Mediterranean Diet edition. Though it costs $14.99 I think the issue is worth getting.

For the article like Glimmers of Hope that instructs readers to cue ourselves for “glimmers” instead of focusing on triggers. Glimmers are the experiences that give us joy peace and positive feelings.

Plus the Buon Appetito! feature that shows readers how to set the table for a communal meal like Italians do. Insieme is our word for together.

Really all the articles in this Breathe issue are worth reading.

Pots of Love talks about how cooking can be a valid form of therapy. Talking about using a food journal to jot down ideas about the recipes you’re making and what you think of them and how to improvise new recipes with the ingredients.

One suggestion that I’ve taken to heart for years so far is to set the table for cheer. At the start of each season to change the tablecloth and use a different color mug to drink water from.

I’ll end here with this quote:

A tavola non s’invecchia – At the table, one does not grow old.

Georgia Ede MD Disclaimer

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Dr. Ede has reported that patients who change their diet as she instructs with the Quiet Keto have better mental health.

However buried in her guide Dr. Ede states that most of her patients who stopped their Keto diet had their psychiatric symptoms come back. Nor can everyone reduce or eliminate their psych medication on the Keto diet Dr. Ede proposes either.

The number-one thing is to control blood sugar and insulin levels which this diet should do according to Dr. Ede. This MD believes that keeping on a whole foods ketogenic diet for life or long-term should be safe. Following her Quiet Keto diet could counteract medication side effects like weight gain and high blood sugar.

The caveat the catch is that you must remain on the Quiet Keto diet and not stop it. With the Mediterranean Diet there’s no effect if you stop using this food plan.

These two diets should be examined with professional guidance for a person’s individual needs.

I reported here on these two diets to give information that might help followers. It appears everywhere I go I act as a librarian outside of my job–giving people information they can use to have a better life.

Coming up one habit I’ve adopted. Then a dive into new recipes I’ve created using a cookbook and the Eating Well special edition New Mediterranean Diet magazine.

Georgia Ede MD Nutrition Advice

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Georgia Ede MD Nutrition Advice

It’s not as simple as choosing from the food items Dr. Ramsey lists and calling it a day. With Dr.
Ede’s recommendations you need to calculate your personal macronutrient amounts. Then adhere
to eating only certain foods in certain ways.

On the Keto Diet you are allowed to have a specific amount of carbohydrates like starting at 20
grams a day. Dr. Ede recommends ketone monitoring as part of this diet.

Dr. Ede has reported that patients who change their diet this way have better mental health. It’s best to buy her book or check it out of the library. There are specific rules as to what to eat
how much and how to eat (cooked versus raw).

You start out with a Quiet Paleo diet and transfer to the Keto diet.

Customize carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates on Quiet Keto come from fruits and vegetables.

Quiet Keto Food List:
Meat, seafood, poultry, and eggs.
Non-starchy Vegetables:
Lettuces like iceberg, romaine, Bibb, Boston, green leaf, red leaf, oak leaf, Batavia, and
butterhead.

Fruits:
Avocado, olives, squashes: zucchini, yellow squash, summer squash, pumpkin, and spaghetti
squash, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, lemons, and limes
Crucifers cooked only and limited to one serving per day as in:
Arugula, bok choy, broccoli,, broccolini, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, all kinds of cabbage,
cauliflower, collard greens, kale mustard greens, radish, Swiss chard, turnip, watercress.

This ends my review of the Dueling Doctors and Their Diets.


Drew Ramsey MD Nutrition Advice

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Like I wrote before when I quoted the NYC clothing store SYMS TV commercial: “An educated consumer is our best customer.”

In keeping with this I would like to educate followers about the nutrition advice of the Dueling Doctors and their Diets. Georgia Ede MD will follow. First up Drew Ramsey MD.

Dr. Ramsey nixes loading up on super sizes of the latest super food touted. Instead eat a balanced variety of food. To wit: “Eat what you enjoy.”

Per Dr. Ramsey:

“We are trained, from an early age, to eat to be skinny instead of healthy.”

He quotes Felice Jacka, a researcher at Australia’s Food & Mood Centre: “We need to get away from this idea that nutrition is about body size.”

In his book Dr. Ramsey refers to clinical trials that verify the Mediterranean Diet improves mental health.

I say forget trying to memorize how much RDA of vitamins and nutrients we need and what food provides these. Simply eat balanced food items from the list below every day and that should cover getting enough nutritional value. That is my $100 dollar holler.

Highlights of Dr. Ramsey’s review of required foods:

Brussels sprouts (I eat them often!), oranges, leafy greens, lentils.

Pumpkin seeds, cashews (I love ’em and eat them nearly every day!), oysters, spinach.

Seafood including wild salmon, anchovies, oysters.

beans and almonds.

Fresh fruits and vegetables like broccoli, sweet potatoes.

Oatmeal, Brazil nuts, mushrooms (I have ’em every week nearly every day!).

Grass-fed beef if you’re a carnivore.

Corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, carrots, broccoli.

Eggs (my favorite breakfast!), pistachios.

Clams (love ’em!), mussels (my favorite feel-good food!).

Oranges, cherries, chilies, red peppers, mustard greens.

Turkey.

Avocadoes, berries

Kombucha, kefir, yogurt, miso.

Dark chocolate.