Liquid Calories

Juicing is all the rage these days, with juice cleanses, celebrity juicers, and Starbucks opening its first Juice Bar. On National Public Radio’s Kojo Nnamdi Show, I discussed juicing and juices. Find the link below…

I’ve been drinking orange juice every morning of my life. You’d think I’d be sick of it by now. But every morning, I look forward to my “sunshine in a glass,” and it never disappoints. Especially on those occasions when it’s fresh-squeezed. I could live on the stuff. Just thinking of it makes me salivate!

But I save my juice for 8 ounces in the morning because, while it packs a nutritional punch, it also puts on pounds, and fast! Here’s how…

My client, Caroline, who was successfully losing weight, was disappointed one recent week that she didn’t lose weight as usual. It didn’t make sense to either of us. Her food intake was stellar. She was even a little more physically active than usual. It wasn’t until we reviewed her food diary thoroughly that we discovered the culprit was liquid calories, and they added up in a way that surprised her. In her case – as is the case with many of us  – that extra glass of wine or mixer, juice as a snack here and there, can add up in ways we don’t expect.

Liquid calories in just about any form, whether alcohol, juices, or sodas, are stealth calories. They come in undetected under the radar screen but have an impact that can be enormous. Scientific evidence is confirming that though these liquids count as calories, our bodies don’t detect them the same way they would if we were eating solid food. When we eat calories in the form of solid food, we naturally compensate by reducing the rest of our meal’s or day’s food intake. But when people ingest liquid calories, studies show, they don’t compensate for them by eating fewer calories.

“Fluid calories do not hold strong satiety properties, don’t suppress hunger and don’t elicit compensatory dietary responses,” says Richard D. Mattes, MPH, PhD, RD, Professor of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University. “When drinking fluid calories, people often end up eating more calories overall.”

This may help explain the results of the Harvard Nurses Health Study of more than 50,000 women over eight years. The researchers found those who increased their intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas or fruit punch, from one per week to one or more per day, increased their calories by 358 daily and gained significant weight. Women who reduced their intake cut their calories by 319 calories and gained less weight. Earlier studies demonstrated that consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks increased the likelihood of obesity in children, but this is the first finding from a long term observational study in adults.

The mechanisms controlling hunger and thirst are completely different, and liquids, even if they contain calories, don’t seem to satisfy hunger even if they quench your thirst. Physiologically, your thirst is quenched once your blood and cell volume is increased by water. This signals your brain that you are no longer thirsty.

Hunger is regulated in your stomach and intestines. While you’re eating, nerves in the stomach wall detect that it is stretching and send satiation signals to the brain. The intestines also release nerve regulators and hormones. At the same time, the hunger hormone, ghrelin, released by the stomach when it is empty, goes down. All of which help you feel satiated.

 There are several theories explaining why liquid calories cause lower satiety and increased overall calorie intakes, but it’s still not fully understood. First, cognitively, people have a harder time realizing that liquids count. Also, the mouth-feel of a liquid versus a solid may generate different signals, less time and involvement with food, and reduced psychological satisfaction. Finally, liquids, because they travel more quickly through the intestinal tract, alter the rate of nutrient absorption, which can affect satiety hormones and signaling. It’s likely that all of these reasons are relevant.

Emerging research is finding the hunger hormone ghrelin may play a physiological role.

 “When the number and type of calories are the same, the calories in liquid form won’t suppress ghrelin as effectively as if the same calories were in solid form,” says David E. Cummings, associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

While Cummings hasn’t tested many types of fluids and their varying effects on ghrelin, other researchers have found drinking fluids may produce varying degrees of satiety, depending on what they contain.

It’s fairly well-established that alcoholic beverages and sugary liquids, especially sodas and fruit drinks aren’t completely registered or compensated for and simply add extra calories.

 “Some beverages cross over the line into being a food,” says Barbara J. Rolls, professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University. She conducted studies which found people felt more satiated and consumed fewer calories when they had milk-based drinks at the beginning of a meal. The high protein levels in addition to cognitive beliefs about milk being a food may make it more satiating.  Also, fluids with food in them, such as soups, are very satiating.

 But most caloric fluids Americans consume are not satiating. When you consider that an appropriately sized meal is anywhere from 400 to 700 calories, and one Big Gulp is 640 calories, you understand the scope of the problem! A Starbuck’s Frappuccino can total anywhere from 300 to 600 calories. One glass of wine contains at least 100 calories. And one mixed drink can set you back 300 calories or more. Double or triple these numbers at any given party, tack on the calories in your meals, and you can understand how weight gain is the inevitable result.

My clients who have become aware of liquid calories have achieved impressive results. Take Bob Levey, former Washington Post columnist. Bob wrote about the importance of cutting out his daily lemonade in his successful weight loss effort. My other client, Julie, easily switched her daily Frappuccino to a skim coffee latte and saved 250 calories. My friend, Linda, slowly phased out her daily soda by adding more and more ice to it each week until she was only drinking water. She lost 30 pounds over a year.

 Most people find reducing liquid calories is an easy change. Since liquid calories don’t contribute to feelings of satiety, cutting them doesn’t lead to feelings of deprivation or hunger. And there are so many great substitutes. The one liquid that’s important to keep drinking is water. In the winter time, I love sipping water as herbal teas through the day. In the summer, it’s selzer with a twist of lemon or lime, and the occasional diet soda.

Of course, if we are mindful of our calorie intake, a moderate daily dose of wine or other caloric beverage can easily be integrated into our routines. The key is mindfulness and moderation.

Listen to Katherine discussing juicing on National Public Radio’s Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5 FM.

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The Numbers

The Numbers

Original content, The Washington Post

Here are some common foods and their saturated fat content (calories/grams saturated fat):

Butter, 1 tablespoon 102/7

Corn oil, 1 tablespoon 120/2

Olive oil, 1 tablespoon 119/2

Canola oil, 1 tablespoon 124/1

Prime rib, 1 ounce 110/11

Lean roast beef, 1 ounce 47/2

Skinless chicken breast1 ounce 48/0.3

Cheese, 1 ounce 100/6

Reduced fat cheese, 1 ounce 70/3

Whole milk, 1 cup 150/5

1 percent milk, 1 cup 102/1.5

Skim milk, 1 cup 86/0

— Katherine Tallmadge

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So Saturated

Original Content, The Washington Post

Saturated fats are the “evildoers” of the nutrition world, and they come in the guise of some of the most delicious foods: butter, cream, cheese, chocolate, coconut, prime rib.

How could something so good be so bad? Well, first of all, let me assure you that not all saturated fats are created equal. In fact, some of the foods high in saturated fats have redeeming qualities that may mitigate their damage. Second, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the field of nutrition, there’s never just one magic — or deadly — bullet.

I discovered the power of saturated fats while working with patients. I found when saturated fats are cut to extremely low levels, cholesterol levels drop precipitously. I was stunned at what a simple dietary change could achieve.

The National Academy of Sciences says Americans should minimize their intake of saturated fats, which play a role in raising bad cholesterol (LDL) and increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, which kills half of all Americans.

Foods contain a mixture of fats, some of which are essential for health. Certain polyunsaturated fats (the omega-3 fatty acids in seafood, flax and walnuts, and omega-6 fatty acids in soybean and corn oil) are essential. You need them in your diet because your body can’t synthesize them, and you’ll develop deficiency symptoms without them.

Saturated fats are nonessential fats, which means that the body can make them on its own, so they’re not needed in the diet. Chocolate and animal fats found in dairy, meat, lard and tallow are high in a saturated fat called stearic acid. While other saturated fats raise LDL levels, stearic acid has been found to have a neutral effect on LDL. In fact, some folks in the chocolate, dairy and meat industries have pointed to this neutral effect as a reason to go ahead and enjoy these foods without worrying about the risk of heart disease.

But a new study appears to challenge this claim. Scientists have found that while it’s true that stearic acid doesn’t raise LDL levels, it still may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease because it increases fibrinogen and C-reactive protein levels in the blood. Fibrinogen and C-reactive protein are both indicators of inflammation, an emerging risk factor in cardiovascular disease development as well as cancer and many other diseases.

“This news is going to change the thinking about stearic acid being neutral,” said David Baer, lead investigator of the study, conducted at the Department of Agriculture’s Diet and Human Performance Laboratory in Beltsville.

In addition to stearic acid, there are three other common saturated fats — palmitic acid (found in palm oil, chocolate and meat), lauric acid (found in coconut) and myristic acid (the most potent LDL-raiser, found in dairy and coconut). These three fats raise not only LDL but also HDL, thus keeping constant that important ratio between the “bad” and the “good” cholesterol. Scientists are not sure how much protection this provides, despite the fact that HDL levels are high. These saturated fats may also cause inflammation, but the research isn’t definitive yet.

But some foods that are rich in saturated fat contain protective, healthy nutrients as well. Chocolate, for instance, contains antioxidants and anti-platelet factors. Coconut also contains antioxidants. There is some evidence that these benefits may help outweigh the risks from the saturated fat. But most experts believe it is still not good to eat large amounts of these foods.

Saturated fats, which are solid at room temperature, have other negative effects. When they’re high in the diet, they replace in the body’s cells the more positive unsaturated fats, which are liquid at room temperature. The saturated fats become incorporated into cell membranes and make the membranes more rigid, causing malfunctions leading to, among other things, insulin resistance.

“Saturated fats can reduce insulin’s ability to control blood glucose and in the long run may cause type 2 diabetes,” says Frank Hu, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard University’s School of Public Health.

Adding to the diabetes connection, a recent Johns Hopkins University study found that dietary saturated fat correlated with higher levels of belly fat, a known risk factor in heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. High-saturated-fat diets may even play a role in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Unsaturated oils do just the opposite. If they’re prevalent in the diet and can compete successfully with saturated fat, they incorporate into the cell membranes instead and increase cell fluidity and flexibility, which is one of many reasons scientists believe they’re so beneficial to overall health.

In fact, there is also a theory that the ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat in the diet may be more influential in heart disease risk than the absolute numbers — yet another example of the importance of balance in the world of nutrition.

Several large studies have verified that when people replace saturated fat with unsaturated oils, a 40 percent to 65 percent reduction in heart disease deaths can be achieved, especially when a little omega-3 fatty acid is added. Interestingly, these studies showed only a modest reduction in LDL, which illustrates the importance of paying attention to other risk factors such as inflammation.

Comparatively, treatment with statin drugs that lower LDL cholesterol (arguably one of the most prescribed medications today) reduces heart disease deaths by only about 30 percent because it doesn’t remove all the risks. So even when taking statins, dietary change is essential.

“Diet and lifestyle change can work better than statins,” says Ernst Schaefer, director of the Lipid and Heart Disease Prevention Program at the New England Medical Center. “But the problem is compliance.”

Many people find it challenging to reduce the amount of saturated fat in their diets. Life without chocolate or butter seems draconian and a goal that is impossible to meet. But a heart-healthy diet need not be so austere if you keep balance and variety in mind.

The trouble comes with extremes, when you’re eating burgers, fries and a shake — all in one meal. Try this instead: Choose a leaner burger with a green salad and vinaigrette on the side and a bowl of berries and nuts for dessert. The antioxidants from the salad and berries, and the healthy fats from the nuts and vinaigrette just might counterbalance the saturated fat in the burger.

Another solution would be to try to always have surf with your turf. The anti-inflammatory compounds in the omega-3 fatty acids in fish may help counteract the inflammatory compounds in the beef.

“And if you burned what you ate through activity, this all wouldn’t be as much of a problem!” says Baer, research physiologist at USDA.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Every Day, in Many Ways

Original Content: The Washington Post

What are some ways we can eat berries every day?

“A no-brainer,” says Janie Hibler, author of “The Berry Bible” (William Morrow, 2004), “is a berry smoothie for breakfast.” For lunch, she says, throw a handful into your salad. For snacks, carry dried berries and nuts. At dinner, berries go beautifully with meats, grains and main courses. You can also make berry popcicles, syrups for pancakes and spritzers.

Hibler recommends always having berry purees or coulis on hand. “A sauce rivaled by none,” she says. But berries also are great added to drinks, smoothies, yogurts, cereal — you name it.

To make a coulis, rinse and drain the berries, puree them in a food processor and add a little sugar or even liqueur, if desired. It will keep in your refrigerator for three to four days or can be frozen for a month.

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Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Original Content, The Washington Post

Don’t count on willpower! Instead, make things easy on yourself and your family by controlling your environment. To increase the likelihood of eating healthfully, make your food tasty, accessible and convenient:

• Clean, chop and store fruits and vegetables in plastic containers next to healthful dips. For the kids, keep them at eye level in the fridge so they’re easy to grab. (Or, if you’re pressed for time, buy fruits and vegetables already cleaned and chopped at the salad bar.)

• Make several-serving batches of delicious entrees, soups and salads, store them in plastic serving-sized containers in your fridge or freezer to prevent that stop for fast food on the way home.

• Weigh and measure foods before cooking or portioning at the dinner table. You can’t overeat it if you haven’t cooked it. Avoid serving “family style.”

• Eat, then shop! Don’t go grocery shopping hungry and always go with a list to prevent impulse purchasing.

• Minesweep for calorie bombs! If you can’t have just one cookie or one chip, keep them out of the house to avoid temptations.

• Quality, not quantity. Splurge on smaller amounts of your favorite expensive healthy delicacies such as raspberries, hearts of palm, wild salmon or crab meat instead of buying supersized but lower quality foods; those extra calories get stored as excess body fat.

• Buy the gadgets you’ll need: nonstick pans, a heavy-duty stock pot, food scale, measuring cups and spoons, plastic baggies of all sizes and plastic containers that go from freezer to microwave.

• Each healthful and delicious meal deserves your entire attention: Overeating is inevitable if you’re distracted by reading, working or watching TV. Sit at your dining or kitchen table without distractions and make eye contact and conversation with your family members while you eat. — Katherine Tallmadge

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Grains of Truth

Original Content, The Washington Post

In the world of nutrition there seems to be no shortage of complexity and confusion. But I’ve found that simple and straightforward solutions are often strikingly successful. In no area is this more true than the remarkable power of whole grains.

Over the years, countless clients of mine have struggled with various gastrointestinal complaints such as constipation or irritable bowel syndrome. Many have come to me after trying costly medications, usually with little relief.

In most cases, symptoms disappeared once they began increasing their fiber intake by eating adequate amounts of whole-grain foods. Some of my clients even teasingly call these foods their wonder drug.

But while it’s true that whole grains are valuable for their fiber content, their benefits are much more vast. Whole grains play a profound role in health. A growing body of research shows whole grains — wheat, oats, rice, rye and corn, for example, may help keep body weight down and prevent diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

The importance of whole grains in health came to light in the 19th century, when refining grains became popular — and its negative consequences were learned. In Asia, chickens were cured of symptoms of a human illness called beriberi, characterized by muscle wasting and nerve degeneration, when they were fed the discarded part of polished white rice. It was later found that the parts discarded during the refining process contain the essential nutrient, thiamin (a B vitamin) necessary to prevent beriberi.

In 1975, researchers Dennis Burkitt and Hugh Trowell published a book of scientific observations comparing the diet of Africans eating their native whole grains versus North Americans and British eating their diet of highly refined carbohydrates. The researchers described for the first time the role that whole, unrefined foods play in reducing coronary heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Since then, numerous other research studies have chronicled the effects of whole grains on human health.

A whole grain has three parts: bran, germ and endosperm. The bran and germ contain fiber, Vitamin E, B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and pantothenic acid) minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, sodium, selenium and iron), protein, essential oils, antioxidants and phytochemicals (plant substances that may protect health). The endosperm contains mostly starch with a little protein and very few nutrients. When a grain is refined, turning whole wheat flour into white flour or brown rice into white rice, only the nutrient-poor endosperm is left. The riches found in the bran and germ are lost.

Food manufacturers attempt to make up for the loss in nutrients by enriching refined grains (those found in breads, pasta, rice and cereals, for instance) with some essential nutrients, such as B vitamins and iron.

But overwhelming scientific evidence has found major health differences in people who eat more whole grains compared with people who eat refined grains, proving enrichment doesn’t make up for the difference:

• Whole grains are our major source of fiber. The grain’s outer layer (the bran) keeps us regular and helps prevent hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, and reduces risk for ulcerative colitis (Crohn’s disease).

• Whole-grain intake is strongly correlated with reduced cardiovascular disease. This is partly explained by the soluble fiber in grains (oats, rye and barley have the highest levels), which is associated with cholesterol lowering. But other substances in grains, such as antioxidants like Vitamin E, also play a role.

• People who eat more whole grains also have lower body weights, according to epidemiological research. This is attributed to the fiber, which promotes feelings of fullness in foods that are generally low in calories.

• Many studies have shown a strong link between whole-grain intake and reduced incidence of type II diabetes. This may be partly because the fiber in whole grains slows down stomach emptying, causing a lower rise in blood glucose and insulin. Also, whole grains contain nutrients such as Vitamin E and magnesium, which may help improve insulin sensitivity.

• This research is less consistent, but whole grains may also help prevent cancers, especially of the intestinal tract and maybe even breast cancer. Several theories have been put forth explaining the mechanisms. For one, the fiber speeds intestinal transit, which reduces exposure to potential carcinogens. Also, antioxidants enter the circulation through colon cells, providing long-term antioxidant protection through the entire digestive tract, according to Joanne Slavin, a professor in the department of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Ninety percent of a grain’s antioxidants aren’t released until they get to the colon, the last stage of digestion, where they may provide maximum protection against cancer.

Interestingly, grains are still a mystery to researchers. They are so complex and full of a multitude of different compounds, scientists are largely unsure of what components of the grain are responsible for the benefits.

“We’re not sure if the benefits are from the fiber or the phytochemicals,” says Simin Liu, assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard. “In my opinion, it’s the thousands of phytochemicals in whole grains which produce most of the benefits.”

To prove his point, Liu points to a four-year National Cancer Institute-funded study of high-fiber cereals in which wheat bran was added in the processing as opposed to naturally occurring in a whole grain. Researchers were surprised to find the high-bran diet did not prevent colon polyps, often a precursor to cancer.

“The data doesn’t support the claim that added bran fiber or fiber supplements make a positive difference in colon cancer, which is why I like to use the term ‘whole grain foods’ instead of fiber. The data only point to whole foods,” says Liu.

But while whole grains provide this wide array of health benefits, most Americans don’t take advantage of them.

“American adults eat six to seven servings of refined grains but only one serving of whole grains a day, with children eating less than one serving — well below U.S. Dietary Guideline recommendations of at least three servings,” says Slavin.

While science continues its search for the answers, I recommend you switch from refined-grain products to whole-grain products. Instead of white bread or crackers, choose whole wheat, whole rye or whole grain breads and crackers. Instead of white pasta or white rice, choose whole wheat pasta or brown rice or cereals made with whole oats or whole corn. Try unusual grains such as bulgur (cracked whole wheat), whole wheat couscous or exotic grain-like substances such as quinoa and amaranth.

But looking for whole-grain foods in your supermarket can be challenging. Many “whole wheat” or “multi-grain” breads, for instance, are made predominantly of white flour, even though the label may say “wheat flour.” Be sure the first ingredient on the nutrition label of your pasta, cereal, crackers or bread is a “whole” grain such as whole wheat, whole oats or whole rye. Also look for a whole-grain product containing three or four grams of fiber per one ounce (28 grams) or per 80- to 100-calorie serving. That signifies that the grain is likely in its most natural state.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

Grain Guide

The grain family includes barley, bulgur, corn, millet, oats, rice, rye and wheat. Amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa belong to a different botanical family. But they all contain protein, B vitamins, minerals and fiber, as well as antioxidants. Though corn, oats, rice, rye and wheat are relatively easy to find and cook, other of these healthful ingredients may require a search and some guidance before cooking:

AMARANTH This tiny seed, often found in health food stores, can be used to make flour or pasta. Add the seeds to your bowl of cereal, rice or stir-fry.

BARLEY This versatile grain makes a great pilaf or risotto; use the cooked leftovers in a salad, stir-fry or tuna salad.

BUCKWHEAT The seeds of the plant are used to make buckwheat flour, the basis of blini. Buckwheat groats are the hulled and crushed kernels of the seed and are usually cooked in a manner similar to rice. When the groats are toasted, they are called kasha. Add buckwheat to soups, stew, meatloafs or hamburgers. Cook buckwheat groats for a hot breakfast cereal.

BULGUR (also BULGHUR) Made from whole-wheat berries that are steamed, partially de-branned, dried and crushed or cracked, bulgur wheat is available in coarse, medium and fine grinds. A staple of the Middle Eastern diet, it is seen in salads such as tabbouleh or stews. It can also be cooked like a rice pilaf.

MILLET Cracked millet can be cooked like couscous; another variation, pearl millet, can be cooked like rice or a hot breakfast cereal. Millet flour is used in roti, an Indian flatbread.

QUINOA Pronounced “KEEN-wah,” this grainlike product is often found in health food stores. The grain, which must be simmered, has a delicious roasted flavor and can be added to vegetable dishes or rice. Quinoa flakes, a hot cereal similar to oatmeal, make a hearty breakfast.

— Katherine Tallmadge

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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After Atkins

Original Content, The Washington Post

A new client shared a familiar story with me: This man, who has struggled with his weight for years, went on the Atkins low-carbohydrate diet, and the pounds seemed to melt away. But after a few months, they started to creep back on. Another woman on Atkins lost only part of her desired weight and then hit a plateau. Still others find that after success with Atkins, their cholesterol levels soar, a potential danger to their health. They all came to me fearful that going off the Atkins diet would mean gaining their weight back. But they knew they had to figure out a different way to achieve their goals permanently.

Their fears are well-founded and point to a central dilemma in weight loss: While losing weight is exhilarating and energizing, it also can be fleeting.

“Unless people transition, they’re going to fail, because the Atkins diet produces weight loss but not weight maintenance,” says James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado in Denver. “If people lose weight with the Atkins diet, they need to consider their weight loss as Phase 1 and be prepared to keep it off differently, which would be Phase 2.” Hill was co-author of the Atkins diet study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year. It found that those in the Atkins diet group had a greater weight loss after three and after six months compared with those on a low-calorie, low-fat diet. After one year, though, there was no difference between the two diet groups.

But weight regain is not a problem unique to the Atkins diet. The struggle has been going on for as long as people have been looking for quick-fix, formulaic diets. In the 1970s, people lost weight by cutting carbohydrates with Atkins or Scarsdale. The ’80s brought us high-protein, modified fasts (remember Oprah and Optifast?). In the ’90s, low-fat diets were the rage. Now we’ve come full circle with low-carb diets. All these diets work because they dramatically lower your calorie intake. But the challenge is the same no matter what diet you follow: At some point, you must transition from the diet to a healthy, everyday eating plan that will maintain your weight and enhance your health.

In 1994, Hill and others founded the National Weight Control Registry to study the characteristics of people who successfully maintain their weight losses (known as “maintainers”). People in the registry have lost an average of about 70 pounds and have kept it off for an average of seven years.

The registry and other studies have found many factors that separate successful weight-loss maintainers from unsuccessful regainers:

• Diet: The registry found maintainers eat a low-fat diet with 24 percent of their calories coming from fat, 19 percent from protein and 56 percent from carbohydrates (much of it low-calorie, complex carbohydrates). Only 1 percent eat a low-carbohydrate diet (with less than 24 percent of their calories from carbohydrates).

The registry and other studies have found that maintainers eat more vegetables and fewer calorie-dense foods, such as fried food, fats, fatty meats and sweets, and they often substitute low-fat for high-fat foods.

Maintainers reduce portion sizes, reduce frequency of snacking, and they eat foods such as cheese, butter, high-fat snacks, fried foods and desserts less than once a week. They become satisfied with smaller portions and are less attracted to sweet or fatty foods.

Regainers increase their fat intake while maintainers keep it consistently low. But maintainers don’t completely deny themselves. They changed their basic food patterns, but they allowed themselves fewer but more meaningful indulgences. Regainers, on the other hand, went on very restrictive diets not permitting themselves any room for favorite foods. They felt deprived and easily fell back into old patterns.

• Eating style: The registry found successful maintainers prepare and eat the majority of their food at home, dining out about once a week, which is less often than the general population. The registry and another study found maintainers are more likely to eat five times a day, while regainers are more likely to skip meals, snacking on candies and chocolates more often. The registry found that a strikingly high number of maintainers eat breakfast.

• Self-monitoring: The registry reported that 75 percent of maintainers weigh themselves at least weekly or daily. This helps them nip any minor weight gains in the bud. On the other hand, regainers either accept larger weight gains or don’t notice their weight creeping up until they gain a large amount. One study found that successful maintainers develop a “healthy narcissism” about their appearance and physical condition. The registry and numerous studies have found that maintainers monitor their eating by occasionally keeping food diaries to increase awareness.

• Physical activity: Nine out of ten of the registry participants engage in regular physical activity. “During weight loss, diet is the driver. But during weight maintenance, physical activity becomes the key,” says Hill, whose new book, “The Step Diet” (Workman, 2004), incorporates elements from registry findings.

• Coping skills: Most people have comparable levels of stress and unpredictability in their lives, but some are able to handle it more effectively than others. Maintainers are more likely to face their problems, while regainers react emotionally or avoid problems by sleeping, drinking or eating. Maintainers are also more likely to seek support from friends, family and professionals.

• Lifestyle: Many maintain weight loss only upon making major lifestyle adjustments. One study found when home-bound women became more involved in activities outside of their homes, they were more likely to maintain weight loss. They became more confident and took responsibility for their lives and their size. The activities you choose to engage in and the people you spend time with influence weight-maintenance success. Often this means making new, healthier friends and including spouses in your lifestyle changes. Spousal support is necessary for long-term success, even if it may not be necessary short term.

• Goals and expectations: Maintainers are more likely to be patient, setting small, reachable goals. They accept dietary change as part of their lives rather than as part of a temporary diet. They realize they need to be continually conscious of their food and activity levels and work at staying in shape.

The evidence is clear: The battle of the bulge is won at the margins. Sweeping dietary overhauls are impractical and don’t work over time. Shrewd, small, concrete changes that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine lead to success.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Accept No Substitutes: Dangerous Supplements?

Original Content, The Washington Post

Taking multivitamins, Vitamin B-6, Folic Acid, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, and particularly Iron, may increase death rates, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Only Calcium and Vitamin D were correlated with positive benefits.

Let me explain…

Many of us want to include nutrients, the right vitamins and minerals in our diet. But we often don’t want to eat all the foods and calories required to get this balance. What we’re looking for is a magic supplement that will give us more energy, improve the quality and length of life and prevent the chronic diseases of today such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

While we know that certain foods have been shown to provide these benefits, can the right supplement do the same?

Leading researchers are increasingly convinced that while supplements can serve many positive purposes, they cannot take the place of a well-balanced diet, and may even be dangerous.

The Importance of Food

“The thousands of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals [beneficial plant compounds] in whole foods act synergistically together to create a more powerful effect than the sum of their parts, producing a result which cannot be recreated by supplements,” says Jeff Prince, vice president for education at the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Over the past century, nutrition experts gained a fuller appreciation of the need for a plant-based diet. Research began to show in the 1970s that certain patterns of eating, beyond vitamin and mineral intake, were influencing illnesses.

By the 1980s, they found that populations that ate more fruits, vegetables and high-fiber foods experienced lower rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Also, by that time, discoveries had been made that newly discovered phytochemicals and certain vitamins and minerals acted as antioxidants and might prevent chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. After all, it had been found that people with high blood levels of two antioxidant vitamins (a form of vitamin A called beta carotene and vitamin E) had reduced lung cancer rates. It had also been observed that people who ate more dark-green leafy vegetables (high in beta carotene) experienced less lung cancer, even if they smoked.

Sensing a major breakthrough, the National Institutes of Health funded one of the biggest studies ever conducted. Known as the ATBC (Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene) Cancer Prevention Study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1994, it tested the theory that the antioxidant vitamins beta carotene and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) would prevent lung cancer in smokers, the highest-risk population. After following 29,000 male smokers for six years, the stunned researchers found “a higher incidence of lung cancer among the men who received beta carotene supplements than among those who did not. In fact, this trial raises the possibility that these supplements may actually have harmful as well as beneficial effects.”

Needless to say, these revelations sent shock waves through the scientific community. “This study was a turning point in the nutrition field, especially when multiple studies kept confirming that supplements didn’t work at preventing cancers and heart disease,” says David Klurfeld, national program leader for human nutrition at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. “People think that we can pull out the fiber, pull out the antioxidants. But research does not back that up. Study after study says you gain the most benefit from whole foods.”

That is not to say that supplements are of no use. They can be of great benefit, when taken based on individualized needs. This study, and others like it, stress the importance of personalizing your supplement needs by reviewing your medical, family and personal history, your food intake, THEN and only THEN, decide what you might be lacking and make an educated decision, preferably with the help of a registered dietitian and your doctor. Supplements simply can’t compete with better food choices. Consider these findings:

• When the ATBC Cancer Prevention study data was re-analyzed years later for consumption of fruits and vegetables, researchers found that while supplements did not prevent lung cancer, eating fruits and vegetables high in beta carotene (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes), lycopene (e.g., tomatoes) and lutein/zeaxanthin (deep-green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale) reduced lung cancer risk.

• A diet high in cereal and vegetable fiber (35 grams versus 15 grams) reduces the risk of colon cancer by 40 percent, according to recent findings in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study. But studies of fiber supplements have failed to find any benefits and some have found an adverse effect.

• A diet high in fruit reduces lung cancer risk by 40 percent, also according to new EPIC study findings. Another study found subjects with a high fruit intake had a 44 percent lower risk of lung cancer compared with subjects eating the least amount of fruit. But when subjects added beta-carotene supplements, there was no benefit from the fruit.

• Men who ate 10 servings of tomato products weekly reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 35 percent compared with men who ate fewer than 1.5 servings, according to a Harvard Health Professional study. While the benefit is largely attributed to the phytochemical lycopene, trials of lycopene so far have found it is less potent than the tomato.

• A diet high in fruits and vegetables reduced stroke risk by 28 percent, and fruit alone reduced the risk by 40 percent, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2003. No dietary supplements have been found that significantly reduce stroke risk.

• People who ate collard greens or spinach two to four times per week had a 46 percent decrease in risk for age-related macular degeneration (the leading cause of blindness) compared with those who ate these vegetables less than once per month, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this year. No studies have found supplements prevent or improve macular degeneration.

• People who eat more soy have a decreased risk for coronary heart disease, breast cancer and prostate cancer. But when various components of soy foods have been isolated and studied, these finding have not been replicated, and some have found adverse effects.

• A diet high in antioxidant-rich foods helps prevent cardiovascular disease, but the studies of individual antioxidant supplements have been so inconclusive that the American Heart Association recently issued an advisory against taking them to reduce cardiovascular disease

“Researchers are working as fast as we can to find the most effective components in foods,” says Janet Novotny, research physiologist at USDA’s Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville. “But so far, studies have shown that while fruits and vegetables are associated with decreased risk of chronic disease, studies of the isolated compounds in fruits and vegetables haven’t shown an effect.”

Food and dietary patterns are complicated and expensive to study, and can defy the brightest minds and best intentions. In the meantime, the best advice is to eat a plant-based diet with at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables (you’ll get the most benefit with the higher amount), at least three to four servings of whole grains and regularly eat legumes as a side dish or occasionally as your protein source.

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Have Your Fill

Original Content, The Washington Post

It’s not rocket science: Eat fewer calories than you burn and you’ll lose weight.

But somehow it seems almost impossible to do. How could something so simple be so hard? The dilemma we all face is how to eat less without feeling hungry and deprived. The solution, while not as important for short-term weight loss, is essential to weight maintenance. Any diet that keeps us hungry is doomed to fail over the long haul.

For decades, scientists have been digging for clues about what influences the decisions to start and stop eating. They have found that our bodies have a complex physiological signaling system that tells us when we’re hungry and when we’ve had enough. When you’re eating, nerves in the stomach wall detect your stomach is stretching. They send satiation messages to the brain and you start to feel full. When food is sensed in the intestines, several substances are activated there as well, including nerve regulators and hormones such as cholecystokinin (CCK).

The physiological sensation of hunger has been more difficult for researchers to pin down. Emerging research points to ghrelin (pronounced GRELL-in), a hormone sent into your bloodstream by the stomach when it is empty.

The level of ghrelin “goes up before meals — making you hungry — while the other satiating hormones go up after eating [with ghrelin going down], causing you to stop,” says David E. Cummings, associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. “With these two systems, you have physiological control over pre-meal hunger and post-meal satiety.”

Of course, we’re not automatons governed strictly by physiology. The decision to eat is also governed by things we can control.

“In humans, ghrelin may not be the only driver. Initiation of meals is a complex process that deals with social cues, smells, sights and more,” says Phil Smith, co-director of the Office of Obesity Research at the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases.

Evidence suggests that many factors are related to your satisfaction with a meal and ultimately, your ability to lose and maintain weight:

Portion size In a series of widely known experiments over the past five years, researchers found that the amount of food you are served will affect how full you feel and how much you eat. In the studies, people were given varying amounts of macaroni and cheese, submarine sandwiches and bags of popcorn or chips. In each case, when they were served smaller portions, they ate those portions and felt satisfied. But when they were given larger portions, without realizing it, the subjects (including children, in other similar studies) ate significantly more — sometimes 50 percent more.

This effect persisted. Over two days, when portions were 50 percent larger at each meal, subjects ate 16 percent more (328 extra calories in women and 522 extra calories in men per day). When the portions were 100 percent larger, subjects ate 26 percent more (531 extra calories in women and 806 extra calories in men).

Those extra calories, added daily over the course of a year, would pack 50 pounds more on women and 80 pounds more on men.

“This is a case where physiological satiety cues are overridden by environmental cues such as large portions and the easy availability of food,” says Barbara Rolls, co-author of the studies and a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. “When served larger portions, people adjust their level of satiety to accommodate greater calorie intakes.”

Fortunately, studies also have found that the reverse is true. When good-tasting, lower-calorie foods or portion-controlled meals are available, people will eat those and feel just as satisfied. In fact, studies of successful weight loss maintainers find they easily adjust to smaller, more appropriate portions of higher-calorie foods.

An interesting study showed that preschool-age girls who regularly overeat can be taught how to change their behavior by learning to pay attention to their natural hunger and satiety signals.

Water and air content Rolls and colleagues found that as long as the volume of the food is high, people can feel full with fewer calories. In a study published in 2000, participants who drank milkshakes blended with more air (compared with the same shakes containing less air) ate 12 percent less at the next meal without realizing it.

In the most recent experiment, which will be published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in October, the researchers served salads of various sizes and calorie levels before a main course to determine the effect on the calorie intake of the whole meal. Participants consumed the fewest overall calories — 100 calories fewer — when they were served the largest, lowest-calorie salad before a meal.

Researchers surmise that a large food volume caused by water or air, even without added calories, influences satiety in a variety of ways. It causes stomach stretching and slows stomach emptying, stimulating the nerves and hormones that tell you when it’s time to put down the fork. Also, seeing a large volume of food can increase your ability to feel satisfied by it.

Finally, the larger a meal is and the longer a meal goes on, studies show, your satisfaction declines and you lose interest in completing it.

“Water is the component in food which has the largest influence on how much you eat,” says Rolls, who co-authored “The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan” (HarperTorch, 2003). “These studies show eating a high-water-content, low-calorie first course enhances satiety and reduces calorie intake at the next course.”

Type of diet New research on ghrelin reveals it can work against weight loss. Apparently, losing weight under most conditions — low-calorie diets, anorexia, binge-purging and high levels of exercise — can increase ghrelin that’s circulating in the bloodstream and cause hunger. This is the body’s evolutionary way of holding on to body fat and surviving during the famines that threatened our ancestors, according to Cummings. But his research found one diet in which weight loss did not increase ghrelin levels: a low-fat one. After three months, people on a 15-percent-fat diet lost significant weight. But their ghrelin levels stayed the same.

Cummings cautioned that levels of fat higher than 15 percent — say, 20 or 25 percent — as well as other diet methods, may also prevent rises in ghrelin; not every situation has been tested.

But these results help explain studies of successful weight loss maintainers, most of whom eat a low-fat (less than 24 percent of calories) diet.

There’s a lot more to learn about why we eat. Researchers are studying types of foods, diets, meal timing, meal patterns, habits learned from childhood, genetics and sensory factors. But in the meantime, there is plenty that we do know to help us eat the right number of calories but still feel full and satisfied.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

Pump It Up

Get back to basics and listen to your body signals. Start by rating your hunger on a five-point scale:

0 = ravenous

1 = hungry

2 = could eat, could wait

3 = satisfied, no longer

hungry

4 = uncomfortably full

5 = stuffed

Give yourself a rating before you start eating and another rating when you finish. You should eat when you’re hungry (1) and stop when you’re no longer hungry (3)*.

To feel full with fewer calories, try these tips from Barbara Rolls, co-author of “The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan” (HarperTorch, 2003), whose research shows that people have greater success with weight loss when they eat larger servings of foods that have a high water content, such as cooked grains, vegetables, fruits, soups and stews:

• To lower the calories and increase the portion size of a favorite recipe, pump up the volume by adding vegetables as often as you can. This way, you can eat your usual portion for fewer calories.

• Choose fresh fruits over dried fruits or juices. For 100 calories, you could eat 1/4 cup of raisins or two cups of grapes. (You’re more likely to fill up on the grapes.)

• Whip air into your yogurt and fruit snack by putting it into a blender and turning it into a smoothie.

• Try air-popped popcorn (3 cups is only 90 calories) or flaky or puffed cereals.

• Start lunch or dinner with a bowl of broth-based vegetable soup or a big vegetable salad with low-calorie dressing.

• Turn main courses into soups or salads by adding water or vegetables.

— Katherine Tallmadge

*Adapted from “Eating Awareness Training” by Molly Groger (Summit Books, 1983)

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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In the Night Kitchen

Original Content: Washington Post

Does this sound familiar? You get home from work, stressed and ravenous. You head straight for the kitchen, grab a bowl of nuts or a plate of cheese and crackers. You nibble as you’re preparing dinner.

After dinner, you settle on the couch, most likely in front of the television, and zone out with some favorite snacks, such as popcorn, chips, nuts, ice cream, peanut butter or sweets — whatever that’s tasty and easy to grab.

Welcome to the typical American evening! For many people, it’s an endless graze that doesn’t stop until they go to bed.

Evening overeating is an issue that contributes to many peoples’ weight problems. I’ve been surprised at just how many people struggle with this. I used to myself. Even disciplined people who carefully watch their intake during the day break down at night. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard these refrains: “I’m fine during the day, my problem’s at night,” or “If I could control my eating at night, my weight problem would probably disappear. . . . ” It’s become clear to me that evening overeating is not just an isolated problem but the convergence of a host of lifestyle issues — stress, exhaustion, loneliness, disorganized eating and hunger.

In today’s fast-paced world, many people are constantly hopping from meeting to meeting or from chore to chore during the day and don’t have time to sit down and eat a decent meal. So we become ravenous.

In the evening, there’s more time for eating, so we eat not only larger meals, but continuous ones. Those who are tired or stressed find that food is an easy way to reward themselves at the end of the day. Food can provide a little companionship for the lonely or depressed. Researchers who have identified “night eating syndrome,” the most severe form of evening overeating that affects about 5 percent of people who seek obesity treatment, say it is stress-related.

“We believe the night eating syndrome is a stress disorder. One of the characteristics of the syndrome is that sufferers eat at least one-third of their calories after the evening meal,” says obesity researcher Albert J. Stunkard, who has studied nighttime overeaters since the 1950s. He recently co-authored “Overcoming Night Eating Syndrome: A Step-by-Step Guide to Breaking the Cycle” (New Harbinger Publications, 2004).

Evening overeating is an important problem to solve because Americans who eat most of their daily intake of food at night eat more overall calories, according to a study reported in the Journal of Nutrition in June. And that makes them more susceptible to weight problems.

“The late-night period was when the highest-density foods were eaten. Eating a high proportion of daily intake in the late evening, compared to earlier in the day, was associated with higher overall intake,” researcher John M. de Castro concluded in the study, which analyzed food diaries of about 900 men and women.

De Castro, professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso, also found that evening eating was less satisfying for people, which may help explain why they eat more.

In the evening, you get lower satiety. People tend to eat very large meals but then eat again shortly afterward, de Castro said.

For those who succumb to nighttime overeating, I recommend you attack this problem by assessing why this may be happening to you, and then devise personalized strategies for eating lighter at night. Some points to consider:

Breakfast: De Castro’s study found that a “high proportional intake in the morning is associated with low overall daily intake.” This finding confirms my experience of 20 years: Eating a bigger breakfast is the single most effective way of curbing evening overeating. Other studies have confirmed the importance of breakfast for maintaining weight loss.

I advise my clients to eat one-third of their daily calories in the morning. For most people, that’s at least 600 calories, much more than they’re used to consuming.

While solving other issues such as end-of-day stress and exhaustion is important, too, I’ve found that nothing works unless morning eating is beefed up first. Eating more in the morning is a scary proposition for many people who fear that they’ll continue their evening overeating on top of the bigger breakfast. But my clients who bite the bullet and give it a try are amazed to find that it reduces cravings and gives them a sense of control, so that it is easier to eat more moderately later in the day.

Interestingly, de Castro found that people are more sated with the food they eat in the morning. “If they eat a large breakfast, they’ll wait a long time before eating again. They get a lot of bang for the buck,” says de Castro.

Organized eating: Researchers have found that most people with the more severe “night-eating syndrome” don’t have regular meal and snack times. I have also found this is true for evening overeaters. Most overeating is due simply to undereating throughout the day and poor planning. I hear so many people say “I have no will power,” or “I hate myself because I have no discipline.” But they somehow regain their discipline and will power by simply planning and eating regular daytime meals and snacks.

That’s why I advocate cooking in large batches and regular grocery shopping so that you have healthy and delicious foods at your fingertips when you get home from work in the evenings.

Trigger foods: Many people who overeat in the evenings have “trigger” foods, specific foods they crave and are more likely to overeat, such as chips, chocolate or peanut butter. The experts find the avoidance of trigger foods can reduce evening overeating.

Assessing hunger: Your body lets you know what it needs. One key to lasting weight management is being in touch with your body and its signals. In the evening, before you eat, get rid of distractions. Take a few deep breaths and stop to think if you’re physically hungry. If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re not, or if you’re not sure, you shouldn’t eat.

Stress management: Many people overeat in the evenings as a way to cope with the stress and exhaustion they may feel or to reward themselves at the end of a hard day. But this is a self-defeating response either way. When you come home, never head straight for the kitchen. Instead, hop in the shower or tub to decompress, take a walk or stretch. Once relaxed, then decide what you’d like for dinner.

Of course, these actions are only possible if you’ve fed yourself properly during the day and you’re not ravenous.

Reducing behavioral associations: Like Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov’s famous dogs, we can train ourselves to salivate and crave food in connection with just about any activity. Playing cards, eat. Watching a movie, eat. Going to the mall, eat. Talking on the phone, eat. Reading in bed, eat. Watching TV, eat.

The experts recommend that you eat only when you are seated at the dining or kitchen table, without distractions, so that you don’t develop an association between eating and any activity, place or person. The only stimulus for eating should be hunger. Distractions tend to reduce inhibitions to overeating.

When to eat: There is no hard-and-fast rule governing the timing of your last meal in the evening. I recommend that evening calories don’t exceed lunch or breakfast calories and that you eat at least two-thirds of your day’s calories before dinner. It’s important to go to bed feeling light, not full. This way, you awake hungry for a big breakfast.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Coping With Food Pushers

Original Content: Washington Post

One of my clients, who came to me to lose about 30 pounds, has a real problem. He loves to eat, and he loves to please people. In fact, he said pleasing people is the main reason he overeats. This tendency becomes especially troublesome during the holidays when friends, family and colleagues invite him for meals. My kind-hearted client literally cannot say no.

As a result, he says holidays are a time of joy but also frustration, because his need to be polite is in stark conflict with his goal of trimming down.

Many of us can appreciate his dilemma. Holiday delicacies can be difficult to navigate, especially if you’re trying to avoid gaining weight from Thanksgiving to the New Year. And that can bring out the best and the worst in people.

We all know hosts who aren’t satisfied until they convince us, beg us, to eat more, more, more. Their entreaties are hard to resist, if only because we want to be polite.

To be fair, “food pushers,” as I call them, aren’t necessarily bad people. Your mom, your spouse, your friends — they just want to please you. They are people who think they have your best interests at heart and know more than you do about what and how much food (and drink) you should be consuming.

My clients and I have tried various tactics through the years, most of them utter failures. I’ve tried explaining that I wasn’t hungry. I even went through a phase of telling people I was allergic to this or that. That didn’t work, either. And I learned that the worst thing you can say to a food pusher is, “No thanks, I’m on a diet” or “Thanks, I’m watching it.”

You might as well say, “Talk me into it!” Your excuse is giving the food pusher a double signal — that you really want it but have to refuse. It might also sound insulting, implying that the food isn’t good enough for your refined tastes. And finally your response might make the pusher feel guilty, as if he or she should be “watching it,” too. All of these things challenge the food pusher to seduce you.

But I finally began to make headway when I learned the most basic rule of all: Never give excuses. I’m delighted to say that one of the foremost authorities on etiquette told me that this approach is both appropriate and wise.

“The best answer is a simple but firm ‘No thank you,’” declared Judith Martin, the syndicated columnist who writes as Miss Manners. “Once you give an excuse, you open yourself to argument.”

Martin also offered clear advice in her column to food pushers, and their “endless patter of coercion — ‘Oh, come on, one won’t hurt you . . . I made this especially for you . . . it doesn’t have any calories . . . you’re too thin anyway . . . it’s good for you . . . you’re not going to make me eat leftovers tomorrow.’ Miss Manners asks them to cut it out.”

“To offer and provide food is lovely, but to badger people into eating it isn’t pleasant,” Martin told me. “Politeness consists of offering food and drink without cajoling or embarrassing people into taking it.”

While “no thank you” is fine for hosts, I learned I had to use a different tactic with my family.

During visits to my grandparents in Sweden, for instance, every day I felt overstuffed from too many fattening (and, yes, delicious) Swedish meatballs, cheeses and cakes. Inevitably with each visit I came home several pounds heavier.

I decided I’d drop subtle hints and compliments to guide them into serving me food that wasn’t going to make me look and feel like a Swedish meatball.

This technique of continued positive reinforcement took several years (in psychology, it’s called “shaping”), but it eventually worked. When they served seafood, salads, fruits — food I wanted more of — I complimented lavishly. “Sweden has the best fish in the world!” or “I just love your salads!” (which was all true, by the way). Over time, whenever I’d visit, they’d feed me what they learned I loved: seafood, salads and fruits. (Yes, I also loved the fattening stuff, but that was easily obtained, and I wanted to limit my indulgences without announcing it.)

The same technique can work with your colleagues, friends and family, and it doesn’t have to take years. At Thanksgiving or during the holidays, instead of focusing on what you don’t want or can’t have, and using turn-off words such as “healthy” or “diet,” simply compliment your hosts and stay positive. Instead of saying “I can’t have dessert, I’m watching it,” say “The meal was so satisfying, I can’t have another bite!”

When given a choice at, say, the Thanksgiving meal, a work party, a potluck, or in restaurants, instead of, “I don’t eat mashed potatoes and gravy,” say: “The green beans look fabulous!”

My client tried these tactics with his family and friends and has been losing weight ever since. He was surprised at how a simple compliment could stop food pushers in their tracks.

Even Miss Manners agrees that this approach is okay as long as you don’t go into too much detail. In the end, no food pusher can resist a happy guest.

Of course, as a guest, you have obligations, too, which I’ll discuss in my next column.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and the author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Just Say No

Original Content: Washington Post

My client Julie used to fight every holiday with her family. She would unwittingly start the argument at the dinner table by mentioning that she was on some sort of diet and couldn’t eat this or that. Then other guests would chime in with their own dietary viewpoints. This would cause the host to worry whether her guests were really complaining about the lavish spread she had slaved over. And the negativity didn’t help Julie; she would feel so frustrated that she would just give up on her dieting goals.

I’m afraid this is a familiar scene. As the party season begins, many of us are fearful of the delicious yet fattening holiday foods offered at countless gatherings. Although we want to enjoy ourselves and be appreciative guests, there’s the little (or not so little) issue of the weight we don’t want to gain.

Our fears are well founded. Studies show we are susceptible to weight gain at this time of year. Just about every party revolves around food. And when there is a variety of tasty foods in the vicinity, many of us simply can’t resist them. In fact, the more food that is available, the more we tend to eat. You could say the holidays, with all these temptations — plus the pressure of wanting to please our friends and family — provide the perfect environment for overeating and weight gain.

So, the challenge is how to be a gracious guest yet navigate the minefield of delicacies.

Our first obligation as guests is visiting friends and loved ones with a generous spirit. If offered food that we don’t want or can’t have, a simple “no thank you” is perfectly acceptable. Forcing your likes, dislikes and preferences for certain foods on the host or other guests can be downright unappetizing.

“It’s important not to treat private hospitality as a restaurant and announce what you want or don’t want,” said Judith Martin, the syndicated columnist who writes as Miss Manners, via telephone.

Today it seems almost impossible to escape people on this diet or that, freely espousing their views and theories. Worse, some guests expect their hosts to cater to their particular dietary requirements: no carbohydrates, no fat, no white flour, no sugar, no dairy, ad nauseam. Although it is fine to be following a diet, and may even be essential for your health, expecting the host to be a short-order cook is unfair. And discussing dietary views at the table is a no-no.

“This attitude that other people haven’t seen the light and you have to make them see the light makes the experience of eating unpleasant,” Martin told me. “Cooking has improved enormously over the decades, but the experience of eating has gone downhill because people are so self-righteous and willing to boss other people around.”

Martin also warned against bringing your own food or drink to a party, even if you have a serious dietary need or allergy, unless that is requested by the host. It is commonly mistaken as a lack of confidence in your hosts’ culinary tastes.

“Your family and intimate friends should know your condition, but if you are eating with hosts who do not, fortify yourself with food before going so that you are not starving, and then simply avoid dangerous foods,” said Martin. “This does not require an explanation.”

With family or close friends on extended visits, though, it’s perfectly acceptable to offer to contribute by going grocery shopping or providing food for everyone (not just yourself), while at the same time fulfilling your dietary needs. When I stay the night at friends’ or families’ homes, I’ll often bring a large basket of fruit, for instance, for everyone to enjoy. On an extended visit, I might offer to go grocery shopping or to make dinner for everyone.

This is a way to be generous but also to help myself have foods I feel comfortable with. However, it is important that this be done graciously, in the spirit of thanks and not as an obvious rejection of your hosts’ food or hospitality.

How did Julie solve her holiday eating problem? She and I decided she would drop the drama of the dieting daughter and assume the role of the gracious guest instead. She would not initiate or participate in any conversations about dieting or food during her visits.

Her strategy worked, and there were no more arguments during the holidays about her weight, dieting or food. Everyone, including Julie, enjoyed the holidays so much more. She has since lost 40 pounds.

TIPS (original content: Wednesday, December 1, 2004; Page F04)

To enjoy the holidays without tipping the scales, and to maintain the role of a gracious guest:

• Give away fattening leftovers. One splurge won’t interfere with your goals, but multiple indulgences will.

• If you’re afraid there won’t be foods you would like, or you would like to control your intake at a party, eat a snack or a meal before going.

• Don’t starve yourself the day of the party, or you may overeat once you get there.

• After you’ve arrived at the party, sip some sparkling water and wait at least 15 to 30 minutes before making a food choice. This gives you time to relax and to scope out the offerings.

• Prioritize your favorite holiday foods. Splurge on two or three special delicacies you can get only once a year.

• Wear close-fitting clothes to help remind you when you’ve had enough.

— Katherine Tallmadge

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Rough It

Original Content: Washington Post:, 15 December 2004

Our grandmothers have been extolling the virtues of “roughage” for generations. Turns out, they were right. But the benefits of roughage, aka fiber, are far more vast than grandmother ever realized.

High fiber diets have been shown to reduce the occurrence of several chronic diseases. Because of this, in 2002 the expert scientists on the National Academy of Sciences’ Food and Nutrition Board, the group which issues periodic dietary recommendations for Americans, for the first time recommended Americans double their daily fiber intake to 38 grams for men and 25 grams for women. That’s the level they found is protective against heart disease.

Fiber is mainly carbohydrate, the undigestible part of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts)– it travels unchanged through the intestines. Fiber comes in many different forms in food. It is concentrated, for instance, in the skin of fruits and vegetables, such as apples, corn, and legumes, the seeds of vegetables and fruits such as berries and cucumbers, and the germ and bran or coating which surrounds wheat kernels and other grains. These essential parts of the grain are removed to create white flour and other refined grains.

Americans eat very little fiber – half of what is recommended, eating a highly refined diet, instead. And if you’re on a low carb diet, you’re lucky to be eating any. There are plenty of great reasons to increase your intake of fiber. My clients who do discover multiple benefits.

Easier Weight Loss

Not eating enough fiber may be one reason why people are getting fatter.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last year found that women with the highest fiber intake had a 49 percent lower risk of major weight gain compared with women eating less fiber.

High fiber diets are usually lower in calories. Though fiber is mainly carbohydrate, very little of it, if any, is actually digested. So, with foods high in fiber, you’re actually eating food which only partially counts as calories (and you thought that was only in your dreams!).

High fiber foods are also bulky, and often watery foods, which means they fill you up for fewer calories. Studies have shown adding high fiber foods, such as vegetables, before or during a meal decreases the overall calorie content of the meal by about 100. While saving 100 calories a day may not sound like much, it translates into losing ten pounds in one year.

Another factor which helps you feel satisfied with fewer calories is the “chew” factor, High fiber foods require more chewing and take longer to eat, which leads to more physical and psychological satisfaction with your meals.

Improve Intestinal Function

Digestive disorders are on the rise and a main reason may be the dearth of fiber in our diets. For most digestive disorders such as reflux disease, constipation, diarrhea, hemmorhoids, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome, a higher fiber diet relieves symptoms and can even prevent the disorder in the first place.

Many people with these disorders, particularly Crohn’s disease or diarrhea, think they should avoid fiber, but that’s a mistake for most. Fiber increases bulk and motility and this relieves pressure, keeps everything regular and more comfortable for the whole gammit of intestinal disorders.

Imagine fiber as a dry sponge in your intestinal tract. Fiber pulls water into the system, keeping everything larger, softer and moving more quickly and easily.

Lower Diabetes Risk

Numerous studies have shown that high fiber diets improve diabetes control and may even prevent diabetes. In fact, it’s been estimated that fiber, especially cereal fiber from whole grains, reduces diabetes risk by about 35 percent.

There are several theories explaining why this may be true. First, high fiber foods tend to have a lower glycemic index. This means that after eating, blood sugar levels rise less (diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar). And studies confirm that people eating high fiber diets usually have lower fasting insulin levels, an indicator of overall lower blood sugar levels.

Also, high fiber foods contain many nutrients which may improve diabetes. For one, magnesium, a nutrient found in whole grains, legumes, tofu and some vegetables, improves insulin resistance, a cause of Diabetes Type II, the most prevalent type of diabetes. Vitamin E, found in whole grains and nuts, may also improve insulin resistance.

Prevent Heart Disease

Fiber helps prevent heart disease in a variety of ways. Lower circulating insulin caused by a high fiber diet reduces heart disease risk and heart attacks. Also, research shows viscous fiber found in legumes, oats, rye, barley and some fruits and vegetables, reduces LDL cholesterol (the bad kind which correlates with heart attack). In fact, it has been estimated by the NAS expert panel that for every gram of soluble fiber you eat, you’ll reduce heart disease risk by 2.4 percent.

High fiber diets reduce triglycerides, or blood fat, another heart disease risk factor. New evidence shows fiber intake is linked to lower C-reactive protein, an indicator of inflammation, which is an emerging heart disease risk factor.

Whole grains and some legumes contain many beneficial healthful substances, including phytoestrogens, which affect circulating hormone levels and may impact heart disease positively. Diets high in fruits and vegetables, containing high levels of the nutrient potassium, also significantly lower blood pressure and stroke.

High fiber foods such as dark green vegetables, legumes and fortified cereals contain the nutrient, Folate (or folic acid). Researchers have found that low blood levels of folate are linked to heart disease.

Reduce Cancer Risk

In populations eating low dietary fiber, doubling fiber intake from foods could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by forty percent, according to recent findings in the EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), an on-going study of 500,000 people in 10 European countries.

In fact, the majority of studies suggest that dietary fiber is protective against colon cancer, according to the NAS expert panel’s report on fiber. But, a few important studies have not found a link so the issue remains to be resolved, concluded the report.

Several mechanisms have been proposed for this beneficial effect. First, because it pulls water into the intestinal tract, fiber dilutes carcinogens and other tumor-promoters, and causes a more rapid transit, thus causing less exposure of your body to potentially damaging substances. Fiber also causes other beneficial chemical reactions, such as lowering the ph. And lower insulin levels caused by high fiber diets are correlated with lower colon cancer risk. The EPIC researchers stressed that foods supplying fiber also contribute many other nutrients and phytochemcials (beneficial plant chemicals) that have been linked to cancer protection, according to the study reported in The Lancet last year.

Reasons given for some disappointing results connecting fiber to cancer prevention are that the benefits of dietary fiber may not occur until fiber intake is sufficiently high, and Americans eat very low levels, compared with Europeans, so it’s hard for scientists to measure an effect in American diets. Also, some studies tested fiber supplements, as opposed to fiber in food, and researchers say that’s a completely different animal.

Human studies specifically looking at fiber supplements haven’t shown good results and did not find a lower incidence of colon polyps, a precursor to colon cancer. In fact animal studies suggest fiber supplements might increase cell proliferation, which suggests a negative effect, increasing one’s risk of developing cancer rather than reducing the risk.

Scientists believe that fiber supplements will probably not produce most of the health benefits found with high fiber foods (regardless of what the commercials on TV say), except for improved gastrointestinal function and slightly lower LDL, if the supplement is made from viscous fibers such as guar gum or psyllium. But fiber supplements’ role in chronic disease prevention remains unproven. It’s best to get fiber from whole foods in your diet.

Supplemental Evidence

Adding Fiber To Your Diet

The key to adding fiber while preventing gas or cramps sometimes associated with increased fiber intake, is eating fiber consistently, adding it slowly, and drinking plenty of fluids. If you eat a low fiber diet and suddenly at a party scarf down a large bowl of baked beans, you may suffer negative side effects. To prevent this, Leslie Bonci, author of “The American Dietetic Association Guide to Better Digestion,” recommends adding fiber by just five gram increments each week until you get to the recommended daily intake of 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. Then, it’s important that you consistently eat regular amounts of fiber throughout each day.

Fiber content of selected foods:

Grains

Whole grains and are the largest source of fiber in your diet.

Grains              Grams fiber

whole wheat bread, 1 slice (1 oz) 1.4

whole wheat spaghetti, 1/2 cup cooked 2

Bulghur, ½ cup cooked  4

Brown Rice, ½ cup cooked 2

Wasa Sourdough Rye Crispbread, 2 slices 4

air popped popcorn, 1 cup  1.0

Oats, ½ cup dry 4

Swiss Muesli, ½ cup 4

Post Great Grains Cereral, ½ cup 4

Kashi Good Friends Cereal, ½ cup 6

Fruits

Fruits contain about 2 grams per 4 ounce serving, but they vary.

Fruits     Grams fiber

apple  3.5

apricot  1.8

banana  2.4

blueberries, 1/2cup 2.05

cantaloupe, 1/4 melon 1.0

cherries, 10 1.2

grapefruit, 1/2 1.6

grapes, 10 0.3

grapes, 1 lb. 2.7

mango  3.7

orange  2.6

peach  1.9

pineapple, 1/2 cup 1.1

strawberries, 1 cup 3.0

kiwifruit  2.6

Vegetables

Vegetables contain 1 – 2 grams per serving, or 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw.

Vegetables, 1/2 cup cooked      Grams fiber

asparagus  1.0

beans, green  1.6

beets  2.0

broccoli  2.2

Brussels sprouts  2.3

Cabbage  1.4

carrots  2.3

cauliflower  1.13

cucumbers, sliced 1 cup 0.8

eggplant  1.2

greens  2.0

mushrooms  2

onions  1.5

zucchini squash  1.3

pepper  1.0

tomato  1.0

Starchy Vegetables, 1/2 cup cooked Grams fiber

corn   2.9

green peas  3.6

parsnip   2.7

potato, with skin  2.5

Legumes

Legumes are a great protein source and can substitute for meat. They average 6 grams of fiber per 1/2 cup cooked serving.

Legumes, 1/2 cup cooked  Grams fiber

kidney beans  7.3

lima beans  4.5

navy beans  6.0

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Those Liquid Calories

Original Content: Washington Post

My client Caroline, who had been losing weight successfully for a month, was disappointed one recent week when she failed to do so. It didn’t make sense. Her food intake was stellar, and she had been even a little more physically active than usual. It wasn’t until we reviewed her food diary thoroughly that we discovered the culprit: liquid calories. They added up in a way that surprised her.

As for many of us over the holidays, that extra glass of wine or mixer here and there adds up in ways that you might not expect. Though liquid calories in alcohol, juices or sodas are stealthy, their impact can be enormous.

When food is consumed before or during a meal, the volume and caloric content of that food will limit what else you eat fairly proportionately. Most caloric drinks consumed before or during a meal are not satiating and have little or no effect on how much you eat in one sitting or over the course of several meals.

Scientific evidence is confirming that our bodies don’t detect the calories in these liquids the same way as when we eat solid foods.

“Fluid calories do not hold strong satiety properties, don’t suppress hunger and don’t elicit compensatory dietary responses,” says Richard D. Mattes, professor of food and nutrition at Purdue University. In fact, “when drinking fluid calories, people often end up eating more calories overall.”

It’s fairly well established that alcoholic beverages and sugary liquids, especially sodas and fruit drinks, simply add more calories.

This may help explain the results of the recent Harvard Nurses’ Health Study of more than 50,000 women over eight years. Researchers found that those who increased their intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas or fruit punch, from one per week to one or more per day consumed an average of 358 extra calories per day and gained a significant amount of weight. The women who reduced their intake cut their calories by an average of 319 and gained less weight.

Studies in previous years demonstrated that consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks increased the likelihood of obesity in children, but this is the first finding from a long-term observational study in adults.

The mechanisms controlling hunger and thirst are completely different: Although liquids may contain calories, they don’t seem to satisfy hunger even if they quench your thirst. Physiologically, your thirst is quenched once your blood and cell volume are increased by water. This sends signals to your brain that you are no longer thirsty.

In contrast, hunger is regulated in your stomach and intestines. While you’re eating, nerves in the stomach wall detect that the stomach is stretching and send satiety signals to the brain. The intestines also release nerve regulators and hormones. At the same time, the level of the hunger hormone (called ghrelin), which is released by the stomach when it’s empty, is suppressed. All this helps you feel full.

Because liquids travel more quickly than food through the intestinal tract, they alter the rate of nutrient absorption, which can affect satiety hormones and signals.

Several theories may help explain why liquid calories cause lower satiety, increasing overall calorie intake, but the process is still not fully understood. The mouth feel of a liquid versus solid food may generate different signals; it takes less time and involvement to gulp down a drink, and that might reduce the psychological satisfaction of eating.

New research has found that ghrelin doesn’t work as well with liquids: “When the number and type of calories are the same, the calories in liquid form won’t suppress ghrelin as effectively as if the same calories were in solid form,” says David E. Cummings, associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

A study that will be published soon in the journal Appetite tested the effect of drinking water, diet cola, regular cola, 1 percent milk and pulpy orange juice during meals. It found that drinking water or diet cola had no effect on the total caloric intake of the meal. But with the caloric beverages, each of which contained 150 calories, the subjects consumed 105 more calories overall at each meal.

“People need to be mindful of the calories in beverages,” says Barbara J. Rolls, who conducted the study and is co-author of “The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan” (HarperTorch, 2003). “Most people think calories in beverages don’t count and that’s how they get into trouble.”

When you consider that an appropriately sized meal is anywhere from 400 to 700 calories, and one 44-ounce Super Big Gulp is 800 calories, you understand the scope of the problem. A 16-ounce Starbucks blended coffee Frappuccino is 470 calories. A single mixed drink can set you back 300 calories or more. One glass of wine contains at least 100 calories. Double or triple these numbers at any given party, tack on the calories in your meals, and you can understand how weight gain is the inevitable.

My clients who have become aware of liquid calories have achieved impressive results. Take Bob Levey, former Washington Post columnist, who wrote about the importance of cutting out his daily lemonade in his successful weight loss effort. Another client, Julie, easily switched from her daily Frappuccino to a cafe skim latte (coffee with steamed nonfat milk) and saved 250 calories. My friend Linda slowly phased out her daily soda ounces by filling her glass with increasing amounts of ice each week. She lost 30 pounds over a year.

Since liquid calories don’t contribute to feelings of satiety, cutting back on them doesn’t make people feel deprived; most find the change is an easy one to make. There are so many great substitutes. The one liquid that’s important to keep drinking is water. In the wintertime, I love sipping (mostly water) herbal teas through the day. In the summer, it’s seltzer with a twist of lemon or lime, and the occasional diet soda.

Of course, if we are mindful of our calorie intake, a moderate daily dose of wine or other caloric beverage can easily be integrated into our routines. Moderation is the key.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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Supermarket Dining: 10 Smart Ways to Eat In

Original Content: Washington Post

The first time I walked into Wegmans, I felt overwhelmed by the choices. I wanted to sample everything. So brace yourself whenever you go into any store with such a dazzling array of options. With good decisions and a clear plan, you can have an enjoyable — yet not-too-filling- — lunch in a supermarket. Here is my guide:

1. Walk a lap around the store and survey all the options. If you are famished, grab a low-calorie food such as a fruit or salad to take the edge off your hunger before you decide what to buy. Choice is great, but it can get you into trouble. “Variety has an enormous passive effect on calorie intake,” says Susan B. Roberts, professor of nutrition at Tufts University School of Medicine. “The higher the variety of items you are confronted with, the more most people consume without even realizing it.”

2. Plan your meal. Your goal is to find a satisfying, balanced meal containing about 500 to 600 calories for women or 700 calories for men. Half of the meal should be fruits or vegetables for your nutritional needs, but also because studies show they help you feel full without too many calories. One- quarter of your meal should be a grain — whole grain, if possible, for instance, from whole-wheat bread (two one-ounce slices) or brown rice (about one cup). The other quarter should be a protein, which might be three to six ounces of chicken, seafood, lean beef, lean pork or vegetarian protein sources such as tofu or legumes.

3. Stick with items for which you have nutritional information. “Calories at a glance” are posted at each prepared food station, but more complete nutrition information is posted on the Web site (www.wegmans.com)where you can find the carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber, sodium, vitamin and mineral content of the foods.

4. Start with vegetables and fruit. The Wegmans black takeout plate, found at the Wokery, is divided into four sections, each of which holds one cup. Fill one-quarter with vegetables such as sauteed green beans (110 calories per cup) and the second quarter with cut fruit, such as strawberries, watermelon and pineapple (100 calories per cup). Try to choose as many colors, shapes and textures of fruits and vegetables as you can find to take advantage of our natural desire for variety. Each color represents a unique class of nutrients. Studies show that people who eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables eat more of them and are leaner and healthier.

5. Select a grain, preferably whole. If you would like rice, fill the third quarter of your plate with steamed rice (160 calories per cup). Make the portions level, not heaping, so they don’t contain more than one cup. You could also choose a whole-grain roll (170 calories), a slice of whole-wheat pizza or the brown-rice sushi (140 calories). Avoid the larger or fattier breads such as bagels (240 to 420 calories each), muffins (420 to 510 calories each), scones (at 4.2 ounces, 420 calories each) or croissants (at 2.5 ounces, 250 calories each).

6. Steer clear of the Sub Shop, where the 14-inch sub uses a 12-ounce slab of bread. Bread is about 80 calories per ounce, so the bread alone contains about 960 calories, more calories than you want your whole lunch to be.

7. Choose a lean protein. Go to the Wokery and select the pepper steak (80 calories per cup), pork with scallions (120 calories per cup) or chicken with vegetables (160 calories per cup). If you’ve chosen a whole-wheat roll to make your own sandwich, go to the deli counter and choose four to six ounces of the Wegmans seasoned roast beef (30 calories per ounce), Columbus fire roast pork (35 calories per ounce)or the Healthy Choice mesquite chicken breast (30 calories per ounce). Vegetarians might try the vegetarian chili (180 calories per cup). To hold down the calories try to take as little of the Wokery sauce as possible. Ask for a slotted spoon if necessary.

8. Fulfill your calcium requirement. Go to the dairy case for skim milk, calcium-fortified soy milk, yogurt or soy yogurt (90 to 150 calories).

9. Avoid the obvious pitfalls, such as anything deep-fried, crispy or creamy. Such items are loaded with calories. Also, be careful about the liquid calories. Stick with items for which you have nutritional information.

10. Want a menu, ready to go? Jane Andrews, Wegmans corporate nutritionist, suggests the following healthy meals without excessive calories:

• Spicy red lentil soup, (Prepared Foods section, 12 ounces, 255 calories) with cheddar cheese (Cheese Shop, 1 ounce, 110 calories) and 1 large apple (Produce, 100 calories), ice water. Total: 465 calories.

• Just roast beef (Deli, 4 ounces, 120 calories) on whole-wheat or multigrain roll (Bakery, 2 ounces, 170 or 230 calories) with mustard (10 calories) and fresh cut fruit (Prepared Foods, 1 cup, 100 calories), ice water. Total: 400 or 460 calories.

• Beef, chicken or seafood and vegetable stir-fry (Wokery, 1 cup, 120 calories) with sauteed green beans or mushrooms (Wokery, 1 cup, 110 calories), fried rice (Wokery, 1 cup, 220 calories), shrimp spring roll (80 calories), ice water. Total: 530 calories.

• Roasted vegetable and provolone wheat wrap (Prepared Foods, 6 rolls 405 calories), clementines (Produce, 2 small; 80 calories). Total 485 calories.

• Vanilla yogurt (Dairy, 6 ounces, 150 calories), fresh cut fruit (Prepared Foods, 1 cup, 100 calories), roasted almonds (Bulk Foods, 22 almonds, 170 calories.) Total: 420 calories.

Katherine Tallmadge is a Washington nutritionist and the author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2004). Send e-mails to her at food@washpost.com.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

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Fit and Frugal

Original Content: The Washington Post

There is, I believe, one widespread myth in the world of food and nutrition that urgently needs to be debunked. That myth is that it is too expensive to eat a nutritious diet.

Lately, I’ve seen reports in the media that say eating healthy is very costly, but that doesn’t jive with my professional or personal experience. When my clients switch to healthier diets, they tell me their food costs plummet. When I was a poor college student and 20-something professional starting out, having little money to spend on food kept me healthier than ever! In today’s economic crisis, I and my clients are experiencing the same thing, cutting back on food expenses forces a person to eat healthier.

Am I just being naïve? Could my experiences be so off-base?

Some argue that eating healthy is expensive in several respects.

First, they say that 1,500 calories of McDonald’s burgers and fries is cheaper than 1,500 calories of healthy food. While this may be true, this argument rests exclusively on considerations of calories and neglects to take into account the quality and the health benefits of the calories consumed. It also fails to recognize the astronomical health costs of being overweight or unhealthy as a result of regular (though cheap) fast food dining.

Second, they contend that eating frugally, which requires shopping and cooking, is time-consuming and has significant opportunity costs; that is, you could be doing more valuable things with your time. I find this argument unpersuasive because I believe it both overemphasizes the time required to prepare a good meal and fails to account for the positive benefits of food preparation. Anyone who has strolled through the Farmer’s Market with a friend, cooked a healthy meal with family members and children chipping in, or felt the warmth and nurturing of sharing a home-made meal would dispute that these activities are wastes of time and have no value.

Third, some argue that inexpensive food doesn’t taste good. My personal experiences and those of my clients’ suggest that the exact opposite is true. Is there anything tastier than a summer watermelon? A crisp, Fall apple? Or a piping hot bowl of home-made chicken soup? These are some of the simplest, most healthy and inexpensive items you can eat, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS).

I’ve been heartened by a number of studies which confirm my own experience and demonstrate it is possible to eat delicious, healthy food at reasonable prices.

Let’s take a look at fresh fruits and vegetables. I think we can all agree – and scientific evidence confirms – that a healthy diet can be largely defined as one which contains at least five cups of fruits and vegetables. But the price of fresh produce is often cited as too exorbitant for the average consumer and is one reason why Americans fall alarmingly short of the recommendation.

But the reality is fresh produce gives you some of the best bang for your buck. In fact, in June 2008, the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service studied the prices of produce throughout the country. They concluded “A person needing 2,000 calories per day could meet the dietary recommendations for fruit and vegetables for under $2.50 per day.”

Why the disconnect between perception and reality?

“Our advice to consumers is they need to be savvy. Don’t just consider the cost per pound, but think about the number of servings you’re getting,” says Jane Reed, Agricultural Economist with USDA’s ERS and co-author of the study.

The researchers said people may balk at paying $1.36 cents for a pound of peaches because they don’t realize they’re getting four fruit servings at just 37 cents per 1 cup serving. Some don’t mind paying 75 cents for a soft drink but would object to paying 75 cents for an apple. There’s a perception that these aren’t important foods, that they’re side dishes. But plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, are the foundation of a healthy diet, a Mediterranean diet, too, and should make up the majority of what you’re eating if you want to stay healthy.

Things to consider when you’re buying fruits and vegetables are seasonality, comparing the number of servings in the can or frozen container to the price. Canned vegetables, for instance, contain liquid which is included in the total weight, but the liquid is thrown out and not eaten. Many people find the convenience and shelf-life of frozen produce outweighs the small price difference. Throwing out rotted fresh produce, of course, is no savings, which is why planning your weekly meals and shopping with a list is always an important money saver.

Planning and organization is emphasized by all the experts as important for saving money. Take an inventory of what you have on hand and shop from a list based on your needs and weekly menu plan. And make good use of leftovers.

My clients call me the leftover queen. When I was in college, I first mastered batch cooking. I found that I could save money and time by making big batches which I could eat – and share with friends – through the week. I built my meals around beans, a very inexpensive, but excellent protein source. I ate plenty of vegetables, fruits and skim milk (it’s all I could afford!). Some of my favorites were a very tasty veggie chili, split pea soup with ham, chicken corn soup, carrot yogurt soup, lasagna, Asian chicken or tofu stir fries, and spicy bean- and grain-based salads. I made them in huge pots on my boyfriend’s two electric burners or my tiny group house kitchen– later my efficiency apartment. I had wonderful impromptu dinner parties and delicious leftovers for days! I couldn’t afford to eat out so there were no temptations there. Funny, I still batch cook and usually build meals around beans and other plant foods. It’s not only inexpensive, it’s healthy, delicious, and it saves time (my clients agree).

Shopping and preparing food at home is not only cheaper, but studies show people who lose weight and keep it off prepare most of their meals at home, so you’re killing two birds with one stone.

A study confirmed that when families switched to healthier diets and lost weight, their food budget decreased while protein and nutrient density of their meals increased.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2002, gave 24 families, each with an obese 8 – to 12-year-old child, lower calorie diets with increased nutrient density. After 12 months, the children and parents lost a significant amount of weight and the total cost of the diet significantly decreased.

Among the families, servings of unhealthy, high calorie, nutrient-poor foods decreased (high fat/sugar foods), and servings of low calorie, nutrient-dense foods increased (lean protein sources, fruits/vegetables, etc.). The reduced intake of the unhealthy foods had the greatest impact on the cost of the diet, according to the authors.

High fat and sugar, calorie-laden convenience foods such as bakery goods, snack foods, fried foods and sodas can be very expensive. A 10 ounce bag of potato chips is $2.59 (ten servings of a high fat/calorie, nutrient-poor food), which may seem like a cheap source of calories. But you could buy four pounds (16 servings) of fiber and vitamin-C rich fresh red potatoes – or three pounds (12 servings) of vitamin, mineral and beta-carotene-rich carrots – for the same price! In the long run, the nutritious food wins hands down. The calorie density is lower but the nutrient density is higher.

Also, when switching to a healthier diet, many people cut down on the amount and portion size of expensive, fatty meat cuts. Switching to smaller portions of leaner meats, poultry and vegetarian protein sources is not only a healthy savings, but often a cost savings, too.

This is all great news, but none of this research explains why the majority of Americans still don’t eat a healthy diet. There may be barriers such as inability or lack of desire to cook or, for some with lower incomes, difficult access to grocery stores. But, in my opinion, the studies and my own experience rule out expense as a barrier!

“Within the limitations of your budget, you can set a table that has variety and distinction. You can serve gourmet food… It is not the basic cost of the food but the care with which it is selected and prepared that makes it gourmet rather than pedestrian,” James Beard in “How to Eat Better for Less Money” (Simon and Schuster, 1970)

Shopping List
Tips for Healthy Inexpensive Meals

Plan before you go shopping by taking an inventory of what you have on hand and what you’ll need,

* Make a shopping list to avoid impulse purchases or costly mistakes,
* If your storage space permits, buy in large quantities,
* Buy store brands, as they usually cost less,
* Compare prices based on how many servings you’ll get,
* Build your meals around legumes and whole grains, less expensive, but nutritious protein sources,
* Buy seasonally. Food will usually be cheaper when it is in season,
* Buy locally. The less a food has to travel, often the less expensive it is,
* Buy cheaper meat cuts such as the beef round,
* Buy whole chickens and cut them up yourself,
* Batch cook, divide into servings and save the leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer for future meals,
* Bring lunches to work. Simple sandwiches, salads, soups, wraps and leftovers make terrific meals at work,
* Make sure each meal is balanced with at least four food groups, and plenty of fruits or vegetables at each meal,
* Compare the cost of a home made version verses a store- or restaurant-made version of the same dish.
* Try canned salmon or frozen fish filets to save money on seafood
* Compare the fresh, canned and frozen version of your foods. Buy the one which gives you the best price for the serving size,
* USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion has many ideas for saving money while eating healthy meals at http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/foodplans.html. For a copy of CNPP’s “Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals,” call the government printing office at: 202-512-1800, $5.50 each (GPO Stock number: 001-000-04680-2).

Katherine’s Chile Non-Carne

excerpted from Diet Simple (LifeLine Press, 2004)

I love this simple, quick – ten minutes – chili recipe. Of course, there’s zillions of ways to make chili, most don’t need a recipe. But this one’s easy to follow and everyone loves it. It’s meatless but you don’t miss the meat because it’s so flavorful. You should use the amount of garlic or chili powder that appeals to you. I like it hot and spicy!

I double the recipe so I have plenty for the week. I use this dish as a lunch or dinner alongside a green salad. I also serve it at parties as a dip next to fresh tomato salsa, light sour cream and guacamole. It’s perfect rolled up in a tortilla or stuffed in a taco with some reduced fat cheese. Great for informal super bowl or Halloween parties.

Serves 4

1 Tbsp Olive or Canola Oil, or more
1 Large Onion, Chopped
3 Large Garlic Cloves, Minced
3 Tbsp Hot Chile Powder
1 Large Fresh Green Pepper, Chopped
1 28- oz. Can Italian Plum Tomatoes, Chopped, including the liquid
1 Pound Can Kidney or Black Beans, whichever is preferred
1/2 Cup Water or Bouillon (To Hydrate the Bulgur)
1/2 Cup Bulgur (Cracked Wheat).
2 Seeded Jalapeno Peppers, Chopped, if desired
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Saute the onions and garlic in the oil over low heat in a large pot until soft, 15 or more minutes. Add the chile powder and simmer for a few more minutes. Add the Fresh Green Pepper and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, soak the bulgur in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients including the bulgur and simmer slowly over low to medium heat until flavors are well blended and vegetables are cooked to the desired consistency … a few minutes or longer, if desired. Adjust seasonings to your preference. Since many canned items were used, additional salt will probably not be needed.

Calories 320
Total Fat 7g 10%
Saturated Fat 1g 6%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 730mg 31%
Total Carbohydrate 59g 20%
Dietary Fiber 13g 54%
Soluble Fiber 1.59 g
Omega 3 Fatty Acids 0.07 g
Sugars 17g
Protein 12g
Vitamin A 70%
Vitamin C 120
Calcium 15%
Iron 30%

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Deep Purple

Original Content, The Washington Post, Wednesday, October 6, 2004; Page F01

Reader Question:

Lately Larry King [a paid spokesman for Welch’s] has been touting Welch’s Concord grape juice on TV, implying it has the same antioxidant value as red wine. Is this true? Can you address the issue of the value of alcohol as a health food, especially wine and most particularly red wine?

This is a question which has intrigued me for years. I’m a huge fan of Concord grapes, the dark purple- almost black- intensely flavored grape in season now. I’ve always wondered, as I enjoy these delicate treats, if they, or juice made from them, would give me or my non-wine-drinking clients the same health benefits as red wine.

Recent research is bolstering Welch’s claims that Concord grape juice is similar to red wine in many respects, but the issue is very complex and the answer far from definitive.

To get the bottom of this mystery, let’s start at the beginning: with the grape. Concord grapes have one of the highest antioxidant scores among fruit, surpassed only by blueberries, blackberries and cranberries, according to Ronald Prior, research chemist and nutritionist at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center in Little Rock. “Concord grapes contain at least fifty to sixty compounds which may play a variety of roles in the body,” says Prior.

Concord grapes are high in a class of phytochemicals (beneficial plant chemicals) called polyphenols, antioxidants which are concentrated in many fruits, some vegetables and in wine, tea and cocoa. They protect against heart disease by reducing blood clot formation. They also prevent cellular and organ damage caused by oxygen radicals, molecules which are believed to be a primary cause of many diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Certain polyphenols, such as anthocyanins, which give grapes and blueberries their purple pigment, have been found to reverse both physical and mental deficits in aging rats. Preliminary studies in humans are showing similar promising results.

Other polyphenols, called tannins, responsible for the astringent flavor in cocoa, tea, grapes, and other fruits, are powerful antioxidants.

Concord grapes also contain a tiny amount of a newly discovered polyphenol called resveratrol, primarily in the skin, which may help prevent cell proliferation and cancer. Other polyphenols found in the seed, proanthocyanidins, may also prevent cell proliferation and cardiovascular disease.

Another class of antioxidant polyphenols in grapes are called flavonols. Grapes contain the flavonols quercetin, also in apples, and kaempferol, also in broccoli, which are thought to reduce cellular proliferation and cancer.

“All of these compounds work in synergy to create health benefits,” says Beverly Clevidence, research leader of the Diet and Human Performance Laboratory at the United States Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, MD. “They’re showing promise in our fight against cardiovascular disease, cancer, and even inflammatory diseases such as arthritis.”

But if you’re eating a standard American table grape, you may not be receiving many of these benefits. That’s because half of the antioxidants are in the seed and, to please the American consumer, table grapes (and raisins) have been bred to be seedless. Much of the rest of the antioxidants are in the skin. The darker the skin, the more beneficial compounds are present, which is why green and white grapes contain a small fraction of the antioxidants that red or purple grapes contain.

And that brings us to the juice of the grape. Since most of the antioxidants are found in the seed and skin of the grape – 80% unless the flesh is darker and has more antioxidants, a juice’s or wine’s antioxidant content will be higher if it includes the seeds and skin.

This is why red wine contains eight to ten times the polyphenol content as white wine. Red wine is made by mashing red or purple grapes with their skin and seeds and letting it sit to ferment, whereas white wine is made skin and seedless.

“Both wine’s and juice’s antioxidant content depends on the amount of exposure to the skin and seeds and how much extraction of the polyphenols occurs,” says Andrew Waterhouse, wine chemist at UC Davis. “With red wine, you get maximum extraction, with the darker reds usually containing more antioxidants.” Also, the more astringent the wine, the more tannins. Waterhouse says the presence of tannins is a good marker for all antioxidants: the more tannins, the more polyphenols, in general. Polyphenols are responsible for the flavor, the color and the preservation of wine.

The concept of wine as a health food has been intensively researched since the “French Paradox” was first described by French researcher Serge Renaud in the early 1990s. Renaud found that while the French ate the same fatty diet as Americans, they suffered only half the heart disease rates. He attributed that “paradox” to daily low dose wine drinking. His observation made sense since the Framingham study, a long term study established in 1948 which follows peoples’ diet and health, found a link between moderate alcoholic beverage intake and reduced death from coronary heart disease.

Since then, other large epidemiological studies have confirmed a link between moderate alcoholic beverage intake and reduction in heart disease, as compared to no alcohol or high alcohol intakes. But uncovering the most health-giving types of alcoholic beverages – wine or spirits – and even if alcohol itself plays a beneficial role, have been the subject of heated debate ever since.

On the pro-alcohol side, researchers have found in clinical studies that pure ethanol, in any form, raises HDL, or good cholesterol, by five to ten percent. But that doesn’t explain the whole beneficial effect of alcoholic beverages seen in studies. Researchers have found that wine, for instance, reduces blood clotting, hypertension-related and cardiovascular disease-related deaths and increases polyphenols in the blood, which researchers have found prevents various cardiovascular disease risk factors. But studies comparing pure alcohol with wine show that alcohol alone does not have all of these benefits. Some researchers doubt that ethanol is the most important beneficial ingredient in alcoholic beverages, and especially in red wine. In fact, in clinical studies, consuming high amounts of alcohol has been found to promote oxidation and inflammation, both of which are risk factors in the development of heart disease and cancer. But alcohol is often consumed together with antioxidants contained in the alcoholic beverage that may outweigh its negative effects. In addition, researchers believe alcohol may help the body absorb the antioxidant polyphenols.

“Alcohol may enhance the bioavailability of the antioxidants so that when you drink wine or other beverages or food high in antioxidants, you get more antioxidants in your blood,”

says John Folts, professor of medicine and nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. “Very few people drink straight alcohol; they mix it with juices like cranberry, orange or tomato juice, which contain antioxidants.”

Food digestion produces increased oxidative stress and oxygen radicals for several hours after the meal. Eating plenty of antioxidants with meals, including wine, fruits and vegetables, helps reduce oxidation caused by the less healthy components of the meal, for instance, saturated fat or carcinogens. This may be another reason why the French get more benefits from drinking wine: they drink it with meals.

So, does Concord grape juice contain all the benefical compounds as red wine? Some compounds overlap. It helps that Concord grape juice is made by pressing and pulverizing the whole grape, including the seeds and the skin, before it is strained and made into juice, according to Welch’s spokesperson Geoffrey Raymond.

In preliminary animal and human clinical studies performed by Folts and colleagues, Concord grape juice and red wine produce similar cardiovascular benefits. They both raise levels of antioxidant polyphenols in the blood, reduce oxidative stress and blood clotting. But because Concord grape juice has half the polyphenol content by volume, you have to consume twice as much grape juice to produce the same effect you get from red wine.

Red wine is more than grape juice with alcohol. Each ounce of wine contains about 1-1/2 ounces of grapes, so it is more concentrated than juice. And the alcohol helps extract polyphenols as the wine ages. This changes the character of some of the polyphenols and different compounds are created, in ways that aren’t completely understood. These differences may help explain the potent health benefits of red wine found in studies.

“Think of red wine as whole grape extract,” says Waterhouse. “You’re getting the antioxidants out of the juice, the skin and the seeds plus the magnifying effect of the alcohol.”

Red wine contains different levels of antioxidants depending on how it’s processed. Antioxidant content will also vary depending on the variety of the grape, and exposure to sunshine and stress, which increases polyphenol content.

Trying to understand all the compounds and benefits is a complex issue. Experts agree grapes, grape juice and small doses of wine are good for you, but scientists are still unraveling the reasons why. For now, the recommendations are, if you’re an alcoholic beverage drinker, women should not exceed one 5-ounce serving and men should not exceed two 5-ounce servings of wine a day. Experts stress that while moderate wine intake may be beneficial for some, going above the recommendation can be dangerous for your health.

“Given the major problem that alcohol abuse is in many countries, it would not be good nutritional advice to tell people to start drinking wine for their health” says Dr Folts

If you don’t drink alcoholic beverages, eight ounces of Concord grape juice may provide similar benefits. In fact, eating a diet high in antioxidants has been proven to reduce cancer and heart disease, regardless of alcoholic beverage intake.

“People who eat several servings of fruits and vegetables a day have a high polyphenol intake,” says Beverly Clevidence. ”So if you don’t drink wine, just eat more fruits and vegetables!”

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Sweet Temptations

Original Content: Washington Post, Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page F01

With the holidays looming, it’s important to determine your strategy for dealing with the temptation of sweets: what you eat, what you bring in your home, and what you serve others. My philosophy is that all foods can be enjoyed in moderation. But there are special challenges posed with some foods, particularly sweets, which have been confirmed by solid science – it’s not just in our heads!

Understanding the science behind sweet craving and overeating can help us eat in a more moderate and healthy way.

People have an inborn attraction to sweets. If you don’t believe it, simply watch an infant’s response to something sweet versus, say, a vegetable. There’s an automatic acceptance, even joy, after eating something sweet. On the other hand, vegetables are an acquired taste, which may take 10 – 20 tries before acceptance. This is partly explained by evolution. We’ve been eating naturally sweet foods such as breast milk and fruit for millions of years. They contain life-sustaining nutrients, and a love for those foods helped keep us alive. Also, during evolution, an attraction to scarce calorie-dense foods, such as sweets and fats, improved our chances for survival.

But there are other explanations. The research surrounding our attraction to sweets has stepped up in recent decades. Scientists are grappling with understanding the calorie imbalances causing the obesity epidemic, which is partly fueled by eating too many sweets.

Our brain chemistry holds an important clue. Research shows that sweets, like many antidepressants, increase the brain chemical, serotonin, which helps regulate mood and appetite.

“Without carbohydrates, your brain stops regulating serotonin,” says Judith Wurtman, the director of the women’s health research program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Clinical Research Center in Boston. “Eating carbohydrates profoundly improves mood; which is why a handful of candy corn will make you feel better.”

When we’re stressed, anxious or depressed, serotonin levels can drop, and one way people modify their moods is by eating carbohydrates. But, holiday sweet cravings may be uniquely influenced by seasonal changes, too. Studies show that as days get shorter and we are exposed to less sunshine, serotonin levels drop and this leads to increased carbohydrate cravings in susceptible people.

“It’s seasonal; if they sold holiday sweets in July, people wouldn’t be as interested,” says Wurtman.

Women are particularly vulnerable to sweet cravings because their brains have less serotonin than men, according to Wurtman.

There have been other explanations for women’s reported increased sweet craving and indulging. Some researchers attribute the difference to the female hormone, estrogen. It’s been reported that sweet cravings change according to where a woman is in her menstrual cycle, circumstantial evidence that estrogen may play a role. But the findings are inconsistent, as some report increased cravings during menstruation, while others report higher cravings as a premenstrual symptom, a time when serotonin levels may be low.

But the bottom line is clear: “Females overeat sweets compared to males,” says Lisa Eckel, assistant professor of psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Eckel completed a study on rats, which will be published in the November issue of the American Journal of Physiology, which found that female rats ate more rat chow when it was sweetened, compared with males.

“In animals, having high levels of estrogen is associated with eating more sweets,” says Eckel. This theory has yet to be proven in humans.

Cravings and overeating are difficult to study because they can be so subjective and multifactorial. Other researchers stipulate sweet cravings are mainly determined by culture or by psychological and behavioral factors, rather than physiology.

In some cultures, people don’t crave sweets because they haven’t been exposed to them as regularly as Americans. A study of chocolate, for instance, found that American women crave chocolate significantly more than Spanish women. And while a large percentage of American women reported increased chocolate cravings surrounding their menstrual period, Spanish women did not.

Other studies confirm that exposure during childhood is the major determinant of what we crave and are susceptible to overeating.

I copied my mother’s love for sweets and love of baking; it was a fun activity we did together. In college, to combat loneliness, and heck just for fun, I over-indulged my love for sweets (as the pounds went up and up). I would regularly bake my favorite chocolate chip bars and caramel popcorn, both of which I made in childhood. Study after study shows the importance of parental modeling on a child’s preferences.

Availability and proximity are two of the most important factors science has found influences what we crave and overeat and they probably trump all of the other reasons combined. When tasty foods, such as sweets, are around, we simply eat more of them.

Chances are, a combination of factors is responsible for cravings and overeating sweets at Halloween.

“Holiday candy is novel, it only comes around once a year. It comes in small pieces so you fool yourself into thinking you’re not eating as much,” says Wurtman. “You put it in bowls around the house and eat it mindlessly!”

Wurtman says if you have a strong desire for sweets, it may be a sign that you’re depressed, anxious or stressed. But she insists you don’t have to indulge in sweets to raise your serotonin levels or to feel good. Exercising, stress management, spending time with loved ones are activities which will also help reduce depression, anxiety and stress. (My client discovered a psychological basis for her binges, which she is successfully averting these days).

Using candy to feel better is not a great solution for your waist line. It is so high calorie, it doesn’t take much to overeat and forget your weight loss plans. For the same calories in a candy bar, you could eat four apples, or maybe you couldn’t – and that’s the point!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not urging you to be a Holiday Scrooge. I believe it’s possible to have fun eating sweets during the holidays, but still avoid some of the excesses that many of us have fallen victim to in the past. Here are a few suggestions.

To reduce the possibility of seasonal cravings, make sure you’re getting 30 minutes to one hour of sunlight each day by taking a walk in the mornings or at lunch. You may be able to “catch up” on the weekend, if you didn’t get enough rays during the week,

• If You Must

• • Eat plenty of healthy carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, to keep serotonin at optimum levels and reduce cravings of less healthy carbohydrates, such as refined sugar,
  • If you feel driven to eat sweets, it may be a signal that you’re depressed, anxious or stressed. Reduce tension and anxiety by exercising, meditating or talking with loved ones. It’s important to understand the core of the problem and for that, you may need to seek help from a professional,
  • If you want to lose weight, keep your candy – or other “extra” calories – to no more than 10% of your daily calories (that’s 200 calories for the average 2,000 calorie intake, or 150 for 1,500 calories). You may even get away with one big splurge. But if you splurge for two or more days, it will probably effect your waist line negatively,
  • If you can’t resist eating too many sweets, wait to buy them at the last possible minute (or, don’t buy it). This way, the sweets won’t be sitting around as a constant temptation
  • Buy only what you need for the the holiday meal. Give away the remaining sweets at the end of the evening so that there’s nothing left,
  • Try fun and healthier alternatives to sweets to have around your home and serve to family and guests,
  • Most importantly, if you do find you overeat, lighten up, don’t dwell on the negative and get over it! Analyze objectively what you can do differently next time,
  • With awareness and good planning, you can have your sweets and eat them, too!

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Calcium & Weight Loss

Revised from original Content, The Washington Post, Wednesday, June 30, 2004; Page F01

Is it possible that one of my favorite food groups-milk and milk products-not only provides crucial nutrients but can also help people maintain and lose weight? The answer, while not yet conclusive, looks encouraging. New studies are finding that calcium, particularly when in milk products, may help shed unwanted pounds and body fat.

This is doubly important news because many people slash milk products from their diets to lose weight. The research is showing that move is not only a mistake for your bones, blood pressure and overall health (which nutrition experts have been saying for years), it may also make weight loss more difficult.

Uncovering the calcium-weight loss connection was, like many scientific discoveries, a case of serendipity. In the 1980s, scientists researching the positive effects of calcium on blood pressure found that people on higher-calcium diets not only lowered their blood pressure but also lost weight. The connection wasn’t taken seriously at the time. But when large government-funded studies found links between calcium intake and body weight, researchers decided it was worth looking into.

Since 2000, observational and clinical studies of men, women and children have consistently shown that people eating diets containing calcium’s recommended dietary allowance of 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams per day have lower body weights and lower body fat. In fact, it’s been calculated that with 300 more milligrams of calcium daily, adults will weigh about seven pounds lighter than they would without the calcium.

All of the biological mechanisms aren’t completely understood. But, after many years of animal studies, the scientists, led by Michael Zemel, director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee, have formulated the primary reason for this weight loss. When there isn’t enough calcium in the diet, the body responds by releasing hormones to help conserve as much calcium as possible for critical bodily functions (heartbeat, for one). One of these hormones, calcitriol, tells arterial muscle to contract, which increases blood pressure. But calcitriol also acts on fat cells.

“Calcitriol sends the fat cells a message to start making more fat and sends another message to slow down the process of fat breakdown and oxidation,” says Zemel, co-author of “The Calcium Key” (Wiley, 2004). Since high calcium levels have been the norm through evolution, the body assumes that food is scarce and conserves when calcium is low in the diet.

The result is that we become more efficient at storing calories as body fat, so when we cut calories to lose weight, a low-calcium diet makes it harder to break down body fat. Higher-calcium intakes (in which the body senses, rightly or wrongly, that there is plenty of food around) cause lower calcitriol levels and increased fat breakdown. So weight loss is harder for people who don’t consume enough calcium, which is the case for average Americans, most of whom consume one half the daily calcium requirement.

In the first human clinical study of the calcium and weight loss connection, Zemel and his colleagues found that the amount of calcium and its food source made a huge difference in weight loss results.

In the study published in Obesity Research in April, three groups of people ate low-calorie diets containing 35 percent fat, 49 percent carbohydrates and 16 percent protein. The first group, which ate 400 to 500 milligrams a day of calcium ( an amount of calcium typical for many Americans and less than the minimum requirement) lost an average of 15 pounds in six months. While eating the same diet with an additional 800 milligrams of calcium from a supplement, the second group lost 19 pounds. But while eating a diet high in milk products containing about 1,200 milligrams of dietary calcium per day (not from a supplement), the third group lost 24 pounds. Fat loss followed a similar pattern. The people on the high-dairy diet lost a higher percentage of body fat, maintained more lean muscle and (a finding that surprised the researchers) lost more belly fat, known as a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. In fact, the high-dairy group significantly improved its insulin sensitivity, but it isn’t known whether that was a dairy effect or the result of the weight loss, which alone improves insulin sensitivity.

Why milk products produced more weight and fat loss than calcium supplements isn’t completely understood. But there are some theories. One theory is that milk products are simply satiating – that is they provide a feeling of fullness for relatively few calories, and over time that can cause us to eat fewer overall calories. Another theory is that  milk products have many biologically active compounds, similar to the phytochemicals in plants, which work synergistically to produce a more powerful effect than a single compound, like calcium alone. And milk products also contain unusually high levels of an amino acid (the building block of protein) called leucine.

“Leucine plays a unique role in stimulating protein synthesis and is very important for maintaining lean muscle mass, especially during weight loss,” says Donald Layman, protein researcher and professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “If you eat a higher-protein diet, with high levels of leucine coming from dairy products, during weight loss you’ll lose 80 percent body fat as opposed to the usual 60 percent body fat.”

Until more human clinical research can verify these findings, remember that calcium or milk products won’t cause you to lose weight alone. Calories still count. But while this research is being verified, it can only help to include three milk servings a day. Studies show people who consume more milk products have diets higher in many beneficial nutrients such as calcium, protein, vitamins A and D, riboflavin, phosphorous, potassium and magnesium.

Strategies

Calcium experts recommend three to four servings of high-calcium milk product, containing about 300 milligrams of calcium per serving, per day. About 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of yogurt or 1 – 1/2 (ounces of hard cheese are the best examples. Here are some sources provided in The Calcium Key (Wiley, 2004):

The High-Dairy Calcium Guide **

Food                        Amount    Calories    Calcium (g)
Buttermilk                    8 oz        91        264
Nonfat Milk                    8 oz        86        301
Alpine Lace Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese    1.5 oz        105        300
Brie Cheese                    1.5 oz        142        78
Cheddar Cheese                1.5 oz        171        307
2% Cottage Cheese                1 cup        203        155
Hard Parmesan                1 oz        111        336
Plain, nonfat Yogurt                1 cup        127        451
Lowfat Fruit Yogurt                1 cup        225        313

**Excerpted from The Calcium Key (Wiley, 2004)

Other tips:
* Check the Nutrition Facts Panel on your food label. A good source of calcium contains at least 30 percent of your daily requirement. Also, check the calories and saturated fat: How many calories or saturated fat grams does it take to get more calcium from the food? For people watching their health or weight, the more nutrient-dense, calorie-poor and the lower in saturated fat, the better.

* If you’re lactose intolerant, remember that yogurt is usually tolerated and cheese contains virtually no lactose. You can also try lactose-reduced products or drink smaller amounts of regular milk products through the day.

* If you’re a vegan, protein expert Donald Layman says the equivalent of one cup of dairy milk would be 1-1/2 cups of calcium-fortified soy milk, in terms of its leucine content, though no studies have been published on the weight loss benefits of soy milk.

-Katherine Tallmadge

See also: How to Have Yours Each Day

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