Health School Lunch Legislation – PIZZA is a VEGETABLE?

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post! I’ve been busy moving and getting settled in my new apartment and just started classes.  So it’s been crazy and I haven’t had a chance to work on a post.  BUT, the wait is OVER!  

Anyway, back to the good stuff…

Yes, you read the title correctly. Pizza lovers everywhere rejoice! According to Congress, pizza can now offer you the benefits of 1 serving of vegetables.

How you ask?  Well, first let me provide a little back story.  In 2010, the Obama Administration passed legislation to promote healthy lunches in schools.  Under this bill, federally subsidized lunches must have a certain number of vegetable servings to be served.  The bill aims to reduce “starchy” vegetables in lunchrooms including corn and French Fries.  It also hopes to increase the intake of fruits, vegetable and whole grains.  All great things!!

However, due to the complaints of certain special interest groups, Congress has revised sections of the bill.  Specifically, the bill considers ½ a cup of tomato sauce to be equivalent to one serving of vegetables… I’m sorry, come again? 

 YES, tomato sauce is considered a vegetable, thereby leaving pizza untouched in the efforts to remove unhealthy elements from school lunches.  Additionally, food special interest groups argued that this bill disregarded the healthful aspects of foods such as corn, peas and potatoes.  As a result, French Fries and pizza still remain in school lunchrooms.  

Funny...I thought that deep fried potatoes were bad for you! And here I am trading a side of french fries  for salad! Silly me!

It is so frustrating to me that events like this still happen in the US.  Sure, this bill is a step in the right direction, and of course it’s good that it’s getting people talking and thinking about changing school lunches, but if French Fries are available then what incentive is there for a student to choose spinach or some other leafy green?   Also, I can understand if legislation does not work toward promoting healthier meals, but it should not work against it. What is the point of even having this legislation if it doesn’t make a significant change in removing the two most common unhealthy food items in school lunches?  

Avocados: Superfood??

It seems like everyone has been jumping on the Avocado Train recently, adding this “new” Super Food to their traditional menu to entice consumers and convince them that their menu is now healthy.

The term superfood is typically used to describe foods that are high density foods packed with nutrients  beneficial for health, giving you more bang for your buck.  Not too shabby!  So, then what makes avocados such a superfood anyway? And do these “Super Avocados” really make fast food meals more nutritious??

According to the NIH, there are 13 essential vitamins your body needs to stay healthy. Avocados contain 10 of these.  To give you an idea: it has more potassium than bananas, antioxidants that keep your immune system strong, as well as folate, vitamin K, fiber and B vitamins. Avocados have even been shown to have a protective effect on those undergoing chemotherapy, and it's potential to selectively induce cell cycle arrest is being investigated (aka. it could help protect from cancer!) Additionally, 1oz. or approx 1/5 of an avocado contains 4.5g of monounsaturated fat (MUFA), which is a “good” fat.  It has been shown to reduce levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and improve HDL (good cholesterol) levels.  MUFA's also help your body absorb carotenoids, which are good things found in fruits and veggies.  So if when eating a salad, throw in some avocado for an extra nutritional kick!

The one place you need to be careful with avocados is that, per calorie, it is high in fat.  Eating an entire avocado provides nearly HALF of your daily recommended serving of fat (50-70g/day). Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that this is a GOOD fat. We have been trained to see fat and immediate shy away from it, but with avocados, it can be ok if incorporated into a balanced diet.

That being said, how should we view avocado filled meals that are now a part of many fast-food restaurants? With Wendy's Guacamole Chicken Club, the Smashbuger, Burger King's California Whopper, and Subway's sandwiches, avocado's nutritional value has recently been pushed excessively through advertising.  Is this SuperFood really super enough to make your 600 -800 (300-500 of which are from fat) calorie meal healthy??

Well, the obvious response is no. If you are eating fast food for your meals, the sodium content alone (1400mg!!) can be detrimental regardless of avocado.   However, studies HAVE shown that monounsaturated FA, from avocado's specifically, help reduce cholesterol in those with mildy high cholesterol (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8987188). So maybe you should get that whopper with guacamole, that is as long as the guacamole is made mostly of avocado and not some other additive.

Wait, so me, the health-nut is supporting fast food?? Ummm, that would be a negative. BUT, what I am saying is that I understand that sometimes you don't really have a choice and fast food is your only option.   Maybe you're on the road, maybe you're on a time crunch and eating a salad while driving isn't a feasible option.  For those one-in-a-while occasions where you have to eat fast food, yeah adding avocado could add a bit a nutritional value to an otherwise heart-stopping meal.  Plus, if you're grabbing fast food, you can't expect a top of the line nutritional experience anyway.  Might as well enjoy your moment of indulgent, and maybe add a little avocado to make yourself feel better.

As for everyday eating, its best NOT to eat fast food, but DO find ways to incorporate more avocados (maybe just ½ per meal if you're wary about the fat content - which is really ok as long as you're not eating other meals high in saturated fat) into your diet because they are AWESOME!!

When Healthy Eating Becomes Unhealthy

TOO Healthy? In a time of fast food, obesity, and endless chronic health problems, can you really be too healthy? Is that even possible?

As someone who is a strong supporter of living a healthy lifestyle, I was surprised when I stumbled upon Orthorexia. Orthorexia, although not formally recognized as a psychological or eating disorder, is a condition that plagues individuals who take healthy eating to an extreme and are obsessed with having a “perfect diet”.

Coming upon this made me question my own intentions and my own eating habits. I am always aware of what i'm eating, and I do make a conscious effort to choose healthier food options when at the supermarket as well as when I eat out. I spend my free time reading and writing about health and nutrition after all! Not exactly the everyday girl's idea of fun.  Could I be suffering from some form of orthorexia?!?!   I always thought of myself as having a relatively balanced in my lifestyle, but I AM pretty focused on health....

Well, someone hand me some oreos, I'm in recovery here!

But in all seriousness, I was curious to learn more about this disorder and how it is different from holding a health conscious mindset.

I found that the distinction between being committed to healthy eating and having orthorexia is the anxiety and extreme limiting associated with this disorder.  Those with orthorexia would rather go hungry than eat something “unhealthy”.  As the condition worsens, these individuals may chose to eat only certain foods, cutting out entire food groups, or perhaps avoiding any foods that aren't pure, unprocessed, or maybe only eating raw foods.  There is not a specific diet seen in those with orthorexia, but rather, certain behaviors.

The risks associated with this disorder are more than physical.   Individuals with orthorexia typically isolate themselves to avoid certain situations.  Dining out becomes a stressful situation and is avoided as much as possible.  Additionally, their days become focused almost entirely around making sure they eat the “healthiest” meals. According to Joy Jacobs a clinical psychological with the University of California – SD, someone with orthorexia, may even “often have a sense of moral superiority” about what they eat. In those with orthorexia, healthy eating is taken to an extreme and it becomes physical, emotional and social.

What was especially interesting to me was finding that often this condition starts an innocent attempt to make diet changes because of health problems, for digestive reasons, to loose a few pounds, or adopt a healthier lifestyle. But in those with this disorder, these changes spiral out of control.

So while it is very important to make health conscious decisions with regard to eating and lifestyle, any behavior that becomes obsessive and limits someone's ability to live their life IS a problem. The point of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to feel good, be happy, and enjoy a long, healthy life with LESS problems. It definitely shouldn't prevent you from spending time with friends and family. Also, starving yourself is NOT healthy and can result in very serious long term health problems. It's OK to indulge every once in a while.

It does seem like there is a fine line here. We so often hear that we should be eating healthy to feel better, and we should.  Eating healthy can give you more energy, and really can make you feel physically better. But when are you eating healthy enough? What's good enough? We are born with the bodies we have and we should strive to be our best selves, but at the end of the day, we are still ourselves and we have the bodies we have.

You should be proud of every step to take toward living a healthy lifestyle, but a healthy lifestyle is also a balanced one. If you are eating nutritious foods, and you exercise moderately on a regular basis, but you are still not happy with yourself, it is probably not the healthiness of the food that is causing the unhappiness.

Understand Your Body, Enjoy Your Food, Love Yourself, and Live Your Life.

You can read more about this in an article on CNN.com or here. 

On the Chopping Block: RED MEAT

Are all red meats the same? Apparently not. A recent study conducted at Harvard University concluded that “consumption of processed meats, but not red meats is associated with higher incidence of coronary heart disease and diabetes” In other words, it's the processing of the meat, rather than the meat itself that is associated with health problems.  Processed meat included bacon, salami, sausage and lunch meat. Unprocessed meats included beef, hamburger, pork and lamb.   Interestingly enough, the processed and unprocessed meats were found to contain the same amounts of saturated fat.   This suggests that it is likely due to other differences in the meat, such as added chemicals, sodium, and the removal of beneficial aspects such as iron during the processing, that are resulting in the health problems we typically associate with red meat.

So what does this mean for your diet?? Now, I wouldn't recommend running out and grabbing yourself a Big Mac at the nearest MickeyDee's, BUT what the study does show is that indulging in a juicy burger or scrumptious steak every once in awhile may not be as bad for you as you think.  Often the concern about eating red meat comes from its high saturated fat content.  Saturated fat increased blood cholesterol, especially the bad kind, LDL.  LDL increases your risk of heart disease.  However, red meat CAN still be part of a heart-healthy diet, it all comes down to what type of red meat, and how much you eat, how often.  Grass-fed beef is better than conventional beef.  In grass-fed beef the omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio is 1:3, a ratio similar to that found in most heart-healthy fish. Additionally grass-fed beef is loaded with vitamin E, as well as iron and important B vitamins.   Personally, I don't cook red meat very often.  I prefer a mostly plant-based diet, and I try to get my protein primarily from fish, tofu and lean meats like unprocessed chicken.  However, I love a good juicy burger or steak and I allow myself to indulge in red meat once in a while.

Our understanding of what is good and bad should not be black and white. The better you understand the differences in foods, what is important to look out for and what differences may not be so important, the better you'll be able to fuel your body with wholesome and nutritious food!

Regulations Banning Health Regulations?

Living in the great city of New York, it was nearly impossible not to hear about Bloomberg's efforts to curb obesity by banning large sugary drinks. A ban which, to say the least, sparked some controversy and is facing some resistance. Interestingly enough, as we often see in the United States, the complete opposite legislation has been imposed in other states. According to a New York Times article, this legislation “prohibits municipalities and other local governments from adopting regulation aimed at curbing rising obesity and improving public health”.

Politicians pushing this legislation mainly argue that it benefits business owners who are frustrated by regulation variations between cities and who worry that adjusting to varied local regulations will increase costs, making business unsustainable. However, variations between states still exist. Additionally, isn't banning any government intervention in public health through this regulation in and of itself a government intervention through regulation? Hmm, how ironic.

While I agree with proponents of this legislation who argue that it is not the government's place to intervene in deciding what we as American citizens can and cannot eat - this IS Amuurica (f*^&^ yeah!) after all - but then again, this is America, a country where more than one-third of citizend are obese, according to the CDC. ONE THIRD! That means that when you're sitting on a subway one of the two people sitting next to you is obese, and if they aren't, then statically, its likely that you are. Truth hurts. Now, obviously, this is not entirely an accurate scenario, and I'm not saying that I think that you are by any means obese. Obesity rates vary from city to city and state to state, but still, ONE THIRD of Americans have a BMI over 30. To put this in perspective, for someone who is 5'6 to achieve a BMI of 30, he or she must weigh 185lbs.

What's more striking, the states that are adopting these regulations are largely those with the highest prevalence of obesity, areas where education and increased health awareness is needed most. The often sweeping nature of these policies bans everything from regulations that encourage healthier foods be served in elementary and secondary schools, to listing calories in restaurant.

Government should not be overbearing in their regulation nor controlling of our individual preferences or practices, but do we not also elect government officials to provide leadership and enact legislation that protects us? People do not always make the best choices, even when they are educated on issues. What's more, is that medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion in 2008. These costs indirectly impact society as a whole. Surgeries and medications that aim to alleviate health problems resulting from obesity are expensive. These costs indirectly increase insurance rates for everyone. This is not to say that we should not be directing our money toward those who need it for their healthcare, but if we could minimize these costs through preventative public health measures that can both improve the health of individuals and alleviate a unnecessary burden for society, shouldn't we?

Second Chances

Second Chances

With so much already going on in our lives, anytime something new is added - be it a diet, new workout plan, your new man(friend?...If only it was more clear!), or in my case starting this blog - finding time can be hard. 

I had wanted to start a health blog for over a year and never got around to it.  I always pushed it off claiming that I didn’t want to start it until I had more time.  First it was next weekend, then after I finish this project, and then next summer and the cycle would continue. The fact is, there may never come time where you have more time.  Life doesn’t stop for you to make the changes you want to make.  You have to make the changes fit into your life. 

So for me, there came a day when I decided enough is enough. Starting a blog is important to me, so enough talk, i am making this blog.

And yeah, for the first few weeks it was great! I blogged frequently and passionately, but then I started job hunting, finals came around and the blog got pushed to the way side.  After graduating, I’d thought i’d have more time, but as we all know, time does just come to you, you have to make the time.

So this is TAKE II.

This time I’m going to see this through until the end. 

I hope that what you take away from this is that in working toward our goals there is always the opportunity for a second chance.  Now, of course it’s better to stay on track and reach your goals the first time, but if you fall off the path, it’s OK.  Get back up and try again.  If you are willing to take the time to make the changes necessary and commit to them, you CAN and you WILL achieve your goals.

It doesn’t matter how many nutrition books you read, how many diet recipes you save, or how many gym memberships you have, being healthy and feeling good requires making concrete LIFESTYLE CHANGES and sticking to your plan.  And the same goes for blogging, or any new project for that matter.