Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge #HAWMC

For the month of April I will be participating in a writers challenge put on by WEGO Health. Visit their blog at http://blog.wegohealth.com/ to learn more about them.

I will write one blog every day for the month of April. 30 blogs in 30 days. If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you know that my blogging consistency is, well, anything but consistent. I usually set out to do 1-2 nutrition blogs per week. I can usually do this for a period of time, but then quit all together for months. So, this challenge will certainly be just that for me, but I look forward to writing about my personal health for the next 30 days! This will be a different twist on my blog as I usually exclusively GIVE health advice, but rarely share how I treat my own health.

Let the fun begin! You can find all of these blogs in the HAWMC category.

Recipe: Seasoned Tilapia Fillets

Ok, so I know fish is technically still considered meat, but this is what we ate for Meatless Monday last night. The rules for Meatless Monday in our house are no meat other than fish at dinner. It’s an improvement from our diet of less lean protein choices every night.

I am not a fish lover, so I like mine seasoned to tone down the fishy taste. You can do that without frying your fish! And if you feel the same way about fish, try this recipe. It will not let you down. We served it with a side of brown rice and asparagus. Yum!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Seasoned-Tilapia-Fillets

High Blood Pressure: The Facts

Most of my posts are dedicated to offering tips directly related to improving your diet. However, every now and then I feel the need to remind my readers WHY a healthy diet is important to you, your family, and your future. Every now and then I need to put a little fire under you (and myself). This is not what I would call a feel-good post. It may leave you feeling a little uncomfortable, but hopefully encouraged to move forward with a healthier lifestyle. After all, life is meant to be lived.

What is blood pressure?

First of all, what is blood pressure? It’s the force of blood pushing against arteries as the heart pumps blood. Just like everything in our body that keeps us alive, there is a certain balance we need to maintain. The fancy word for this is homeostasis. Our body works hard to keep everything in balance. However, certain events cause this balance to be out of whack. The longer we stay out of balance, the more damage we are doing to our bodies. Low blood pressure and high blood pressure are both dangerous, but high blood pressure is mostly caused by lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, smoking, etc.).

What is high blood pressure?

HBP, medically known as hypertension, affects 1 in 3 adults in the US. To add to the concern from these statistics, there are rarely symptoms of HBP. You could have it for years without knowing it. Unfortunately, damage to your heart and blood vessels is occurring during that time. It’s very important to get your blood pressure checked regularly. Normal is less than 120/80. HBP is anything over 140/90.

What are the risks?

As I mentioned before, if you have chronic high blood pressure, a very important part of your body is out of balance. The longer you operate that way, the faster you will wear out other parts of your body. Here’s a good example. My first car, a gracious gift from my parents that I was very thankful to have, constantly had something wrong with it. For some reason, it would just never stay in alignment. I finally gave up on taking it to get fixed and drove it around that way. If I took my hand off of the steering wheel while driving straight, I would be headed off the side of the road in about 1 second. Because of constantly having to hold my steering wheel slightly to the right, I wore out the tread on my tires in about a quarter of the time I should have. I was getting new tires WAY too often. It’s a similar, yet far more critical, thing that is happening when you maintain a high blood pressure for and extended period of time. That is why doctors immediately prescribe medication when it is discovered. Here are the risks of having high blood pressure:

Individuals with high blood pressure are:

• Seven times more likely to suffer a stroke
• Four times more likely to have a heart attack
• Five times more likely to die of congestive heart failure
• Hypertension nearly doubles the risk for heart attack, stroke, and heart failure

Now, it’s tempting to think “well, I have to die of something!”. However, these events are happening sooner than they should.

How is high blood pressure treated?

Because high blood pressure is so dangerous, it is almost always treated immediately with blood pressure lowering medication. However, this does not have to be the long-term treatment plan. Medication is expensive and often times has it’s own side effects. In almost all cases, high blood pressure can be treated with lifestyle changes including smoking cessation, diet, and exercise. Those that are overweight are able to lower blood pressure simply by dropping weight. Others require a reduced sodium-intake. Either way, it is entirely possible to get off of the medication. Suggestions for treatment:

1. Smoking cessation: call a free quit line and/or visit a website such as floridaquitline.com for free counseling and materials
2. Exercise: join a gym, hire a personal trainer, find a workout partner, set accountability in place
3. Diet: see a Registered Dietitian for counseling or advice on a proper diet to follow, follow the DASH diet

You will not go without suffering in this life, but don’t choose to suffer. There are many things you cannot avoid, but there are many you can. Let’s do what we can to live this life to the fullest and enjoy what has been given to us! Take what control you can of your health!

Visit my website, www.kellycurrierrd.com, for my services. I am available to do remote counseling through Skype.

Meatless Monday Recipe: Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple, and Red Lentil Soup

Meat contributes heavily to the percentage of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet. It is well known that individuals following a strict vegetarian diet have reduced risk for obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, some types of cancer, and yes, type 2 diabetes. Do you have to be a vegetarian to be healthy? No. Does cutting back on your meat consumption have potential to improve your health? YES!

Take the Meatless Monday challenge. I picked Monday only because it starts with an “M”. You can pick whatever night works for you. I will help you out by posting recipes under the category “Meatless Monday Recipes”.

First up, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple and Red Lentil Soup. Follow the link below to the recipe! We are having this for dinner tonight, but I cooked it last night. It’s the perfect fall recipe!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-carrot-apple-and-red-lentil-soup/detail.aspx

Fiber up!

When it comes to dietary fiber there is no controversy and no room for debate. Fiber is good and fiber is needed in your diet. More fiber. The average American undershoots the target by at least 10 grams daily. The Institute of Medicine recommends greater than 38 grams (men) and 25 grams (women) for those aged 50 or younger. It recommends 30 grams (men) and 21 grams (women) for those older than 50. The average American gets 15 grams. Why is fiber so important?

Fiber contributes to good health in many ways. It helps prevent and treat constipation, hemorrhoids, and diverticulosis; decreases blood cholesterol levels; and helps to control weight by adding bulk to meals without contributing calories (i.e. enhances earlier satiety). One of the newer and encouraging discoveries is fiber’s role in immune health. Fiber may help to decrease inflammation which is an underlying contributor to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. So how can you increase your fiber intake? Here are some great sources of fiber.

1. Whole grains : when it comes to bread, cereal, rice, pasta, granola bars, and crackers, go whole grain. Replace all refined (white) bread products with whole grains. Great sources of whole grains include barley, buckwheat, oats, rye flour, millet, quinoa, wild rice, wheat flour, bulgur.

2. Bran: found in many grains, bran is very rich in fiber. Sprinkle it over foods such as cereal, cookies, and salads. Different types of bran include oat, wheat, corn, rice, Fiber One bran cereal, All-Bran cereal, and Fiber One chewy bars.

3. Beans: One of the greatest sources of fiber, beans can easily be incorporated into meals or even replace meat in soups and dishes. High fiber beans include lima, fava, black, garbanzo, lentils, kidney, navy, white, french, yellow, and pinto. Most beans have about 15 grams of fiber per cup.

4. Berries: Berries contain several small seeds and therefore contain more fiber than other fruits. Berries are great to serve over cereal or oatmeal. I usually purchase frozen berries and thaw them out in the microwave. This way I am able to purchase in bulk without have to worry about them going bad before I eat them. Remember, frozen fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh! Stock up on raspberries, blueberries, currants, strawberries, boysenberries, and blackberries.

5. Peas: Cow (blackeyes), split, green (frozen), etc. are a great source of fiber.

6. Nuts and seeds: almonds, pistachios, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, brazil, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flaxseed (contains 8 g/oz).

7. Brassica vegetables: These include kale, cauliflower, savoy cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and red cabbage.

8. Potatoes: for the most fiber, eat the skin! This is where you find the biggest health benefits.

9. Fruit: all fruits are good sources of fiber. Again, eat the skin if possible.

Which of these can you easily incorporate into your diet? With fiber, you want to increase slowly to reduce gas. For most people, gas from increased fiber intake usually subsides if a higher fiber intake is slowly reached and maintained.

Recipe: Homemade Granola Bars

http://www.joyfulabode.com/2008/04/11/homemade-granola-bar-recipe-no-high-fructose-corn-syrup-in-these-bars/

I sometimes get onto my husband about eating pre-packaged crackers and cookies at work. His work is nice enough to keep snacks around for their employees. I miss the days when I had a snack bowl on my desk at work (or maybe I don’t). Anyways, his valid argument is that we do not have enough snack food at home to pack in his lunch. Our lunch (including morning and afternoon snack) staples are PB&J, yogurt, banana, and one other piece of fruit. I resist buying any prepackaged snacks like crackers, granola bars, chips, or cookies for a few reasons:

1. They are usually less nutritious

2. They are expensive (especially the healthy options)

3. We end up eating them because they are there when we really don’t need them

4. We go through them quickly

All in all, it’s just not enough bang for your buck. We go through phases where we have nuts or trail mix which makes a great snack, but also find them to be a little pricy at times.

Nathan usually requests granola bars. This happens to be the snack that I feel least compelled to buy simply because I feel like they don’t last but they burn a whole in my food budget. On the days that I’m feeling “green”, I feel like all that packaging is unnecessary. The solution finally hit me one day…”Make your own granola bars, silly.”

So I found a good looking recipe and went out and bought the ingredients (most of which I already had) in bulk. I made the recipe above. And, well…they were the BEST granola bars I’ve ever had! Seriously. They are so good I sometimes eat them for dessert after dinner.

I came to the conclusion that there is really no reason for me to ever purchase granola bars again. This is why…

1. Again, these tasted better than any other granola bar I’ve ever eaten

2. Minimal ingredients

3. Saved money (was able to buy the ingredients in bulk)

4. One batch made ~24 granola bars, depending on the size you cut

5. I was able to cut them into multiple sizes (“husband-sized bars”, “wife-sized bars”, “dessert sized bars”)

6. I don’t have to eat the same kind twice. I can get creative with the recipe.

7. The recipe was FAST and very simple. Seriously, all you have to do is heat up the liquid ingredients, pour them into the dry ingredients, stir, pour, let it sit, then cut!

8. You can feel good about minimizing the packaging, although I did wrap each bar in cling wrap, so I’m not sure about that one…might be a stretch.

Just try it! I promise, you do not have to be a super domesticated house wife or mom to do this.

Recipe alterations:

I did not have wheat germ, so instead I used 1/2 cup ground flax seed and increased the oats by 1/4 cup. I used raisins for my dried fruit.

Recipe: Golden Pork Chops

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Golden-Pork-Chops

Mmmmm…a little southern comfort. We had this twice this week! I took the leftovers to Nathan’s work last night and I think there were a few jealous coworkers that smelled it heating up in the microwave.

It’s easy to put together and contains very few ingredients. No need to serve a starchy side with this one, maybe just some veggies. I think next time I’ll add some more veggies to the stuffing mix like squash for extra nutrition.

Enjoy!

More on Artificial Sweeteners

I wrote a post on my take on artificial (non-nutritive) sweeteners vs. sugar months ago. I will sum up the main point of that post in this statement:

“If you are overweight and at risk for heart disease, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, etc. and will not drink plain water to hydrate, choose artificially sweetened beverages (i.e. Crystal Light) in moderation. If you are not overweight, drink water regularly, and occasionally like to have a sweet beverage, drink one sweetened with sugar and avoid artificial sweeteners.”

The same goes for food (baked products, etc.). If you are overweight and it is causing you to be at risk for disease, the most important thing for you to do is lose weight. If it means switching from regular coke to diet coke, go for it. However, notice that I said use artificial sweetener IF you will not drink water alone. I think it’s obvious, but I must state that water should be your beverage of choice unless you have worked in low-fat milk o, 100% fruit juice, and coffee/tea (in moderation) into your caloric intake.

YES, you are taking a risk by drinking/eating artificial sweeteners. We do not know how high the risk is at this point, but it certainly is there. There have been studies done in rats showing increased incidences of cancer in amounts of aspartame equivalent to a human drinking 5- 20 oz diet cokes daily.

Do you know how most of these artificial sweeteners were discovered? It usually happened when a scientist was working with a compound in the lab for something unrelated to sweeteners, accidentally spilled some of the compound on his hand, and later licked his hand and discovered a sweet taste. After realizing it wasn’t toxic (obviously he was a little concerned for his safety after realizing he licked powder from a lab), he thought it would be a good idea to use it to sweeten food and beverages. Reading those stories and seeing words like “aspartyl-phenylalanine methyl ester” do make me a little skeptical, if I’m being honest. Most of these sweeteners have been around for a few decades now and have been used safely, but I don’t know that an overwhelming number of people could confidently say “this stuff is safe and will not cause cancer, birth defects, chemical shifts, etc. when consumed”.

The three most common artificial sweeteners in America are saccharin (Sweet n’ Low), aspartame (NutraSweet), and sucralose (Splenda). Of the three, aspartame has received the most attention for it’s potential toxicity. Splenda has received the warmest welcome. Then there is stevia, the natural yet low-calorie sweetener. Stevia has been used in South America for years, as this is where it is most prevalent. It is about 300 times sweeter than sugar (the same sweetness as aspartame and saccharin). It has grown in popularity in the US.

So what do I recommend? Well first I recommend a diet low in added sugar. Realize that sugar is addictive in nature. Breaking an addiction is not easy, but do not allow yourself to be convinced that you NEED added sugar in your diet. You do not NEED a flavored beverage regularly. I do not like to hear the excuse that you cannot drink water because it has no taste. You can. People have done it for a very long time. Give your tastebuds time to adapt. Drink water regularly with the occasional sweetened beverage. Eat the occasional slice of pie baked with sugar instead of Splenda. If you are going to sweeten your beverage artificially, use stevia.

This may seem to contradict my first post on artificial sweeteners where I appeared to be pro-artificial sweetener. But again, let me state that in that post I was speaking to those that are overweight and at risk for disease. This post is more general.

Quick Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Cordon-Bleu-I/Detail.aspx

This recipe is so quick and easy. Oh, and it’s quite tasty! Instead of cutting a chicken breast in half, I purchased the boneless skinless chicken cutlets.

Nutrition

Did you know that Swiss cheese is one of the lowest sodium cheeses? However, the reduced-fat version of most cheeses contain a significantly higher sodium content. I would stick with the regular cheese on this one. I say that because I do not recommend cooking with cheese often. If you do it rarely, use the real stuff. And, white cheeses are slightly lower in fat than yellow cheeses.

I also like how this recipe suggests a lighter use of bread crumbs. It does not have you dip the chicken in flour and egg before covering it in bread crumbs. It simply tells you to sprinkle bread crumbs over the top of the folded chicken breasts before cooking. This method probably saves you a couple hundred calories!

Enjoy this protein rich entree!

Calorie Tracking Apps

I usually encourage my clients to keep a food journal for a period of time. I tell them to simply write down what they eat on a sheet of paper and the time that they consume it. The main reason for this is accountability, especially if you know that your dietitian will be looking over it at your next appointment! But even if you are just doing it for yourself, it causes you to stop for a second and ask yourself  “is that doughnut really worth it?” You do not need to know the caloric makeup of a food to know if it is generally healthy or unhealthy. People that keep food journals regularly tend to eat less junk.

But now, thanks to technology, we have products that offer more than the accountability that a pencil and paper provides, they offer information and feedback. You tell what you ate and that smart lil’ phone of yours tells you whether or not it was acceptable. For the most part, I am a fan of these smartphone apps. They didn’t work as well when they were only available via computer access, but now you have real time access to a virtual food journal through your smartphone. You can also track your exercise and get an estimate of the calories you burn. It’s genius really.

Now, of course with any free service, as most of these services are free, you cannot assume that you are getting accurate feedback or information. I am most skeptical about the initial advice you are given in setting your appropriate caloric intake. In most of the apps, you are asked to set your goals initially. If you say that you want to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks, most of these apps are not capable of telling you “Get real, that’s ridiculous”. Instead, they say “Your appropriate daily calorie intake is 148 calories”. It is up to you to be realistic with your goal setting. You can dream big about your overall weight loss goal, but you need to be realistic in the time period in which you want to lose that weight. If you are only aiming to lose 5-10 pounds, you should shoot for a 1/2 pound weight loss per week. If you are needing to lose 10-30 pounds, aiming for 1 pound of weight loss per week is appropriate. Over 30 pounds, aim for no more than 2-3 pounds per week. Inputting these goals will keep the app from estimating your calorie intake TOO low and therefore causing an extreme drop in metabolic rate which in the long run will lead to weight gain. You should consult a nutrition professional (like myself) if you are unsure what is realistic for you individually.

Next, you cannot always assume that you are getting accurate nutrition information. I have used some of these apps for long enough to know that the information is not always accurate. It is best to double check from time to time to make sure that you are getting correct feedback. Unfortunately, the foods that are usually giving incorrect nutrition information are foods that do not have food labels (i.e. meat) for you to double check. Just make sure that you look at the numbers and use your best judgement.

Ok, so what you all really want to know, which apps do I recommend? I have done a little research and asked other registered dietitians which apps they approve. The two that were universally recommended were MyFitnessPal and DailyBurn. I have used MyFitnessPal with my clients and for the most part like it, as long as you follow my guidelines above. MFP can be accessed with a computer, iPhone, and Blackberry. It tracks food intake and exercise pretty accurately. I was not familiar with DailyBurn but spent some time playing around on the site for the past couple of days. It is my new favorite. The biggest difference I noticed between MFP and DB is that DB helps you to identify the brand of a certain food you eat by showing pictures. For example, if you type greek yogurt in the search box, you will get a list of different brands of yogurt (Chobani, Voskos, etc.) and a picture of the product to help you recognize it if you do not remember the name. I love that! The only problem with DailyBurn is that it is only available to iPhone users. I hope that this changes soon. I’m not sure if it is available on the Droid, but I could not get it on my Blackberry. One more reason the iPhone rules.

There may be other great calorie  tracking apps out there. There are not any that I am aware of that are bad, but that does not mean they don’t exist. Feel free to comment and let us know if you use a different app and find it helpful.