Get to Know Your Food – Page 3

Serving Size

When it comes to calories, serving size may be the easiest way to mislead. Accurate information is usually printed in large type on the nutrition information panel of a product, but calling a tiny bit of food in a small bag 2 ½ servings can be suspect, especially when the volume is such that the average person would consume 2 ½ servings at a minimum.

And who reads labels anyway?

Um, that was a trick question. If you have dietary restrictions, hopefully you are reading labels consistently and carefully. But reading a list of ingredients doesn’t require you to focus on calories.

I’m not certain anyone notices calories in this day of weight loss injections but if they are of concern, you may have to study a label carefully to get the full picture. As a graphic designer, I’m glad there’s flexibility in how information is visibly presented. As someone who supports label standardization, this is a constant frustration for me.

A few products list both single serving and entire package nutrition information side by side. That’s the best! I love when the information is more complete and presented in a straightforward, user friendly manner. Based on the nutrition labels in my pantry, this choice is not the most common.

In fact, it seems some companies feel a need to hedge on calorie count by minimizing the number of servings per container or substituting easily understood numbers into complicated math equations. That can make label reading both challenging and entertaining.

And it can provide math practice. My grandchildren must count to 55 to get a full 140 calorie serving of Goldfish® Crackers. That number drops to 27 for 150 calories if we switch to Cheez-It® Crackers.

So how is serving size determined in the first place?

The FDA bases serving size on the amount of food people typically consume in a sitting. This is actually a legal requirement. How do they know how much is typical? Unclear. And obviously, one person’s typical consumption may not match another’s. In that sense, calorie count is useful in determining the optimum amount for your particular dietary goals.

In other words, it is important to understand that serving size is not a recommendation for how much to eat. It’s a way to identify the amount of fat, sodium, fiber, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals in a specific amount of food. And it can be used as a guide to calorie consumption.

Many of us use packaging to determine a stopping point when we eat. It seems logical and convenient. But if we don’t read and understand serving size, we may be working against our goals.

Calories are not the best measure of nutrition, but they can be an important piece of information when determining an eating plan. While sometimes confusing, labels are helpful in determining how serving size is related to calories.

And you thought you could leave math behind when you left school. Nope! Better keep that calculator handy or serving size will get the best of you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Get to Know Your Food: Legumes

Continuing along the family tree that is our food, perhaps we can explore legumes. You’re probably familiar with most of the grain legumes: beans, lentils, peas, and peanuts. Green beans, chickpeas, and soybeans are legumes. In fact, any plant belonging to the Fabaceae family is a legume.

An emphasis on plant-based food has meant an increase in products containing legumes. This is not surprising because members of this plant family are a good source of protein, minerals, fiber, and carbohydrates.

To get an idea of the specific nutrients legumes contain, here’s the nutritional value of some common ones:

Pinto beans – One cup has 245 calories, 44.8 grams carbohydrate, 15.4 grams dietary fiber, 15.4 grams protein, 3.6 micrograms iron, 3.6 milligrams calcium, 745.6 milligrams potassium, 251.4 milligrams phosphorus, and 1.4 milligrams vitamin C.

That’s 16% of the daily value (DV) of carbohydrates (based on a 2000 calorie per day diet), 55% of fiber, 31% of the DV protein, 20% DV iron, 6% DV calcium, 16% DV potassium, 20% DV phosphorus, and 2% vitamin C.

Black turtle beans – One cup has 241 calories, 45 grams carbohydrate, 15.4 grams dietary fiber, 15.1 grams protein, 5.3 micrograms iron, 101.8 milligrams calcium, 801.1 milligrams potassium, 281.2 milligrams phosphorus

That’s 16% DV carbohydrates, 55% of the DV fiber, 30% of the DV protein, 29% DV iron, 8% DV calcium, 17% DV potassium, 22% DV phosphorus.

The nutrition value of black soybeans a.k.a black beans varies slightly, but is similar.

Lima beans – One cup has 216 calories, 29.3 grams carbohydrate, 13.2 grams dietary fiber, 14.7 grams protein, 4.5 milligrams iron, 32 milligrams calcium, 955 milligrams potassium, 208.7 milligrams phosphorus

That’s 14% DV carbohydrates, 47% of the DV fiber, 29% of the DV protein, 25% DV iron, 2% DV calcium, 20% DV potassium, and 17% DV phosphorus.

Garbanzo beans – One cup has 198 calories, 35.5 grams carbohydrate, 11.1 grams dietary fiber, 13.2 grams protein, 4.3 milligrams iron, 41 milligrams calcium, 475.4 milligrams potassium, 266.8 milligrams phosphorus, and .68 milligrams vitamin C

That’s 16% DV carbohydrates, 45% of the DV fiber, 29% of the DV protein, 26% DV iron, 6% DV calcium, 10% DV potassium, 22% DV phosphorus, and 2% vitamin C.

Black-eyed peas – One cup has 269 calories, 45 grams carbohydrate, 12.5 grams dietary fiber, 14.5 grams protein, 4.7 milligrams iron, 80.4 milligrams calcium, 477.2 milligrams potassium, 275.5 milligrams phosphorus, and 2.1 milligrams vitamin C

That’s 13% DV carbohydrates, 40% of the DV fiber, 26% of the DV protein, 24% DV iron, 3% DV calcium, 10% DV potassium, 21% DV phosphorus, and 1% vitamin C.

Lentils – One cup has 230 calories, 39.9 grams carbohydrate, 15.6 grams dietary fiber, 17.9 grams protein, 6.6 milligrams iron, 37.6 milligrams calcium, 730.6 milligrams potassium, 356.4 milligrams phosphorus, and 3 milligrams vitamin C

That’s 14% DV carbohydrates, 56% of the DV fiber, 36% of the DV protein, 37% DV iron, 3% DV calcium, 16% DV potassium, 29% DV phosphorus, and 3% vitamin C.

As you can see, the percent daily value of protein in these legumes ranges from 14 to 36%. For comparison, a 3 oz beef patty contains slightly more protein at 43% DV. 230 calories, no fiber and significantly more fat at 15.2 grams.

The nutritional benefits of legumes are easy to see. And beans and lentils tend to be filling. Including them in your regular diet is a great idea, as long as you tolerate them well. Like any food family, some people will be allergic or have sensitivities to legumes. In fact, this family contains two of the top 10 allergens – peanuts and soy.

Those on a low phosphorus diet may also need to avoid beans and lentils. And while lentils are not high in histamine, they contain substances that can trigger reactions in those who have mast cell activation syndrome or histamine intolerance. These include salicylates, aflatoxins, oxalates and lectins.

From experience, I can tell you that black-eyed peas and lentils cause me extreme intestinal distress. On the other hand, I can tolerate black turtle beans and black beans quite well. I also eat hummus occasionally with no ill effects.

Like any food sensitivity or allergy, it may take awhile to determine whether you need to eliminate this whole family of food or only a few members. You may be able to speed the process by eliminating the whole legume family and then adding back one food at a time to see whether you have a detrimental response.

It can be an arduous process, but ultimately it’s worth it to find foods that make you feel your best. Perhaps some of those will come from the legume family.

Get to Know Your Food: Families

The plants that we eat are members of families, just like we are. Sometimes one member of the family is problematic for those of us who have food sensitivities or allergies. Sometimes the entire family has to be avoided. Knowing which foods are related can help reduce the time it takes to identify problem foods and purge them from our diet.

One family I’ve recently had to explore is nightshades. This family includes Bell Peppers, Belladonna, Cayenne pepper, Chili Peppers, Chili Powders, Eggplant, Gogi berries, Gooseberries, Huckleberries, Paprika, Potatoes, Sorrel, Tomatillos, and Tomatoes. The herb Ashwagandha and Tobacco are also members of this family.

Nightshades contain phytochemicals that can be problematic for some people. These culprits are salicylates, histamines, and glycoalkaloids. I already know that if I take aspirin, I break out in hives. That means I want to be cautious about foods that contain salicylates. Histamines are also a known problem for me. What are phytochemicals? (And why should you eat more of them?) | UCLA Health

I have been limiting tomatoes and eggplant, but I have not eliminated bell peppers, chili powder, or potatoes. I ate red bell pepper yesterday. Today, I have an itchy rash on my back that could be related. This is something I will continue to explore.

Perhaps it would be easier to eliminate the whole list of nightshades from my diet, but then I may be eliminating foods I can eat and that doesn’t seem necessary. The hard part is isolating an irritant in order to confirm that it is causing the problem.

Rashes aren’t the only symptom caused by nightshades. They can impose a high histamine burden on the body resulting in swelling, heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure, anxiety, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Having to keep my histamine ingestion low, this means nightshades offer a double-whammy for me. Sounds like I should skip that baked potato I want for dinner.

But I don’t necessarily have to skip it. Peeling the potato may reduce the salicylate and glycoalkaloid enough to make it tolerable. The only problem with that is, I love potato skin. Nonetheless, I’m willing to leave the skin behind in order to have potatoes as a menu option.

Beyond issues with salicylates and histamine, the glycoalkaloid solanine causes problems if you consume too much of it. I’m not convinced this is a huge issue for most people, but anything can be a trigger for a specific person. Pay special attention if you’re bothered by both nightshades and blueberries. This could be a clue that you need to avoid solanine.

While it’s important to avoid foods that cause detrimental autoimmune responses, increase inflammation, contribute to rashes, or cause other symptoms, it’s good to consume as wide a variety of fresh food as possible. Learning as much as you can about a family of food can help you identify problem foods more quickly.

The quicker you identify problem foods, the sooner you can enjoy members of the family that aren’t a problem. I think I’ll still have that baked potato tonight, but the skin will stay on my plate!

Get to Know Your Food – in thriver words (cooking2thrive.com)

Balance

This is the time of year I always think about balance. How can I balance work/play, family time/friend time, and even healtyfood/junk food. A conversation last week also made me think about balancing my GI system.

A friend has had gastrointestinal problems that sent them to the ER multiple times in the past month. A lack of diagnosis meant several stabs at solutions and an eventual diminishment of symptoms. In the process, dehydration led to hospitalization. Now they’re trying to regain balance.

The doctor’s advice for achieving balance was to be sure to ingest at least 35 grams of fiber per day. No problem with that advice. What followed however, was misleading. He advised the patient they could not get enough fiber unless they took a powdered supplement, and ate fiber bars and high fiber cereal.

When they specifically discussed salad, he said salads don’t provide much fiber. So instead of suggesting that salads be topped with high fiber vegetables, nuts, and seeds, he said they don’t have much fiber. Then he directed the patient toward processed foods. This kind of advice makes my head feel like it will explode.

In the interest of BALANCE, let’s look at foods that naturally provide fiber because, contrary to popular belief, it is possible to get enough fiber by eating real food – not just processed foods that have fiber added to make them high fiber.

Let’s start with breakfast. Add or substitute these to increase fiber:

Oatmeal – 1/2 cup dry = 4 grams fiber plus 5 grams of protein
Grits – 1 cup = 2 grams fiber
Raspberries – ½ cup = 4 grams fiber
Blueberries – ½ cup = 1.3 grams fiber
Raw almonds – About 12 almonds = 4 grams fiber plus 3 grams of protein

A bowl of oatmeal topped with raw almonds and raspberries can mean 12 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein in your breakfast. For comparison, two eggs would provide 12.6 grams of protein, but no dietary fiber.

There’s nothing wrong with eating eggs for breakfast. They’re an almost perfect food. And they’re not processed. But being deliberate about what you serve with them can keep processed food consumption low without sacrificing fiber.

Now let’s consider snacks. For those of us who need to eat every three hours, snacks can be a great source of fiber. Instead of reaching for cheese and crackers, choose:

Pears – 1 medium = 5 ½ grams fiber
Apples – 1 medium with peel on = 4.5 grams fiber
Yellow squash – ½ cup has around .53 grams fiber
Raw carrot – 1 medium has 1.5 grams fiber
Hummus – 2 tbsp = 1.8 grams fiber
Raw, shelled sunflower seeds – ¼ cup has about 3 grams fiber

When you’re out and about, an apple may be the easiest high-fiber snack ever! But at home, I like to eat raw squash with hummus. Carrots with hummus add even more fiber. I also love a handful of raw sunflower seeds. Not only do I like sunflower seeds as a snack, they’re a great addition to chicken and rice.

As you can see, it’s not hard to be halfway to 35 grams of fiber after breakfast and a snack.

For lunch and dinner, including some of the following will add up quickly:

Lentils – 1 cup, boiled = 15.5 grams fiber
Black beans – 1 cup, boiled = 15 grams fiber
Green peas – 1 cup, boiled = 9 grams fiber
Chopped broccoli – 1 cup, boiled = 5 grams fiber
Turnip greens – 1 cup, boiled = 5 grams fiber
Quinoa – 1 cup, cooked = 5 grams fiber Baked potato with skin – 1 medium = 4 grams fiber

A lunch of chicken breast, green peas, and quinoa contains 14 grams of fiber. Add a salad topped with broccoli, carrots, squash, and it’s possible that combined with breakfast and a snack you’ll have already reached 35 grams of fiber for that day.

One more snack and a dinner of steak, baked potato, and black beans will most certainly put you at the goal!

Reading back through these lists, they’re not extensive. Many other foods offer substantial amounts of fiber that can contribute to your daily total.

Even if you’re looking for foods that seem mild after a bout of GI distress, one baked potato, 1 banana (3 grams fiber), and one cup of brown rice (3.1 grams per cup, cooked) will provide over 10 grams of fiber. Add a pear and you’re over 15. If you’re like me, you could also tolerate green peas and quinoa which could add another 14.

As you can see, it’s not difficult to reach 35 grams of fiber without some kind of supplement, powder, fiber bar or boxed cereal. You can find enough fiber in whole foods to balance your system.

That’s the kind of balance I find on point!