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Why Counting Calories is Not Everything When Dieting

February 13, 2009

Reader Question: I looked at the Nutritional information for Chicken piccata and the calories seem very high per serving. It doesn’t seem too figure friendly to me. – Barbara, Washington DC

Well, Barbara, I have to say that this is one reason why I fought to leave the nutritional information out of my new cookbook. You see, I believe in eating whole foods, NOT counting calories. When you eat real food, your body knows how to efficiently digest, absorb, and assimilate the nutrition available, and then eliminate anything extra.

I believe healthy eating should be a lifestyle, not a “diet,” and I don’t know many people who can sustain a lifestyle over years and years that includes the arduous chores of counting calories, keeping a food journal, or tracking other arbitrary nutritional information. Where’s the pleasure in that?

Glorious One-Pot Meals Chicken Piccata recipe

I’ve found that a diet based on whole foods rather than processed foods allows the body to shed extra weight and find its natural equilibrium in a gentle, unconscious way. Of course, this is not the way you’re going to drop those 10 lbs before your reunion next month, but rather it’s a way of living and eating that builds overall health and vitality for the long run.

If you want to lower the calories in any Glorious One-Pot Meals recipe, including the Chicken Piccata, there is an easy solution: substitute water for the broth called for to hydrate the rice. The chicken broth is adding about half of the calories in the meal — along with some yummy flavor — but you’ll be just fine using plain water instead. Or, choose your broth wisely and look for organic brands that have less sodium and fewer preservatives. Everything else in that recipe is a whole food and will do good things for your body, regardless of your impression of the caloric count. 🙂

I believe food should be enjoyed and savored and appreciated, as well as being life-sustaining and healthy. People ask me all the time if I love cooking, since I wrote a cookbook. But the truth is that I love food and flavors and textures and eating delicious things with abandon; cooking, not so much. Glorious One-Pot Meals are such a great solution for me because everything in the recipes contributes to my goal of achieving robust health at a healthy weight.

BPA is Worse and More Prevalent Than We Thought

February 12, 2009

The case against BPAs in plastics is emerging as our worst nightmare.

A recent article by David Case in Fast Company magazine follows the BPA trail to determine how harmful it really is to humans, where you find it, and what is being done about it. His findings are terrifying to anyone unaware of how much in our environment and daily life is toxic to us. Even those among us who consider ourselves “aware” may be shocked at the levels at which we are exposed and the overall inescapability of this hazardous chemical.

According to Case, BPA is everywhere. “Some 7 billion pounds of it were produced in 2007. It’s in adhesives, dental fillings, and the linings of food and drink cans. It’s a building block for polycarbonate, a near-shatterproof plastic used in cell phones, computers, eyeglasses, drinking bottles, medical devices, and CDs and DVDs. It’s also in infant-formula cans and many clear plastic baby bottles. Studies have shown that it can leach into food and drink, especially when containers are heated or damaged. More than 90% of Americans have some in their bodies.”

Check out this illustration from the article that shows the alarming levels of BPAs in a 6-month old baby fed canned formula in a plastic bottle. Notice that even breast-fed babies get BPAs through breast milk from their mother’s exposure.

Case concludes:

“The government is unlikely to start controlling the use of BPA. The United States has a long tradition of keeping harmful substances — lead, DDT, tobacco, PCBs — on the market for decades after scientists find adverse effects.

“The EPA could theoretically step in, but that’s unlikely too. The agency “has no real program to regulate industrial chemicals, as a result of deep flaws in the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act,” says Andy Igrejas, environmental-health campaign director for the Pew Charitable Trusts. Under the act, the EPA needs to show “substantial evidence” that a chemical is harmful, and must weigh the costs of restrictions against the economic benefits of keeping the chemical in commerce. That’s a byzantine chore and helps explain why the agency has managed to restrict only five chemicals in the law’s 33-year history. Under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, Congress ordered the agency to screen industrial chemicals to determine if they interfere with the endocrine system, a program that might have flagged BPA. Nine years after the 1999 deadline, the agency has yet to screen a single chemical.”

Are you scared yet?

Kicking a Head Cold with Natural Remedies

February 9, 2009

A 40-hour anatomy of a head cold (or how to kick a head cold in 40 hours):

Wednesday, 3:30pm Walking down the block to meet the school bus I notice that my head feels rather full in the sinus area. Uh-oh, I think. I race home and take 4 homeopathic Aconite after a Sinus Rinse. Aconite can often stave off a viral infection, especially if taken at first sign.

Wednesday, 6:30pm The aconite must not be the right remedy and I’m feeling lousier by the minute. My nose is both stuffed and runny, I’m tired and ready for bed. But first, I brew some Throat Coat tea along with 3 chopped cloves of fresh garlic and the juice from 1/2 a lemon I found in the fridge (have you heard about garlic tea? Very potent.). I let it all steep for 15 minutes, then top it off with a teaspoon full of local honey. While my throat is not sore yet, my lymph nodes feel swollen and I think all the herbs in there that provide respiratory support will be helpful. Most importantly, it doesn’t contain echinecea, which I want to avoid since I have multiple sclerosis. While I wait I do another Sinus Rinse.

Wednesday, 8:30pm I steal the humidifier from one of the kid’s rooms and set it up near my bed. I feel like a Pink Floyd song, “My head swells up just like a balloon…”, but I am so far from being “comfortably numb” that I toss and turn all night. My sinuses are full and the pressure is very uncomfortable. I take some homeopathic Hepar Sulph, which is good for colds with thick mucous and homeopathic ColdCalm to try to relieve some of the symptoms and make me more comfortable. Another Sinus Rinse, a round of Sinusin homeopathic nasal spray, and I head to bed.

Thursday 7:00am I get the kids up and on the bus and off in the carpool and head directly back to bed with large glasses of orange juice, chamomile tea, and water. I switch to homeopathic Natrum Mur, a remedy helpful for relieving blockages like the one behind my eyes, crank up the humidifier, stack my pillows to keep my head elevated, and sleep on and off all day until I have to pick up a kid after Spanish at 4:15pm. (As a working mom, getting to spend a whole day sick in bed with no one needing anything from me was a treat, even though I wasn’t feeling well!) Of course, there were several Sinus Rinses in there, too, followed by squirts of Sinusin.

Thursday 9:00pm Back in bed with mint tea with honey. This time, the night passes restfully.

Friday 6:00am I awake with an empty head and breathe a sigh of relief. With a shower I feel close to human again, with energy to tackle the day. Sure, my nose still needs to be blown regularly, but the pressure is gone and what’s left won’t hold me back. I corral three 4-year olds for a preschool field trip to see the Junior Symphony Guild’s Tiny Tots program, navigate downtown streets to fight an unjust parking ticket, and run errands the rest of the day.

While I’m not 100% better 40 hours after onset of the head cold, I’m back to being a functional human being in record time with the help of homeopathy, herbs, warm mist, and rest. I was pretty impressed with this as my neighbor got the same head cold a few days earlier but was sick and miserable for a week.

Good Belly makes for a Good Belly

February 4, 2009

I’ve become addicted to GoodBelly. Have you heard of it?

GoodBelly is a non-dairy fruit-based probiotic fruit drink packed full of serious probiotics and nutrients.

I’ve begun offering shot of GoodBelly to my kids each morning instead of our regular Juice+ gummy vitamins.

Probiotics, or “good” bacteria, are one part of the foundation for helping intestinal and bowel issues, chronic constipation, irritated bowel syndrom (IBS), and promoting general immunities. Since 70-80% of your immune system is based in your digestive system, it’s key to keep it healthy and flowing cleanly.

My hubby gets his GoodBelly shot to help keep the sniffles at bay since working in a school environment and being exposed to such a large popuation in an enclosed area is an almost guaranteed way to nurse a cold all winter.

The GoodBelly formula feels more bio-absorbable for me than some other probiotic capsules or powders. And, it’s much more enjoyable to drink. My favorite is the strawberry flavor, while my kids love the mango, and my mom likes the blueberry best. I find it in the regular grocery store in the refrigerated case near the eggs and yogurt.

Not that I have anything against yogurt, which is another good way to get live cultures and probiotics, but as I’ve mentioned before, dairy products go right to my hips and stomach so I try to avoid them whenever possible.

Restaurant Review for Phoenix: Pita Jungle

February 2, 2009

We just returned from a whirlwind media tour of Phoenix that included 4 televised cooking demos, 1 phone interview, and an overflow book signing/cooking demo. In between, we stumbled upon one of Arizona’s hidden secrets: Pita Jungle.

Billed as “The Art of Eating Healthy,” Pita Jungle is a fabulous little local restaurant chain that offers a welcome respite from the food humdrums. About as far away from a Chili’s, Applebee’s, or T.G.I.F. as you can get (thankfully), Pita Jungle has everything for vegans to carnivores at surprisingly reasonable prices.

My all natural chicken schwarma on a homemade pita was more than I could eat of tender, perfectly seasoned chicken falling out of a chewy pita for under $7. My hubby went for the Philly Steak Pita for the same price.

This is a sit-down restaurant with a full bar — not a counter-service joint — and serves more than just pita wraps. Everything was amazingly fresh and lucious. We couldn’t have been happier to find it in the midst of all the strip malls and national chains.

Now the only question is: when will someone bring a PIta Jungle to Denver?

Why Counting Calories is Not Everything When Dieting

BPA is Worse and More Prevalent Than We Thought

Kicking a Head Cold with Natural Remedies

Good Belly makes for a Good Belly

Restaurant Review for Phoenix: Pita Jungle

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