I get really overwhelmed when looking at the ingredients list for most foods purchased at the grocery store (which is why one should really stick to whole foods - aka whole grains, lean proteins, legumes, fruits and vegetables). But did you know that even store-bought whole wheat bread has hidden additives and sugars? Yeah. True story. When shopping, I try to buy foods that include ingredients that are simple and recognizable. If not - avoid, avoid avoid.
While HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is a form of “sugar” that is easy to identify (and subsequently avoid), here a list of synonyms for sugar that may not be as recognizable:
Aspartame – marketed as Nutrasweet (artificial, 0 calories)
Acesulfame potassium (acesulfame-K)
marketed as Sunett / Sweet One (artificial, 0 calories)
Brown Rice Syrup
Brown sugar
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
Crystalline Fructose
Dehydrated Cane Juice
Dextrin
Dextrose
Evaporated Cane Juice
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrate
Glucose
High-fructose corn syrup
Honey
Invert sugar (golden syrup)
Lactose
Maltodextrin
Malt syrup
Maltose
Mannitol (2.6 calories)
Maple syrup
Molasses
Neotame (artificial, 0 calories)
Raw sugar
Rice Syrup
Saccharin (artificial, 0 calories)
Saccharose
Sucralose – marketed as Splenda (artificial, 0 calories)
Sucrose
Sugar
Sorbitol (2.6 calories)
Sorghum or sorghum syrup
Syrup
Treacle
Turbinado Sugar
Xylose
Why freeze? A full freezer is an efficient freezer. It saves $$$ and prevents waste. And it’s damn convenient.
Think again. Click the link to view the ingredients (and what they mean).
I mean, there are far worse things you could consume than Dannon yogurt, but when foods that really aren’t all that healthy are marketed and labeled as healthy, I get irritated.
On Friday, Dannon Company announced it had settled a class action suit to the tune of $35 Million. The lawsuit was filed in early 2008, alleging that Dannon knowingly misled consumers in its marketing activities around its Activia yogurt line. The massive false advertising campaign convinced shoppers to pay 30% more for yogurt containing “probiotic” bacteria because of the products’ supposed health benefits.
While no nutritionist doubts the health benefit of yogurt, the question asked is what’s so special about Activia’s probiotics compared to other brands, and in and of themselves. Seems like a judge was going to provide the answer, but executives at Dannon decided to fog things up by dishing out millions of dollars AND not admitting to any wrongdoing.
Lunch today: veggie sandwich
During my (somewhat lengthy) college years, I spent a semester at Sierra College in Rocklin, California where the cafeteria made a really good veggie sandwich. I can’t explain why I still recall a sandwich so fondly, but there was just something about it - the crunch of the cucumber or the creaminess of the avocado, perhaps.
Since then, I’ve created my own version, tweaking it here and there, but turning it into a lunchtime staple at my house.
Pictured above: whole wheat bread, 1/2 of an avocado, tomato, red onion, cucumber, provalone, alfalfa sprouts and a touch of mayo.
Perfection.
From Food Renegade:
BEST CHOICE: Mollusks are the most nutrient-dense of all seafoods. Oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, octopus, and squid are the most commonly available mollusks in your grocery store. And these days, many of these foods are farmed using such sustainable practices that the farmed versions are actually better for you and the environment than their wild-caught counterparts thanks to the heavy pollution and over-fishing of the wild. Depending on where you live, you can find these fresh, frozen, or canned.
SECOND: Other shellfish such as lobster, crayfish, shrimp, and crabs are also significantly more nutrient-dense than fish, though less so than mollusks. As with mollusks, many of the farmed versions of these sea foods are now so sustainably farmed that they exceed their wild counterparts in sustainability & healthfulness. Also included in this second list are fish roe (eggs), available fresh or canned. They’re an essential part of most native fertility diets — and for good reason!
THIRD: Fish — any fish. Oily fish are among the most nutrient-dense, but also among the ones to be most cautious with regards to sustainability and toxicity. Sticking to small, oily fish like sardines and anchovies can virtually eliminate any risk of toxicity. In general, wild-caught carnivorous fish are significantly more nutrient-dense than their farmed counterparts, mostly because of the unnatural diets fed to the farmed fish. According to Nina Planck — definitely a lady in our camp — if the fish are herbivorous (like tilapia), then it’s easy to feed them their natural diet. Plus, with sustainable management practices, the farming of the fish can be much better for the environment than capturing the fish in the wild. But, as always, the choice between wild and farmed fish needs to be made on an individual case by case basis. (For example, U.S. tilapia farms are held to a higher standard than international farms. They’re fed a natural diet, and they’re farmed sustainably. So, in this case, it’s best to get U.S. farmed tilapia rather than Chinese farmed tilapia.)
So, how do you balance the nutrient-density of these foods against their sustainability and toxicity?
Easy.
The folks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium have put together the most comprehensive database of sea food, farming and harvesting practices, and toxicity levels available today. And, they’ve conveniently condensed all this information into a handy pocket shopping guide which is broken down according to region. The pocket guides (which you can download here) are divided into three categories: Best Choices, Good Alternatives, and Avoid. I personally shop from this guide for my region, choosing mollusks, shellfish, and fish (in that order) according to what’s best and what’s on sale.
This is really exciting because I’ve totally been craving scallops lately. (yes, I still eat fish, which technically means I’m not a vegetarian, but whatever).
Late night snack: bruschetta.
It’s probably not normal to come home at 9:00 on a Sunday night, hungry since dinner was skipped in order to catch the 6:30 viewing of Food, Inc. (my review can be found here), and decide to make bruschetta.
In my defense, I bought some gorgeous roma tomatoes and a huge bunch of fresh basil at the farmer’s market on Saturday. We picked up a baguette on the way home from the movie, which I popped in the oven to toast as soon as I got home.
I diced five roma tomatoes, then added two handfulls of chopped basil, a teaspoon or two of olive oil, two minced garlic cloves, a dash of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and gave it a quick toss.
The bruschetta was simple and delicious and probably too garlicky to eat that late at night, but I’m pretty sure my boyfriend will forgive me.
“To put it bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.”
When I lived in LA, my boss’ fiance worked for a company who was trying to bring its kombucha drink to the US. Needless to say, our office fridge was packed with free bottles of the fermented tea. I turned up my nose at first, but grew to really like it.
Since I don’t drink soda at all anymore (save for the occasional Diet Coke when the mood strikes), brewing kombucha seems like an interesting and tasty alternative beverage. Bonus for the detoxification and digestive benefits.
