Just a few weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration issued a statement saying that meat and milk from cloned animals is as safe as their non-cloned counterparts. I don’t know about you, but this issue still does little to alleviate my concerns over the immediate and longterm effects of consuming cloned food. The government did say that it would not yet release cloned food into grocery stores. At least not yet right now. Hmmmm……
The United States has been reporting for the past couple of years, on the dangerous levels of mercury contained in certain fish, most notably, tuna. In high concentrations, this metal can cause very serious brain damage which is why pregnant and nursing women and children are often recommended to severly limit their intake of fish known to contain mercury.
Last week, The New York Times reported that eight of 44 pieces of tuna sampled from restaurants all over the city contained levels of mercury that meet the Food and Drug Administration’s measure for taking the fish off the market completely. That’s scary stuff, especially when sushi restaurants are almost as ubiquotious as pizza joints. Well, maybe they are not at that level of popularity yet, but we’re getting close.
Having been pregnant myself, I still find myself adhering to most of the restrictions that pregnant women are supposed to follow in regards to diet (no raw fish, no unpasturized food or beverages, no alcohol and no caffeine). Why? Because I feel that these restrictions, which are for the benefit and safety of the woman’s health and her baby’s, say something about the unsafety of our own food supply, or at least the unknowns of the food that stocks are grocery store shelves. And I care too much about my health and my longevity to give in to a passing craving for a piece of tuna sashimi.
If you are pregnant, give these pregnancy diets a look.
BabyFit
Pregnancy Diet
A friend recently forwarded an email to me with common misconceptions about dieting and losing weight. I laughed so hard that I assume a few calories were burned, and thought you could use a laugh too. What’s the point of working so hard at exercising, giving up foods and steadfastly sticking to a diet if you can’t enjoy a good laugh at ourselves once in a while?
Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it. Don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable.) And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is made out of grain. Bottoms up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain… Good!
Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU’RE NOT LISTENING! Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated with it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A : Are you crazy? HELLO! Cocoa BEANS? Another vegetable! It’s the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A: In shape? What kind of shape? “Round” IS a shape.
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
Has anyone read Gary Taubes’ controversial book “Good Calories, Bad Calories?” In the book, Taubes debunks the widely known theory that the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes in this country are due to an excessive amount of fat in our diets. Instead, he combs through thousands of research studies and data from all over the world and comes to the conclusion that these conditions are due to an excess amount of refined carbohydrates in our diets like sugar, white flour and other starches that digest quickly.
His book, although very scientific, is a fascinating look at how our emphasis on a low-fat, low cholesterol and low sodium diet may have been just a well-postulated hypothesis by the medical, nutrition and public health professions with no conclusive and definitive evidence by clinical trials to prove that these kinds of diets would in fact keep us lean and prevent heart disease.
So, if you’re willing to think out-of-the-box when it comes to what we’ve been told and preached to for years on preventive health and nutrition, this is a book that is definitely worth the mental labor put into reading it.
As a chef’s wife, I am constantly having to raise the bar on nightly dinners. Not that chefs are hard to please; quite the contrary. A little known secret about fancy-schmancy chefs is that because they spend their day cooking gourmet food, when they come home, really, all they want is a sandwich and a cold beer.
However, I’m competitive, and I like showing off in the kitchen. So imagine my surprise when looking for recipes using pomegranates (which are in season right now and are gorgeous, not to mention full of anti-oxidants), I found a fantastic recipe on Weight Watcher’s website! Using POM pomegranate juice, which I love; fresh beets, which I always want to get but am flummoxed by what to do with them; and citrus (on sale right now-Yes!), this side dish is only 5 points, and extremely satisfying. In fact, I found very little variance from how a chef would prepare this dish, and the recipe, other than that a chef would probably add Extra Virgin Olive oil and some crumbled goat or feta cheese at the finish, for a mediterranean flavor.
Don’t worry about the quality of the port wine that you use in the recipe, just get the least expensive. But do get the Ruby port, and not the Tawny. “Tawny” refers to the winemaking method whereby the port is aged in wood, so when the wine reduces (cooks down) in the recipe, you could be left with some bitter flavors. “Ruby” is always what you want to look for when buying port wine for cooking. And note that cooking wine eliminates the alcohol, which reduces the calories!
I’m off to go have fun in the kitchen! Catch up with you later……
Check out more healthy Weight Watchers recipes here.
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