Thanksgiving Reflection

Thanksgiving is over…my favorite food holiday of the year.  As exciting as it was in October, I have  now grown tired of hearing and providing Thanksgiving recipes, tips on how to avoid the typical 3000-4000 in one dinner, and how to maintain one’s weight during the holiday season.  I hope everyone had an excellent dinner and got to spend some quality time with friends and family eating delicious food and reflecting on how fortunate we all really are. 

I am thankful for a lot of things, but one thing I appreciate is something people do not often mention during the holiday season:  my profession.  Any job can be frustrating at times and being an RD is not without it's drawbacks:  we have licensure issues, we do not get compensated well through insurance, there are a lot of other people who would like to be considered nutrition professionals without the credentials and education we have obtained, sometimes our pay scales aren’t what they should be…..but I am very thankful for the fact that I get to have a job where I talk to people about food and nutrition ALL DAY.  To me, it doesn’t get much better than that.  Every time I teach a class and notice my patients studiously taking notes, paying close attention and asking questions, I am thankful.  Every time I get to work with a patient or a family on how to eat for better once they leave the hospital, I am thankful.  Every time a doctor comes to me with a nutrition question and follows the advice I give to treat their patients, I am thankful. 

Thanksgiving is over, sadly, but we still have all the holiday parties and various religious and seasonal celebrations ahead of us in the next month.  We still have to consider how not to over-consume, how to stay sane, and how to balance regular life in a sea of festivity.  Just because Thanksgiving is over doesn't mean that self-reflection has to end.  What do you continue to be thankful for as the season progresses?  What are your goals for the end of this year and the beginning of a new one?   

Brussels Sprouts – a strange name for a super food

‘Tis the season for brussels sprouts!  When I think about Thanksgiving and winter holidays, my mind goes beyond turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  Veggies are one of my favorite parts of traditional meals and of all the tasty options brussels sprouts are among my most preferred.  This Thanksgiving I will cut them in half, sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary and roast them in the oven.

I just finished a very “veggie” week.  I listened to a webinar called “Meatless Monday” which discussed the science behind the movement of trying to incorporate a vegetarian day into individual patient’s diets as well as large facilities (think schools and hospitals) for health.  I also went to a great presentation on vegetarian eating for cancer prevention where the speakers discussed many studies that support high intake of fruits and veg concerning anti-cancer properties.  I made friends with dietitians at the Block Cancer Center and got invited to observe a vegan cooking class they put on for their patients there.  So all of this made me day-dream about brussels sprouts.  But why are the called “Brussels” sprouts and why do they grow in such a strange manner?

Closely related to Kohlrabi (another interesting veggie), brussels sprouts are just different horticultural forms of the same species called Brassica oleracea of the Cruciferae plant family.  “Cruciferous” vegetables may sound familiar to you.  Originating from a common relative (wild cabbage) other veg in this category include:  cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, arugula, and horseradish.   The most important word to remember about this category of veggie is:  “glucosinolate” which is a sulfur-containing compound (the origin of the funky smell when cooking some of these veg).  These are one of many compounds in plants called phytochemicals that likely provide health benefits to humans but have not been quantified in regards to proven needs for health like vitamins and minerals have.  We may not yet know exactly how much glucosinolate a person needs, but we do know that these compounds are most probably important for human health. 

                                                                                     

In order to reap the anti-cancer benefits of these compounds, an enzyme called myrosinase needs to be activated by processing the plant (such as chopping or chewing).   With myrosinase being stimulated, two classes of chemicals can become active:  indoles and isothiocyanates.  You don’t have to remember these long names, but do recall that eating plenty of these types of foods can be beneficial to your health because they block/suppress cancer development, decrease inflammation, and play a role in detoxification of foreign substances in the body. 

Besides their bioactivity and anti-cancer properties, Brussels sprouts also contain a lot of fiber (4 grams in 1 cup), so they can assist in lowering blood cholesterol levels.  They are high in vitamin K, C, A, folate, potassium and B vitamins.  They are very low in calories.  

Apparently, brussels sprouts were named partly because the plant did grow in Brussels, Belgium and may be native to that region.  The first known description has been tracked to 1587 though it has surely existed for some time before that point.   I hope you’ve had the opportunity of seeing Brussels sprouts on their stalks instead of simply in their severed cabbage-head form in a bag in the store.  They grow from the ground on large, thick stalks with small sprouts that form the whole way along it instead of one large head like a common cabbage.  Brussels sprouts require a cool growing season, which is another reason they may have gained popularity in northern Europe and the British Isles.  Most of the America crop is now produced in the cooler, foggy areas of California. 

On a final note, the German word for this vegetable is much better in my opinion:  Rosenkohl aka “rose cabbage”.  Much more suitable and descriptive in my opinion.

References: 

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/vegetabletravelers/kohlrabi.html

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=10

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss11/fetus.html

 

Don't Eat Anything White: fact or fiction?

I hear: "I don't eat things that are really bad, you know…nothing white" almost every day.  I'm not sure where this came from or who started it but it is certainly a national saying....a nutrition urban myth.  My patients brag this “healthy” diet to me all the time. 

The "No white" diet has been around for years and it’s still going strong.  The general guidelines are as follows as far as I can tell:  "Read labels and avoid enriched wheat flours, white flour, corn syrup, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. White bagels, pasta, rice, potatoes, breads, crackers, cereals, commercial baked goods, ice cream, potato chips and pretzels are all on the list of foods to avoid."   I argue that this isn't a specific diet but rather a general guideline to limit processed foods.

 

I like to Google nutrition questions and see what I find when I’m skeptical of something.  "No white foods" will produce people saying things like this:

If you avoid anything white you'll be safe.
I think it would be beneficial but I don't get it.

Don't keep it in your house. Never eat anything white. 

That's right – it’s used to produce diabetes.

Sound advice?  Likely not.  In my professional opinion, Eating Nothing White is a useless, vague, over-simplified and untrue diet myth.  There is no science behind it and I hope that any medical provider with nutrition knowledge would not tell a patient to follow this plan.  I personally would not encourage this plan because it is not evidence-based practice, is totally unclear, and I doubt it would make a difference to anyone's weight unless they usually spent all day eating Italian baguettes. 

I have created my own list of foods that are "white" that would be a mistake to cut from any healthy, well balanced diet.   I understand that what the diet is actually targeting is processed foods made from sugar and white flour, but the white-colored exceptions to the rule cannot be ignored: 

• Cauliflower
• Chicken breast
• White fish
• Scallops
• Clams
• Tofu
• Pork
• Onion
• Garlic
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Swiss, mozzarella, parmesan cheeses
• White beans/garbanzo beans
• Turnips
• Jicama
• Water chestnuts
• White corn                                                                
• White wine
• Mushrooms  

If you follow the “Nothing White” rule, there are villainized white foods removed that could hold a place in a healthy, well balanced diet (bread, rice, flour, potatoes).  The foods that I believe cause problems for people aren't even white - do you know what color a trans-fat is?  How about corn syrup – have you ever seen it?  Juice is colorful; so is soda and candy but though they are made from sugar, they are not white in color and are caloric bombs that will shoot your blood sugar sky high and could cause weight gain over time. 

I think that instead of over-simplifying and placing foods into categories (good vs. bad), people should just call this diet what it really is: low carb.  Decrease your carbohydrate intake and you may see some weight loss related to decreased caloric intake especially if you over-consume these products in your diet.  If you call it a “whole foods diet” and cut back on processed foods, I will support you in that.

I generally encourage people to eat foods of different colors every day for health and I'm going to say it here today: you can include "white" foods as well!