No bones about it: the best things in life are sea
Did you know that eating fish that live in the sea might help boost bone health and density? Although most of the attention on the link between osteoporosis and diet has focused on calcium, milk and soy, a few studies suggest that other nutrients, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids and omega-3s, may also play a role.
According to novel research published in the journal Osteoporosis International, a greater intake of sea fish, but not shellfish or freshwater fish, is linked to as much as almost a 7% increase in bone-mineral density and an almost 10% increase in bone mass in general and in the hip areas in particular. On average, the women studied, all of whom were menopausal, were eating about .8 ounces of sea fish a day — about 16% of their total daily protein intake, and about 2 ounces daily of sea fish and shellfish combined. Factors like body weight, smoking, and alcohol did not appear to influence the association between fish from the sea and bone benefits. (Note – the study did not specifically address the exact types of fish that they women were eating other than to say, it wasn’t freshwater or shellfish.)
Interestingly, prior studies have found similar links between higher bone mineral density and a high consumption of seafood among menopausal women. Researchers say that a higher intake of fish versus animal protein or low quality foods may account, at least in part, for the higher bone mass.And while they are unable to offer any reasonable explanation for why sea fish, especially the oily types like salmon or mackerel or tuna benefit bone health while freshwater fish does not, they say that it might be due to the high level of vitamin D , which has long been associated with favorable bone mass. Omega-3 fatty acids are also thought to play important roles.
The take-away on this is to eat more fish from the sea. Clearly, environmental concerns, like overfishing and high level of mercury, may influence your seafood selection, however, Seafood Watch offers some great resources how to make safe and careful choices. What I love about this information is that it not only serves to encourage healthier eating, which can help keep those pounds away (My friend Danielle Omar wrote a great guest post about sea veggies and weight about a month ago), but also provides another strategy for keeping bones healthy as we age. Yup, the best things in life are sea.
Read MoreIt’s about time…weight, that is
Findings from a new study suggest that time of day may play a critical role in how much weight you do or do not gain. In fact, you may be better off eating fat first thing upon waking as opposed to at the end of the day.
Mind you, this study was conducted in mice and not humans, so it’s way too early to know for sure. However, what they found that was when mice were fed a high-fat diet constantly throughout a waking period, they did not gain substantial amounts of weight, body fat or develop unusually high blood sugar. In fact, they appeared to adjust their metabolism accordingly. However, when mice were fed either high fat or carbohydrate rich diets at different times during the day, the paradigm shifted and their bodies were not always able to adjust metabolically. Here’s the skinny:
- Mice who ate a calorically-rich, high-fat meal immediately following the four hours after waking were able to adjust their metabolism and the amount of energy they used up so that weight remained normal. However,
- Mice who ate a calorically-rich, high-carbohydrate meal in the first four hours after wakening and then a high-fat meal four hours before rest had gained excessive amounts of weight and body fat, had blood sugar abnormalities associated with diabetes, and had increased levels of fats in the blood. Ironically this occurred regardless of total daily calories or total calories from fat.
The researchers say there is plenty of evidence showing that people who skip breakfast tend to have higher a body-mass index (BMI), as do people who engage in night eating. They also note that like the mice in the study, our circadian clocks do play a huge role in both our appetite and how we expend calories during the course of a day. Although individuals tend to vary how and what they eat throughout any given day, there is a tendency to eat carbohydrates early in the day and higher fat or more calorie dense meals later. So, it’s possible by reversing this pattern, we may be able to affect how we respond to carbohydrate rich meals (and associated weight gain) later in the day.
Granted, only time can tell and it’s essential to repeat this study in human. Plus there’s another fact that women in particular need to be aware of: hormones and age play a critical role in controlling metabolism, and how, when and where we gain weight.
Right now, the best strategy is to eat healthy foods, unsaturated fats and exercise. But if you are craving bacon, you may want to have it in the morning and not in a BLT or wrapped around a scallop later in the day.
Read MoreWednesday bubble: one drink makes you smaller…
Can one drink make you smaller? According to a study that appears in this week’s Archives of Internal Medicine, light to moderate amounts of alcohol may help you gain less weight. Sounds too good to be true, right?
Intuition tells me that drinking alcohol can lead to weight gain because you end up taking in more calories than you burn (as well as the fact that those calories are carbohydrates). However, in over 19,000 women (aged 39 and older) with a normal body mass index (i.e. 18.5 to 25), women who reported not drinking any alcohol had the most weight gain over approximately 13 years. What’s more, women who reported drinking about 40 grams of alcohol daily were less likely to become overweight or obese. Women drinking less than 30 grams a day had a 30% lower risk of becoming overweight or obese than women who did not drink at all. In this study, the link between alcohol intake and overweight or obesity was seen for red or white wine, beer or liquor. The strongest association was seen for red wine.
In a separate analysis, the researchers also observed an association between declines in the amount of weight, increases in alcohol intake and older age. Comparatively, the magnitude of the weight gain was smaller in older versus younger women!
Importantly, the results seen in the study remained even after researchers made adjustments for lifestyle, clinical and dietary factors such as physical activity, the presence of chronic disease and consumption of other beverages (e.g. coffee, soft drinks, tea).
Granted, 40 grams is about 1.4 ounces or about half of a normal 5 ounce glass of wine. That may not meet the craving for a glass of wine. However, perhaps the larger take-away message is that a little wine can go a long way towards staving off weight gain. My RD friends might disagree but it’s an interesting ponder.
What do you think? Can one drink (or a half a drink) make you smaller?
Read MoreStirring the pot: a conversation with author/chef Mollie Katzen on food, women and aging
Just about anyone who’s interested in cooking and whose formative years took place in the late 60s and 70s knows these names: Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen. Personally, both of these volumes occupied prominent places on my bookshelves for years. That is, until worn from overuse and stained with food and memories, I reluctantly let them go.
So, what do cooking and midlife and menopause have to do with each other? And what type of insights can chef and author Mollie Katzen lend to the conversation?
I originally approached Mollie in search of nutrition advice for women going through midlife and menopause. Although I realize that she isn’t a dietician or a nutritionist, as someone who’s immersed herself in food for decades, she seemed quite capable to lend a perspective. But as our conversation took hold and we found our rhythm, I realized that the focus had shifted: what I ended up with was a mini-instruction manual, not only for eating healthy but also for forming and maintaining positive relationships with food and with ourselves.
A champion of “keep it healthy,” Mollie entered the scene when cookbooks were largely geared towards the typical American meat and potato diet. When the Moosewood Cookbook first hit the shelves, “there was barely even a cookbook section in the bookstore, let alone, a ‘healthy eating’ or ‘vegetarian’ section,” explains Mollie. Yet, she is not what many of us classify as “vegetarian,” and although she primarily skews the dinner plate towards greens and veggies, she consistently includes small amounts of animal protein. “My diet in my 30s and 40s could have been classified as practically vegan,” she says, “even if I wasn’t orthodox about it.” (At that time, she was also keen on a low-fat diet, which, coupled with the lack of ample amounts of protein, spelled trouble.) “It was almost ‘remorse cuisine;’ I’d eat this way and by mid-afternoon I’d almost be fainting, depleted, irritable. I had no focus. I found that I wasn’t functioning and would wonder what was wrong with me because I thought I was eating the purest diet on the planet. I felt like I was falling apart.”
If you are familiar with the earlier editions of Mollie’s books, they concentrate heavily on whole grains and legumes. However, age has paved a path for a significant alteration in what she eats. Emphasizing that the amount of bulgar and beans she’d have to eat to obtain the amount of protein that she needs for her blood sugar to stay stable could easily translate into an extra 50 pounds, Mollie says that she has changed her diet to include grass-fed animal protein and raw milk cheese, milk and butter.
What about aging and diet? “I think that women get really frustrated,” she says, pointing out that as we age, even if we change nothing about our lifestyles, e.g., if our lifestyle is reasonable, we are of fairly normal weight, exercise moderately and eat pretty well, we still gain weight. “Our bodies become an inefficient machine and our metabolisms slow,” she says, adding that one of the most consistent things she’s observed amongst her friends is the “oh my god, what happened to my body” moment. The ‘I’m minding my business, doing the same things I’ve always done and all of a sudden, I’ve got this spare tire, I’ve got the fat” epiphany. Sound familiar?!
Although challenging, the answer to this common dilemma is fairly intuitive. And while we’d love to fool ourselves into believing that declining hormones are the primary culprits, they aren’t. Rather a decline in physical activity and lack of dietary restraint are the key players. Mollie agrees that while women can’t do a whole lot about the fat redistribution, the “one thing [they] need in order to keep the [weight gain] at bay is to keep muscles toned as possible with resistance exercise and also, eat less.” New flash! This actually works; Mollie reports that she currently weighs the same as she did in her 20’s!
Of course, what works for one woman might not be exactly what works for another. We all need to forge our dietary paths and strategies that work for both our individual metabolism and our bodies.
“Health is trial and error,” Mollie explains. “So much of it shows up in how you feel a few hours later. For example, do you feel sleepy after you’ve eaten? Do you feel sluggish or irritable later in the day? Do you have trouble sleeping at night? For me, these were all symptoms of what was going on when I was eating almost no fat or protein.” Much in line with health and nutrition experts, Molllie’s strategy has been to reduce her daily caloric intake while at the same time increasing the percent of calories in her diet that are fat. “I get a good 30% of my calories from nuts, olive oil, avocado and fatty fish.” And when she snacks, its the good fats that she reaches for: “avocados and nuts, especially walnuts. When I am hungry, I have a handful of almonds. I just think that for people as they get older, they should lose the pretzels and eat almonds or guacamole or something with good fat in it.”
We also need to slow down. Bet you’ve heard that before! Mollie says that the most radical transformation we can make with food isn’t so much changing what we eat but how we eat it. Her advice? “Don’t even pick up the fork for the first minute that the food is served. Breathe deeply, look at it, admire it, thank the cook, be grateful. Then pick up your fork, take a few bites and put your fork down. Swallow your food. Women simply don’t have the metabolic ability to do a good job with all that food.”
Food heals. As women, our love-hate relationship with food is complex. We not only use food as fuel, but also to feed our emotions. Or on the flipside, we deprive ourselves in ways that are counterintuitive and sometimes, downright unhealthy.
“This sounds so obvious,” says Mollie, “but I really want people to turn towards cooking and not away from it. To me, the more hands-on and proactive we are about food and cooking, the more we heal whatever issues or concepts we have around food. I’ve actually seen people healing their relationship with food by diving into it.” Make food one of your favorite hobbies. She suggests that rather instead of shunning away from the grocery store run, step back and make it a trip to pick up something beautiful to be celebrated. “Diving into a more positive, deliberate relationship with food gives you something nice to do,” she adds.
What are the take-away messages?
- Tailor it uniquely: keep it healthy.. for you.
- Move towards healthier choices and use food in a healing, more positive manner.
- Embrace yourself with beautiful food, whether it’s a perfect tomato from the Farmer’s Market or some kick-ass, green-as-grass guacamole.
- Take it slow, and breathe.
Wise words, from a wise woman who knows her way around a kitchen or two.
p.s. Mollie has shared two of her favorite recipes. Check them out, try them out and please, comment and show some love!
About Mollie:
Mollie Katzen, with over 6 million books in print, is listed by the New York Times as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. A 2007 inductee into the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, and largely credited with moving healthful vegetarian food from the “fringe” to the center of the American dinner plate, Ms. Katzen has been named by Health Magazine as one of “The Five Women Who Changed the Way We Eat.”
In addition she is a charter member of the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Roundtable and an inaugural honoree of the Natural Health Hall of Fame. An award-winning illustrator and designer as well as best-selling cookbook author and popular public speaker, Mollie Katzen is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking classics Moosewood Cookbook, and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Her other books include the award-winning children’s cookbook trilogy, Pretend Soup,Honest Pretzels, and Salad People; Vegetable Heaven (winner of the International Cookbook Reveu Best in Category award); Sunlight Café; Eat, Drink, & Weigh Less (with Walter Willett, MD of Harvard), and the best-selling The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without.
Read MoreStirring the pot, part 2: recipes from author/chef Mollie Katzen
Food is powerful. It can engage, embrace, empower and entertain. It can inspire community, sharing and love. It can make you feel “I am woman (or man)” or stir powerful memories.
Mollie Katzen has shared two of her favorites that respectively represent empowerment and community. The first, from her book Still Life with Menu, is filled with greens and pasta and feta cheese, a powerful combination of flavors, textures and nutritious wonder. The second is a lovely Indian-inspired dish; truly, what’s better than a big, thick dal with split peas and lots of exotic spices?
Enjoy!
Pasta with Greens & Feta
Mollie Katzen (© All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.)
Here is a painless way to slip some of those ultra-nutritious bitter greens into our diet. You can use any combination of kale, mustard, collard, dandelion, escarole, chard, beet, turnip, or spinach.
The instructions call for “short, substantial pasta,” and I have suggested a few forms. This kind of sauce, with tender pieces of onion and bite-sized flecks of greens, studded with soft crumbles of feta, adheres best to small shapely units of pasta. Each mouthful of this dish delivers a beautiful integration of textures and truly satisfying flavor.
3 to 6 tablespoon olive oil
3 to 4 cups chopped onion (pieces can be on the large side – up to you)
3 or more bunches leafy greens – washed, dried, stemmed (if necessary) and coarsely chopped (8 or more cups chopped)
Salt
3/4 pound penne, fusilli, shells, orechiette, farfalle, or some comparable short, substantial pasta
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped walnuts, lightly toasted (optional)
Put up the pasta water to boil. Place a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, and wait for about a minute. Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan, then wait another 30 seconds or so. Add the onions, and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the water when it boils.
Add as many of the chopped greens as will fit to the skillet, salt lightly, and stir until the greens begin to wilt. The wilting will make room for more of the greens, so add as many more as will fit, salting lightly as you go, and lifting/turning the greens (cooked and uncooked) with tongs. Keep doing this over medium-low heat until all the greens are in and they are all wilted.
When the pasta is done to your liking (keep it on the al dente side) scoop it out with a “spider” or a strainer, bit by bit, hold it over its cooking water briefly to drain, then add it directly to the potful of sauce. (You don’t need to drain the pasta thoroughly – okay if some water adheres…) Mix with tongs until reasonably well blended, sprinkling in the feta as you go. Grind in a generous amount of black pepper.
Cook the complete dish just slightly over low heat for just a few minutes (really just until the feta melts in a little). Serve immediately, topped with walnuts, if desired.
Preparation time: About 40 minutes. Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Yellow Split Pea Dahl
Mollie Katzen (© All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.)
“Dahl” in Indian cooking refers to porridgelike dishes made from legumes – usually split peas, mung beans, or lentils. Dahl is often served in a thinned state as a soup, but equally often, it well be a thick, hearty side dish. This is a thick one, comprehensive and highly spiced enough to be the focus of a meal. It goes beautifully with basmati rice (I especially like the rice with toasted almonds added), and keeps and reheats very well.
2 cups yellow split peas
2 tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
10 to 12 medium-sized garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne
Place split peas and 10 cups water in a soup pot or Dutch oven Cover and heat to boiling point, then reduce heat and simmer very slowly, partially covered – stirring intermittently- for about 2 1/2 hours, or until very soft.
About 45 minutes into the simmering, heat the oil in a small skillet (over medium-low heat) and add the cumin and mustard seeds. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often, until the seeds smell toasty and make popping noises. Add the remaining spices and the half the garlic, and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until everything is heated through and well mingled. Add this mixture to the simmering split peas.
About 45 minutes later, add the remaining garlic. Stir and continue to simmer. As the dahl becomes thicker, you can add a heat diffuser under the pot to prevent sticking. You can also add more water – 1/4 cup at a time.
When the split peas are tender, add salt, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne to taste. Again, if desired, okay to add small mounts of additional water. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes further, and serve hot.
Preparation time: A few minutes of work; 2 1/2 hours of independent simmering Yield: 6 to 8 servings (maybe more, depending on the context)
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