Indulgences: "Permissible" or Not?

I read an article recently in the Wall Street Journal that conveyed how more and more companies are creating snack foods out of "healthy" ingredients because consumers are looking for "permissible indulgences." For example, salty fried chips made from sweet potatoes rather than white ones or a  "snack" made of 100% seaweed sheets.

Being a person who craves salty and crunchy, I've tried a number of these products. Seaweed seems like such a great snack food! Until you realize that you just paid at something like $1.00 per wafer thin sheet. True, it was healthy, but the vitamins and minerals it gave you probably would've been cheaper in some other whole form of vegetable and you would've stayed full longer to boot.

I've also fallen victim to items like vegetable chips (usually potato chips with a little bit of color added from other vegetables) and those amazingly delicious crunchy vegetable slices which often don't say, but always are, deep fried (which does make them delicious!).  Sure, they're dehydrated before they are deep fried, but I personally used to always stop at the fact that they're dehydrated thinking that the wonderful food production companies had found a way to extract liquid from vegetables and thereby make them crunchy (without then frying them in oil).

Looks like vegetables, tastes like (and is) fried, salted vegetables (sort of like a potato chip!)

Now, when I say "fallen victim" I don't mean that it was bad to eat these foods. As we try to teach people who need help normalizing their eating, foods are not "good" and "bad." What I think we can classify as good or bad though is the intention behind eating something that is marketed in a certain way, especially if words are used to make it seem healthier when in reality it is not. Do I think that the crunchy vegetable packing needs to say "you may as well eat potato chips" on it? No. But I think that the preparation method should be made explicitly clear by stating, for example: Deep fried green beans, carrots, and beets instead of: Garden Chips. That way the consumer can see that, think to themselves "this might not be healthy enough to become an everyday snack but it looks delicious so I'll try it knowing that it is probably not a magical alternative to an unhealthy snack."

An indulgence should be just that - something that you crave, something that you want. If you have to put the word "permissible" in front of it, that gives control not only to the food but also to the food production companies who want you to think that their product is more permissible than others. Chances are if you're thinking to yourself that something in a permissible indulgence, it's not really an indulgence at all. I've read that for some people, if they deny themselves the food item that they really wanted, they'll end up eating even more of the alternative choice because it will never fully satisfy them in the way that the original item would have; they then end up consuming more calories and being unsatisfied.

Go Nuts!

I'm a huge fan on snacking on raw almonds. They've got protein, calcium, monounsaturated fat (the good kind), potassium, vitamin E... the list goes on. So this morning I was excited to read in the Tufts Health Letter that new research by the USDA Agricultural Research Service shows that almonds actually have 24% fewer calories than originally thought! The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the article, which shows that for some foods like nuts, the original way of figuring out how many calories a food contains could be inaccurate. They got real nitty gritty to measure this, by analyzing "output" shall we say, from people participating in the study. Here's an article that summarizes the study. Keep in mind that this new information only applies to whole, raw almonds, not chopped or roasted or those covered in wasabi, honey, or chocolate!

Happy Halloween!

While hosting my annual pumpkin carving party the other night, one of the guests inquired about the nutritional value of the delicious toasted pumpkin seeds that I was serving. I made an educated guess that they're high in fiber (when you eat them whole with the white part still on, not the green pepitas that you can buy at a grocery store) and protein, but wasn't exactly sure about the nutritional breakdown.

Delicious toasted pumpkin seeds!

Questions like that are a great reason to do some research! Turns out that I was definitely right about the protein; a quarter cup of seeds has almost 8.5 grams of protein, which is 17% of your daily value (approximately). However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend eating a quarter cup of pumpkin seeds on a daily basis (first of all, that would be a lot of pumpkins to carve, even for those of us who love to carve pumpkins) because they are pretty high in fat. That quarter cup contains 25% of your daily fat allotment (again, approximately) which is a mix of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated, with most of the polyunsaturated comprised of omega-6 (rather than omega-3s which you may have heard are super duper good for you). BUT! It's not all bad news. In addition to being little protein power houses and a decent source of dietary fiber, pumpkin seeds contain healthy doses of magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and vitamin K. So as with all tasty treats this holiday season, enjoy them, just do it in moderation.

Kat's Protein Powerhouse Pumpkin Seeds
At least 3 pumpkins
Olive oil
Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Carve several pumpkins. This works best if you have a party! Or a family.
2. Separate the "guts" from the seeds. Discard guts. Rinse seeds in a colander.
3. Spread seeds on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for around 10 minutes to dry off a bit from the rinsing.
4. Remove from oven and douse in olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.
5. Return to oven. Cooking time will vary depending on how wet they are and how crowded the seeds are on the pan, so check them every 5 or 10 minutes and remove them when they're slightly brown and look dry (see photo above). Enjoy!

Source of nutritional info: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=117

Oh So Blue, Berry

The heat is here! Which means unlimited amounts of popsicles and ice cream, right? Well... it's true that sometimes the easiest way to cool off is from the inside out, but a lot of delicious-looking frozen treats are high in sugar and artificial sweeteners (even the ones that claim to be good for you).  For example, Blue Bunny FrozFruit Chunky Strawberry, which proudly proclaims that it is fat free, contains 36 grams of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Yikes.

My personal favorite summer cool-down snack is frozen fruit. You can either freeze the fruit yourself or buy it already frozen (just make sure to look at the ingredients or the small print when buying frozen fruit; it should say something like "no added sugar" and the ingredient list should contain only fruit). My new go-to summer snack is frozen blueberries. I can buy a large, resealable, store-brand bag of deliciousness for much cheaper than fresh blueberries, and they're a great way to cool down. 1 cup contains 90 calories, no fat, 4g of fiber, 15g of sugar, and 1g of protein. Frozen fruit is also great for adding to yogurt in the summer months. The fruit will thaw a bit, but it will still be an extra-cold treat. While you're at it, why not make your own smoothie-pops? Mix together some plain yogurt and frozen berries, toss them into a popsicle mold or ice trays, and a few hours later enjoy!

Other fruits that are delicious frozen include strawberries and raspberries (also often available already frozen with no added sugar), basically any berry, and then an old stand-by of mine, grapes. You can even substitute frozen fruit for ice when serving a refreshing summer beverage; try frozen raspberries in your lemonade, frozen blueberries in your iced tea, or frozen grapes in your orange juice.

One word of caution when eating frozen blueberries... for some reason when the temperature drops, the color seems to be a bit more concentrated, so probably best not to eat a lot of them before an important meeting or photo shoot (unless that photo shoot is for a story about eating blueberries like this one was):

You won't exactly turn into a blueberry like Violet did in Willy Wonka, but your tongue will turn a lovely shade of purple for a little while!

Packed my Snack Tonight, Preflight

Traveling can be hard when you're trying to eat right and be active - several hours of sitting still with limited or no access to healthy food? No thanks! Now, I have yet to contact airport officials regarding my idea for an adult 'play area' in airports fully equipped with mats for sit ups, stretching, and yoga, but the food thing can indeed be taken care of with a little bit of planning. If you follow a few simple tips you'll end up saving money, being one of the most satisfied passengers on the plane/train/bus, and you'll be less likely to overindulge in unhealthy convenience food when you finally get to your destination.

1. Pack lots of snacks
You never know when your train will stop halfway between Boston and Albany for several hours with no explanation (spring, 2002) your 2-hour flight will become 5 when you have to land for a medical emergency (winter, 2010) or you'll miss your connecting flight forcing you to take an unexpected 3-hour bus ride (basically whenever I fly through Chicago). Better to be prepared than starving - and you can always save any uneaten snacks for the return flight.

2. Bring them from home
Some airports are getting wise to the fact that travelers want healthy options and are providing restaurants and kiosks with alternatives to fast food - at prices around double what you'd pay in your local supermarket.

3. Make sure you've got a variety of nutrients
Yes, nuts make a good high-protein snack. But they are high in fat and overindulging in them can cause stomach stress. Sure, fruit is great! But even 5 apples and bananas won't keep you full. There's a reason they call variety the spice of life!

Here's what I packed today for my flight from Boston to Raleigh:

Carrots and celery with a wedge of laughing cow cheese, Primal Strips Thai Peanut flavored vegan jerky, Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar (new flavor, absolutely delicious). Total price: less than $5. Total calories: approximately 300. Nutritional perks: veggies, protein, calcium, fiber... the list goes on!