Related Posts

• What Nutritionists from other countries have to say?

  What Nutritionists from Other Countries Have to Say?   Recently an international conference of nutritionists was held in the United States.  During the conference, a writer for a magazine devoted to nutrition organized a panel of nutritionists representing seven countries, all of which are known for healthy lifestyles.  A very basic question was asked:  What recommendations do they have for better nutrition?  Their answers were fairly consistent among the seven nutritionists.    Focus on Vegetables:  All of the nutritionists recommended eating more vegetables and to make vegetables the center of a meal.   They expressed shock that Americans ALWAYS have meat as the front-and-center focus of their plates rather than vegetables.  They also expressed surprise that Americans do not eat more all-vegetable meals.   All of the nutritionists described how freshly harvested vegetables are served in their countries routinely as the entire meal.   As I thought about this recommendation, I realized that this is so true.  Meat, front and center.  In fact, I pulled out an old etiquette book and an old style basic cookbook from 50 years ago.  In both books I found diagrams how ...

• Ain’t it awful? convenience food that is... Try the Recipe of the Week: Summer Vegetable Stir Fry with Pasta

  Ain’t it awful?   Something interesting with a disturbing purpose is going on with refrigerators.  Have you looked at new refrigerators lately?  Do so and you will see that all new refrigerators come with an expanded freezer section and a smaller refrigeration section.  Have you noticed that grocery stores are adding more freezer space?  Also, have you noticed that grocery stores are stocking less frozen produce like fruit and vegetables and are stocking more frozen ready-made meals and frozen meal packages?  Refrigerators are changing in order to hold stacks of frozen ready-made meals purchased from grocery stores that are expanding their inventory of frozen meals.   The Norman Rockwell scene of an All-American family having dinner together is all changed.  Mother, Father, Sister, Brother come into the kitchen, pick out what they want for supper from the freezer, microwave it, and sit down for their particularly selected meal, often straight from the package rather than from a plate.  I’m not making up some fantasy, it’s real.  The worst part of all this is what’s on the back of the packages from which they ...

• CSA Community Supported Agriculture

  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)   For more than 25 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically, the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.  This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief:   Advantages for farmers: ·         Marketing their produce is simplified ·         Guarantees a cash flow ·         Learns directly what consumers are wanting Advantages for consumers: ·         More fresh food and fresh food = greater nutritional value ·         Exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking ·         Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown   Tens of thousands of families have joined CSAs, and in some areas of the country there is more demand than there are CSA ...

• 18/21 Rule and Other Advice I’ve Read That Actually Makes Sense

  18/21 Rule and Other Advice I’ve Read That Actually Makes Sense   Health advice is abundant.  While it reflects a worthwhile trend to having access to more information about health, some articles I’ve read are not very helpful.  Ubiquitously, advice in articles frequently say for better health, “Lose weight” and it is given as casually as “Floss Teeth.”  To get ready for bed you should brush and floss your teeth and lose twenty pounds.  Hmm, I’m exaggerating, of course, but such casual advice is not helpful and unnecessary.  In the same type of advice, articles frequently relate how many calories in a meal and how many grams of protein and how many grams of carbohydrates.  I don’t know about you, but my life cannot be centered around perfection and following healthy advice all the time.    However, there are some suggestions that I’ve found are helpful and actually make sense for our less than perfectly ordered lives:   18/21 Rule To explain this rule, here is a personal example.  My granddaughter is a cheerleader for her high school that’s located in Mobile.  During the fall months, ...

• Vote with your fork- Pollan

  My wife was a fan of an afternoon television show in which a doctor talked with women in the audience about health issues.  Occasionally, when I walked through the room, I would pause and listen to what he was covering for that day.  A frequent topic of his was to discuss the health benefit of a spice or nut or dried fruit.  He always concluded the segment with something like, “Just put a little on your cereal each morning.”  After about the dozenth time hearing him say that, I commented to my wife, “If we followed his advice, we would need to eat cereal from a barrel and it would take all day with all the toppings he recommends.”  I think I ruined the show for her as she has not been watching it since, but that’s another matter.             Following health advice gets complicated.  Recently, I read an article in which the author attacked the holiest of holies – fruit.  He wrote that fruit should not be eaten alone because of sugar content, but paired with protein or with ...

• Cucumber – Tomato – Avocado – Rice Salad

  There is a theory, an obscure, unsubstantiated theory for sure, but a theory that the human body desires or craves the nutrition derived from fresh, in season, fruits and vegetables.  If you enjoy the first strawberries or blueberries of the season as much as I do, you probably understand that feeling of tasting the first of the crop.  When we’ve gone months without fresh berries (no, grocery store berries just don’t satisfy) and the nutrients available, there is something immensely satisfying in the taste.  Of course, the same feeling results in first vegetables.  Is there anything better than a fresh off the vine tomato when they first start producing?  The theory is that our body is receiving nutrients that it craves and the nutrients are in greater supply in a fresh product.    The theory also includes a component the human body will crave a substitute of fats, salt, and sugar when the nutrients are not available.  Our bodies tell us that nutrients from fresh fruit and vegetables are needed and we substitute drive-through fast food and super sweetened drinks instead.  ...