Eat Smart! Finding hidden food traps
Unless you take time to measure everything you eat, you may be falling into “hidden food traps”.
People don’t realize how much they are eating, according to Brian Wansink, PhD, whose research has focused on perceived consumption vs. actual consumption.
One study Wansink conducted found that something as simple as the shape of a glass increased the serving size. Even though both glasses had the same volume, people poured about 37 percent more liquid in short, wide glasses than in tall, skinny glasses.
“Most of us have too much chaos going on in our lives to consciously focus on every bite we eat . . . The secret is to change your environment so it works for you rather than against you,” said Wansink during a presentation at the American Psychological Association’s 119th Annual Convention.
So how do you make this work for you? By making these few changes, participants in a Wansink study lost up to two pounds a month.
- Eat off of salad plates instead of dinner plates
- Keep healthier food at eye-level in the fridge and cupboards, and keep unhealthy food s out of sight
- Eat in a dining area and not in front of the TV
Eat Smart! A bowl a day could keep high blood pressure away
The amount of cereal you eat, specifically whole grain cereal, can significantly reduce the risk of high blood pressure, according to a Physicians Health Study.
The study analyzed data from more than 13,000 male physicians over a 16 year period. None of the men had high blood pressure at the beginning of the study.
The participants were grouped together by how much cereal they ate. The group who did not eat cereal was used as a control.
- The group who ate one or less servings a week saw an 8 percent lower high blood pressure risk
- Those who ate two to six servings a week
saw a 16 percent lower risk - Those who ate seven or more servings a week saw a 25 percent lower risk
Hmmm, may be tomorrow morning you should include a serving of whole grain cereal.
Eat Smart! After school snack ideas
For many, September means goodbye summer and hello back-to-school routines.
And with everyone’s hectic schedule, having a few healthy choices available will help answer the late afternoon cry, “I’m hungry!”
Snacks will help put off hunger and help you and the kids get through to the next mealtime.
Keep snacks on a designated shelf in the fridge or in a basket on the counter for convenience. It will also make them easy to grab on your way out the door, when you know sometime down the road you will be looking for nosh. Have something for your kids to eat after practice or to help you avoid the impulse by at the grocery store.
Over the weekend may be a good time to come up with a list of your favorites. Make it a family affair: brainstorm suggestions with your kids and have them help pre-bag the treats in individual portions. This is also a great time to talk about food and nutrition.
Choose whole foods and limit processed, packaged foods when possible. Whole foods will tend to have less sugar and more fiber which will fill you up.
Here are a few healthy suggestions to get you started. Share your ideas with us on our Facebook page.
- Fruit like bananas, apples, grapes … the list is endless. Try using peanut butter as a dip.
- Cut up veggies and use low fat salad dressing or hummus as a dip.
- Cheese and crackers
- Yogurt
- String cheese – look for low-fat
- Salsa with sliced cucumbers instead of chips
- Box of raisins
- Dried fruit
- Apple sauce
- Nuts like almonds, peanuts, walnuts
- Fat-free microwave popcorn
- Canned soup
- Granola bars (check the calories)
- Whole wheat pretzels
- Graham crackers
- Wheat crackers
- Animal crackers
- Low fat cottage cheese
- Instant oatmeal
- Cereal and milk
- Frozen fruit bars
- Chocolate milk (low fat)
Eat Smart! Weight Loss Studies Look at Eating Habits
Two interesting studies came across our desks this week. Definitely food for thought.
Study I: Limiting food choices may help with weight loss
What do you think would happen if you ate mac-n-cheese for five straight days? Gain a ton of weight, right? Well, maybe not. Here’s why.
Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that people lose interest in food that they eat over and over again, and end up eating less food.
The study had obese and non-obese women eat either a macaroni-and-cheese meal every day for five days, or one mac-n-cheese meal a week for five weeks. The group that ate mac-n-cheese every day averaged 100 fewer calories a day by the end of the week, whether they were obese or not. The other group averaged 30 more calories per day over their five week period.
Hmmmm.
Study II: Listen to your mother; chew your food
Participants who chewed their food 40 times vs. the typical 15 times, ate about 12 percent fewer calories, regardless of their weight.
In a study of 28 obese and normal-weight young men, researchers found higher levels of CCK, a hormone associated with reduced appetite, and lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, when the subjects chewed their food 40 times.
Mathematically, a 12 percent reduction in calories would result in a weight loss of about 25 pounds in a year. But of course, a typical diet includes foods that do not require chewing (like milk, soups, ice cream, etc.) and it may be hard to chew food for more than twice the normal 15 times. But chewing longer may be a useful tool in your weight management kit.
Eat Smart! Keep up your metabolism
Weight management is all about calories in and calories out, but how fast your body burns calories depends on a number of factors. Your size and composition (muscle to fat ratio) impact how your body burns calories – the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. Also, men tend to burn more calories than women and the body’s metabolism slows year after year after age 40.
So when developing a healthy eating plan and working your walking program, keep these in mind.
Stop yo-yo dieting, it confuses your body. Drastically reducing your daily calories or skipping meals signals your body that you are starving. Your body will shift its metabolism into survival mode by burning fewer calories and storing more as fat. Also, when you eat too few calories you risk losing muscle and muscle burns more calories than fat.
Keep your body running efficiently by eating smaller meals and snacks throughout the day, approximately every three to four hours. This forces your metabolism to burn calories all day long. Think of it like stoking a furnace, a fat burning furnace.
Be realistic about your weight loss goal. Aim for a weight loss of one to two pounds per week which can be done by reducing your caloric intake by 500 calories a day. Studies show that people who lose weight gradually are more likely to keep it off.
Drink water, drink water, drink water. Your body needs water to process calories, so when you are dehydrated your metabolism may slow. Studies show that people who drink eight to 12 glasses of water throughout the day have a higher metabolic rate than those who drink four glasses.
Your body burns more calories digesting protein than fat or carbohydrates. Replace some of your carbs with lean protein like chicken, turkey, fish, nuts, beans, eggs or low-fat yogurt and eat protein at every meal.
Build muscle to burn more calories. Incorporate strength training into your exercise plan and interval walking into your routine. Changing up the intensity levels while walking will increase your metabolic rate. Boost your walking speed a few minutes at a time during your walk. Also, increase resistance by walking up hills or adjusting the incline on the treadmill. Taking the stairs also helps build leg muscles.
Remember, the more you move throughout the day, the more calories you burn.
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