Many of us will spend tonight partying in anticipation and celebration of the new year. Booze will be served and probably some finger food. Wouldn’t it be great not to worry over the calories, carbs, and getting too buzzed?

Since New Years Eve happens just once a year, we’d mark it down as one of those events where it’s ok to let down the guard. That said, it’s very easy to go overboard with both alcohol and food.

So make every bite and every swig count. Don’t settle for the cheap kool-aid with vodka. And don’t have just any greasy hors d’oeuvre walked up to you in a tray. There will be many finger foods and noshes, but only a few really worth it.

Go for the good stuff. Make sure every morsel is going to be the best tasting. And if it’s not going to be that kind of party, have a good dinner at home before heading out.

Here’s a (whole wheat) toast to your health and happiness!

See you next year…

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Around this time of year, people start making their new year resolutions. Many of us will decide that this year we will finally go on that diet and keep the pounds off.

We’d like to offer some suggestions for food swaps or introductions that may help. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Sardines. Much cheaper than salmon. Additionally, due to their small size and diet consisting of plankton, sardines do not accumulate heavy metals in their bodies like the big fish do. There is also no fear of stock depletion any time soon. Sardines are a nutrition powerhouse: rich in omega-3 fatty acids, high in vitamin D and B12, and a great source of protein. Bonus:  lots of calcium from their edible bones. The one caveat – high sodium content. So watch out.

2. Nuts (instead of salted nut mixes). Buy them in the bulk section. unsalted. mix them up. Place in a ziplock bag and keep in your backpack, purse, office drawer, glove compartment, and anywhere you may get the munchies.

3. Home made granola. It takes no more than 5 minutes preparation and 60 minutes in the oven to make your own batch. You’ll never go back to store brought. Promise.

4. Legumes. If you’re looking for a more plant based diet, legumes are an important source of protein. Whether beans, lentils, or peas, there are endless recipes and serving variations.

5. Hummus Dip (instead of mayo). It’s a healthy dip because it is full of heart healthy fats, high in protein and very satisfying. The beans also contain nice amounts of fiber. But it can also be a healthy spread to use instead of mayonaise. By the way, hummus is a type of legume.

6. Berries. Fresh or frozen, berries are rich in antioxidants, sweet and tasty.

7. Plain yogurt (instead of flavored). Yogurt has become all the rage in diet circles, and Greek Yogurt even more so recently. If you’ve moved up to yogurt, take the next step and buy it plain. You’ll save yourself half the amount of sugar. Additionally, you’ll avoid all sorts of unnecessary ingredients used to suspend and preserve the fruit inside the yogurt.

8. Unsweetened tea. Americans are drinking too much sweet. Even if you’re off the soda bandwagon, iced tea can contain just as much sugar. In Japan, unsweetened tea brands such as Ito-En are sold at every train station and supermarket. Ito-En is now available in the US, as is Sokenbicha (by none other than the Coca Cola company).

9. Flavored Water. For some people, water gets too boring. You can add a slice of lemon, or cucumber, or lemongrass, or other herbs, and instantly you’ve upgraded your drink. Too lazy to do this on your own? Companies such as Ayala’s Herbal Water offer a wide variety of flavored waters with 0 added sugar.

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Here’s an interesting factoid: It takes our body close to 8 hours to metabolize a single cup of coffee.  A cup of coffee can contain 65-175mg of caffeine. The benchmark is 100mg, and the current recommendation is to drink up to 3 cups of coffee per day. Which means that drinking all 3 cups may leave your body continually caffeinated.

Is this a problem?

Most Americans never get the caffeine out of their system according to Jamie McDermott, a registered dietitian with Solace Clinic.

“More than 500 milligrams a day is considered too much by most health organizations,” she said. “I believe caffeine becomes more than a habit when someone ‘needs’ it to get through their morning or day or [when] they need more and more of it.

“We become conditioned to it — some even build a tolerance — so that what once worked to wake them up now does not.” Read more from the Times Free Press…

Side effects of caffeine include insomnia and irritability, but can lead to tremors and heart palpitations. Teenagers overdosing on energy drinks have found themselves in emergency rooms.

So, are you consuming too much caffeine?

Here’s a list of some common drinks and their caffeine content. Use it to calculate how perky you might be at any given time during the day…

Cup of coffee………………………………..………… 65-175mg
Decaf coffee……………………….………………… less than 5mg
Cup of black tea……………………………………… 70mg
Green Tea……………………………………………… 15-50mg

Water…………………………………………………….. 0mg
Sprite (12 fl oz)………………………………………… 0mg
Coke Classic (12 fl oz)………………………………34mg
Diet Coke (12 fl oz)………………………………….45mg
Mountain Dew (12 fl oz)………………………….55mg
Iced Tea (12 fl oz)……………………………………70mg
Red Bull (12 fl oz equivalent)………….……… 115mg
Redline Energy Drink (12 fl oz equivalent)…. 375mg
Cocaine Energy Drink (12 fl oz equivalent)..…400mg

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This is a guest blog post by Dr. Eric Marcotte, MD

The apple juice scrum Dr. Oz started a few months ago came roaring back to life last month.  The original kerfuffle got the FDA to write emails, issue statements and even be interviewed by the Dr. Oz show according to his website.

Like most ‘crises’ this one faded quickly when some celebrity got arrested or engaged or whatever.  The debate got louder again last week when Consumer Reports published lead and arsenic levels in 10 national juice brands.  Dr. Oz may be a bit sensational but not many would accuse stodgy CR of exaggerating.

Buried in a then-unnoticed article from Consumer Reports, I found this little tidbit:

China now has become the world’s major exporter of apple juice concentrate, with America as its largest customer. Imports from China now account for two-thirds of the U.S. apple juice supply.

It turns out that China uses pesticides the US has long outlawed to grow their apples.  Seems like we just won’t learn: China has proven over and over that it isn’t a safe source for drugs (heparin), dog food (melamine), milk (also melamine) or even toys (lead).

Why would China be a good place to buy apple juice??

A different and probably louder demographic group is now lit up about apple juice, demanding government action to “protect our youth.”  Twitter (at least my little corner of it) has been buzzing about all this, stories flying around and looking more grim with each go-around.

I have an idea to bring a little sanity and safety to our grocery shopping.  Ready?

STOP DRINKING JUICE!!!

To quote this smart doctor I know (well, actually it’s just me…)

Yes, juice has vitamins – but so does the fruit! Yes, juice even has minerals and those antioxidants – but so does the fruit! Know what else juice has? Juice has more calories per ounce than Coke. Juice has more sugar than soda. Juice is easier to package and store and ship and sell than fruit. Juice is much sweeter than fruit so it’s easier to get kids to like it.

How do any of these things make juice good for you? They don’t – it’s not! Juice is good for the food and drink companies…. Let me repeat: Juice is not good for you!  Food Truths, Food Lies, pp. 33-4

Let’s skip the apple (and orange, grape, etc.) juice and eat the fruit instead.  Apple concentrate can make it across the ocean just fine, so our Big Food companies trying to make a buck will keep buying it wherever it’s cheap.

Apples?  Buy a bag and it likely came from no further away than Washington or Michigan.  In my town, I can buy apples most of the year that grew in my zip code.

Guess what?  That (American) apple is good for my digestion, waist line, world, and wallet.  Trading up from apple juice to an actual apple would be good for yours, too!

Eat Healthfully, Live Fully Healthy!

Eric Marcotte, MD is a small-town Family Physician who is passionate about helping his patients make healthy choices. “Your life and health are the only really valuable possessions you have.  Almost everything else can be repaired or replaced,” he says.  His book Food Truths, Food Lies is available on Amazon.

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Here’s an interesting food additive that’s gaining popularity. Emulin, which became available as an over the counter supplement earlier this year, is supposed to help people control their blood sugar.

Sold as “GC7X”, this is not an artificial sweetener. It is a supplement that is purported to reduce glucose absorption in the bloodstream by 30%.

So why the picture of the grapefruit? Because Emulin is a patented blend of flavonoids found in grapefruits and berries.

What you need to know:

Very little research has been published to date on this supplement. In fact, only one study (on 40 people) has shown some potential benefit.

Apparently, grapefruits contain compounds that limit glucose absorption in the bloodstream. Like other fruits, they are a good source of fiber and other nutrients. Unfortunately very few of us eat enough fruit (or veggies). But most of us do consume an excess of processed foods that have little or no nutritional benefits.

Is the answer then to keep eating highly refined food products and then pop some magic pills? Should diabetics rejoice?

The GC7X company would obviously love for you to buy their pills. At $45 for a 90 day supply, they are the same price as eating half a real grapefruit per day.

Our take – no way. Just eat the real food people, not an extract focusing on a single benefit.

Experts also say that it’s a bad idea to eat sugary foods in general, even if the body is absorbing less sugar. High-sugar foods “generally don’t provide much nutrition, vitamins, minerals, protein or fiber,” said Susan Weiner, a New York City-based registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator. Selecting vegetables, whole grains and fruits as carb choices will allow people with diabetes to better manage their blood sugar levels, she said. Read more from LA Times…

What to do at the supermarket:

Spend more time in the produce section. Down the road it will save you both time and money by allowing you to avoid the pharma aisles of  the local drugstore…

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photo: American Diabetic Association

Do you suffer from diabetes?

About 26 million Americans are diabetic. Another 79 million are pre-diabetic. So statistically, there is a good chance some of you are members of the “diabetes club”.

To date, Fooducate has focused on general food and nutrition advice. But in 2012, we’d like to see how Fooducate can help diabetics with their specific food and diet requirements.

If you have diabetes, please contact us, we’d like to learn more about your needs and see if we can develop more tools to help. We’ll ask you some questions and hopefully gain insights that will help us to help you.

Thanks in advance!

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Merry Christmas from all of us here at Fooducate!

Who got some cool new kitchen gadgets from Santa?

Do tell us…

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This holiday season, we are featuring some healthy, tasty recipes from professional chef Dave Schy. Visit his website New Taste, for step by step pictures for this and other great recipes.

According to Dave, this is his most popular internet recipe. It is perfect for the holiday season as well as anytime of the year. Dave made the recipe for a friend who is on a gluten free diet and it found its way onto a bunch of GF sites.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 Cups Stock, chicken or vegetable or water
1 Cup Millet
1 Cup Quinoa
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Parsnip
1 Carrot
1 Celery Stalk
1 Potato
1/2 Onion
6 Mushrooms, button
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp. Thyme, fresh or dry
1/2 tsp. Rosemary, fresh or dry
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper. coarse grind
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Garbanzo Beans, (optional) canned
3 Tbs. Chopped Parsley
3 Tbs. Craisins
2 Tbs. Nuts, Pistachio or Pumpkin Seeds or Sunflower Seeds

Note:
Both the quinoa and millet should be placed into a small strainer and rinsed with cold water for about a half minute before cooking.

Heat Oven To 375°

Place stock / water into a pan on the stove.
Bring liquid to a boil; add millet.
Turn heat way down to a low simmer.
Cover pan and cook millet 8 minutes.

After 8 minutes, remove the cover.
Add quinoa, mix a couple times and cover the pan.
Cook millet & quinoa together another 16 minutes.

Remove cover and remove pan from heat.
Use a small spoon to mix and fluff the grains a couple of times.
Let grains cool in pan as vegetables finish cooking (next step).
Stir a couple of times as they cool.

As soon as the grains begin to cook you can start on the vegetables.
Rinse and peel (if you like) the carrot and parsnip.
Peel the potato, onion and garlic.
Wash the celery, green pepper and parsley.
Wipe the mushrooms clean.

Cut all of the vegetables into manageable size pieces.
Cut all of the pieces into a small dice.
Chop the parsley and mince the garlic.
Place all diced vegetable ingredients, minus the parsley, into a large mixing bowl.
Add thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Add olive oil and toss ingredients together.
Pour ingredients onto a half sheet pan.
Bake vegetables in the oven for thirty minutes.

Remove pan from the oven.
Add parsley, craisins and nuts to the quinoa pan.
Add garbanzos if you are using them.

Add cooked vegetables to the quinoa pan.
Use two long spoons to mix everything together.
Mixture should still be very hot.

Note:
You can also let ingredients cool to be heated and served at another time.

Pour mixture into a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.
Pat them down a bit to form one even layer.

Bake in oven for ten to twelve minutes.
Turn oven off and turn broiler onto high.
Broil stuffing for a few minutes to give the dish some color.
You can broil for a very long time to form a great crust but you should not add the nuts until it is out of the oven, as they will burn.

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Can junk food companies reinvent themselves and start selling healthy food instead?

If you ask the CEOs of the big food corporations such as McDonald’s and PepsiCo, the answer is YES, of course. Indra Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo has made the “better for you” line of products an integral part of her strategy moving the company forward. Unfortunately that strategy has not been successful, and shareholders have been antsy over the past few years.

That’s why they must have been relieved to hear that the company is renewing its focus on “indulgent” brands that make up the core of its business.

“We cannot forget about what I call the indulgent core businesses,” Albert Carey, chief executive of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, said at an industry conference … ”If you’re going to do the healthy, you have to do the core, because we still have a very strong business in the core.” Examples, he said, include Frito-Lay “bar food” snacks such as taco-flavored Doritos and hot-wing-flavored Ruffles. Read more…

Perhaps PepsiCo didn’t try hard enough in the health food segment? If Gatorade and baked Lays can be considered a healthy choice by the company, perhaps it is better off focusing on selling junk food. At least we all know and can identify it for what it is. It’s actually the sugar laden, artificially colored Gatorade that worries many health professionals, because they see many consumers drinking it thinking it is a healthy beverage.

Imagine PepsiCo really making an effort, using its massive infrastructure and logistics centers to promote the consumption of fresh local foods. Imagine if they could create food education centers and teach people to easily prepare home cooked meals. Imagine PepsiCo creating direct connections between farmers and consumers. There are so many out-of-the-box opportunities for a company the size of PepsiCo to try and truly reinvent itself, not by switching from a cola to a Gatorade. Too bad this type of long term thinking is not rewarded by Wall Street.

Holidays are busy times in the sky, and not just because Santa is making deliveries. With many of us crisscrossing the country to be with loved ones, airports are congested bottlenecks we all have to pass through. And since we arrive with plenty of time to kill, just in case lines will be longer than the usual long, hunger sets in while we wait to board our flight.

Many of us rely on airport fare. Aside from being exorbitantly expensive, most food served at airports is not that healthy. According to this article in USA Today, more healthy options are being made available each year. And there are rare gems in various airports.

Chicago O’Hare has a burrito place at the American Airlines Terminal. Numerous airports have sushi places (watch the sodium though). And most cafe type shops offer fresh fruit, fruit bowls, and yogurt for sale.

With a little planning and forethought, you can bring your own food to the airport (and the flight), and settle in to your terminal seat waiting for your flight.

Here are some ideas:

• Bring your own sandwiches
• Pack apples and bananas – they don’t get squished as much as other fruit while schlepping all your luggage.
• Pack your own trail mix – nuts, seeds, dried fruit. A great emergency stash that can last for weeks hidden in your bag.
• If you hate paying for bottled water, you are allowed to pass an empty bottle through security and then fill up at a water fountain on the other side.
• We’d love to recommend yogurt too, but security won’t let that through (yep,we tried). So eat your yogurt at home.

What are your tips and tricks for nutrition at the airport?

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