Archive for the ‘Food Facts and Tips’ Category

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So many of us toast to the New Year with drink in hand – alcoholic or not.

Here’s a quick primer so you can make some informed choices:

• A standard drink is 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.
• Nutritionally:

1. 12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
2. 12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol
3. 5 ounces red wine has 125 calories and 15.6 grams of alcohol
4. 5 ounces of white wine has 121 calories and 15.1 grams of alcohol
5. 1 1/2 ounces (a jigger) of 80 proof (40% alcohol) liquor has 97 calories and 14 grams of alcohol

• Alcohol has 7 calories per gram but doesn’t fill you up the way food does, so you can drink a lot and not feel stuffed.
• Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and your resolve not to eat everything at the buffet table often flies right out the window.
• Eating something before drinking can help blunt alcohol’s intoxicating effects.
• Drinking light beer rather than regular saves about 50 calories a bottle.
• Mixed drinks and fancy drinks significantly up the calories.   For instance,

1. A frozen margarita has about 45 calories an ounce
2. A plain martini, no olives or lemon twist, has about 61 calories an ounce
3. An 8-ounce white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories.
4. The alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar in a cup of eggnog has about 343 calories and 19 grams of fat
5. Mulled wine, a combination of red wine, sugar/honey, spices, orange and lemon peel has about 210 to 300 calories per 5 ounces, depending on how much sweetener is added.

• Watch your mixers — per ounce club soda has no calories, tonic has10, classic coke has 12, Canada Dry ginger ale has 11, orange juice has 15, and cranberry juice has 16.
• And, if you’re toasting to health and happiness in the New Year with champagne – it’s a comparative caloric bargain at about 19 calories an ounce! To your health!

My very best wishes for a very happy and healthy New Year.

After a very successful year, starting in 2011  SocialDieter  will be “wearing” a brand new look and donning a new name — but keeping the same “attitude.” Our new name will be My foodMAPs, a moniker that better represents our approach to healthy eating and weight management.  For a sneak peak at the new look go to www.MyfoodMAPs.com

Please note that even if you are receiving email delivery of SocialDieter you will have to sign-up for email delivery of MyfoodMAPs.

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Chocolate bark at the receptionist’s desk.  Candy canes at the dry cleaners.  A rotating selection of Christmas cookies on just about everyone’s desk.  Happy holiday food gifts from grateful clients.  And that doesn’t include the fantastic spreads at holiday parties and family events!

It’s All So Tempting

It‘s incredibly difficult not to nibble your way through the day when you have all of these treats tempting you at every turn.  How many times do your senses need to be assaulted by the sight of sparkly cookies and the holiday scent of eggnog or spiced roasted nuts before your hand reaches out and the treat is popped into your mouth?

Be Realistic

It’s the holidays and even though some of these treats are a week’s worth of calories, by depriving yourself of them you are denying yourself the tradition of celebrating with food.

Make the distinction between mindful indulgence in the spirit of celebration as opposed to mindless indulgence in the spirit of trying to taste everything or to soothe your psyche by eating.  The first is part of the nurturing, sharing, and communal spirit of eating, the latter is an element of overeating.

Nix The Restrictive Thinking

Creating a restrictive mentality by denying yourself a treat that has always been part of your holiday celebration means it’s just a matter of time until you start an eating fest that only ends when there’s no more left to taste. Think of this:  what would it be like to swear that you won’t eat a single Christmas cookie when those cookies have been a part of your Christmas since you were a little kid when you baked them with your Mom?

Pick One – And Make It Special

You know that you are going to indulge.  Pick your treat, limit it to one, and enjoy it.  To help control the temptation, decide early in the day what your treat will be and stick with your decision. If you wait until later in the day when all the food is right in front of you and you’re hungry and tired, you’ll find that your resolve is not quite as strong!

Make an informed choice, too.  Being informed doesn’t deprive you of deliciousness, but does arm you with an element of control.  If you know the calorie count of certain foods, you can make the best choice.  For instance, perhaps you enjoy both wine and eggnog.  If you know that one cup of eggnog has around 343 calories and 19 grams of fat and a five ounce glass of red wine has around 125 calories and no fat – which would you choose?

There are many online sites that will give you the calorie count for specific foods, but I find that keeping a calorie counter book for quick checks is very helpful.  One that lists just about everything, including restaurant food, is the 2011 edition of The Calorie King, Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter.

The season of sugar plum fairies, ribbon candy, and sparkly cookies (and even fruit cake)  is upon us.  For about the past ten years we’ve been warned about watching how much sugar we’re eating and we still haven’t really listened.

According to the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee, Americans average 475 calories from added sugars every day.  That’s a lot more than the recommended daily max of 100 calories (six teaspoons) from added sugars for women and 150 calories (nine teaspoons) for men.  Think of it this way, that extra added 475 calories of sugar is the equivalent of 30 teaspoons a day.

A big problem with added sugars is that they both add calories and those “empty” calories displace the other nutritious foods.

Where Do Our Calories Come From?

Added sugars and solid fats account for about 35% of the calories in the average American’s diet. The recommended maximum is 5-15%.

About 36% of the added sugars come from sugary soft drinks — so cutting back on them is a good place to start trimming.

Natural vs. Added Sugars

Natural sugars are found in foods like milk and yogurt (lactose) and in fruit (fructose) as well as in many other foods. Because these sugars are found along with other healthy components in the foods, they’re considered okay.

Unfortunately, nutrition labels don’t differentiate between natural and added sugars.  Look for any form of sugar in the food’s ingredient list.

Look for all forms (typical sugars end in –ose like lactose, glucose, fructose) including brown, raw, or invert sugar and/or “syrup” including corn, high fructose corn, and malt syrup. Also look for honey, molasses, agave nectar, evaporated cane juice, and fruit juice concentrate.  Don’t be fooled by these. They sound healthy but are really just other forms of sugar.

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Examples Of Foods With Added Sugar

A 16 ounce soda has about 11 teaspoons of added sugar. Although most of our extra added sugar comes from soda, sweetened beverages like fruit drinks, sports drinks, and teas; desserts; candy; and breakfast cereals all contribute.

Here are some examples of the added sugar in some common foods. This is just the added sugar, not the natural sugar that might also be in these foods.

• Cola, 8 oz. 22 grams

• Cranberry juice cocktail, 8 oz., 20 grams

• Chocolate Milk, reduced-fat, 8 oz., 14 grams

• Tea, instant, sugar-sweetened, 8 oz., 21 grams

• Applesauce, sweetened (1 cup), 16 grams

• Baked beans, canned (1 cup), 15 grams

• Oreo-type cookies (3), 12 grams

• Cranberries, dried (1/3 cup), 25 grams

• Fruit cocktail in syrup (1 cup), 26 grams

• Granola bar (1 oz), 12 grams

• Jellybeans, (1 oz, 10 large), 20 grams

• Popcorn, caramel-coated (1 oz), 15 grams

• Fruit yogurt (6 oz container), 19 grams

Fructose:  A Simple Sugar

Fruit sugar, or fructose, is a simple sugar that your body metabolizes quickly and easily. Fructose, has few, if any, advantages over sucrose, the kind of sugar in candy.

Moderate fruit intake is recommended as part of a healthy diet. The simple sugars, like fructose, found in fruit are not a problem for active and healthy people. But, if you have diabetes or prediabetes, too much fruit could throw your blood sugar levels out of whack.

Fruit juice is often made from fruit concentrate with added refined sugar, so too much fruit juice can be a bad thing.  FYI:  there really isn’t a big nutritional difference if your jam is sweetened with “sugar” or “fruit juice sweetener.” They are both sugar.

A Good Idea

Having fruit in your diet is a good idea for a bunch of reasons. It tastes good and most of it has a substantial amount of fiber — which helps to reduce the risk of some diseases. Fruit is also a good source of vitamins and minerals.  A well rounded diet with plenty of fruit, vegetables, and some lean protein is a good bet.

It’s also pretty cool that a lot of fruit comes in it’s own wrapper and single serving package.  Think oranges, clementines, tangerines, apples, pears, and bananas to name a few.  They’re really grab and go.  And berries – so high in antioxidants.  Delicious, too.  Watermelon is 92% water by weight, filled with vitamin C, and a necessary part of so many barbecues and beach parties.

All sugar adds calories but there are certainly a lot of reasons to choose fruit and its sugar over the nutritionally empty sugared sweet stuff like candy and soda.

The fiber and water in fruit help you to feel full.  The fruit is packed with vitamins and minerals.  Because of its fiber, fruit takes longer to digest than processed sweets made with refined sugar.  And, it doesn’t create a spike in your blood sugar —  which is then followed by a steep drop that makes you hungry all over again.

Sugar And Calories In Popular Fruit

Some examples:

One fruit or the portion shown Calories Carbs (in grams) Apple (with the peel) 81 21 Apricot 17 4 Banana 105 27 Blackberries (½ cup) 37 9 Blueberries, fresh (½ cup) 41 10 Cherries (½ cup) 52 12 Grapes (10 medium seedless) 36 9 Grapefruit (1 medium half) 46 12 Mango,  fresh 135 35 Melon:   Canteloupe (1 half) 94 22 Melon:   Honeydew (1 tenth) 46 12 Nectarine (medium) 67 16 Orange 65 16 Peach 37 10 Pear (medium) 98 25 Pineapple,  fresh (½ cup cubed) 39 10 Plum 36 9 Prune (1 dried & pitted) 20 5 Raisins (dried ½ cup) 110 29 Raspberry (½ cup) 31 7 Rhubarb (½ cup cubed) 14 3 Strawberries (½ cup) 23 5 Tangerine 37 9