Shannan’s Journey

2010 Nutritional guidelines

Don’t hold your breath waiting for any significant changes in the government’s nutritional guidelines due to come out in 2010.  The members of the ’scientific’ committee have just been announced, and it is stacked with all the usual suspects.

Here is a copy of the press release: nutritional-guidelines-press-release–

Take a look at the names and resumes of those on the committee, and you’ll see that they are all lipophobes and carbophiles of the deepest dye.  Based on this cast of characters, it doesn’t look like much will change over the next five years. God help us all.

Let’s take a quick look at just one member of this illustrious panel that will decide how over 50 million people per day will be fed between 2010 and 2015.

Joanne L. Slavin, PhD, RD, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition and the University of Minnesota, is an expert in carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Her research expertise focuses on the impact of whole grain consumption in chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, as well as the role of dietary fiber in satiety.
Before we even get to Dr. Slavin herself, you should be aware that this department at the University of Minnesota is a hotbed of high carbery. In fact, this is where the dietitians came from who piled on the Atkins’ diet in the commentary to the bogus Lancet article I posted about a couple of years ago. (If you haven’t read it already, this is a post well worth reading just to see how screwed up the nutritional establishment really is.)

What do you think Dr. Slavin’s take is on whole grain consumption in chronic disease?  Do you think she believes that whole grains are bad?  How about fiber?  Do you think she is aware that the idea of fiber as a protective factor against cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases has never been proven?  Or do you think she blindly promotes fiber despite the lack of evidence that it’s good for anything?

From her material, it’s easy to see what her fixation is.  I’m glad I’m not her child, I can tell you that.
Other than the fact that they’re incorrect, I have a couple of real problems with the nutritional guidelines.  First, they are presented as if they are the latest in scientific thought on the subject of nutrition.  They aren’t.  They start out as guidelines put together by the most mainstream of the mainstream, which is a strike against them in the first place.  Then the lobbying starts.  That’s right.  The food industry gets into the act.  The officials in the Department of Agriculture ultimately referee the fight between the scientists (such as they are) and Big Sugar, Big Corn, Big Wheat and the rest of them. 

What emerges is a sort of compromise between science and industry.  But it is foisted off as pure science.
After the scientific committee started pushing for a reduction in sugar in the 2000 guidelines, Senator Trent Lott presented the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (the agency that sets the guidelines) with a letter signed by himself and multiple other senators from sugar-producing states asking that the recommendations to cut sugar from the diet be lightened.  Which, of course, they were.

My second problem is in how powerful these guidelines are in reality.  Most people think, hey, who cares what the guidelines are?  I eat the way I eat.  I don’t pay any attention to the guidelines.  Problem is the government is required by law to abide by these guidelines in feeding all the people the government feeds.  And the government feeds a lot of people.  Over 50 million per day, in fact.  Schools, the military and prisons are just a few of the institutions the government feeds daily.  Given these numbers, it’s easy to see why the food industry is so keen on how these guidelines end up being written.

In the YouTube below, you can see yours truly trying to explain all this to Bill O’Reilly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCxTL6-eaUE

A Low Carbohydrate Diet for the Bodybuilder…. by Malea Jensen

There is no secret that the goal of a successful bodybuilder who is getting ready for a competition, is to lose fat while maintaining muscle mass. The popular low carbohydrate diet fad, as you read in one of my articles last month, is not what the bodybuilder is necessarily striving to follow.

Despite the cries of the general public in regards to weight loss, the bodybuilder knows that it is easy to lose weight. The problem the bodybuilder faces is losing fat without losing muscle mass. As you know, the body will first choose food, then muscle, and then finally will burn fat, as sources of energy.  You may also be aware of the fact that once you reduce your calories below maintenance levels, your body’s choice of burning food is out of the equation.

Now, the choice remains burn fat, or burn muscle.  I can say this much, if you reduce both calories and carbohydrates, and do not take in sufficient amounts of protein, then you are going to burn muscle.  Not a good choice!  Clearly, you can see that the popular "no" carbohydrate diets are not designed for the aspiring bodybuilder who needs to lose fat, but grow muscle.

I will include rules for maximum fat loss while still maintaining muscle mass:

1.)  Your total caloric intake should equal 10-15 calories per pound of bodyweight.

2.)  Focus on active carbohydrates. Active carbohydrates = Total Carbohydrates – grams of fiber.  Your active carbohydrates should not exceed 25 grams per meal, or 75 grams per day.

3.)  Protein optimization. Ingest 25-50 grams of protein per meal. Be aware of the fact that even though protein is the best macronutrient to consume, there still can be some limit as to its elimination capacity. If protein is consumed in excess, some of the nitrogen can be converted to sugar and either burned as energy at the expense of burning fat, or it can simply be stored as fat. Both options are not good.

4.)  Dietary fats are important to burn body fat. Your diet must have an emphasis on Omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats. These include flaxseed, safflower, and olive oil. Place less emphasis on saturated fats, cream, and beef.

5.)  Carbohydrate load every third then fourth day. A high carbohydrate meal every fourth day refuels muscle and liver glycogen stores, prevents a decrease in metabolism (via T 3 suppression), and facilitates muscular growth by increasing uptake of amino acids. Another thing this high carbohydrate meal will accomplish, is to increase insulin-like growth.  IGF is needed to create an anabolic environment while preventing lipogenesis (fat-building).

6.)  Induce thermogenesis by eating foods that have been shown to increase your metabolism. Some vegetables include asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, celery, onions, radishes, spinach, and tomatoes.  Almost all proteins have a desirable thermogenic effect except proteins high in fat, lunchmeats, and processed proteins. I might add that whey concentrates and isolates are also undesirable for increasing thermogenesis because they are assimilated so quickly that it is often burned as fuel. This in turn, inhibits the burning of stored body fat.
Now you can see that becoming an aspiring bodybuilder takes a lot of scientific knowledge to be successful. I cannot lie to you, however, this is just one of many theories behind fat loss and maintaining muscle at the same time.

Until next time, stay focused on the goal and train hard to reach that goal.

Group 1
Rope Climb
Hollow/Arch Rocks on floor x15 each
Squat Jumps on pit mat x25
Group 2
Pull-ups x10
V-ups x 15
Sprints on treadmill or sidewalk x 5
Group 3
Dips on parallel bars x 10
Alternating Crunches x 30
Single leg toe jumps x 30 each foot
Group 4
Handstand push-ups (against wall or bar) x 20
Hanging Straight leg lifts x 10
Candlestick roll up straight jump x 10 (roll down on back to where feet are pointed stright up to ceiling, roll up without hands ro stand and jump straight up)
Group 5:
Wall press handstands x 8
Hanging Sit-ups x 10 (hang with the back of your legs from the bar–like a kid on the monkey bars–and do sit-ups)
Jumping lunges x 30
 

Found this little article and thought I’s share it with all of you…………. 

10 Ways to Fight Obesity
By Steve Edwards

Most of us are aware that we’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic. And while we can’t open a newspaper or turn on a computer without a reminder, the problem is still continuing to grow. A recent article in the UK newspaper, The Guardian, predicts that two-thirds of children and nine out of 10 adults will be obese by 2050 in the UK. As the statistical leader of this growing (pun intended) trend, what does that say about the United States?

Critics may call those projections inflammatory, but looking at even the most conservative numbers should cause concern. Obesity rates, nationwide, range between 17 and 30 percent, with some demographics exceeding 40 percent. Estimated health care costs of this epidemic range in the billions. Life expectancy rates for our youngest generation are lower than those of their parents for the first time in recorded history. The leader of the epidemic, the USA, has seen its status fall from one of the world’s healthiest countries to the least healthy country in the developed world. We’re far beyond a time when bickering about statistics and numbers even matters. One look around at a mall, an airport, or a school informs us that things aren’t as they should be. There is no longer a question of whether it needs national attention. We need to reverse this trend ASAP. But we can’t change what we don’t understand, so let’s examine the major questions and concerns we have about obesity. Then, we’ll take a look at what we can do about it.
Is the problem exercise or diet related?

It’s both. There is no question about obesity following the pattern of fast food dispersal; all you have to do is look at a map to see that the trend follows these restaurants. However, the latest studies are showing that even with the addition of Big Macs and Big Gulps, caloric consumption is not going up as much as exercise levels are coming down.
Recent studies by British medical journal The Lancet, the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have all consistently shown that exercise is the central determinant of whether children are overweight. The figures show that kids are consuming approximately 3 percent more calories than they did in the 1970s but getting a whopping average of 20 percent less exercise. And obese kids are 70 percent more likely to become obese adults.

But even though lack of exercise takes the brunt of the responsibility, it doesn’t mean that dietary habits should be ignored. The increase in the number of calories eaten doesn’t reflect the type of calories that are consumed. For example, various studies estimate that soda makes up around 15 percent of the caloric intake of teenagers and around 10 percent that of adults in America. The health implications of these statistics are dire, as this habit makes it nearly impossible for a person’s diet to be balanced—and that’s before we even consider how much calorie-free soda is being added to the mix (see "Artificial Sweeteners: How Harmful Are They?" in Related Articles below).

The following study exemplifies the solution, which requires changing both our exercise and dietary habits. In Colac, Australia, 1,800 children, aged 2 to 12, followed a program that included a restricted diet (no carbonated drinks or sweets) and increased exercise. Results included a 68 percent increase in after-school activity program participation, a 21 percent reduction in television viewing, and an average 1 kilogram weight reduction compared to the control group.
For richer and for poorer.

Historically, only lower-income groups had a major problem with obesity. This statistic is rapidly changing. In the early 1970s, 22.5 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were obese, while just 9.7 percent of people with incomes over $60,000 were obese. Obvious contributing factors were education, more involved parenting, and having the means for being proactive toward child care. Today, however, the obesity rate is growing the fastest among Americans who make more than $60,000 a year.

Since higher-income groups tend to eat "healthier," or at least can afford to change their diets more easily, this is another signal that our exercise habits have become dangerous. Some telltale signs of this reversal of fortune are based around money. Kids with the greatest access to TV, computers, and video games have more excuses not to get outside and move. Another curse of the privileged is the declining number of children who walk or bike to school. There’s nothing like trading in a couple hours of movement each day for playing with a Game Boy in an idling SUV for regressing a child’s metabolic process. In addition to a declining number of recess periods and poor school lunch programs, we’re setting our children up with an ideal recipe for type 2 diabetes.

The number of obese children is still rising among all socioeconomic classes, and it will keep growing unless lifestyle changes are made and people become more aware of the situation. No economic class is immune to obesity. Especially hard on the lower classes is the fact that the least healthy foods also tend to be the cheapest, making it very difficult for children from that socioeconomic background to eat properly. Cheap foods tend to have a higher sugar content than natural, healthy food. There is only one way to combat a high-sugar diet, and that’s with a lot of rigorous exercise.
It’s about more than a ripped body.

It’s not just about looks, as obesity affects more than your physique. It increases your risk for a number of diseases, including diabetes, stroke, insulin resistance, and hypertension. Obesity carried into midlife may also have damaging effects on the brain.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 61 percent of obese young people have at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Additionally, children who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems. Obese young people are more likely than children of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults and are, therefore, more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

10 solutions for obesity–

No bottles before bed. In fact, no bottle at all seems like a better bet, as kids who are breast-fed are less likely to be obese. A bevy of recent studies, which show infant obesity rates as high as 44 percent in some demographics, has linked a large part of the problem to sending infants to bed with a bottle. Not only is the child getting more calories, it’s creating a learned response to eat before bed that is hard to reverse as the child gets older. Infants should have some body fat, but an obese infant is more than twice as likely to grow into an obese adolescent, who is more than twice as likely to become an obese adult.
Turn off the TV. The American Journal of Public Health published a survey stating that 59 percent of children watched between 2 and 4 hours of television and an additional 22 percent watched 5 or more hours of TV per day. That’s a lot—let me say it again, A LOT—of TV and this, apparently, didn’t account for time in front of a computer. Chances are that turning off your TV isn’t going to sit well with your kids, so here is some ammunition that will make it easier on both of you.

Staying thin (lean) will increase your child’s confidence level. Researchers surveyed 1,520 children, ages 9 to 10, with a 4-year follow-up, and discovered a positive correlation between obesity and low self-esteem. They also discovered that decreased self-esteem led to 19 percent of obese children feeling sad, 48 percent of them feeling bored, and 21 percent of them feeling nervous. In comparison, 8 percent of normal-weight children felt sad, 42 percent of them felt bored, and 12 percent of them felt nervous.
Walk to school (or at least some of the way). This alone could make one of the biggest differences in activity levels. A generation ago, most self-respecting parents would laugh at their child’s suggestion to drive them to school. Nowadays, lines of SUVs stretch out for blocks around campuses filled with kids burning nary a calorie while waiting to be dropped off on the front step of the school. In some neighborhoods, this lost time alone is plenty to fill the child’s exercise requirement.

Lack of busing can shoulder some of the blame, but the primary reason seems to be fear. The world has gotten scary, or so we think, and parents drive their kids to keep them safe. In reality, the damage done from lack of activity is putting them at far more risk. According to former Department of Justice statistician Callie Rennison, our fears are mainly based on sensationalism in the media, which indicates that child abduction plays well in the ratings. "99.9 percent of child abduction cases are family related," she states. "Statistically, our kids are much safer in public than they’ve ever been."

Numbers aside, most parents will likely balk at the idea of making their kids the lab rats in some "walking to school" experiment. But, at least, you can drop them off close to school. The last part of the commute, the part while you’re waiting in line, is a place where your kids could be moving in what is probably one of the safest situations imaginable—a line of cars filled with highly protective parents.

Fight for recess. As schools’ budgets dwindle because "results" are based on test scores, "optional" classes like recess are being cut. But it can be argued that recess is one of the most important classes your child has. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, it’s not just how much children exercise that counts but how long they exercise that’s important. Kids should not exercise for prolonged periods of time. They benefit far more from short bursts of exercise throughout the day. This is the reason that recess periods have been included throughout a typical school day—those recess periods that are now being threatened if they aren’t already gone.

Besides the obvious positive effects of recess, it has also been shown to reduce stress. And stress can influence a child’s eating habits. Researchers tested the stress inventory of 28 college females and discovered that those who were binge eating had a mean of 29.65 points on the perceived stress scale, compared to the control group who had a mean of 15.19 points.

Reform your school lunch program. Brown bagging is back, at least until you can fix your school cafeteria. Having your child bring his or her lunch from home can ensure that they’re eating well. School cafeterias have been getting progressively worse. Despite the huge successes enjoyed by some that have switched to healthier menus—for example, check out what happened at one school in "We Are What We Eat" in Related Articles below—most feel too restricted by budgets and bottom lines not to farm out their concessions to the lowest bidder.

We tend to forget that parents have some say in this. Whether your child goes to public or private school, each school is accountable to its community base. Parents have banded together in many communities to change their school’s nutritional structure. You can too.

Get more sleep. A Northwestern University study indicates that inadequate sleep has a negative impact on children’s performance in school and on their emotional and social welfare, and increases their risk of being overweight. This study was the first nationally represented, longitudinal investigation on the correlation between sleep, body mass index, and being overweight in children between the ages of 3 and 18. The study found that an extra hour of sleep lowered the children’s risk of being overweight from 36 percent to 30 percent, while it lessened older children’s risk from 34 percent to 30 percent.
Stop drinking sugar!!! The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that many children get most of their calories from beverages, when they’d be better off getting them from fresh fruit and other healthy solid foods. Most of these calories come from soda, but some of the blame lies with other healthier-sounding beverages, like juice and sports drinks. Take a look at the orange juice label. This former icon of a nutritious breakfast, which is still praised in some less-enlightened cultures, is mainly sugar. The refining process has leeched most of its useful ingredients and all of the fiber, turning a perfectly healthy food, an orange, into little more than a sugar rush. Sports drinks can be beneficial when you’re playing sports, but, at any other time, they’re about the worst thing you can consume. Our nutritional needs change during exercise, when we need a lot of sugar and salt. When we aren’t exercising, those nutrients in excess are dangerous.
Sign up for something, any activity. Our bodies are meant to move, and nothing makes this as easy as doing something fun. Not all of us are good at sports, but almost everyone has an aptitude for some physical activity. Start children early by allowing them to experiment with different activities. The more they try, the easier it will be for you to see which activities they excel at and which they don’t. A more benign approach to the old East German method of finding athletes at a young age, it’s a great parenting tool because it helps you guide them into things they’ll do well at. They get exposed to different things, get some exercise, and, in the end, you’ll probably find something they’ll be good at—or at least decent—which will help their self-esteem as they develop. It’s hard for kids to understand why they’re bad at something. This tactic can help them see how the human body is designed and why it’s normal to be different. We can’t all be the star quarterback, but we can all be the star something, which will be a lot easier to achieve if you’re aiming for something you have an aptitude for.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box here. Martial arts, snowboarding, swimming, dancing, gymnastics, cycling, and rock climbing are all just as effective as football and soccer for building healthy bodies.

Get outside. Besides chasing fast food distribution, an easy way to map the obesity trend is to follow demographics indicating that we spend less and less time outdoors. Nature forces us into action. It expands our minds to the world around us and teaches us to be less fearful. Shoot, just standing around outside burns calories, especially as the weather changes.

There are an endless number of outdoor activities you can choose from, but the simplest, hiking, is one of the best activities you can do. Not only does it force you to learn more about your world, it’s great exercise, especially if you live around hills or mountains. It builds motor skills because you climb on rocks and trees, etc. For your kids, it’s a learning tool because you’ll encounter the natural world and, most likely, develop an interest in the way it works. You don’t need to have Yosemite in your backyard to enjoy hiking. Any city park will do. Natural wonders abound in all settings.

Get a home fitness program. We even know where you can find some. Nothing beats home fitness in both cost and time efficiency. From Kathy Smith’s Project:  YOU! Type 2 to Hip Hop Abs® to 10-Minute Trainer® and P90X®, there’s a home fitness solution that will fit your lifestyle like a glove. Most home fitness programs allow you to finish your exercise requirement in less time than it would take to drive to a gym. A proper program is researched to be time-efficient and will also come with dietary suggestions to match the program. No other option comes close to home fitness when you need to squeeze a lifestyle change into an already booked schedule.
 

What is the biggest selling restaurant food? French fries are served with 22 percent of meals served in restaurants. Burgers are in second place with 17 percent.

Who were M&Ms invented for?  M&Ms were originally invented for soldiers to carry in their K rations as regular chocolate tended to melt.

What costs more to produce in a can of soda, the can or the soda?  In most cases, the can costs more. Especially since the invention of high-fructose corn syrup, sodas only cost a couple of pennies a serving. With those kinds of profit margins, you can see how restaurants can offer free refills.
How much of a typical chicken nugget is chicken meat?  About 16 percent is meat. The rest is ground up chicken skin and other ingredients. According to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, there are 38 ingredients in a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget.
56 percent of the nugget is corn.

How many Twinkies do Americans consume each year?  500 million. Chicago, the birthplace of the Twinkie, is also the Twinkie-eatingest city. No statistics as to how many were deep-fried.
 

Chain restaurant options…
Restaurants are finally adding healthier dishes…Here are a few from a couple restaurants…
**Olive Garden - Garden Fare Selections

Minestrone Soup - 100 calories, 1.5g fat, 3g fiber

Venetian Apricot Chicken, dinner portion - 380 calories, 4g fat, 8g fiber –

**Chili’s - Guiltless Grill Menu
Guiltless Grill Salmon - 480 calories, 14g fat, 1,080mg sodium, 31g carbs, 10g fiber, 54g protein –

Guiltless Chicken Sandwich - 490 calories, 8g fat, 2,720mg sodium, 63g carbs, 11g fiber, 39g protein –

Guiltless Black Bean Burger - 650 calories, 12g fat, 1,940mg sodium, 96g carbs, 26g fiber, 38g protein –

***Applebee’s - Weight Watchers Options

Steak & Portobellos - 330 calories, 10g fat, 8g fiber –

Italian Chicken & Portobello Sandwich - 360 calories, 6g fat, 11g fiber –

Cajun Lime Tilapia - 310 calories, 6g fat, 9g fiber –

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake - 230 calories, 3g fat, 3g fiber –
***Red Lobster - Lighthouse Menu

Garlic-Grilled Jumbo Shrimp - 142 calories, 3g fat, 1g carbs –

Garden Salad with Petite Shrimp Topping and Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing - 132 calories, 6g fat, 15 carbs, 2g fiber –

Baked Potato with Pico de Gallo - 185 calories, 2g fat, 37g carbs, 4.5g fiber –

Live Maine Lobster - 145 calories, 1g fat, 2g carbs –

Fresh Grilled or Broiled Tilapia, full portion - 346 calories, 10g fat, 0g carbs –

There are a few great choices from you local chains….

4 Hearty and Healthy Dips

When aren’t we going on and on about how you need to eat more vegetables? They’re full of fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and low in calories and fat. And one of the best ways to eat them? Raw.  So you’re trying to be a good camper, with your bowl of broccoli and cauliflower florets, baby carrots, and celery sticks, crunching your way to a leaner you. You know what would really make these veggies sing? Some dip! French onion dip. . .  or guacamole . . .  or hummus . . .  or nacho cheese. 

Ha! Guess again! Nothing can make your healthy vegetable snack descend the rungs of Michi’s Ladder faster than a few dunks in a bowl of fatty, salty, delicious dip. But we’re not completely heartless. Here are some variations on some old favorites that are actually pretty good for you!

1. Hummus. It’s a perfect dip. Made primarily of creamed chickpeas, it’s like dipping your vegetable in another vegetable! But not all hummuses (or is it hummi?) are created equal.  Many are loaded up with tahini (the sesame paste that gives hummus it’s nutty flavor) and olive oil, which are almost pure fat.  Granted, they’re both healthy fats, so a little is OK, but too much will pack on the pounds.  Try making your own from scratch. Just puree a can of chickpeas in a food processor or blender with lemon juice, garlic, and cayenne pepper to taste. You can add as much tahini or olive oil as you think your diet can handle, or none at all.  If the hummus is too thick, you could thin it with a little vegetable broth or water instead of oil.
2. Guacamole. Avocados? They’re in the Pious Tier of Michi’s Ladder. And guacamole is just mashed avocados, right? Right, but as with olive oil and tahini, avocados are full of calories. One avocado has 227 calories, and 21 grams of fat. Instead, how about an easy-to-make avocado dip? In a food processor, combine one avocado, one cup of nonfat yogurt, and one cup of nonfat cottage cheese (all top-tier ingredients from Michi’s Ladder). Blend until creamy and no lumps from the cottage cheese remain. Add cayenne pepper and ground cumin to taste. For extra flavor and texture, mix in some chopped fresh cilantro and onion before serving.
3. French onion dip. OK, nothing made of instant soup (essentially flavored salt) and full-fat sour cream is going to pass Michi muster. But onions are in the top tier, so that’s a start. Instead of sour cream, how about tofu? It’s not just that white brick that sits in the back of your fridge after a well-intentioned impulse buy. Puree 2 cups of extra-soft tofu in a food processor with a couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, and garlic cloves to taste. Meanwhile sauté some chopped onions in a little bit of olive oil until caramelized. Mix the onions into the tofu mixture and deglaze the pan with a little white wine and add that to the dip as well.
4. Spinach dip. Nothing’s a bigger hit at a party than that hollowed-out sourdough boule full of mayonnaise-y goodness. Instead of mayo though, try pureeing some nonfat yogurt and cottage cheese. Thaw out some frozen chopped spinach and mix that in and add some chopped water chestnuts and scallions for crunch and flavor. For extra zip and color, try mixing in some curry powder. With all that going on, you’ll forget the mayo’s gone! And don’t forget to use whole grain bread.

Here is a great article for all of us to think about and to start clearing out those cupboards.

9 Foods Not to Give Your Kids–

If you’ve followed the news on childhood obesity lately, you know that the state of affairs is pretty grim. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past two decades and most signs point to the next generation being the first whose life expectancy will be shorter than their parents. Much of the blame for this has deservedly been laid at the feet of the producers and marketers of unhealthy food aimed at our youngest consumers. They’ve created an uphill battle for parents trying to compete with superheroes and cartoon animals for their children’s palates and stomachs.

Since most kids have hummingbird metabolisms that adults can only envy, it’s easy to often give them a free pass and let them eat whatever they want. But eventually those metabolisms slow down, and the pounds settle in. Also, as physical activity decreases, and processed-food intake increases, kids aren’t burning calories the way their parents might have when they were their age. And even if the kids aren’t getting fat, they are establishing eating habits that they will take into adulthood. As parents, you can help foster a love for healthy eating and exercise that will last your kids a lifetime, hopefully a long one!

Eating is always a classic power struggle where kids try to finally locate their mom and dad’s last nerve. There are a number of strategies you can use to mitigate this. Let your kids help with the selection and preparation of the food. If they picked out the veggies at the farmer’s market and helped cook them, they might be less inclined to feed them to the family pet. Also, try to frame eating vegetables and healthy food as being its own reward. By offering dessert as a reward for finishing vegetables, you create a system where unhealthy food is a treat and healthy food sucks.

Someday, your children will realize that caped men in tights and sponges who live under the sea might not have their best interests at heart when it comes to food, but until then, here are some of the worst foods you can try to keep them away from, and some healthy replacement ideas. And for the overgrown children among you, the alternative snacks might even tempt you.

Note: The following recommendations are for school-aged children. Infants and toddlers have different specific nutritional needs.

1. Chicken nuggets/tenders. These popular kids-menu items are little nuggets of compressed fat, sodium, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and in some form, chicken. Depending on the restaurant, chicken might not even be the first ingredient. Oftentimes, the nuggets or tenders are made of ground pieces of chicken meat and skin, pressed into a shape, flavored with HFCS and salt, and batter-fried in hydrogenated oil (the bad, trans-fatty stuff). Then, if that wasn’t unhealthy enough, you dunk it in a HFCS- or mayonnaise-based sauce. With all the fat, salt, and sugar, it’s easy to understand why they’re tasty, but the nutritive value weighed against the huge amount of calories and fat consumed is incredibly lacking. Even healthier-sounding menu items like McDonald’s Premium Breast Strips (5 pieces) pack 630 calories and 33 grams of fat, more than a Big Mac, and that’s before you factor in the dipping sauce.Instead: If you’re cooking at home, grill a chicken breast and cut it into dipping-size pieces either with a knife or, for extra fun, cookie cutters. Make a healthy dipping sauce, with HFCS-free ketchup, marinara sauce, mustard, or a yogurt-based dip. Let your kids help make the shapes or mix up the sauce. Try and go without breading, but if you must, try dipping the chicken breast in a beaten egg, and then rolling it in cornflake crumbs before you bake it. It’ll be crunchy and delicious, but not as fatty.
2. Sugary cereal. I remember feeling horribly deprived when I would go to friends’ houses for overnights and be treated in the morning to cereals with marshmallows that turned the milk fluorescent pink or blue. But now I can appreciate my mom and her unpopular brans and oatmeals. True, they didn’t have any toy surprises in the box or any cartoon characters on the box, but they also didn’t have the cups of sugar, grams of fat, and hundreds of empty calories that these Saturday morning staples are loaded with.Instead: Read the labels and try to find cereal that is low in sugar and high in fiber and whole grains. Remember, “wheat” is not the same as “whole wheat.” And anything that says “Enriched flour” is BAD….  Also, avoid cereals (including some granolas) which have hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, or chemical preservatives. Add raisins, sliced bananas, berries, or other seasonal fruit to the cereal for extra flavor and nutrition. Again, letting your child help design a healthy bowl of cereal from choices you provide will get you a little more buy-in at the breakfast table.
3. Lunch meat and hot dogs. Kids love hot dogs, bologna, and other processed meats, but they are full of potentially carcinogenic nitrates and nitrites, sodium, saturated fat, and artificial colors and fillers. A study in Los Angeles found that kids who ate 12 hot dogs a month had nine times the risk of developing leukemia.¹ And more health risks are being discovered all the time. Leaf through any research about kids’ nutrition, and you’re bound to read about the bane of the cafeteria—Oscar Mayer’s Lunchables. These and similar prepackaged lunches are loaded with processed meats and crackers made with hydrogenated oils. These innocent-looking meals can boast fat counts of up to 38 grams. That’s as much fat as a Burger King Whopper and over half the recommended daily allowance of fat for an adult.Instead: Get unprocessed meats, like lean turkey breast, chicken, tuna, or roast beef. Use whole wheat bread for sandwiches; or if your kid’s dying for Lunchables, fill a small plastic container with whole-grain, low-fat crackers, lean, unprocessed meat, and low-fat cheese. This can be another great time to get out the cookie cutters to make healthy sandwiches more fun. For hot dogs, read labels carefully. Turkey dogs are usually a good bet, but some are pumped up with a fair amount of chemicals and extra fat to disguise their fowl origins. Look for low levels of fat, low sodium, and a list of ingredients that you recognize. There are some tasty veggie dogs on the market, although a good deal of trial and error may be involved for the choosy child.
4. Juice and juice-flavored drinks. Juice, what could be wrong with juice? While 100% juice is a good source of vitamin C, it doesn’t have the fiber of whole fruit, and provides calories mostly from sugar and carbohydrates. Too much juice can lead to obesity and tooth decay, among other problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics, suggests 4 to 6 ounces of juice per day for kids under six, and 8 to 12 ounces for older kids. Juice drinks that aren’t 100% juice are usually laced with artificial colors and that old standby, high-fructose corn syrup, and should be avoided. Your best bet is to make your own juice from fresh, seasonal fruit. You won’t have to worry about all the additives, and it’s another way you can involve your kids in the cooking process. Let them design their own juice “cocktail.”Instead: Water is still the best thirst quencher. Explain the importance of good hydration to your kids, and try to set a good example yourself by carrying around a water bottle. Get them used to carrying a small bottle of water in their backpack or attached to their bike. If they’re very water averse, try water with a splash of fruit juice in it. But just a splash. The idea is to get kids used to not having things be overly sweet, overly salty, or overly fatty. The other great beverage is milk. Filled with nutrients, calcium, and protein, growing kids need plenty of milk, though not so much fat. Choosing low-fat or skim milk will help ensure they get their milk without becoming a cow.
5. French fries. High in calories, high in fat, and high in sodium—and unsurprisingly, the most popular “vegetable” among kids. They offer virtually none of the nutrients found in broccoli, carrots, spinach, or other veggies not found in a deep fryer. And the fat they’re fried in is usually trans fat, the unhealthiest kind for the heart. To top it all off, studies are beginning to show cancer-causing properties from acrylamide, a toxic substance that is created when starchy foods like potatoes are heated to extreme temperatures. In some tests, the amount of acrylamide in French fries was 300 to 600 times higher than the amount the EPA allows in a glass of water.Instead: Vegetables like baby carrots, celery sticks, or other crudités are great options, but if potatoes must be had, there are some options that don’t begin with melting a brick of fat. A scooped-out potato skin with low-fat chili and a little cheese can give lots of fiber and vitamins, with even higher amounts if the chili has beans. You can also try making baked fries, using slices of potato with a light brushing of olive oil. Or, the classic baked potato could be a hit, with yogurt dip or cottage cheese instead of sour cream and butter.
6. Chips. Potato chips, Cheetos, Doritos, etc. These are full of fat, oftentimes saturated, and way more sodium than any child or adult should eat. Some chips also have the acrylamide problem discussed above under French fries. Also, watch out for innocent-seeming baked and low-fat chips that contain olestra or other fake fats and chemicals that could present health issues for kids.Instead: Kids gotta snack, and in fact, since their stomachs are smaller, they aren’t usually able to go as long between meals as adults. Cut-up vegetables are the best thing if you want to get your crunch on, but air-popped popcorn and some baked chips are okay, too. You can control how much salt goes on the popcorn, or experiment with your child with other potential popcorn toppings like red pepper, Parmesan cheese, or dried herbs. Try making your own trail mix with your child. They might be more excited to eat their own personal blend, and you can avoid certain store-bought trail mixes, which sometimes contain ingredients like chocolate chips and marshmallows that are moving down the wrong trail for a healthy snack.
7. Fruit leather. Many of these gelatinous snacks like roll-ups or fruit bites contain a trace amount of fruit but lots of sugar or HFCS and bright artificial colors. Don’t be misled by all the products that include the word “fruit” on their box. Real fruit is in the produce section, not the candy aisle.Instead: If your child doesn’t show interest in fruit in its natural state, there are some ways you can adulterate it without losing its nutritional value. Try filling ice-cube or popsicle trays with fruit juice or freezing grapes for a healthy frozen treat. Or buy unflavored gelatin and mix it with fruit juice and/or pieces of fruit to make gelatin treats without the added sugar and color (another good time for the cookie cutters!) Try serving some raisins, dried apricots, apples, peaches, or other fruits that might give you that chewy, leathery texture without the sugar.
8. Doughnuts. These little deep-fried gobs of joy are favorites for kids and adults alike, but they are full of fat and trans-fatty acids, and of course, sugar. Toaster pastries, muffins, and cinnamon buns aren’t much better. The worst thing about doughnuts, and these other pastries, aside from their nutritional content, is that they’re often presented to children as acceptable breakfast choices. These delicious deadlies need to be categorized properly—as desserts, to be eaten very sparingly. And you can’t have dessert for breakfast.Instead: Honestly, a slice of whole-wheat toast spread with sugar-free fruit spread or peanut butter isn’t going to get as many fans as a chocolate-filled Krispy Kreme, but at some point, you have to stand firm. You be the cop that doesn’t like doughnuts. Doughnuts—not for breakfast. Period.
9. Pizza. In moderation, pizza can be a fairly decent choice. If you order the right toppings, you can get in most of your food groups. The problem comes with the processed meats like pepperoni and sausage, which add fat and nitrates/nitrites, and the overabundance of cheese, which will also provide more calories and fat than a child needs.Instead: Try making your own pizza with your kids. Use premade whole wheat crusts, or whole wheat tortillas, English muffins, or bread as a base. Then brush on HFCS-free sauce, and set up a workstation with healthy ingredients, like diced chicken breast, sliced turkey dogs, and vegetables that your child can build his or her own pizza with. Then sprinkle on a little cheese, bake, and serve. If your child gets used to eating pizza like this, delivery pizzas may seem unbearably greasy after awhile.        Joe Wilkes-

 Enjoy but be strong, as you want your kids to live a long life.