Kamie's Tip of the Week:

This post is inspired by my chocolate loving Mother-in-Law. She will go days without eating any sugar and reward herself at the end with a day where she can eat anything she wants, which usually means TONS of chocolate. However, she usually feels pretty sick after "rewarding" herself. To her and others like her, I say, moderation is better than starvation. PERIOD. Those who justify eating tons of high calorie goodies one day by starving themselves of these goodies for several days prior will likely admit that they neither feel satisfied nor actually consume less calories overall this way.  Rather than "starving" yourself of your favorite treat and later caving to your cravings and "binging", prove to yourself how strong you are and allow yourself a small portion each day. Remember, you can eat some goodies (you have around 200 discretionary calories each day), just not a TON of goodies. You are more likely to be satisfied if you allow yourself a little each day. No food is truly terrible for you unless you eat WAY too much of it at once. Moderation is the key to a healthy diet and a satisfied appetite.

-Kamie

What to Eat When You're Expecting: The Short Version

My posts are most often inspired by something that is going on in my life. I'm 32 weeks along now, and I've realized that it would be a crime if I didn't write some advice for women who are also expecting. I've learned a lot these past 32 weeks, especially about nutrition and taking care of my own health and the health of my growing baby. So here are a few of the most important things I've discovered about eating while pregnant.

1) While I'm normally not one to recommend taking supplements, pregnancy is one time where it is a really good idea. Take a prenatal vitamin daily, starting before you get pregnant if possible. That way, on days when you fail to eat perfectly, your baby won't suffer, and let's face it, no one eats perfectly. Also, your need for certain vitamins and minerals increases a lot, and a prenatal vitamin will help you to meet this need when your diet isn't enough.

2) The first trimester (or all three if you are one of the unlucky ones) is about keeping your stomach settled. While it is important to eat healthily, it is more important to try to keep food down. If all you can stand to eat is crackers and ramen, then that's what you should eat. Be sure to take your prenatal vitamin, and eat as nutritiously as you can, but don't beat yourself up if you can't stomach broccoli and orange juice right now.

3) You are eating for two, but the second person is REALLY little. For those women who, instead of feeling nauseous, have an increased appetite, this advice is especially important. In the second trimester, you only need about 300 more calories a day, and only 500 in the third trimester (none in the first). This is equivalent to something like a piece of toast with peanut butter and a banana. This is not equivalent to a bowl of ice cream, an extra helping of casserole for dinner, a glass of chocolate milk, and a midnight snack of whatever else you are craving. Curbing that appetite can be a challenge, especially if nausea kicks in on an empty stomach. The best advice I can give is 1) Eat when you are hungry, but eat low calorie healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables or a granola bar and 2) Stay active, even if that means just taking a walk around the block every night. Eating more and moving less can lead to gaining more weight than necessary. The appropriate weight gain during pregnancy is between 25-35 lbs. Staying within this range is healthier for you and your baby.

4) Eat meat. Sure, you can get the extra protein you need during pregnancy from milk and peanut butter, but these won't help you meet your increased iron needs. Low or even moderate iron intake during pregnancy can lead to anemia (a lack of red blood cells or their ability to carry oxygen) because your blood volume has to increase a lot during pregnancy to provide you and your baby with enough nutrients and oxygen. Anemia can lead you to become even more fatigued than you already are, and may result in complications during pregnancy. Your doctor will test you for anemia, and will let you know if it ever becomes an issue. If so, and you are not eating meat in your diet, try eating a few more ounces of meat each day. Also, you can increase your absorption of iron by eating foods that have vitamin c in them along with your meat. I wouldn't recommend eating meat to excess (like the Atkins Diet), so if you are still struggling with anemia, take an iron supplement.

5) Milk, Milk, Milk! Most women don't know that low intake of calcium during pregnancy can lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis later in life. While it is true that your calcium requirement does not increase during pregnancy due to your body's increased ability to absorb calcium, I still think it is a good idea to make a conscious effort to consume enough calcium each day. How much is enough? About 3 cups of milk a day, or, if you're not a milk fan, yogurt and cheese can be great sources too. If you like tofu, this is the time to eat it more often, especially if you don't eat dairy. If you can't or won't eat any of these foods, take a calcium supplement. Starting in the second trimester, your baby's skeleton will start to harden (incorporate calcium), and if you aren't eating calcium, then you baby will kindly borrow that calcium from your bones and teeth. That could mean osteoporosis and cavities for you! So drink up :)

6) Exercise is not off-limits (unless your doctor says so of course). I wish I had realized earlier in my pregnancy that I still had a lot of energy and strength in me (although it was hiding under a few extra lbs of baby weight and some pregnancy fatigue). Someone recommended walking to me, which I tried and realized that it put pressure on all the places that hurt the most (aka my feet and back). Instead I tried yoga and jogging or biking on a machine (a LOT less pressure on your tender joints). These allowed me to get my heart pumping (not too fast, the goal is to stay under 140 beats/min) and to work muscles that are important for carrying and later delivering a baby. I feel SOOOO much better since I began exercising again. The key is to listen to your body and realize what it can do and what it can't. Don't exercise on your back after the first trimester, and don't do anything that feels uncomfortable. You have to be careful when exercising when pregnant, but you can do it!

7) What about cravings? Honestly, I still haven't decided whether cravings mean something (like maybe you need a certain nutrient in the food you are craving) or if they are random and result from changing hormones. I would say, though, that it doesn't hurt to give into normal (i.e. not dirt or laundry detergent) cravings during pregnancy once in awhile as long as you are eating healthily the rest of the time. After all, you do deserve an occasional reward for all of your hard work.

One last helpful thing: Food pyramid breakdown by trimester

1st Trimester: 6 ounces of grain (one ounce is 1 slice bread, 1/2 cup cooked rice, or 1 cup dry cereal), 2 1/2 cups veggies, 1 1/2 cups fruit, 3 cups dairy (1 cup is 1 cup milk or yogurt,, 1 1/2 oz hard cheese,1/3 cup shredded cheese) and 5 ounces of meat/protein (1 oz is 1 oz meat, 1 egg or 1 Tbsp peanut butter).
2nd Trimester: 6 oz grain, 2 1/2 cups veggies, 2 cups fruit, 3 cups milk, 5 1/2 oz meat/protein.
3rd Trimester: 7 oz grain, 3 cups veggies, 2 cups fruit, 3 cups milk, and 5 oz meat.

This is the minimum you should eat. Remember, if you feel hungry or you feel like you need to be eating more, add healthy snacks to your diet.

Well, I hope that was enlightening or at least a little helpful. Good luck!

-Kamie

How Can We Solve World Hunger?

I obviously do not have the entire answer to this question, since it is one of the most complicated and distressing issues the world is facing today. I do however, have a couple of ideas that I recently learned in an International Nutrition class at BYU.

1) Throwing money at the problem doesn't always solve the problem. Some organizations are not trustworthy or are not successful in their efforts to help. Also, local governments in areas such as Africa, Latin America, and Asia may not cooperate or be honest in using money given them to help their people. It is important that trustworthy organizations who thoroughly understand the problem and know how to solve it are involved. If you want to donate, look for an organization like this. A couple that I know of are Heifer International and Koins for Kenya, but I'm sure there are others.

2) So, once an organization understands the problem, has raised enough funds, and is in the area where the want to help, what should they do? Here's what I think:

• They need to empower the people to want to be helped and to be excited about the changes that are going to be made in their lives. If the people are not excited, no lasting change will happen.
• They need to teach the people new skills, such as gardening, farming, raising animals, etc. Giving them food only lasts a few days or so, but teaching them how to grow food for themselves that will meet their nutritional needs can last for generations.
• They need to educate the people on how to increase their income so as to be able to afford more high energy foods. This can be done by raising chickens for eggs or cows for milk. These commodities are worth a lot in third world countries. 
• Lastly, the people need to understand that by eating a more diverse, healthy diet will improve their lives. They will have more energy, be less prone to infection, have better cognitive function, and live longer. 

If you want to know more, here is a link to a video in which my professor talks about a project he and his students helped with in Kenya. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTBGwTAls6w

Every 5 seconds a child dies of hunger. I hope that we who are very fortunate to live in such a wealthy country will do more to help those who, by no fault of their own, live on no more than about 2-3 cups of food each day. It's worth at least thinking about. 

-Kamie 

How Do I Take Control of My Cravings?

My mother-in-law sent me this in an email this week. I thought I would pass it on to you. It's from builtlean.com, so I'm not sure how "scientific" it is, but it seems to have some helpful tips for those who suffer from food cravings. Good luck!

How To Stop Food Cravings | 7 Tips

by Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT | March 22, 2012 |   
  
Do you know the feeling late at night when suddenly you have a massive craving for sugar?

It’s as if that chocolate bar you grabbed at the deli, or those random jelly beans you have in the kitchen are sinking deeply into your thoughts. No matter how much you try to shake the image of the food you are craving out of your mind, the image grows larger and more vivid. Within minutes, your stomach feels empty even though you just ate dinner an hour ago.

Then you reason with yourself, “Alright, I’ll have one bite to get it off my mind”. One bite invariably leads to more bites until you slam down a day’s worth of sugar right before bed.

If this sounds eerily familiar to what you experience, you are not alone. In fact, everyone experiences food cravings at one time, or another, with some feeling it more frequently and more intensely than others.

The science behind overeating, hunger, and cravings is vast and can easily fill a book. This short article will briefly explore some of the mechanisms of hunger and cravings and give you 7 actionable tips you can use to help reduce, or possibly even stop the food cravings you experience.

Physiological vs. Psychological Food Cravings

As living and breathing organisms, humans need calories and nutrients to function and stay alive. So how do you figure out how many calories and nutrients your body needs?

The short answer is you shouldn’t have to grab a calculator to figure it out. Our bodies are finely tuned machines that have evolved over millions of years to regulate our hunger. We eat when we need the calories, and stop eating when we are full – or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Various theories exist as to why and how our built in hunger regulation gets seriously out of whack when presented with a plate of hot fudge brownies. The second we start eating more calories and nutrients than our body needs for survival, we start shifting from physiological eating to psychological eating, from feeling hungry because our bodies need calories and nutrients to “thinking” we are hungry because the food we are eating is so tasty we just can’t control ourselves.

Research has proven that food can be just as addicting as heavy recreational drugs. In fact, the same part of the brain that is activated by these drugs is activated by the sight, smell, and taste of those delectable foods you crave. To make matters even more challenging, food marketing companies exploit our addiction by combining fats and sugar in ways that purposely over-stimulate our brains.

The following 7 tips can help you stop your cravings that are deeply rooted in your psychology and physiology:

Stop Food Cravings Tip #1 | Take Notes

Making your subconscious habits conscious to identify in what situations you start to have cravings could be the most important step you take. Writing down the situations when you feel the cravings, or simply doing this as part of your food journal can help stop the food cravings from happening, or directly allow you to address them. The sight, or the smell of food, location, time of day, your emotional state such as if you are stressed, or lack of sleep are just some of the situations that can spark a food craving.

Stop Food Cravings Tip #2 | Rehearse

Once you identify the situations where you crave foods, anticipate these situations like an elite athlete before a competition. For example, you may say to yourself, “If I smell fresh chocolate chip muffins on my way to work, I’ll keep walking”. This rehearsal process conditions the mind to make the body react favorably before you can enter into a deep inner monologue, which invariably doesn’t work out well. The cravings process works in a linear, step-by-step fashion with (1) a cue, (2) activation, (3) arousal, and (4) release. Rehearsing stops the food cravings at the cue step before going deeper into the process.

Stop Food Cravings Tip #3 | Think Negative

Pair unhealthy foods and those foods you crave with a stream of unappealing images. It’s the exact opposite of what advertising agencies do. For example, next time you have a craving for coke, picture in your mind the thought of a large bag of sugar. Then imagine opening up the bag and scooping 10 teaspoons worth of sugar into your mouth. That’s how much sugar is in a can of coke, because there is 1 teaspoon per 4 grams of sugar, and a can of coke has 39 grams of sugar.

Stop Food Cravings Tip #4 | Chew Gum

Cravings can rear their ugly head when you are experiencing a stressful situation, or even lack of sleep. Grabbing a piece of gum can help stave off that craving for pastries, chocolate, or whatever the vice. The thought of taking out the gum, then putting the gum back in after snacking is not that appealing for most people.

Stop Food Cravings Tip #5 | Drink Water

Water is not only very important for maximal fat loss and improved health, but it can also help prevent cravings. Oftentimes, our bodies can have trouble differentiating between dehydration and hunger. When all you need is a glass of water, your body can trick you into thinking you will be satisfied with some more food. When you feel a craving, drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes. The cravings may subside.

Stop Food Cravings Tip #6 | Tighten Your Belt a Notch

This can help remind you of the lower bell flab you are trying to lose and help motivate you to avoid unhealthy food. It’s a simple psychological trick that creates a physical association that you can tie to the negative impact of succumbing to your cravings.

Stop Food Cravings Tip #7 | Purge Your Cupboards

While this tip is listed as #7, it could be #1, or #2 on the list. Purge your apartment, your desk at work, and any other place that you may have foods devoid of nutritional value. Empty calories belong in the garbage, not in your stomach! The power of “out of sight, out of mind” cannot be underestimated. There’s no reason to create any more cues, because our minds are getting assaulted with savory images of food all day long.

Some More Tips to Stop Cravings

Brushing your teeth is a tactic to help avoid late night snacking, which is mainly something that’s habitual. Many times when we eat late at night, it’s by force of habit, not because we are really hungry. Another tactic is to avoid the kitchen after a certain time at night, say 8pm. Many of us go in the kitchen like mindless zombies looking for stuff to munch on, so this “no kitchen re-entry” rule can be very helpful. Brushing your teeth and making this commitment can help prevent you from digging into that stash of oreo cookies right before bed (but hopefully you’ve already thrown out that stash of oreos).

This article is just scratching the surface of complex topics like hunger, overeating, and cravings, but I hope it was a helpful introduction for you and that you now have some actionable tips you can implement right away to stop food cravings.

Hopefully you found that insightful :)

-Kamie

How Can I Possibly Eat Enough Fiber?

You may not be aware of this, but the average American only eats HALF the amount of fiber recommended by the USDA. Now, generally I'm a glass half full kind of person, but HALF the amount of fiber you should be eating...that's more of a glass half empty scenario. Ideally, women should get 25 grams of fiber/day, and men 38 grams/day. That's a lot of fiber, especially if you're not a whole gains, fruits and veggies kind of person. So, what are some reasonable solutions to fixing this problem?

1. Exchange your favorite white bread for whole grain bread. I know, that's a tough one, but there are whole grain white breads out there that taste almost exactly like the original white bread. This should add about 2 grams of fiber per slice of bread. If you eat a sandwich or a couple of pieces of toast for breakfast, that's 4 extra grams of fiber you could be getting.
2. Switch out the white rice for brown rice. I know this can be heard to get used to, but topped with sauce you'll hardly notice the difference. And one cup of brown rice contains between 3-4 grams of fiber. 
3. Anytime you go to eat a cracker, make it a whole grain one. This simple change can add a couple more grams of fiber to your diet.
4. Keep the peel on your fruits and vegetables. The peel is where a lot of the fiber and vitamins are found. On average, fruits and vegetables contain about 1-2 grams of fiber/serving. You are supposed to get 5 servings of fruits and veggies/day, so that adds up to about 7-8 grams of fiber. 
5. Make breakfast a whole grain event. Whether it's oatmeal, wheaties, shredded wheat, cheerios, etc. breakfast is a great time to pack a lot of fiber into one bowl. 
6. High fiber cereals and granola bars are another usually tasty option if you are in need of a fiber boost. These contain functional fiber, which is basically a fiber supplement in food form.
7. If you are still running low on fiber, adding a little fiber supplement powder to your juice, smootie, or even water can give you the extra boost you need. But be careful not to take too much, because too much fiber can have it's negative effects as well. 

Okay, so I bet you're wondering why you should care about eating enough fiber, right? The reason is becoming more and more clear the most science learns about it. They have already discovered that fiber helps reduce the risk of heart disease (especially fiber from whole grains) and may be helpful in preventing colon cancer. Overall, fiber helps keep your digestive system healthy and your weight at a stable level. There have been studies that have found that women who eat more whole grain tend to weigh less. That's just an added bonus ;)

-Kamie

Kamie's Tip of the Week:

Feeling a bit cold this winter season? Tempted to run to those high carbohydrate foods to comfort yourself? Maybe what you need is a warm bowl of soup :) I discovered a yummy recipe this week: Tomato soup. Find the recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/kittencals-thick-and-rich-creamy-tomato-soup-low-fat-option-350894. Homemade soups are generally better for you because they have fresher nutrients and less sodium.

A few tips: If you're not a huge tomato fan, add more milk or 1/4 cup cheese. This will tone down the intense flavor. I added some chopped spinach as well. It's not super flavorful and is a good way to add extra nutrients to the meal. If you're a simplistic cook like me, don't worry about adding all the extra spices. Normal pepper works fine. Use half the amount of butter suggested by the recipe (just enough to lightly saute the onions). Also, no tomato soup is complete without some crushed crackers (whole grain is best) or a grilled cheese sandwich. Enjoy!

-Kamie

Why Should I Eat Meat?

It is so interesting to see how vastly different the world is from one country to another. In most countries where starvation is a major problem, the situation could be drastically improved just by adding a few ounces of meat to their diet each day. Of course this would not solve every problem, but it would give them the adequate protein they need in order for their body to grow healthily. In contrast, in the United States and other developed countries, the majority of people eat far more meat than they need nutritionally. This is not necessarily a problem, except it can lead to excess calorie and fat consumption as well.

Nutritionally, meat is a wonderful thing. It is the easiest way for our bodies to get the right kind of protein in the right amount (for more on protein, refer back to my post on protein by following this link). What does that mean? Well, put simply, the same molecules (called amino acids) that make up the steak you ate for dinner will be making up your muscles, enzymes, and other tissues within a few hours. The type of protein found in meat is the kind our body needs. Can we get it from other sources? Yes, but then it becomes more complicated because plant sources are not an exact match of what we need. Therefore, you'll have to mix and match different grains and beans in order to get all of the amino acids your body needs to build its own proteins.

For those of us who eat meat everyday, this may not seem that important.  But if you take a look around the world at populations that live mostly on one type of grain, you can see what affect this can have. They are not getting all of the amino acids they need, and therefore their body cannot grow. Children in these countries are stunted (short for their age) and extremely skinny (for pictures click here). We are very blessed to have access to the meat our body needs around the corner at the local grocery store.

What else is good about meat? Well, it is rich in iron that can easily be absorbed. Iron is important especially in our blood. It helps our blood cells carry oxygen from our lungs to our tissues so they can live. Pretty important! Also, it contains vitamin B12 (ONLY found in meat and dairy products) which is essential for proper nerve function. Without it, you could lose your ability to feel, become paralyzed, and even die. It also helps keep your blood cells healthy, so without it you can get pernicious anemia, a very dangerous condition of the blood.

So, it's pretty obvious that meat is a good thing (at least for our bodies). However, you may have heard on the news lately that frequent consumption of red meat can be a bad thing. For more details on that, check out WebMD's article here: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-red-meat. My advice is simple: Eat red meat sparingly, maybe once or twice a week, and get the rest of your meat from lean sources including chicken, pork, turkey, and ESPECIALLY fish. If you're not a meat fan, eggs are a great source of protein too. And don't forget to drink your milk!

-Kamie

Should I Be Taking Nutritional Supplements?

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the supplement industry, at least from a nutritional standpoint. Do supplements really help? And are they safe to take, considering they don't have to approved by the FDA?

Here's how I view supplements: Go ahead and take them if you want, but don't let them replace fruits, vegetables, whole grains, light dairy, and lean meats in your diet. All of these foods contain essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber, calcium, iron, protein) that you are far better off getting from food than from supplements.

Why is it better to get nutrients from food? The truth is, science hasn't quite figured that out yet. Tory Parker, a professor at Brigham Young University, has been doing research on this subject, and has found that for unknown reasons, eating a whole orange has healthier benefits than just taking vitamin C, the main vitamin in the orange. The conclusion reached at this point is that there must be other beneficial biomolecules in the whole foods we eat that science has not yet identified. We do not know what they are or how they specifically help, we just know that they do. From plant sources, we call these biomolecules phytochemicals, and it is agreed they work best when consumed from a whole food source.

So, if you are totally set on taking supplements just in case, there's no problem with that. Just be careful that you are taking safe amounts. You can double check this by reading the labels on the supplement. For vitamins, minerals, and some other essential nutrients, the % Daily Value, which is the percent of the total amount recommended each day, should be posted on the nutrition label. Check to see that none of these are over 200%, and most are equal to or under 100%. This precaution should be taken to insure you do not consume a toxic level of these nutrients.

Are there times when you definitely should take a supplement? If you are deficient in a certain nutrient, your doctor may prescribe supplements to help restore your health. If you are pregnant or could get pregnant, take prenatal vitamins, and make sure you are getting enough folic acid. For younger women, it could be beneficial to take iron and calcium supplements: iron to prevent anemia during menstruation, and calcium to build bone mass and thereby prevent osteoporosis in later life. However, a healthy diet and exercise are always most important and are irreplaceable in the health benefits that they give.

-Kamie