Eats « Weekly Gravy

(HealthDay News) — To some people, keeping a food diary might seem old hat or just another busy-work task on your diet to-do list. But when done correctly (and diligently), it’s a very effective tool for losing weight and keeping it off. Studies show that dieters who monitor their eating and weight the most consistently achieve the most weight loss. Essentials include writing down everything you eat and drink, and keeping a running tab on those calories. You might find it easier to stay on track by writing down what you plan to eat each day in advance and using the diary as a menu to follow. If instead you plan to jot down details as you go, be sure to make your entries as you start to eat or at the latest within 10 minutes. After that, it’s easy to forget details (read: some of the calories). When first starting to keep a diet diary also note when you ate (what is a scheduled meal or an impulsive snack, for instance), the emotions you were feeling, and even where you were and who you were with. These details will help you uncover eating habits that may have led to weight gain, showing when and why you tend to eat extra calories. Becoming aware of your unique triggers can help you know when you’re about… read on >

As scientists look into the effects of diet on health, they’re finding that more and more everyday foods offer benefits that go well beyond making dishes tastier. Garlic, an ingredient found in almost every cuisine, has emerged as one such superfood. Part of the allium family, which includes onions and leeks, garlic has a number of compounds that supply its health-boosting effects as well as its pungent aroma. According to wide-ranging research, garlic can seemingly improve immunity and heart health, possibly help prevent as well as fight certain cancers, and lower triglycerides and total cholesterol. Its many compounds include antioxidants and allicin, which has anti-bacterial properties, researchers report. Some of these benefits can be seen after eating just one meal with raw garlic. Yet overall there’s enough evidence to have at least half of a clove every day. To get the most benefits, first chop, slice or crush fresh garlic — this fires up a process that makes its compounds more potent. Wait 5 to 10 minutes before eating or using in a dish, especially if you’ll be mixing it with a highly acidic food like lemon juice. Here are some easy ways to use raw garlic: Mash into avocado for guacamole. Blend into Caesar salad dressing. Puree with chickpeas for hummus or with white beans for bean dip. But you don’t have to always… read on >

Fizzy, fermented kombucha tea is the hot new health drink. But experts say it’s not clear whether the bacteria-laden beverage lives up to all of its health claims. Proponents say kombucha’s powerful probiotics can help improve digestion, promote your immune response and reduce inflammation in your body by introducing healthy bacteria into your gut. “Kombucha is a living food, and can be highly effective in restoring an individual’s microbiome and an overall feeling of good health,” said Barbara Cole, a nurse practitioner with Penn State Health Medical Group. The drink is a source of live beneficial bacteria and yeasts, organic acids, B vitamins, antioxidants and trace minerals, Cole said. But while kombucha is undeniably a good source of probiotics, it’s yet to be seen whether the drink lives up to all of the hype, said Torey Armul, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “There’s a lot of health claims behind it, most of which I would say are unfounded, not backed by research,” Armul said. “It can do A to Z if you listen to the right people: ‘It can cure every health malady and help with all sorts of things.’ There’s really not enough research to support the vast majority of those claims,” she said. Kombucha is made by adding bacteria, yeast and sugar to brewed tea.… read on >

Eating a healthful diet is easier when nutritious foods are more accessible. But it’s not enough to simply buy better choices. To make a habit of choosing healthy over less-healthy options, you want to make them as easy to eat, as visually appealing, and as everyday as the packaged treats that tempt you. That’s as important for kids as it is for adults. Convenience foods got their name because they’re ready to grab and go. To make healthy diet foods more convenient, put them front and center on your counter and at eye level in the fridge, not hidden on a shelf or buried in a dark corner of a cabinet. Make healthy foods more attractive — the same way that your grocer makes beautiful displays to entice you to buy. Create a visually appealing fruit bowl or raw veggie platter for easy munching. Making healthy food the norm at your house also can involve steps like getting in the habit of serving a vegetable at every meal, and cutting up fruit chunks for breakfast the night before. This will help make grabbing a handful of cherries, rather than a handful of chips, second nature to you and everyone in your family. Additional small yet important changes all around the kitchen will support this new approach. Arrange the freezer so you see frozen peas and… read on >

While some might be wary about the cancer risks of searing a steak on a flaming grill, a few simple changes can lower that risk, a nutritionist advises. Cooking beef, pork, fish or poultry over high temperatures can lead to the formation of chemicals that can trigger changes in your DNA that increase the risk of cancer. “It might seem like everything fun causes cancer,” said Catherine Carpenter, a professor of clinical nutrition and a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. “But it’s fine to grill meat, you just need to be aware of what parts of it increase cancer risk, and then make lifestyle changes not only that you can live with, but that you can live with for a long time,” she said. Carpenter recommends four tips to reduce your cancer risk from grilled meats. Don’t grill meat on direct heat. Turn on the flame on part of the grill, and put the meat on the other part that doesn’t have any flame. Flip it. If the meat is exposed to direct flame, be sure to turn it over frequently to reduce your exposure to the harmful chemicals. Trim it. If portions of the meat become charred during grilling, cut them off before serving. That will also help reduce your exposure to these damaging chemicals.… read on >

As Americans, we’re making some headway in our efforts to improve the quality of our diet, but we’re far from ideal levels. Research shows that healthier eating prevented over a million premature deaths in the 13-year period from 1999 to 2012, along with 8.6 percent fewer heart disease cases, 1.3 percent fewer cancer cases, and 12.6 percent fewer type 2 diabetes cases. An index that measures diet quality increased from 40 to over 48, but that’s still a long way from the perfect score of 110. Also, most of the improvement came from just two steps — reducing consumption of trans fat (largely because of government action to ban it) and sugar-sweetened beverages. Little progress was made in most of the key components of a healthy diet. An analysis of data from the USDA Economic Research Service by the Pew Research Center found that while we’re eating more chicken and less beef, we’re also each consuming 36 pounds of cooking oil a year — three times the amount Americans ate 50 years ago. We’re also each eating on average 23 percent more calories than we were back then. It’s no wonder obesity rates are so high. And yet it only takes small changes to make a difference. For instance, one report found that what’s needed to turn the average diet into one that can reduce… read on >

Eating a nutritionally balanced high-quality diet may lower a cancer patient’s risk of dying by as much as 65 percent, new research suggests. The finding that total diet, rather than specific nutritional components, can affect a cancer patient’s prognosis “was particularly surprising to us,” said the study’s lead author, Ashish Deshmukh. Total diet, he explained, was one that appeared to be “balanced” and “nutrient-rich” with a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, proteins and dairy. Deshmukh is an assistant professor with the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. To explore the impact of nutrition on cancer, the researchers sifted through data collected between 1988 and 1994 by the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Almost 34,000 people were included in the survey, which asked all participants to offer up a 24-hour diet diary. The team then used the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” as a yardstick for ranking the nutritional quality of the diets used by 1,200 people who had been diagnosed with cancer. The USDA guidelines specify serving recommendations for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, dairy, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. In turn, all 1,200 patients were then tracked for an average of 17 years, with researchers verifying all subsequent deaths — up to 2011 — through the U.S. National Center for… read on >

Eating fish twice a week reduces your risk of a heart attack or stroke, the American Heart Association says. The AHA recommends eating two 3.5-ounce servings of non-fried fish, or about 3/4 cup of flaked fish, every week. Eating just one serving a week is better than eating none, particularly if it is swapping out a higher-fat meal containing processed foods. The organization advises people to eat a variety of fish with high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, including: salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines or albacore tuna.

If more Americans ate healthier diets, the nation could save tens of billions of dollars in health care costs for major problems such as heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, strokes, hip fractures and Alzheimer’s disease. That’s the conclusion of a new study in which researchers assessed different scenarios and determined that boosting the number of Americans with healthy eating habits could save between $21 billion and $135 billion a year in health care costs. The amounts varied depending on how many more people improved their eating patterns and the type of diet they followed, according to the researchers. The researchers suggested foods such as fish, nuts, fruits and olive oil as components of a healthful diet. The study is scheduled for presentation Sunday at the American Society for Nutrition annual meeting, in Boston. “We found that increasing adherence to healthy dietary patterns by even 20 percent at a population level has the potential to save more than $20 billion in both direct and indirect costs associated with 10 major health outcomes,” said study lead author Carolyn Scrafford, senior managing scientist at Exponent, a scientific consulting firm. “That’s a significant saving from what we believe is a realistic shift in diet quality,” she said in a society news release. “Our results suggest that it’s worthwhile to educate Americans on these dietary patterns and their components,… read on >

Not every food you eat has to be low-calorie when you want to lose weight. There are many nutritious and tasty foods that can help you feel satisfied, rather than deprived, and that’s important when you’re facing calorie restrictions day in and day out. The key to including them is careful portion control. Nuts are heart-healthy, especially almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, but they come in at about 180 calories per ounce, so make that your daily nut limit. You’ll often see a portion described as a “handful,” but that’s too subjective a way to measure them. Use a food scale. Sweet potatoes have 120 calories per half-cup, but when slow roasted, they don’t need any toppings, especially not butter, which could easily double the calories. These vitamin A powerhouses are filling and loaded with many other nutrients, making them a very worthy vegetable among starches. Yes, olive oil is a fat. However, it’s a mono-unsaturated fat, which won’t raise your cholesterol level — unlike saturated fats like butter and lard. Though it’s 120 calories per tablespoon, all you need is a drizzle of oil for salad dressing or to saute vegetables or a chicken breast. To be very judicious with your use, use an oil sprayer. Avocadoes are rich in a wide variety of nutrients and taste rich, too –important when you’re trying to eat… read on >