Gluten: Friend or foe?

Is gluten really bad for you?  Well, really, that all depends.  If you have a gluten sensitivity, or you have full-blown celiac sprue disease, you have a little problem there with the protein (gliadin and glutenin, to be specific) in all forms of wheat as well as barley and rye.  You also have to avoid all of the products that contain them, or are processed with them (like lots of oats and oatmeal).  Gluten, as you can see here, adds to the “stretchability” or pull of breads, cakes, etc.  In fact, the term “shortening” means that you add fat to shorten the gluten strands that form, say in cake or pie crust, making it tender or flaky (instead of bouncy like a ball) as a result.  This is also why baking gluten free can be quite a challenge (pile of dust/brick-like bread, anyone?).

Seems like gluten-free diets are all the rage, but how do you really know if you need to be on one?  Well diagnosing the full-blown, real deal would involve a biopsy of your intestines, because celiac disease flattens out the normally enormously absorptive villi that form the intestinal mucosa — a fancy way of saying the inner walls of your intestines.  Huh?  I mean it flattens out the finger-like projections in your intestines (the villi) that provide all those football-field references regarding the absorptive area there.  (Quick note: the majority of digestion and absorption occurs in the small intestine).

With gluten intolerance and celiac sprue, there are usually other signs of bodily unhappiness, and they usually involve bloating, constipation, diarrhea and other symptoms.  Or there may be none, which makes matters somewhat confusing.  A fine resource for the details: The Celiac Disease Foundation.  If you have had lifelong, or sudden but recurring digestive issues, have a peek.  You can experiment without all the medical intervention by going gluten free for a few weeks.  If your symptoms disappear and then reappear when you go back to your usual diet, there you go.

Eating gluten free is not easy.  It’s in a variety of things you wouldn’t suspect, ranging from soy sauce to beer.  Getting a cookie or a bagel made without gluten-containing ingredients but not tasting like a flavorless rock often becomes a serious life goal.

So why the trend?  Because people are becoming more aware, and it’s probable that people with lifelong digestive issues are finding that a gluten-free diet helps.

To that end, in L.A. there’s The Sensitive Baker in Culver City — a fabulous little place that is expensive but has gotten great reviews, including for the bagels, brownies, bread and cake we picked up for my gluten-sensitive mother-in-law (er, some of it freezes).   Watch those business hours — they’re closed Saturdays and open only a few hours on Sunday on a sleepy little stretch featuring about FIVE bakeries (one of them owned by my cousin Melissa — so if you’re not gluten sensitive, send off your loved one and hit Essential Chocolate Desserts a few doors down.  Shameless plug).

Another gluten-free haven is coming soon to Los Angeles, and is already a big deal in NYC: Babycakes.  Check out their site; there are also recipes to try in their new book.  Want to sample a couple?  Check out this link.

And what if you aren’t gluten sensitive?  Well, in service to you, you could go ahead and make your own seitan (pronounced like the nether-world reigning dude), or gluten balls (tastes/smells like chicken — why is that? — which is why vegetarians make stuff out of it).

Stop that salsa, right this minute!

Okay. I jumped the gun on the salsa.

The Salmonellosis continues, and now the FDA suspects jalapeno peppers or cilantro may be involved. And yet, I didn’t see anything on their site just yet (probably because they tanked the tomato crop, perhaps for nothing, and don’t want to affect any other crops until they know). The FDA does all that recalling, but the CDC — the Centers for Disease Control — well, they’re all over this thing now because they investigate this sort of trouble and love making cool multicolored maps. They also advise against fresh jalapeno or poblano peppers for the moment.

Stay tuned…

Tea!

My daughter and I were having some (hot, black) tea with milk to fend off the fatigue of the heat and now I feel like writing about it (and so I will!).

Most of the naturally occurring caffeine in tea leaves steeps into the water during the first 30 (give or take) seconds. So to make my daughter’s decaf brew, I steep the bag in my cup for about a minute and then steep hers. All the good stuff, none of the hyper. Teas marketed as decaf undergo one of two methods (ethyl acetate or CO2 for you tech nuts), it’s just as easy (and a bit tastier, actually) to do it my way. It’s always easier to do it my way, as my entire family will tell you.

Green tea and black tea (read: Lipton and such) come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis). All that differs is how they’re processed.

Tea leaves that are picked and immediately dried, or steamed and then dried, are green tea.  Because the leaves are undisturbed during the steaming/drying process, they retain many beneficial phytochemicals (phyto=plant), including those that contribute to green tea’s much-heralded antioxidant properties.

Tea leaves that are picked and then cut, bruised by beating or running them over (!) and then aged for a time before steaming and drying are black teas.  The process is called “fermenting,” though the tea is not fermented in the true sense.  In the true sense, the tea is oxidized, which depletes the naturally occurring antioxidants that protect the plant.  This is why black teas do not contain as many antioxidants as green tea.

Though they do contain some.  And that’s bully for me, because I really like mine with soy milk — a lactose-intolerant nod to my British heritage.  Americans usually think milk in tea is vile (a fact lost on me during my apparently insular, otherwise American childhood).  But here’s a tip, fellow Americans: British people will look at you as though you’ve ordered a fresh cup of vomit if you order iced tea.  Up to you.

So what about other teas?  Oolong is tea that’s partially oxidized.  White tea has a lot of antioxidants because it is brewed from very young tea leaves (but still from the same plant, the Camellia sinensis).  Ceylon and Darjeeling teas refer to a tea derived from one place, all the same type, while English Breakfast is usually from a mixture of tea leaves that may not be grown in the same place to create a unique blend of flavors.  Again, all the same type of plant.

Herbal teas are not from the Camellia sinensis plant.  They do not contain caffeine, but some, like Rooibos (red) tea, contain an abundance of antioxidants.  Herbal teas are usually referred to as infusions or tisanes. 

What of these antioxidants?  It’s very likely they’re there to protect the plant from oxidation produced by all that sunbathing they do.  We need antioxidants because our bodies have a love/hate relationship with oxygen, as well as a hate-hate relationship with all that pollution, cigarette smoke, overeating, etc.  We make some antioxidants in our bodies, but often we need more.  And that’s another story for another time, to quote my spouse.

Pyramid Tracker

When it comes to keeping track of what we eat, most of us look around like a cat with a canary stuffed in our gob (though for most of us it’s 3 scoops of Double Rainbow stuffed into a giant waffle cone — after all, it’s hot out there!). But if you’re looking to improve your diet, you need to have a peek (with no one else looking, even!) at what you’re doing day by day. (Please note: if you click on any of these pictures they will enlarge so you can see what’s what!)

I like the Pyramid Tracker (www.mypyramid.gov, then click Pyramid Tracker) for this task because it’s relatively simple, you can record your dietary analysis for up to a year, and it will analyze your diet in several ways, and because it can all be done rather quickly. My students infinitely prefer the Pyramid Tracker to analyzing their diet by hand using food labels and other sources. It’s more accurate by hand, but you’re much less likely to actually do it.

Once you’ve entered your bio information on the front, hit the button that says Save Today’s Changes and go to the Physical Activity section. Choose the condensed version and enter any physical activities in which you’ve engaged because this will affect how much food you require. Then enter the type and duration of activity, and you can save and analyze whether or not you’re getting enough activity.

Then on the top menu go to Update Profile and hit the Save Today’s Changes button. Then on to your diet. Choose the foods from the search engine by entering keywords, then select the serving size if you know it, and how many servings you had. Then hit Save and Analyze and you can choose any or all of the anlayses to see how you did. (To look up a previous day’s analysis later all you have to do is enter the original date.)

Can’t find that Starbucks Frappuccino? I know. You can safely place that under Discretionary Calories (430 for the vanilla blended!), but you’ll have to look it up. Here’s a link for Starbucks coffee drink and food nutrition information. And to be fair, how about one for Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf?


You’ll also need to be aware that foods like cream cheese, count as discretionary calories, and that will not show up in the analysis. Nor will it tell you that part of 2% milk, due to its fat content, counts as discretionary calories. So before you get all excited and pop a King Size Hershey bar in your mouth, check out what counts, or use the Menu Planner feature, which has the advantage of telling you what “counts.” If you’re not that interested in nitpicking every last thing, have a look at the nutrient analysis to make sure you aren’t consuming too many calories. Then you can decide how much room you have for “treats.”

The analysis compares your diet to MyPyramid, which will indicate the level of balance in your diet, by showing a nutrient analysis (which is an estimate because you’re using a database, but still, it’s a good estimate), or by showing how you meet the Dietary Guidelines. I’d suggest having a look at all of them. The nutrient analysis will alert you to your caloric, fat, sodium, vitamin and mineral intakes.

MyPyramid.gov: A mini-series

If your diet needs tweaking or you need to lose weight, you might want to try MyPyramid.gov, an updated version of the Food Guide Pyramid accessible via the Internet. Though the new pyramid graphic is entirely useless (it takes full page to explain the meaning of each color and symbol in the text from which I teach), the new, customized approach makes it a very useful tool to assess, track and improve your diet.

Most of us suffer from diets that lack balance — that is, we eat too many meat/beans, grains and sometimes milk but neglect fruit and/or vegetables. For those of you trying to lose weight, it usually means you are consuming foods containing more calories, fewer vitamins and minerals and more sodium.

Taking a peak at your dietary needs, and then assessing your dietary habits are the best places to begin to make changes that will improve your health (and encourage weight loss, if necessary).

On MyPyramid, that means you want to start with MyPyramid Plan (located on the bottom right of this picture, on the www.mypyramid.gov home web page. If you click that link and enter your age, gender, weight, height and level of activity from the pull down menu, the program will generate a pyramid showing your dietary requirements (see screen grab, and no, those are not my real stats). If your activity level is 30 minutes or below, repeat MyPyramid Plan pretending that you engage in activity on the next level so you can see something that might inspire you to get up off that thing you’re sitting on: activity lends an extra 200 calories or more per day to your menu.

If you are overweight, MyPyramid Plan will ask if you would like a plan that will lead to gradual weight loss (or you can choose not to do that).

On the pyramid diagram you will see a “Tips” section where you can find out more information about each food category. You can also use the tag on the left that says “Inside the Pyramid,” which will tell you what kinds of foods fall into each category and in what amounts. Please note (with disdain, I know) that foods like solid fats (butter), cream cheese, and jelly fall under “discretionary calories” and are considered extras. because they do not contribute much nutritionally.

The next step is to print a tracking form (there’s a pdf located on this screen that will print your results) OR you can just record what you eat for a day (but 3 days is best) and see how you measure up using MyPyramid Tracker. You can record up to a year’s worth of your meals, and the tracker provides a full analysis of the nutrient content, and balance of those meals for you. The only downside: you’re limited to their database. More on this next time.

Calling all Californians! Come get your menu labeling on!

There are two bills currently in the California State Legislature about food labeling. One, AB 2572 is sponsored by the restaurant industry, while the other, SB 1420 is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and consumer groups like Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Hm. Which do you think best represents your needs?

AB 2572 allows restaurants to provide nutrition information much as they do now, on tray liners, with pamphlets and online, but NOT on menus or menu boards where consumers are more likely to see it BEFORE they make their food purchases.

If you knew that the burrito you were about to order had 1,100 calories before you ordered it because the number was right there on the menu, would you still order it?

SB 1420 is a reintroduction of a bill vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who must have been mightily conflicted given his ties to both business and health. State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Van Nuys) co-authored the bill, which requires restaurant chains of 15 or more outlets to include calorie information on the menu, and to make more information like saturated fat, trans fat, carbohydrates and sodium available on the spot. The bill would take effect July 1, 2009.

You vote with your food dollars every day, but if you knew more about what you were eating and made better decisions as a result, restaurants would listen. They’re in the business of selling food. When McDonald’s wasn’t doing well financially and sensed that people wanted healthier choices, they introduced some. And now that the economy is tanking, they’re introducing chicken on a biscuit for breakfast as comfort food. See?

So what should you do? You should write to your local legislator and kick up some dirt about it if you’d really like to know what you’re eating. Take a minute and click this link to find out very quickly who represents your district (it might be helpful to know anyway, huh?). From there you can link to legislators’ individual sites and hit “contact me” to ask them to vote for SB 1420.

Or, use this link from the American Cancer Society to write a very, very quick email.

You could also write to Arnold and gently suggest that he not veto the bill this time.

Vitamin D gets its day in the sun

Every Vitamin gets its 15 minutes of fame.

Vitamin C got a serious boost from Linus Pauling, such that people still think that a megadose (a gram, instead of the recommended 75-90 milligrams) of the stuff will keep a cold at bay (not so much, but it will make your urine quite fluorescent and expensive – do it regularly and you could get kidney stones.  So don’t).

It was widely believed that Vitamin E was the savior of all scourges: Non-toxic (mostly) and an antioxidant and curer of all ills (especially heart disease), it was the vitamin of the hour until it was found that you could indeed overdo it (especially if you’re on blood thinners) and worse, in supplemental form it looks like it doesn’t prevent heart disease after all (so you can stop downing one with your burger and fries).

Turns out that the best way to get vitamins is when they’re delivered by actual food (usually fruits and vegetables) where they are more likely to play a role in disease prevention because of the mix of other beneficial plant chemicals along for the ride.

Now Vitamin D is the new sexy hot vitamin that’s going to save the world.

Vitamin D is a bit of a freak.  It’s not present naturally in a whole lot of food (it’s in fatty fishes like tuna, sardines and herring, otherwise it’s added to milk and breakfast cereals), but we can make it under our skin using cholesterol (yes, cholesterol, the baddie).   Unlike other vitamins, it acts a bit like a hormone.

Scientists know we probably need more Vitamin D than is currently recommended, and that many of us are deficient even under the current guidelines (200-600 IU).  However, and you won’t see this until at least the 10th paragraph in every article – Vitamin D can be toxic.  And there’s the rub.  Too much of it can cause calcium deposits in otherwise soft tissue – with resulting pain and/or tissue damage.

The great tomato scare

A rare form of Salmonella, Salmonella Saintpaul, has caused roughly 145 foodborne infections in 16 states thus far, prompting the FDA to issue a warning against consuming red plum, roma or round tomatoes.

The type pictured here, cherry tomatoes, have not been found to contain the bacteria and are still safe to eat. Grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold on the vine are safe to consume. Tomatoes grown at home are still safe to eat as well.

Have you got tomatoes in the fridge? Read that sticker and find out where they came from: if it was California, you’re fine. Our food often travels long distances to the market these days. A list of locales not associated with the outbreak may be found here.

This outbreak applies to raw tomatoes. If you thoroughly wash and cook your tomatoes thoroughly, Salmonella will be killed off.

As I write, McDonald’s has just announced that it is pulling tomatoes from the menu. Taco Bell and other franchises are doing the same as a precaution (against lawsuits).

It’s likely you won’t have to wonder which tomatoes are safe to eat, because when you arrive at the market, you may well find them pulled from the bins, and if McDonald’s is pulling them, they’ll be disappearing from restaurants the same way spinach did a couple of years ago during an e.coli outbreak.

Salmonella poisoning usually occurs between 8 hours and 3 days after infected food is consumed. If you experience diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and fever after consuming raw tomatoes, you may be infected, and the infection’s effects may last a week or so. Consult your doctor, because if you have been infected, the foodborne illness needs to be reported. For more information on Salmonella from the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, click here.

You might consider growing your own tomatoes: any sunny space, even an apartment balcony with late day sun, will do, and now is the time to do it. The plants get big and ugly, but they give back plenty. In a pinch you can buy a bag of soil, cut open the top and plop the little plant right in.

The what-what on LDL/HDL (that’s your blood lipids)

Usually we find out what the heck LDL and HDL are when we got to the doctor and we find out that the annual blood test we sweated through (okay I’m projecting but who loves it) showed that we’ve got an artery full of LDL and not enough HDL.

If the LDL is high enough the doctor prescribes a statin to lower the stuff, and for many people these drugs are a godsend. However, if you can do without them, you should. But how do you know if you can if you don’t know what the stuff is, let alone how to lower it? Or raise it? That’s when people usually get the “LDL is bad cholesterol, HDL is good cholesterol” rap and sent on their way (with pills). LDL causes heart disease — bloody true, but uh, is that enough info? Not if you need to make dietary changes.

My friend and neighbor Phyllis just celebrated her 81st birthday, and on that day related to me that the doctor had found just such a thing (to not need a statin before you’re 81 is akin to a miracle) and the doctor prescribed simvastatin (same stuff John McCain takes). She has a tiny dose, and her cholesterol is only a tad high — lucky her. But when you’re on a statin to lower your cholesterol output, you have to make sure to have your blood tested every 3 months to be sure your liver enzymes are humming along (and to make sure the stuff is working). So what are LDL and HDL anyway? Phyllis wanted to know, so I’m guessing you might too:

Oh hell, let’s get it started

I’ve been staring at my feet for a couple of days, not sure where to begin.

I went to the eye doctor today — no ordinary eye doctor, but my man at UCLA, where I’ve had to go since I was 10 because I had pesky muscular issues. My point is, the man is high end, interns falling at his feet, residents hanging on every word. But I’ve known him since I came in with my arms crossed and informed him that I was not going to have surgery again because the first time entirely sucked (vomiting continuously on my mother’s 27th birthday while she tried not to cry, only to be told that the surgery didn’t really work? Hell, no). He put up with me, and I with him, and he held off surgery for 25 more years, then performed literal magic after all those years of practice (and an IV loaded with anti-nausea meds). So he’s no dummy is my point.

I hadn’t seen him in a while, and he asked me what I was doing these days. Every time someone finds out that I know something about nutrition, the next thing out of their mouth is a question about nutrition. As a result, telling anyone that I know a damned thing is a bit like throwing a small grenade – I let the cat out of the bag and wince waiting to see what the question will be and whether I’ll be able to answer it off the cuff to prove my encyclopedic intelligence. (Which I don’t really have but which seems necessary to gain people’s trust because of the high level of total nonsense out there).

So he asked me: Is a raw diet really good for you? This was a funny question coming from this 60+ year old, very reserved man.