The Woman on Page 194

Magazines are often criticized for their unrealistic standards of beauty (who invented airbrushing, anyway? Can we outlaw it?) Check out this blog from Glamour magazine's editor - it seems that there was a tiny picture of a beautiful, sexy, and realistic woman that appeared on page 194, and the emails from appreciative women everywhere started flooding the editor's inbox.

These are the images and inspiration our daughters deserve - fit women can and do have curves, sexy is an attitude, and life is worth enjoying. Good for you, Glamour!

Nutrition information - Who can you believe?

Information overload is definitely par for course in the modern world - it is difficult to avoid being bombarded with information, whether you are looking for it or not. One of the most frustrating things for a nutrition professional is to witness bad information being given out by reputable media outlets.

Please read my colleague Rebecca Scritchfield's blog about The Price of Misinformation in the Media - she did such an excellent job of summing up two disappointing nutrition stories done recently by very credible media outlets - Time Magazine and Good Morning America.

The bottom line is this - nutrition is a science, and to reach the absolute truth, you need to go to the science. Please be careful about who you listen to out there - at the very least, taking bad advice can lead to futile efforts and wasted time; at the worst, it can lead to furthering your health problems. Think of all the people who are now inspired to not exercise in order to lose weight - thanks, Time magazine, for your help.

A Salad for Everyone

Wow, this is an ambitious article from Mark Bittman:

The Minimalist - Recipes for 101 Simple Salads for the Season - NYTimes.com

Look it over and just try not to be tempted to make at least one of them!

I love salads in the summer for a few different reasons - they let you avoid cooking, they are nice and cool (I live in the desert, so this is important), and they are a great way to get in some fruits and vegetables. But, it is so easy to get in a salad rut. In the summer, we have so many fresh ingredients available to us to yummy up a salad. One of my favorites is to add summer fruit to a fresh salad, like nectarines or plums.

As I've probably said before on this blog, one of the best ways to eat better is to concentrate on trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. Remember, beans can count as a veggie! I think I'll try Mr. Bittman's suggestion for summer cherries, since I still have a good bunch in my frig:

" Pit and halve cherries (or halve and pit cherries), then cook gently with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar until they break down. Toss with chopped radicchio, endive, escarole or a combination, some toasted hazelnuts and more oil and vinegar, if necessary." Yummy! Which one will you try?

Soda and beans

I love this kind of nutrition advice, especially when it's based on actual research:

Researchers at the University of Southern California working with overweight Latino teenagers concluded that making small changes similar to cutting out one can of soda a day and adding just a half cup of beans a day can make a big difference in health.

These simple dietary changes do two things - cutting out one can of soda a day wipes out 150 calories of pure sugar - it's the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons of sugar that the teens are no longer taking in. Adding just one half cup of beans a day will add in about 7 grams of fiber and about 7 grams of protein - both fiber and protein are very helpful in keeping us full for longer.

The take-home message is that it doesn't have to be huge to make a difference - adding in some nutrient dense foods like beans, vegetables, whole grains and whole fruit really helps; calories can be shaven off in all kinds of places without making you feel deprived or unsatisfied - a can of soda less here, a slice of low-fat cheese there.

If you're in Arizona, tune in to Arizona Midday on Weds, June 24 (Channel 12 from 1-2), when I'll be giving tips for sneaking in nutrition, including a recipe from the Meal Makeover Moms website (with their permission, of course!) for Cheesy Black Bean Burgers - getting in those beans can be yummy!

Alice Waters rocks!

Don't know who Alice Waters is? In the foodie world, she's a rock star - she is the owner/operator of a restaurant called Chez Panisse, which serves locally grown, organic food in a rotating menu (she started this way back in 1971, before it was cool, so to speak); I think the other thing that I really love about Ms. Waters is her creation of the "edible schoolyard".

Check out this article on how she's trying to bring the Slow Food movement into the White House with the new president's "kitchen cabinet" - I'm not sure if President-elect Obama realizes exactly what he's being offered here - Alice Waters and Ruth Reichl are offering to be on his personal chef advisory board - it's a little like Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan teaming up and offering to teach a new start-up band a little something about the guitar.

Jump on it, Obama!!