Nutrition Notes

Sometimes it’s the little things…

Have you ever been doing very well with your diet but the scale won’t budge? Sometimes that means you need to look at the little things like condiments, sauces, and creamers! Check out this comparison of creamers. Measure your creamers for just one day and see if you are putting a baked potato in each cup!!!

Need a little sweetening in your coffee or protein shake? Try a little Torani Sugar Free Syrup!

http://www.torani.com/home/products

All the taste minus the fat... 

All Yogurts are Not Created Equal…

It's amazing what an array of yogurts have become available over the last couple of years.  There are many to choose from but all are not created equal.  Check out this comparison of yogurts and you will be amazed.



YOGURT NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON

Why Complete Protein?

Protein is one of the macronutrients that are found in foods.   Protein is made up of amino acids. The combination of these amino acids is what determines a protein’s function.  

Protein provides many important benefits to patients:

• Protein aids in proper wound healing.

• It helps to build and repair body tissues including skin, muscle and major organs.

• Protein helps keep your hair, skin, bones, and nails healthy.

• Protein helps form hormones, enzymes and immune system antibodies to help your body function properly.

• Protein helps your body burn fat instead of muscle for a healthier weight loss.

• When you are trying to lose weight, you reduce calories. Unfortunately, the human body tends to view fat stores as more precious than lean muscle tissue, and will burn or "catabolize" muscle tissue, before it goes to fat for energy.

• Protein supports your natural metabolism so you lose weight more quickly.

• The more muscle you have on your body, the higher your metabolism and the more fat calories your body will burn, even while at rest.

• Protein curbs your hunger between meals and helps avoid "snacking temptation". One of the amino acids in protein, tryptophan (a precursor of serotonin) has been shown to work on the satiety (hunger) center in the brain.

The human body is able to synthesize most amino acids from other compounds in the body. However, there are ten amino acids that the body cannot synthesize and that must be consumed in the diet. These are called essential amino acids. 

A complete protein is one that contains all ten of the essential amino acids that are required in the human diet.  These are all products that have come from an animal like meat, lunch meat, beef, ham, chicken, turkey, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and yogurt.

An incomplete protein is one that is low or lacking in one or more of the essential amino acids. Sources of incomplete proteins include nuts, beans, legumes, grains, cereals, lentils, and peas. In order to make an incomplete protein complete, you need to pair it with another incomplete protein that contains the amino acids that the other lacks.

Examples

• Rice and beans

• Peanut butter and oatmeal

• Bean soup and whole grain crackers

• Peanut butter on whole wheat bread

• Bun with sesame seeds

You can also pair an incomplete protein with a complete protein to ensure that you are getting all of the essential amino acids.

Examples

• Yogurt and nuts or seeds

• Pasta and cheese

• Chili and cheese

Remember that many of the incomplete proteins are also high in carbohydrates and fats so you will be incorporating extra calories in to your daily intake.  If the volume of food is small, such as a bariatric patient, you will need to focus primarily on the complete proteins in your intake due to the limited volume and variety in your consumption.  



Beggin' for Bacon!!! 

When eggs and cheese becomes a bore at breakfast, it may be challenging to get your recommended protein. Branching out and trying different types of protein is a great thought, however make sure the protein you choose to incorporate into your diet is a safe option. At first, it may seem that turkey bacon is a healthy choice but at second glance, turkey bacon is not much better than regular bacon.

Note that regular bacon is 64% fat and 26% saturated fat while turkey bacon is 71% fat and 26% saturated fat. Center cut bacon is 57% fat and 19% saturated fat.  

If you are looking for a new, lean protein alternative try Oscar Mayer Carving Board ham or turkey.

You can add the ham to scrambled eggs or make a turkey and cheese melt on wheat for part of a well-balanced breakfast. The one ounce portion of carving board ham only has 30 calories and half a gram of fat!

How Many Carbs in that Halloween Candy?

You can still enjoy a few of those tasty treats without undoing all of that hard work you have put in to keep the pounds off!  Just remember that 15 grams of carbohydrate is equal to one carbohydrate choice.  Here is a list of some of the most popular seasonal treats to help keep you on track.

 Let’s Get Cheesy!!!

Lots of questions are always asked as to which cheese is the best cheese. We are looking for something that has lots of protein without too much fat. Cheese sticks are tasty and handy.

Sargento Light Cheese Sticks are 50 calories (25 from fat), 6 grams of protein and 0 carbohydrates.

Babybel Light Cheeses are also very popular. They are also 50 calories (25 from fat), 6 grams of protein and 0 carbohydrates.

Adding ¼ cup of Kraft’s 2% Cheddar Cheese makes a great addition. It adds 80 calories (50 from fat) with 7 grams of protein and 1 gram of carbohydrate. Or grabbing a quick snack with a slice of plain ole 2% American Cheese will add 50 calories, 25 fat calories, 4 grams of protein and 2 grams of carbohydrates. So all cheeses are not created equal. Use variety in your intake.

What’s your favorite cheese? We’ll add it to the comparison.



Barbeque Sauce

Are you having trouble finding a Barbeque sauce to add that bit of excitement to your meats? 

You can try a vinegar based barbeque sauce like Scotts...



If you can find it, KC Masterpiece makes a delicious Barbeque Sauce called Classic Blend...

And if all else fails...be creative and make your own!!!

Ingredients:

• 1-3 teaspoons of liquid smoke, to taste, near the end of the cooking.

  • Alternatively, add some smoky flavor using 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, or chipotle powder to taste.

• 1 small onion, minced

• 1 clove garlic, minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste

• 1 can (12 oz) diet (sugar-free) cola - Splenda-sweetened preferred

• 1/4 cup low carb (sugar-free) catsup, (or see note)

• 3 T mustard

• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 pinch ground cloves

• Hot sauce to taste

Preparation:

Note 1: If you can't find low carb catsup, leave it out, but add about a tablespoon of vinegar and some sweetener, to taste.

1) Add the onion and cook over medium until soft - 3-5 minutes. Add garlic at this point if you're using fresh and stir it for half a minute or so.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients, plus about half a cup of water. Stir well.

3) Simmer for 20-30 minutes. It will cook down a bit and flavors will combine.

4) Adjust the seasonings so you have the balance you want - you can add vinegar, artificial sweetener (liquid preferred), or hot sauce.

(If it's too hot, adding more sweetener will tone it down.)

ENJOY!!!



Greek Yogurt_Desserts

I’m so excited with Greek Yogurt. Most brands have a great ratio of carbs to protein.

I enjoy the Blueberry 4 oz cups with 2 packets of Splenda. It has 12 grams of carbohydrates + 10 grams of protein with 0 fat.

I also enjoy making all sorts of mixtures with the pint size yogurt.

To ½ cup vanilla, add 1 packet of Diet Swiss Miss + 2 splenda for a mousse consistency.

To ½ cup vanilla, add ½ cup sugar free Jello.

To ½ cup vanilla, (My absolute Favorite), add 1 T peanut butter, 2 Splenda, and cinnamon. DELICIOUS!!!

To the plain, add dry ranch packet or taco seasoning packet for a great dip for your veggies.

If you have great recipes to share, please email them to me.



It’s the Little Things

I met with a patient and we found her weight loss had slowed. It takes so very little to slow your weight loss. Even when you’ve had Bariatric Surgery, it’s WHAT you put in your pouch that is important. Since you are my patients, you know that I think in “potatoes” (15 grams of carbohydrates thoughts).

Here is how she was getting an extra 5 potatoes a day.

2 X ½ cup Sugar-Free Applesauce cup –

15 grams of carbohydrates at Snacktime instead of a protein
~The applesauce is Sugar-Free but not Carb-Free so you still need to account for them. Each 15 grams of carbohydrates equals a potato.

3 X 24 oz Propel Waters

~Propel has 3 grams of Carbohydrates / 8 oz. A bottle has three 8 oz servings which means 9 grams of carbohydrates. Three bottles a day is 27 grams of carbohydrates and therefore equals 2 potatoes.

3 Simple Red and White Peppermint Hard Candies

 ~3 Peppermints = 15 grams of carbohydrates.

This is in addition to a well balanced diet. It’s an extra approximately 400 calories a day which could slow weight loss by .8 pound / week or 3.2 pound / month.

Let’s Start a Nutrition Blog

I decided that I would start a Nutrition Blog. It may not always be pretty and will not be daily, but I hope to help you with recipes, new products, and common nutrition mistakes. If you have any questions, recipes to share, or ideas that would be a good topic, email me at contemporarynutrition @ hotmail.com

The idea started after having dinner at Olive Garden with my family. Certain places have very little choices and “Pasta (aka Carb) Heaven” isn’t my favorite place. When I sat down, I realized there was a patient in front of me, a patient beside, and a patient behind me. And yes, I was tempted to go see what was on their plates, but I resisted. As difficult as it was, I made healthy choices with my dinner and figured it may be helpful for you to know what healthy choices I make (although I do NOT always eat perfectly).

At Olive Garden I got a bowl of salad with dressing on the side. If you get the waitress to add lots of cheese, you will desire less of that high calorie dressing (90 calories / 2 Tablespoons). They generally put about half a cup on a bowl of salad. I ordered the endless pasta bowl with endless meat and added a side of roasted zucchini and squash. I got one bowl of pasta (but only ate half) and just kept adding sauce and meat. I believe I ate 2 meatballs, 1½ roasted chicken, and a ½ sausage (it was high fat, but tasty). So my meal consisted of about 4-5 ounces of meat, 2 vegetables, and 2 starches. And I drank water with lemon and Splenda.