Chicken | How Big Is Your BUT? Blog

April 8, 2012

Three Foods to Help Lower Blood Pressure

Is your blood pressure a little elevated? What’s the first thing you’re told to do? Cut your salt and sodium intake…right? OK, here’s a quick quiz. Which contains more sodium…a McDonald’s Big Mac or a large order of French fries? It’s the Big Mac with 1,040 milligrams of sodium. This amount is about half the sodium you need for an entire day {about 2300 mgs} and two thirds of the sodium {1500 mgs} if you are 50 or older or if you have high blood pressure.

Compare the Big Mac to the French fries, which contain 350 milligrams of sodium. Surprised? Many times you don’t taste the sodium added to a product the way you taste the salt on the outside. Here are the salty facts. Table salt is sodium chloride, which means that it’s made up of part sodium and part chloride. But there are many other types of sodium or sodium products in food, particularly processed foods.

As a general rule, the more processed a food item, the more sodium it will contain. You will see names such as the preservative sodium benzoate, monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer or sodium nitrate/nitrite that is used as curing agent/preservative in deli meats. It’s the total amount of sodium that you take in every day from both salt (as in the salt shaker) and all the other forms of sodium combined that affect your body.

Sodium is measured in milligrams or mgs on the food label. Any idea how much of your total sodium intake every day comes from the saltshaker? Most people get 25% or less of their total sodium intake from the saltshaker. The rest is added to food in various sodium forms.

Now, let’s talk about foods to increase in the diet to help lower blood pressure.

Potassium-rich foods: diets low in potassium seem to cause a rise in blood pressure. When potassium-rich foods are consumed on a day-to-basis as part of a healthy diet, blood pressure may be reduced. Any idea where you find potassium? Think fruits and vegetables such as raisins, bananas, tomatoes (this includes tomato paste and sauce), spinach, citrus and potatoes. When you cut processed foods and bump up fruits and veggies, blood pressure lowers…naturally!
Calcium-rich foods: yogurt, cheese, milk, and calcium fortified products such as orange juice and soy or almond milk.
Omega-3 rich foods: fatty seafood such as tuna, salmon, or vegetarian foods fortified with DHA-rich algae.
Aim for a combination of these three everyday…foods that are rich in potassium, calcium and omega-3s work together as a team or synergistically…to naturally help lower blood pressure.

Hey, did you just eat something high in sodium? Help offset it with a piece of potassium rich fruit…grab an apple or eat a peach. It’s all about fresh…start with fresh ingredients with the least amount of processing or added sodium.

Want more information? Listen to this week’s podcast below.

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January 26, 2012

Cold and Flu Fighters

I just returned from a trip to California and can you hear what came with me? A chest cold along with laryngitis. Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) up to 20% of Americans will likely get the flu every year? When you feel achy all over and feverish, your food selections can help fortify your immune system and ramp down some of your cold and flu symptoms. Healthy food, which provides needed nutrients to your body such as vitamins and minerals, is essential for optimum function of the immune response.

Try these flu and cold fighters:

Hot Tea: all types of tea including green, black, white and red offer health benefits in the form of antioxidants. Besides feeling really good on your throat and warming your body when you have the chills, hot liquids temporarily thin out the mucus in the nose and throat. Here’s a little unexpected tip. Regular tea (not decaf) contains enough caffeine to gives you a slight energy boost when you feel so bad you don’t want to lift your head off the pillow.

When you feel chilled and achy, try this simple Spiced Orange Green Tea from the Florida Department of Citrus.

Here’s what you need:

4 ounces Florida Orange Juice

1 cinnamon stick

3 ounces green tea

Here’s what you do:

Combine the three ingredients in a saucepan and heat until steaming. You could also heat the ingredients together in a microwaveable cup until hot.

Blueberries, , potatoes, red peppers, kiwi and other vitamin C-rich foods: I bet you didn’t think about red peppers or potatoes for their Vitamin C but they are a very nice source of both vitamin C and potassium. Bake a potato quickly in the microwave when you don’t have much of an appetite. Other vitamin C-rich foods include blackberries, cherries, tomatoes, broccoli and the traditional sources you think of such as tangerines, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple and strawberries.

I much prefer the whole food over a vitamin C supplement since you get the benefit of the hydrating water content as well as other vitamins and minerals in the fruit. Research has not proven that vitamin C prevents colds but it does have a role in overall immune function that in turn helps you fight off a cold and flu. By the way, 100% fruit juices provide hydration plus the benefits of vitamin C and antioxidants.

Nuts and Seeds: Surprise…your body can benefit from the nutritional star power of nuts and seeds such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds, pistachios and pecans or peanuts or walnuts to provide your body with fiber and a roll call of nutrients including folate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, riboflavin and vitamin E. Nuts and seeds make an easy energy and nutrient-packed snack when you don’t feel like preparing food.

Spicy foods such as hot sauce, wasabi, chili or spicy sauces help to temporarily open sinuses, relieve some congestion and perhaps help you taste the food. A bowl of chili or spicy tortilla soup with a dash of hot sauce may cause your nose to run and eyes to tear but right now, that could be a good thing. This relief helps you to breathe easier for a little while so if you’re up for it, try a little spicy food.

Want more information? Listen to this week’s podcast below.

Listen to this week’s podcast

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June 1, 2011

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark Meat…Chicken

Ok, every time you cook chicken, it’s a skinless chicken breast…right…because you think it’s better for you. As food writer Josh Ozersky said in his Time magazine article “Chicken: Get Over White Meat. Join the Dark Side!” the time has come to get with the dark-meat program.

I was recently in Charleston SC, for the National Chicken Council/US Poultry Food Media Seminar. Known for its southern cuisine, I had the opportunity to enjoy (or maybe I should say devour) some incredible Charleston lowcountry chicken dishes made with thighs and drumsticks from restaurants such as the Fat Hen and Peninsula Grill.

Tender, tasty and healthy, dark meat chicken does not bust your budget. Last week I checked with Leah McGrath, Corporate Dietitian for Ingles Market who told me chicken thighs and drums with skin were a bargain at $1.49 per pound compared to chicken breasts which were $2.28 per pound.

At over $.75 a pound difference it’s time to rethink the automatic habit of buying breasts. Even though the price is right, what about the nutrition facts?

Nutritionally the dark meat is packed with 24% more iron and 3 times the amount of zinc as compared to white meat chicken.

If you always buy the chicken breast because you think it’s healthier, don’t miss this. A typical three-ounce boneless, skinless portion of chicken breast has 120 calories and 1.5 grams of fat, and only ½ gram of saturated fat. In comparison a three-ounce skinless drumstick has 130 calories, 4 grams of fat and only 1 gram of saturated fat.

Did you catch that? There’s only ½ gram of difference in the saturated fat and 10 calories? Time that myth was busted.

By the way, it makes no difference if you remove the chicken skin before or after cooking so if you like the moistness from cooking with the skin on, go for it. Convinced you yet to rethink your position on dark meat chicken?

If you’re looking for recipes that use thighs and drumsticks, check our WDBO.com Nutrition & Health Center at WDBO.com/healthcenter. Look for Chicken Curry and Brown Basmati Rice, Two-Way Nachos and a slow cooker recipe for Chicken and Bean Stew. Also check out eatchicken.com for recipes.

Do you have a great dark meat chicken recipe to share? Tell us about it on my blog or post your comment on Facebook.

Photos: courtesy of the National Chicken Council/ US Poultry & Egg Association.

Want more? Listen to this week’s podcast below.