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December 14, 2010

Three Tips to Easily Pair Holiday Food and Wine

Are you thinking about serving wine with your holiday meals but could use a little guidance in making your selections? My guest on this week’s podcast is Denise Shurtleff, head winemaker at Cambria Estate Vineyards and Winery in California.

The exquisite beauty of their vineyards mesmerized me. For you The Biggest Loser fans, this photo was taken at sunset with Cheryl Forberg, the registered dietitian/nutritionist for TV’s The Biggest Loser.

Last fall I met Denise at the Cambria Estates Vineyards and Winery where she paired their fabulous wines with several dinner courses. There are so many wine selections that unless you really keep up, it can be hard to know what to choose.

Denise shared several of her best tips on simple wine-and-food pairing.

1. Wine is food so make it a part of your overall meal and balance the flavors. Let the dominant flavors in your meal match up with the characteristics or flavors of the wine.

2. Go with the tried and true—what you like and enjoy. So if there’s a wine you love, go with it. There’s a time to explore new wine which is the fun of wine tasting but at the holidays don’t worry so much about paring. Wine should be enjoyed not intimidating.

3. Sparkling wine is a great celebratory wine and a great complement to most any food. Made from both white and red grapes, sparkling wines do not compete with food but complement instead.

Be sure and register to win a monogrammed Cambria coin purse at the WDBO.com Nutrition & Health Center.

Denise says that Cambria is best known for pinot noir and chardonnay wines named after the owners’ daughters.

Interestingly, Denise’s background is in nutrition and she ended up becoming a winemaker after getting the wine bug when she worked in a tasting lab during college. She spent 16 years with Corbett Canyon Vineyards where she was Winemaker and Winery Manager.

Denise joined Cambria in 1999 as Assistant Winemaker before becoming head Winemaker in 2003. Her goal is to create wines that reflect Santa Barbara County and, more importantly, the Santa Maria Bench.

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

Listen to this week’s podcast


November 17, 2010

Spice Up Your Health!


Have you started thinking about your holiday meals? Party foods you want to prepare? Spices develop the flavor profile of your food but did you know that many spices are good for your health? The emerging science is fascinating …especially when you consider that spices have antioxidant and protectiveproperties.

Try these four spices:

Cinnamon: Did you know that one teaspoon of cinnamon contains as many antioxidants as a ½ cup of blueberries? Cinnamon also contains polyphenols, which are compounds that may help regulate blood sugar levels. I like to put my favorite spices in shakers just like salt and pepper and keep them handy. I sprinkle cinnamon on oatmeal and hot chocolate. How do you use it?

I was in Boston for the American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference and enjoyed a sweet yet savory California Pinot Infused Fig Chutney that is perfect for the holidays. Made with California figs, Pinot Noir wine and cinnamon sticks plus a couple other ingredients, this chutney is easy to make ahead. Serve it along side turkey, pork or ham or spread it on a baguette and pair it with cheese for an appetizer. It would pair nicely with Gorgonzola, Cheddar, Manchego or Camembert.

Thyme: Ancient Greeks burned thyme as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage. It was also used to ward off nightmares in the Middle Ages.  So what else can this super spice do?  It potentially promotes good heart health by reducing cell damage from free radicals.

Turmeric: What do you like on your hot dog or favorite sandwich? Did you say mustard? Do you buy the traditional bright yellow mustard? If you have a container of yellow mustard in the fridge, look at the ingredients for the word “turmeric”. The golden yellow color in turmeric comes from curcumin, which is the naturally occurring phytonutrient.

Recent studies have led researches to consider that this golden yellow curcumin compound may help stop the development of harmful brain plaque or amyloid plaque tied to Alzheimer’s disease.

Oregano: Studies on oregano suggest that it has antimicrobial properties so if you’re making pizza for friends and family who have gathered to watch those holiday movies, sprinkle it on.

Remember, the research on spices is not meant for you to think of them or use them as a single treatment item. They are to be included as part of a healthy way of eating in amounts of ½ teaspoon to teaspoon per serving for example.

Spices need to be stored away from heat and light in a dark drawer or cabinet. If you want some tasty recipes that contain these super spices, go to spicesforhealth.com

For more information, listen to this week’s podcast below.

Listen to this week’s podcast


October 20, 2010

Tell-All: Nutrition News Now

Have you noticed all the chatter about weight loss these past few days? How’s this for a diet trick? A recent article in USA Today reported on research from Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab headed up by Dr. Brian Wansink.

His lab found that people consumed less at meals after watching exercise-related commercials than they did after viewing other types of ads.

The 125 participants in this study were divided into two groups. One group watched ads for washing machines or car insurance while the other groups watched exercise-related ads including fitness centers and running shoes. Then both groups had a buffet lunch.

Guess what? The participants who watched the exercise-related ads consumed 22% fewer calories from the buffet than the other group. And, don’t miss this…the group viewing the messages about fitness and exercise reported that they felt more athletic, active and in better shape than those in the other group. The participants watching the exercise type ads also thought the buffet meal was healthier than the other group.

The researchers suggested that the exercise commercials may cause people to be more health and body conscious.

I better watch Dancing with the Stars and receive some of those messages. How about you? Perception for people is a big part of the weight loss puzzle. For example, Wansink has done other work where he found that people would eat more movie popcorn if the bowl was bigger….even if the popcorn was old and stale!

In another recent article from USA Today which reported on a Nutrisystem poll of 1001 people found that twenty-five percent of men said they would rather go without sex for a summer than gain 10 pounds. But get this…50% of the women responding would give up sex rather than gain weight.

Two thirds of the people said they would need to lose weight in order to feel sexier. How many pounds on average do you think it would take for this sexy feeling? To be a hottie? A loss of 23 pounds was the average in the poll. Weight and weight gain is definitely tied to self-image and people will go to great lengths to keep the weight off. Am I talking to you?

When I fly, I’ve been listening to the audio book Big Girl by Danielle Steel. Have any of you read it? Throughout the book, the author weaves the story of the power of self-image and body weight and how negative comments from family members can affect a young girl’s view of herself throughout life.

You clearly see the tie between food cravings and emotional hunger versus hunger. What do you think? Email me thru my website at susanmitchell.org and I’ll share your comments next week.

Don’t forget to register to win cases of isopure plus. Just go to WDBO.com and click on the Nutrition & Health Center.

For more information, listen to this week’s podcast below.

Listen to this week’s podcast


September 15, 2010

Deflate Your Muffin Top: 3 Tips to Deal with Menopause

Blog: September 15, 2010

Deflate Your Muffin Top: 3 Tips to Deal with Menopause

Karen H. sent me an email asking if I would talk about menopause, including hormonal headaches. Other pesky issues include irritability, difficulty getting a good night’s sleep, hot flashes…and the dreaded muffin top.

I’m talking about the overflow of fat at the belly…you put on a pair of jeans and the extra weight rolls over the top like a muffin. I’ve had numerous women refer to it as a pillow top….an expanded version of the muffin top. However you refer to it ladies, you don’t like it and you want to get rid of it along with the headaches and irritability.

So what can you do to lessen these irritating menopausal symptoms?

  • If at all possible, find ways to reduce your stress. When you’re coping with hormone havoc, stress can exacerbate the way you feel resulting in increased irritability and for many women, the desire to eat processed foods such as cookies, candy or chips….aka stress eating. This only makes matters worse and ends up on that unwanted muffin top

  • Increase your intake of water and diuretic foods to help reduce hormonal bloat. Diuretic foods are those that are high in water and include the majority of veggies and fruit along with beverages such as tea, milk, juice, soy milk. Diuretic foods plus water help maintain the body’s balance of electrolytes including chloride, potassium and sodium. When you’ve eaten a high sodium meal resulting in fluid retention, water and diuretic foods help flush the excess sodium from the body.

  • Add more omega-3s from seafood or ALAs from walnuts, flaxseed meal, even soybeans and soybean oil. Omega-3s have a role in brain health and moods.

  • Eat regularly. Skipping meals can make you feel more stressed and irritable, resulting in more frequent headaches. When you eat three meals plus a snack or frequent small meals, your energy level is improved and your stress level and the number of headaches you experience go down. Eating regularly also cuts down on stress eating which means less muffin top.

If you have a tip that works for you, email me and I’ll share them.

Joe M. is the winner of the Pirate’s Booty giveaway. Congrats!

Technically menopause is defined as the last menstrual period but the months leading up to it seem like a long goodbye. Typically it occurs in the 50s but is not unusual in the late 30s and 40s. Menopause occurs when the body’s estrogen levels begin to decline and along with this decline is the reshaping of the body.

Fat storage moves from the hips and thighs to the belly. Women take on more of an apple shape similar to men versus the traditional pear shape. Not only can this apple shape or expansion into a muffin or pillow top affect your psyche but when fat is deposited deep into the belly, the inflammation level in the body may increase.

There are many strategies for menopause that include nutrition, exercise and sleep and numerous websites with helpful information including:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/menopause/DS00119

http://www.menopause.org/

http://www.webmd.com/menopause/default.htm

For more information, listen to this week’s podcast below.

Listen to this week’s podcast


August 11, 2010

5 Tips to Pack a Lunch Your Kids will Eat

My cousin is a kindergarten teacher and started school on Monday! It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over and school is back in session. That means it’s time to gear up and think about school lunches… ideas that won’t break the bank, are nutritious and that your kids won’t trade.

Check out this month’s Family Circle recipe for Maple Bran Muffins. Drizzle with maple icing and serve for breakfast or a snack.

Try these five tips to pack a lunch your kids will keep and eat:

  • For your sanity, think about cooking and preparing for the week to come on Sunday. Go over your schedule for the week and think about what you can fix ahead to make the week less hectic. Consider meals that will provide leftovers for lunch the next day. Kids love leftover pizza, lasagna and manicotti.
  • Get your children involved in the kitchen with you and bake oatmeal or peanut butter cookies.Cut up fruit, make trail mix with nuts, soy nuts, pumpkin seeds, a mixture of their favorite dried fruit, and even add some mini chocolate chunks.Or try one of my several favorite mixes from Target’s Archer Farms line, Sunny Cranberry. Many of you know that I partner with Target as their nutrition & health expert and have come to rely on their Archer Farms products for my day-to-day meals and snacks.
  • Kids love the power of choice so involve them in choosing from your healthy selections. Think about taking them to the grocery store at a time when you’re not rushed or tired…I know…when is that? You guide the decisions and choices but do allow them to pick an item or two.
    This week on the podcast, Margit Ragland, Health Director at Family Circle magazine, joins me to talk more about lunches that will be keepers.

According to Family Circle, Meredith Corporation’s Motherboard surveyed moms and 84% were looking for new options to add to their children’s brown bag.

  • Rethink the sandwich…switch from bologna with cheese on white bread. Try a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread…add a slice of low fat cheese or soy cheese.
    Try whole-wheat tortillas or whole grain wraps as an alternative to bread and in addition to turkey, stuff with lean ham or beef and low-fat cheese, tuna, chicken, hummus or egg salad, and top with sliced veggies such as red peppers and cucumber. Peanut butter, almond butter or sunflower butter with banana or raisins works well too.
  • Keep baskets in your pantry filled with healthy snack selections that your children like. Include whole-grain cereal bars (try blueberry almond flax), dried fruit such as cherries or blueberries, nuts, whole-grain crackers, peanut or almond butter, and pop-top cans or pouches of tuna.

Looking for a healthier chip alternative with less fat and calories? Margit suggests Pirate’s Booty as one option. Putting together a lunch is much easier when the choices are there.

For more ideas, listen to this week’s podcast.

Listen to this week’s podcast


May 12, 2010

Diet Myths…Busted!

What is the one item of clothing women hate to shop for? A swim suit. My college roommate was in town last week and we were over at the beach. She was shopping for a swim suit and I wish you could have heard her comments. “I’ve got to lose this extra flab.” “This suit makes me look even fatter than I feel.” “Wow, is my butt really that wide?” “The flowers on this suit make me look like an extra-large arrangement.”

She had me laughing out loud but at the same time, we discussed how we women are our own worst critics. Isn’t that right ladies? We don’t need anyone else to point out our flaws when we try on a swim suit…we do that very nicely on our own. We would never hear a guy say…”Do my thighs look like cottage cheese?” or “Wow, my gut has really gotten big.”

If you want to drop a few pounds before you put on your swimsuit, take this quiz with me and let’s do some diet myth busting.

Here we go: Diet Myth or Diet Truth?

#1, True or False: You can lose weight if you eat grapefruit or drink/use vinegar?

FALSE: This myth is considered ‘food folklore’–wishful thinking for many people who have heard this faux promise for years. Unfortunately no food can directly “burn fat” nor “burn off the calories in a food”. If you lose weight because you eat grapefruit, it’s because you substitute this low calorie food for one in your diet that is likely much higher in calories and fat. Same for vinegar. You may substitute it in place of a much higher fat salad dressing for example and therefore cut significant calories.

This is not going to sound sexy or be the magic pill that we all wish we had but weight loss, bottom line, is about how much you eat day in and day out. I’m talking portion size and total calories plus how physically active you are.

Two huge factors have changed. Number one, we’ve become sedentary as a society. Remote controls, computers, cars, golf carts, etc. do all the work for us. Then consider that most of us don’t live where we can walk everywhere like in the European countries. Number two, portion sizes are obscene. Cookies are the size of small pizzas so we pack on the pounds like never before.

#2, True or False: You must stop eating at 7pm or you won’t lose weight?

FALSE: Calories do not count more in the evening. In terms of fat burning, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, regardless of when it is eaten. The bottom line for weight loss is calories consumed against calories expended. Think about this.

Do you often skip breakfast or lunch or else eat very lightly all day? Are you so ravenous by the time you get home that you could eat the door off the refrigerator and have absolutely zero self control? Do you eat anything you can get your hands on and then fall asleep and never burn the calories off?

Research from The National Weight Control Registry shows that people who eat breakfast and throughout the day have less cravings at night and tend to eat much less after 7 pm.

Listen to this week’s podcast for more diet myths…busted.

Listen to this week’s podcast


May 5, 2010

Raising Healthy Eaters: Three Tips Every Parent Should Know

If you have children or care for children, do you often feel confused about what and how to feed them? My guest on this week’s podcast, dietitian and mom Maryann Jacobsen, has useful tips you don’t want to miss.

Check out the blog, Raise Healthy Eaters, founded by registered dietitian Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen. The focus is on three essentials to raising healthy eaters: what to feed, how to feed and how to be a healthy role model.

You’ll find useful information on what to eat during pregnancy as well as what to feed infants and toddlers. Plus find out how to outsmart a picky eater!

Maryann shares her insight on children and set mealtimes, the eating cues of hunger and satiety (feeling satisfied or full) and the roll of the parent.

Here’s a quick bio: Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen is a registered dietitian, mother of two and creator of Raise Healthy Eaters, a blog dedicated to providing parents with credible nutrition advice.  Maryann has counseled overweight clients for years and understands the connection between how children are fed and the kind of eater they grow up to be.  After having kids of her own, she decided to focus on prevention by helping parents learn how and what to feed their children.

Listen to this week’s podcast


April 28, 2010

Fishing for Answers: A Quick A-Z Guide to a Fish Purchase and Prep

may-fiYou’ve asked me questions such as how do I know where my fish is from and is it farmed or wild-caught?

Here’s your quick A-Z guide to purchase fish.

Sources for fish information fast:

    • Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has a Seafood Watch Program. Check out their Seafood Guide App that you can download to your iphone or ipad to help you make sustainable seafood choices quickly and easily, whether you’re eating out or shopping at your local supermarket. The app features regional guides so you can see what seafood is best in each area of the country and a sushi guide.
    • You can send a text while you stand in front of the fish counter and make sure the fish you plan to purchase is eco-friendly and without a health advisory. This very cool tech tip is courtesy of blueocean.org.

Send a text to 30644 with the message FISH followed by the name of the fish you want to buy…for example, FISH SCALLOPS or FISH SALMON. I sent a text for FISH SALMON and received two texts within a few seconds.. The Blue Ocean Institute tracks 90+ fish species and regularly updates their database.

    • Other good sources for information on seafood choices that protect marine life and/or the environment and support well-managed fisheries are seafoodwatch.org and nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch, part of the government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

How do you know where your fish is coming from?

The Country of Origin Labeling called COOL, which was developed by the USDA, requires all large retailers (supermarkets) to disclose the country of origin of fresh or frozen fish and whether it is farm-raised or wild-caught.

What about sustainable seafood?

The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) certification program and seafood ecolabel recognizes and rewards sustainable fishing. They are a global organization working with fisheries, seafood companies, scientists, conservation groups and the public to promote the best environmental choice in seafood. Look for their label on fish products.

Do farmed fish provide the same health benefits as wild?

There’s a lot of controversy about farmed-fish versus wild-fish in regards to nutrition content, environmental safety and toxins. Farmed fish can be a healthy and delicious alternative to more expensive wild-caught fish but, there is potential for higher amounts of toxins and poor nutrition content. The key is ‘farmed responsibly’ resulting in fish that is an affordable and perfectly recommendable source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

Listen to this week’s podcast


April 21, 2010

Easy Snacks and Meals to Fuel Fitness

Easy Snacks and Meals to Fuel Fitness

To fuel up for fitness, here are a couple of my favorite (and easy) breakfast/snack ideas courtesy of Family Circle magazine:

  • careamelChocolate-Peanut Butter Oatmeal
    ½ cup rolled or quick oats made with 1 cup fat-free milk
    1 tablespoon creamy natural peanut butter
    2 teaspoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

I’m a self-proclaimed chocoholic so even this small amount of chocolate chips satisfies me.

  • Apple & Nut Butter (snack)
    1 medium apple, sliced and spread with two tablespoons almond butter 
    My breakfast version    : I spread almond butter on whole grain toast, followed by the apple slices and a drizzle of honey. If you haven’t tried almond butter, it’s worth the extra expense as an alternative to peanut butter.

Try this 20-minute recipe from the Family Circle kitchens: Red snapper with gazpacho salsa

I hope spring is all around you…the weather is warming up, the birds are singing, and flowers are starting to bloom. I’m ready to take my workout…outdoors. How about you? I am a walker, especially on the weekends when I have more time to be outside.

For those of you who have listened to my podcast for a while, you know that Family Circle along with the American Heart Association sponsor the annual Start! Walking Challenge. You can find out more at familycircle.com/walk2010 or in the May issue. This month the focus is on walking and eating to lower cholesterol. You’ll find a very helpful mix-and-match meal plan.

familycircle_may10_120_o.jpg Margit Ragland, Health Director at Family Circle joins me on the podcast this week to talk about the Walking Challenge with a focus on cutting your cholesterol level in three ways:

  1. Keeping a cap on saturated fat that can raise your total and lousy LDL cholesterol levels while it shrinks your good cholesterol…HDL.
  2. Focusing on fiber, a nutrient that works like a sponge to help rid your body of cholesterol.
  3. Loading up on superstar foods that conquer cholesterol-like oats, nuts, beans, fish, soy, and even dark chocolate.

Listen to this week’s podcast


April 14, 2010

Got Milk? Is it Raw or Pasteurized? Part 2

april-blogWith the trend towards locally grown, eco-friendly, natural food, raw milk is touted as being more healthful, better tasting and nutritious than pasteurized milk…but is it? Proponents of raw milk say it’s safe to drink…but should you drink it and give it to your family

Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized. It’s milk from any hoofed animal including cows, sheep or goats. Because of the potential for raw milk to contain a wide variety of bacteria including such suspects as:

  • Salmonella
  • E. coli
  • Listeria
  • M. tuberculosis
  • Campylobacter
  • Brucella

Public health officials for decades have expressed concern over drinking raw milk. Symptoms of illness range from:

  • vomiting
  • diarrhea
  • abdominal pain
  • fever, headache and body aches

However, people with weakened immune systems from HIV or autoimmune diseases or infants, young children, pregnant women and the elderly are especially sensitive and illness from raw milk can be very serious and result in death.

Joining me on the podcast to answer more questions about the raw milk movement is Dr. Ronald Schmidt, Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida. Dr. Schmidt has authored more than 100 scientific publications and presentations in dairy/food science technology, food safety, and microbiology, and is co-editor of the book, Food Safety Handbook.

Dr. Schmidt delves into these questions that you have asked?

  1. First, I have to ask this same question that I asked Joe Wright, the dairy farmer who was our guest last week. Do you drink raw milk or pasteurized milk and why?
  2. Proponents of raw milk say it is more nutritious with additional enzymes and healthy bacteria that are destroyed by pasteurization. Is one milk more nutritious than the other?
  3. Does raw milk contain antimicrobial components making pasteurization unnecessary? What effect does pasteurization have on milk?
  4. Dr. Schmidt, advocates of raw milk point to some studies where children drinking raw milk have less allergies, asthma and eczema. Where does the scientific community come out on this debate on drinking raw milk and giving it to children?
  5. What about cheese made from raw milk? Is it safe? I see dairies selling it at farmers’ markets.
  6. Do you think raw milk will become legal in Florida and other states?

What’s your opinion on raw milk? Post your comment on my blog and I’ll share some of them on an upcoming podcast.

Listen to this week’s podcast


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