Nutrition Frenzy

Whole Grain Starch

Which foods have a lot of starch?
Grains (wheat, rice, barley, oats), potatoes, corn, and beans are all very starchy foods. Grains are made into bread, cereal and pasta, as well as crackers, biscuits, cookies, cakes, pie crust, and anything else made with flour.

That wasn’t as hard as I thought, giving up those foods. All I did was replace then with healthier versions. There are low-carb/starch breads out there. If you’re craving mashed potatoes? Try mashed cauliflour! It has a similar appearance and you can put any topping on it (low-fat, of course).

Surprises: One processed food that seems to be digested more slowly than would be guessed is pasta. Apparently the starch molecules are so tightly packed that only about half is rapidly digested when the pasta is cooked “al dente” (slightly firm). Cooking time and thickness of the pasta greatly affects how the glycemic it is.

Additionally, when some cooked starches, such as potatoes and rice, are cooked and cooled, a small percentage of the starch takes longer to digest.

I could not give up my pasta! I’ve found a low-carb pasta, and it’s readily availabe in most grocery stores. You just have to do a little investigating.

What Starches Should We Eat?
The best starchy foods are whole beans or lentils. The starch is mostly either slowly-digested starch or resistant starch.
When choosing grains, eat ones which are whole and intact when cooked, such as brown rice, barley, amaranth, or quinoa.
Avoid most baked goods or anything made with flour. Best choices are specially-made low carb breads which have less starch and more fiber.
Avoid processed cereals with little fiber. Best choices are cold cereals, such as All-Bran with Extra Fiber, are which are mostly fiber.

The Human Brain

Losing weight is a common resolution each New Year and a fantastic one. What better way to start the New Year than to promise ourselves to take care of our bodies. Many think starving themselves is the best way to losing weight. When you starve yourself or drastically cut out carbs, you may be putting your mind and cognitive skills at risk. Robin Nixon on Live Science came up with these five pittfalls to avoid:

1. The Brain constitutes less than two percent of our body’s weight, yet it is responsible for taking twenty percent of the nutrients we ingest. Plus, it’s a picky eater (much like that 2 year old you used to be–but it never grew up). The brain prefers carbs, but only heatlhy carbs: fruits, grains, vegetables. The frontal cortex is prone to confused thinking when your glucose levels drop, where as high glucose levels slowly but surely damage cells everywhere in the body, including those in the brain, said Marc Montminy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.

2. Eat many small meals throughout the day. There have been studies that show eating six small, well balanced meals throughout the day is healthier and better on the body than three big meals. The brain works best with about 25 grams of glucose circulating in the blood stream — about the amount found in a banana. Hate the thought of eating so many times during the day? There’s more.

3. A lower glycemic index (GI) may be the meal plan for you. The glycemic index ranks foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels. Carbs, by and large, are higher GI foods, whereas vegetables, high in fiber content, are lower GI foods. Have a sandwich consisting of High Fiber whole wheat bread, with some meat or other protein, slather a little olive oil, and you have a lunch that is brain-friendly.

4. Fat is where it’s at: Trans fats, common in fast food, are the worst. Saturated fats are not great. Unsaturated fat is the healthiest. Saturated Fats are unhealthy for your brains. If saturated fats (think fast food, fried-anything) are bad for your heart, think of what they’r doing for your brain.
Speaking of fat for brains, essential fatty acids, such as Omega-3s, are proving valuable in treating depression and other psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, as well as benefiting infant brain development, Green said.

5. Finally, you know your brain and body and how it best responds to fats. Do you want to nap after a heavy-fat-and-cholesterol-laden lunch? Are you grumpy or faint? It may be time to take a second look at what you’re feeding your brain.

Here’s a snack that ought to stop you from, well, snacking: whole-grain bread dipped in olive oil.

Restaurants have the right idea. Some serve a plate of aromatic, fruity olive oil with whole grain bread with cracked pepper. Delicious, wholesome and good for you!

That’s because olive oil is rich in a special appetite-controlling kind of fat. Wow, a fat that may help with weight control! That’s something to write home about.

Getting the Message
Olive oil contains oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat. Upon reaching the small intestine, oleic acid triggers the production of oleoylethanolamide (OEA), another fatty substance. OEA then finds its way to nerve endings that carry a hunger-curbing message to the brain. And that message is loud and clear: “Hey. Stop eating! You’re full!!” Researchers are hoping that new appetite-suppressing drugs using OEA will be developed to reduce obesity.

Learn about belly fat and how to lose it:

Three Kinds of Fat
See, fat is like real estate: It’s all about location, location, location. We all have three kinds of fat: fat in our bloodstream (called triglycerides), subcutaneous fat (which lies just beneath the skin’s surface), and omentum fat. The omentum is a fatty layer of tissue located inside the belly, where it hangs underneath the muscles in your stomach (which is why some men with beer guts have hard-as-a-keg bellies — their fat is under the muscle). You may hear people on the street refer to it not only as a beer gut but also as belly fat, love handles, a beach-ball belly, or a spare tire. Doctors refer to it as visceral fat or intra-abdominal adiposity (IAA).

Because this omentum fat is so close to your organs, it’s their best energy source. (Why go to the gas station on the other side of town when there’s a station at the next corner?)

What Belly Fat Does

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Does your prime-time TV viewing go hand in hand with major snacking? Not a problem . . . if you choose this for your evening treat: popcorn.

You can eat up to 6 cups of certain low-fat microwave brands for about the same number of calories you’d get from just 7 or 8 chips. Plus, the popcorn also counts as two servings of whole grains. All in all, one satisfying nosh!

A Kernel of Truth
A survey of 15,000 people found that popcorn eaters get far more whole grains than people who go popcorn-free. And that’s great news for the waistline, because high-fiber whole grains help you feel more satisfied. They also help keep your blood sugar steady and your blood pressure under control.

Pop Up, Slim Down
Of course, you’ll undo all the good of perfectly popped popcorn if you drown it in butter and salt a la those movie-theater tubs. So look at labels and be a smart popper. Orville Redenbacher, Pop Secret, and Jolly Time all offer 100-calorie microwave packs with 5 to 6 cups of popcorn in one bag.

Or try this 4-cup, 75-calorie savory popcorn from EatingWell:

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper dress up air-popped popcorn.

Makes 4 servings, about 1 cup each

ACTIVE TIME: 5 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

4 cups hot air-popped popcorn
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Cayenne pepper to taste

Toss popcorn with Parmesan and cayenne to taste.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 75 calories; 3 g fat (2 g sat, 1 g mono); 9 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 1 g fiber; 154 mg sodium; 43 mg potassium.

What you get: Calcium, fiber, few calories.