Mindless Eating Pitfall #2: The greater the variety, the greater the volume

Mindless Eating Pitfall #2

• The greater the variety, the greater the volume.  I've said it before, and I will say it again: the greater the variety of food that we are exposed to, the more we are likely to eat.  Participants in one study were offered sandwiches with either a single filling or a variety of four different fillings, and researchers found that when offered the sandwiches with more fillings, participants ate 14% (or ~282 kcals) more. Why does this occur? It's still unclear; however, something called sensory-specific satiety (SSS) has been suggested. Essentially, our taste buds don't get burned out as easily when we consume a wide range of flavors (i.e., salty, sweet, savory, etc.), and possibly even textures and colors, within a meal . We end up feeling less full after consuming a variety of foods and eat more as a result.  Just think about the variety of food that we're exposed to at meals and parties during the holidays.  The kickers are those {special} foods, like stuffing or pumpkin pie, that are specific to the holidays.  You know, the ones that we think we'll never get again...or at least not until next year this time, so we must indulge now.

Strategies to Manage

• Survey the scene.  Scan the food selection before serving yourself so that you can see what's available.  Keep the variety and your appetite at bay by zeroing in on 2-3 of your holiday favorites at any given time.  Yes, you may want to go back for seconds, but this strategy will give you just enough pause to think twice about it.
  
• Be wise, organize.  Even perceived variety can fire up our appetite, so shy away from offering more than one dish of the same food.  For example, serve the stuffing in one large bowl rather than two to three smaller ones.  Increased structure may also curb consumption, so position foods on the table in an orderly (think rows) rather than scattered pattern.
• Diversify with veggies and fruits. Let the variety factor work for you rather than against you.  Increase the variety of vegetables and fruits you eat by aiming for at least 5 cups a day.  You may want to read my previous blog post for more tips on this topic. 
  

Mindless Eating Pitfall #1: If it's there, you'll eat it!

Mindless Eating Pitfall #1:

• If it's there, you'll eat it.  And you know that during this time of year, the food will be there...and then some!  When foods are located in convenient locations, people tend to eat more.  Think about how easily accessible food can be during the holidays.  It's going to be at home, work, school, church, and our family's and friend's places.  Food will be everywhere.  In fact, some research suggests that the simple sight or smell of food can provoke our consumption of that food, whether an individual is actually hungry or not. One trial examined the affect of access on consumption by placing opaque or clear containers filled with 30 Hershey's kisses on office workers' desks or on a shelf 6 feet away from their desks.  Investigators found that the workers consumed a daily average of 3 kisses when placed in a clear bowls on their desk and an average of almost 8 kisses when placed in an opaque container 6 feet away from their desk, which equates to about 125 more calories at ~25 calories a pop.  I'm sure your mind could drum up at least one occasion in which you recall eating a food simply because it was there, right?

Strategies to Manage

• Out of sight, out of mind.  Keep tempting foods out of sight or in an inconvenient location (i.e., covered with a cloth or foil, top/back of the pantry, back of the fridge or freezer, in the trunk of the car).  I've even had clients who not only threw away such foods, but they also doused them in salt to drastically reduce the food's appeal. Better yet, consider not buying or making tempting foods. 
• Keep your distance.  One of my colleagues has a saying, "Stay away from the buffet!"  One study actually suggested that heavier restaurant patrons sit facing the buffet vs with their side or back to the buffet.  Leave serving bowls and platters off the dining table, and you might think twice about that second helping.   
• Occupy yourself.  When mingling at a party, carry something in each hand (i.e., a glass of water and napkin).  Without a free hand, you are less likely to mindlessly nibble.  Or hold something in your dominant hand. For example, if you're a righty, hold a drink in your right hand. This way you're less inclined to reach for something because it'll feel unnatural or uneasy to eat with your less dominant hand.  When cooking or baking, keeping your mouth busy with chewing gum or a hard candy.
  
• Fill 'er up.  Remember, if it's there, you'll eat it.  If you leave fresh vegetables and fruits on the kitchen counter, dining table, pre-prepped in the front of the fridge, or in other plain sight locations, you'll be more likely to eat them.  Aim for at least 5 cups of vegetables and fruits daily!
• Stay ahead of your hunger.  Saving up calories for the special event leads to an incredibly ferocious appetite, and this will not help you stay on track with your weight and health management goals.  Before heading off to an event, satisfy your hunger with a pre-event meal or snack.  Consider a source of fiber, a quality source of protein, and/or a quality source of carbohydrate.  Examples, you say?  Fresh vegetables or fruit alone or with low-fat cheese or nut butter, low-fat milk or string cheese, low-fat yogurt with fruit or whole grain cereal, whole grain pita bread with hummus.  Filling up on these options leaves a lot less room for other calorically dense, and sometimes less nutritious, holiday staples.
• Limit or avoid the alcohol.  Do I really need to explain it? I will add that it can also lead to lower blood sugar levels, which can stimulate hunger.
  

Mindless eating during the holidays

The tsunami of food is about to be upon us.  You know, that huge wave, after wave, after wave of food that occurs from Thanksgiving to New Year's. And while this time of year brings us memories and experiences of great joy, it also unleashes a great tsunami of work, and parties, and visitors, and to-do's, and stress!  With this onslaught of busyness, it is no surprise that American adults may gain about 1 pound during the period just before Thanksgiving through several weeks after New Year's (aka, the Super Bowl).  It doesn't sound too bad, but it is 1 pound that the average person also does not lose year after year.  And this is part of what I call the "weight creep". Weight creep is what happens when a person gains a small amount of weight over a long amount of time and then one day wonders, "How did this happen?"  While this isn't an ideal time to attempt weight loss, given the previously mentioned stats, it is an excellent time to practice maintaining our weight and managing our health.

During this time of year it's very easy to engage in a lot of mindless eating behaviors that undermine our goals to achieve and maintain optimal health and well-being.  Mindless eating occurs when we consume something without much thought, and this type of eating causes us to eat certain types or amounts of foods that we wouldn't normally consume had we paid closer attention.  Think about it. Have you ever eaten something and later thought, "Wow, I do not even remember eating that." or "How did I get so full?"  In order to stay ahead of the game, we need to see how mindless eating creates pitfalls for us. Remember that knowing doesn't equal doing, so we also need to develop defensive strategies to manage these pitfalls. Fear not, because the next series of posts will provide the playbook that you need for a more healthful, enjoyable, and nourishing holiday season ahead.

Chicken soup for the cold?

With the wave of sickness that's been hitting our little neck of the beach in Southern California, it's no surprise that many of us are sharing our personal cold remedies. In fact, just last week a friend whose entire family had been sick mentioned that she fed everyone lots of chicken soup.  Ah yes, chicken soup! Why hadn't I thought of that when my family was sick a few weeks ago?

Touted as "Jewish penicillin", a few investigators have found that chicken soup may have properties that make it beneficial in treating the common cold.  In one study conducted over 30 years ago, scientists found that the consumption of hot chicken soup briefly sped up the movement of mucus through the nasal passages.  Basically, it made for a temporarily runnier nose.  What this could mean for the cold sufferer is greater relief of nasal congestion and less exposure of the nasal passages to the cold virus (mostly rhinovirus, which binds and replicates inside the nose).  In another trial, investigators found that homemade chicken soup, as well as several commercial versions, suppressed the migration of neutrophils (white blood cells that move toward the site of viral infection and produce an inflammatory response that contributes to cold symptoms).  Essentially, chicken soup may act as a natural anti-inflammatory agent that lessens cold symptoms, such as phlegm production and coughing.  One major caveat of both studies is that they were conducted on healthy volunteers rather than people who were actually sick. So far, no studies appear to have evaluated the direct effect of chicken soup on infected individuals.

Though the evidence doesn't really cut it for Mama's favorite cold remedy, I say go for it as it's very unlikely to hurt and may actually make you feel much less miserable.  Not only could the hot chicken soup alleviate lung and nasal congestion, but it's also a great way to hydrate while sick, which is also important for helping to loosen up those secretions.  And there's just something to be said about having a comfort food like this when you're sick with the cold or flu.

Here's to some happy and healthful soup slurping!

Zinc up?

So, have you survived or have you succumbed to the awful cold season that is upon us?  I thought I'd follow-up my post on Vitamin C and the Common Cold with a post on another popular homeopathic cold remedy...zinc.  Because of its role in assisting with immune function, it is no surprise that quite a few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of zinc for the treatment of colds.  While its mechanism of action is still not clear, some investigators hypothesize that zinc plays a role in preventing the attachment and  reproduction of rhinovirus, the most common cause of all colds, inside of the nose and suppressing the inflammation that is responsible for many of the awful symptoms.

When it comes to zinc and the common cold, it appears that the jury is still out.  In a thorough review of research spanning 40 years that examined zinc as a cold remedy, investigators evaluated 14 of the highest quality studies conducted in this area.  Of those, half of the studies found no effect of zinc lozenges or nasal sprays on the common cold while the other half found zinc lozenges and nasal gels beneficial for reducing the duration and/or severity of cold symptoms.  Two other major review studies  also concluded that the evidence is inconsistent but that further research is warranted (1,2).

Of the studies that have detected potential benefits from zinc for treatment of the common cold, I found a few interesting and possibly helpful pieces of information.  Zinc lozenges in the form of zinc gluconate (aka, zinc gluconium) or zinc acetate taken every 2 hours while awake within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms (at the very first sign of the symptoms is best) may help reduce the duration of the cold symptoms by an average of about 3 days!  It also appears that low doses (<9 mg of elemental zinc) are not as beneficial as higher doses (~9-24 mg).  As for the nasal sprays and gels, I wouldn't suggest touching those with a ten foot pole for now as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently warned consumers to stop using such products due to numerous reports of anosmia (loss of sense of smell) that may be long-lasting or permanent! (Something I've been telling my students and clients for a long time!)  Be forewarned, too, that anyone using zinc supplements should not consume greater than 40 mg/day as there are some negative side effects associated with excessive zinc consumption, which include:  nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, headaches, copper deficiency resulting in anemia, elevated cholesterol, and interestingly enough...impaired immune function.  (Note that an individual could possibly experience some of these side effects given the typical dosages and treatment protocols of these types of supplements.)

If you're not so sure about taking the supplements and thinking, "Hey, maybe I can just boost my intake of zinc through food if I get a cold.", think again.  Increasing our intake of zinc through food at the onset of a cold will not have the same effect as that of the zinc lozenges given the proposed mechanism of action that I discussed before.  The rhinovirus is replicating in the nasal mucosa. Therefore, the zinc needs to be in close proximity to that area on a regular basis (every 2-3 hours) in order for it to possibly work, and food that's chewed and swallowed won't have the same effect.

So there you have it...the scoop on zinc-ing up when you come down with a cold, but you may still be asking yourself, "So, what should I do?"  We have to ask a few important questions.

1. Is this type of therapy more effective than mere suggestion or doing nothing?  Possibly.  
2. Is it as safe as doing nothing?  Maybe not.  
3. If there is a possibility of it being unsafe, does the potential for benefit exceed that of its potential harm?  Maybe not.    
4. WWMD? (or What Would Michelle Do -- lol)  Aw shoot, I admit it. I've taken zinc lozenges at the first hint of a cold.  Call me desperate!  In some cases, I believe it worked. In others, not so much. Maybe it's because I didn't follow the protocol 100%.  Or maybe it was good ol' placebo effect at it again. And maybe it just doesn't plain work!
   

Stay tuned for more along this same thread of some of the proposed cures for the common cold.

Some new tricks for your treats

Several years ago when I started my career as a dietitian, I decided to take a nutritional stand on Halloween by giving out non-traditional goodies.  Yes, you may officially slap me with a "Nutrition Geek" label.  As a newbie in the field, I possessed a great fervor for exposing my trick-or-treaters to nutritious alternatives in their goodie bag, and I figured they'd get their sugar fix from many other households. I started my Halloween goodie journey with boxed raisins. Don't ask me how they went over as I wasn't there when the kids sifted through their loot, but I wasn't too worried as my goal was to at least expose them to something they might not otherwise be exposed to.  (I will add that my child and many others I know DO like raisins for the record!)  Over the years, I've still maintained an enthusiasm about celebrating Halloween with the kiddos in different ways, so I thought I'd share some of my alternative treat options here in case you might want to experiment with this, too, if you haven't already.

• Non-food treats, like pencils, Play-doh, stickers, temporary tattoos, balls, spider rings, bubbles, crayons, etc.
  
• One study found that when given the choice between non-food treats, like Halloween-themed pencils, stickers, and toys and candy treats that children chose the non-food treats as often as they selected the candy treats.
• More nutritious goodies
• Small packages of dried fruit, fruit leathers, trail mix, whole grain pretzels or graham crackers, 100 calorie mini-bag popcorn, individual boxes of ready-to-eat whole grain cereal, whole grain granola or cereal bars
• Treats you (or your family) don't like
• This may help save you from temptation in the time leading up to Halloween and from the leftovers aftewards.  If you don't like it, there's less temptation to eat it.  For me, that includes anything with coconut in it -- Mounds, Almond Joy -- bleck!

Here's to a Happy and Healthful Halloween!

Dealing with the treat in the trick-or-treat

We're about to embark on one of the most beloved holidays for children -- Halloween.  I remember being excited about Halloween as a child. Maybe some of that had to do with the fact that it was also one of my dad's favorite holidays, too. As you reflect on your memories of this particular holiday, does any specific aspect of it come to mind?  Could you be thinking of the overflowing river of candy that is collected on this spooky night?  Many parents wonder how to handle all of that Halloween loot because it's full of sugar, sugar, and more sugar. Well, we can stir in the anxiety over the candy battle that could ensue or we can focus on the wonderful learning opportunity for our children.  So, how do we deal with the treats?

Relax!  When we consistently rely on the Division of Responsibility for feeding children, there's no need to worry that a little indulgence in the Halloween booty will cause a nutritional disaster.  If I've learned anything about feeding children, it's that extremes really wreak the most long-term havoc on a child's health and eating abilities. On one extreme, some parents establish total restriction of certain foods, nutrients, and amounts, and on the other, parents embrace a laissez faire attitude of "Oh eat what you want, when you want, and where you want."  Neither extreme will nurture a competent, well-nourished eater. Balance and moderation are two of the keys to a nutritious diet and to helping children foster a positive, enjoyable relationship with food.  While I genuinely admit that these dietary characteristics can be challenging to adopt at times, Halloween presents a perfect learning opportunity for your child.  It's okay to have some candy sometimes.

Decide on a few simple guidelines up front:  how much candy can your child have and when can he have it?  When your little one arrives home to admire the Halloween treats, help him divvy up the loot into stockpiles of "faves" and "not-so-faves".  You may just let him eat to his heart's content right away.  While that may sound startling, be reassured of this...children are very intuitive eaters.  They still get great pleasure out of eating certain foods and they know when they've had enough because they're very in tune with their natural hunger and satiety signals.  The Division of Responsibility gives us permission to let our children listen to their own internal cues to eating rather than relying on external cues (us).

Of the remaining treasures, one or two pieces can be eaten with meals and snacks. Allowing your child to satisfy his natural sweet tooth in this way provides an opportunity for your child to learn about balance and moderation -- two keys to his long-term nutritional health and well-being.  Your child will discover that he can delight in his candy and eat a well-balanced, nutritious meal.  Practicing these principles can be helpful in relieving some of the anxiety about those Halloween treats and will hopefully make the experience a happy and healthful one for everyone.