What Makes You Eat More Food

Photos: What Makes You Eat More Food

Supersized USA

Population: 293,027,571
Percent of population overweight, male/female: 72/70%
Percent of population obese, male/female: 32/38%
Percent of population over the age of 20 with diabetes: 8.8%
Percent of dieting men/women on any given day: 25/45%
Percent of all dieters who will regain their lost weight within 1-5 years: 95%
Caloric intake available daily per person: 3,774 calories
Annual alcohol consumption per person (alcohol content only): 9.6 quarts (~9 liters)
Cigarette consumption per person per year: 2,255
Sugar and sweetener available per person per year: 158 lbs
Soft drink consumption per person per year: 54.8 gallons (~207 liters)
Meat consumption per person per year: 275 lbs
McDonald's restaurants: 13,491
Liposuction surgeries per year: 400,000
Gastric bypass surgeries per year: 150,000
Percent paid by taxpayers for obesity-related medical costs: 50%
Annual spending on dieting and diet-related products: $40 billion

Taken directly from Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel

The 100 Mile Diet: Local Eating for Global Change

I recently finished the book the '100 Mile Diet: A year of local eating' and I highly recommend it- it will change the way you think about what you eat. The book has spurred a phenomenon (I actually blogged about the movement this time last year!), enticing many to move towards a local-based diet and even inspiring a TV show- The Canadian Food Network hosts the 100 Mile Challenge in which the Canadian authors of the book, partners Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, challenge 6 families from Mission, British Columbia, to follow a 100-Mile Diet for 100 Days.

Not long ago, I blogged about another book that had a similar effect on me: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. (As I mentioned in that blog, if you don't have the time to read the book but have a free hour, check out Pollan's great lecture in which he covers the main point of his book by clicking Here). Equally inspiring but written in a completely different format, the authors of The 100 Mile Diet take turns writing the chapters of their memoir, sharing their experience of eating only foods within a 100 mile radius of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Alisa and James bring us through their very personal journey over their year: their daunting realization of what they wouldn't be able to eat (sugar, coffee, chocolate, chips, peanut butter, orange juice, Cola, canned soup, oreos, Ben & Jerry's, beer, Cheerios, all-purpose flour...), dealing with the monotony of eating a lot of potatoes during their first winter and their relationship troubles to discovering the joys of making a great meal from scratch using ingredients of known origin, learning how different and wonderful fresh food tastes, developing relationships with local growers (and with their food) and finally becoming completely self-sufficient on local foods... All while making their readers feel that they if they could do it, so can we.

Why should we aim to eat locally? The authors explain that we're so separated from our food and value it so little, even ignoring the huge impact eating factory-produced foods and foods shipped from across the country (or the world) has on our environment and our health:

A few facts from the book:

• The food we eat typically travels 1500-3000 miles before landing on our plate.
• A regional diet consumes 17 times less oil and gas than a typical diet based on food shipped across the country.
• The United States has lost 2/3 of its farms since 1920.
• Soft drinks, sweets and alcoholic beverages account for 25% of all calories consumed in America. Meanwhile, Americans eat half as many servings of vegetables recommended- 50% of the vegetables eaten include just 3: iceberg lettuce, potatoes and canned tomatoes.

The group Food & Water Watch just posted a great Virtual Grocer that allows you to find out where the food you buy comes from. Try it! It's so interesting.
For example, did you know that if you buy a kiwi in the States, there's a 4 in 5 chance it's imported- most likely from Chile or New Zealand. Asparagus? 57% of the asparagus sold in the States comes from Peru.

What can you do to eat more locally?

Start small- aim to try making one local meal a week, for example.
Find the farmer's market nearest to you and make it part of your weekly food shopping.
Consider joining a CSA- Community Supported Agriculture- allowing you to support a specific local farm by paying a lump sum at the beginning of the growing season and then receiving that farm's food products (whatever is in season) year-round. If you're in the States, Local Harvest is a great resource to find a local CSA; In Canada, click Here.
Buy local produce in bulk and learn how to preserve it. Click Here for more info on preservation.
Try planting a small vegetable garden!

Kitchen Wisdom & Tips

I haven't tried any of the following kitchen tips... if you have, or if you have any other good ones to share... let me know!

The following tips are presumably from Martha Stewart herself...

• Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent ice cream drips.
• To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
• If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it'll absorb the excess salt for an instant 'fix-me-up'.
• If you have a problem opening a jar, try using latex dish washing gloves- they provide a non-slip grip.
• Freeze leftover wine into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

Here are some other good ones. Click here for the entire list:

• To soften hardened brown sugar, place a slice of bread or a few apple slices with the sugar in an airtight container. The sugar will soften overnight.(I actually tried this... it works!)
• Grate orange and lemon peel before peeling. Dry and add to spice cake or any cookies or puddings. The dried grated peel will keep well in a covered jar.
• If you scorch milk by accident, put the pan in cold water and add a pinch of salt to the milk. Takes away the burned taste.
• When measuring sticky ingredients (molasses, honey, peanut butter), try spraying the measuring cups with non-stick spray first (just lightly). The ingredients will come out easier.
• Stir natural peanut butter well and store in the fridge. It won't separate.
• Place stuffed peppers and tomatoes in a muffin tin before sticking them in the oven. They’ll stay upright and keep their shape perfectly!
• Toast oatmeal in the oven before adding to other ingredients when making oatmeal cookies-–delicious!
• To pare pineapple easily cut into rings and peel each slice separately.
• Canned fruit is much better if opened and removed from the can an hour or two before using to restore the oxygen.
• Fill a large salt shaker with flour and use that when needing to dust surfaces with flour- this is handy way to keep a bit of flour on hand instead of digging in the flour bin.

Fact or Fiction?

Fact or Fiction?

Wine is the only alcohol that's beneficial to heart health, helping to increase the good or "healthy" HDL cholesterol and helping to reduce the formation of blood clots that can cause heart attacks or strokes.

Fiction!

All alcohol, not just the alcohol in wine, has these benefits. Red or white wine, beer, hard alcohol, cordials all have the same effect on cardiovascular disease. Drinking pattern is actually more important than type of alcohol.

Men who have 1-2 alcoholic drinks a day were found to have a 30-40% lower risk of heart attacks compared to men who didn't drink at all. Although more than 2 drinks a day has been associated with further heart and stroke protection, it has also been associated with increased mortality due to accidents, liver disease and other causes and it's not recommended.

For women, it's trickier. Women benefit from alcohol's ability to increase the good HDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke but data from the Nurse's Health Study found that women who drank 2 alcoholic drinks a day had a higher risk of breast cancer- 20-25% higher (so the current average risk of developing breast cancer in the US is 12 out of 100 women but was 14-15 out of 100 for women that drank more alcohol).

The research shows that the link between breast cancer and alcohol intake was seen in women who didn't get enough folic acid and other B vitamins from their diet.

So, if you don't drink alcohol now, you don't have to start (the same benefits can be achieved by exercising!) but if you're a man with a history of heart disease, you may benefit from 1-2 standard alcoholic drinks* a day (of any type of alcoholic beverage). If you're a woman, the benefits of alcohol may be offset by an increased risk of breast cancer. Make sure you get enough folic acid in your diet (whole grains, dark leafy greens, beans and lentils).

Always talk to your doctor about your alcohol intake.

*What's a standard drink?

5oz wine (12% alcohol), 1 12-oz (360mL) beer (5% alcohol), 1.5oz spirits (40% alcohol).

Sources:

Willett, WC. Eat, Drink and Be Healthy. Free Press 2005.
European Cancer Conference. "Alcohol Amount, Not Type -- Wine, Beer, Liquor -- Triggers Breast Cancer." ScienceDaily 28 September 2007. 23 April 2008 /releases/2007/09/070927083251.htm>.