Grocery List: Some of the Cheapest and Most Nutritious Foods

• Beans (dry beans have no sodium while canned beans do)
• lentils
• chickpeas (dry chickpeas have no sodium while canned beans do)
• oatmeal (the large canisters are cheaper and do not have added sugar, unlike some of the individual oatmeal packets)
• popcorn kernels (air popping is a no-fat added method to prepare)
• milk
• yogurt (the store brand will be cheaper, plain yogurt will not have sugar added)
• cottage cheese (the store brand will be cheaper)
• eggs
• peanuts or natural peanut butter (choose the peanut butter that only has peanuts and salt as the ingredients)
• canned tuna fish
• cabbage
• potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• summer squash (green or yellow zucchini)
• winter squash
• beets
• onions
• tomatoes
• apples
• bananas
• in-season fruit
• frozen berries, strawberries, etc
• lettuce
• carrots
• canned tomatoes
• frozen mixed vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, kale, etc (the ones with sauce will have added fat and sodium; the plain ones are just that—plain vegetables)
• brown rice
• while wheat pasta
• water

In the comments section, let me know which foods you have found to be inexpensive. 

Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating

                Happy post-Thanksgiving! Many people struggle with healthy eating on holidays. Often, they decide that it’s a holiday and they will just enjoy it. That usually means eating many foods in larger quantities. As a dietitian, I wonder what to advise my patients on this topic. Should I just say, “it’s a holiday, it does not happen often, just enjoy?” Or, should I encourage my patients to continue to make healthy choices every day?

                Somehow, a holiday is not just one day. The holiday has become holiday season, and the holiday treats are eaten for weeks in advance of the actual special day. It ends up becoming a challenge during the entire month… But in truth, it is the same challenge the whole year. We are always inundated with treats, snacks, and yummy food. It is hard to stay away from tempting food when it is right in front of us.

                Here are some strategies on making healthy choices all year round...but especially when the holidays are here.

• Don’t buy it! If it’s not in your house, you won’t eat it
• Stock up on healthy foods
• Check out restaurant menus before you dine, and see if you can find some healthier choices; some places post their nutrition facts online
• Split your restaurant meal with someone
• Share your plate of dessert
• Plan ahead and choose the treats that you’d like to eat rather than tasting some of everything
• Start your day with a healthy breakfast; saving your calories for a big meal usually does not work
• Choose water, flavored water, and flavored seltzer rather than soda
• Don’t stop your healthy routines such as exercise
• Bring a healthy dish to a potluck

In the comments below, please share your healthy eating strategies for the holiday season.

Is breakfast really that important?

                Maybe it is. Is it the most important meal of the day? I’d say not. I think that any time we eat is important in some sense. There is research that shows that people who eat breakfast weigh less. That is not to say that breakfast will make you lose weight—perhaps eating breakfast is a behavior that people who weigh less tend to do. It is also not clear that breakfast “jumpstarts” your metabolism, as many believe. It does take energy to digest your food, but a lot less energy than is actually in the food. I have not found any studies that show that people who eat breakfast have faster metabolisms. I definitely encourage my patients to eat breakfast. The main reason is that it gives us energy to start the day. And you can eat such yummy foods for breakfast…such as oatmeal.

                On that note, here are my favorite ways to eat oatmeal. Please post additional oatmeal suggestions in the comments below!

• ½ cup oats + 1 cup water, cook on stove top. Pour into bowl. Add 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter (that is peanut butter that has only peanuts OR peanuts and salt as the ingredients.) Stir the peanut butter in.
• ½ cup oats + 1 cup water, cook on stove top. Pour oatmeal into bowl. Add to pot ¼ cup of applesauce; when warmed, pour over oats. Add ¼ cup cottage cheese.
• ½ cup oats + 1 cup water, cook on stove top. Pour into bowl. Add ½ cup yogurt. (Greek yogurt will provide more protein and regular yogurt will provide more calcium)
• Put ½ cup oats, 1 cup soy milk, ¼ cup water, and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon into a container. Leave in refrigerator overnight. (You can also use regular milk. I happen to not prefer the flavor of regular milk.) This is best eaten on the NYC subway, especially on the uptown A train.
• Other options are to combine a few of the toppings listed in the different recipes here onto one bowl of oatmeal. It will probably also taste delish!

Healthy Potatoes?

                Somehow, potatoes have gotten a bad rap. In the United States, potatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetables[1]. Yes, potatoes are technically a vegetable, although from a macronutrient standpoint, they are a carbohydrate food, with 15gm of carbohydrates in ½ cup. They are high in vitamin C and potassium, like many other vegetables. Sweet potatoes have an added bonus of vitamin A. 

Are potatoes healthy? They definitely can be part of a healthy diet for most people. We all need carbohydrates, and potatoes are definitely an option there. Just keep an eye out for the portion size…and how they are prepared.

Nutrient Content of Various Potato Dishes[2]

	Calories	Carbohydrate (g)	Fat (g)	Fiber (g)
Small white potato, with skin (138g)	134	37	0	4
Small sweet potato, no skin (138g)	105	24	0	3
½ cup mashed potatoes, made with oil (115g)	121	15	6	2
Medium size fast food serving  French fries (117g)	378	50	18	5

                Now you can ask, “which are better: white potatoes or sweet potatoes?” You will notice some nutrient differences. Overall, I would say to just have a variety of carbohydrate foods. Maybe today’s dinner will have sweet potatoes, tomorrow’s dinner will have white potatoes, the next night winter squash, and another night a whole grain pita. Yes there are some nutrient differences, but they are minute in the scheme of an entire diet. Choose a carbohydrate, and more often than not, choose the carbohydrate that has fiber and less added oil or fat.

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[1] State of the plate: 2015 study on America’s consumption of fruits & vegetables. Produce for Better Health Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2017. <https://www.pbhfoundation.org/pdfs/about/res/pbh_res/State_of_the_Plate_2015_WEB_Bookmarked.pdf>

[2] USDA Food Composition Databases. United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed November 8, 2017. < https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list>

Raw Honey...Is it Better?

                One of my readers asked me a very interesting question: “Is raw honey better than processed honey?” My answer is “No.” Okay, that is the end of this blog.

                Just kidding! I’ll give you a bit more information. Most people would say honey is raw if it was not heated or processed in another way. There are claims that raw honey is better because it has some pollen that is removed when honey is heated and filtered. While it is true that heating and filtering the honey will reduce the pollen content in it, a study that was presented as an abstract at a conference showed that this did not change the nutrient content of the honey[1]. That is to say, the micronutrient and antioxidant content was the same before and after it was heated and filtered. Regarding the benefits of pollen, I had difficulty finding any studies that showed definite health benefits of bee pollen.

                The reason why I almost did not want to give this explanation is because I do not like to focus on the insignificant differences between two items. Somehow, the media picks up on these “nutrition” issues and focuses on them. Then, we as consumers are led to believe that we need to start being concerned about differences between types of honey.

What if there was a difference between the two honeys? Do you think you are eating enough of it for the difference between the little amounts of micronutrients to actually affect your health? If you have concerns about whether or not you are getting enough vitamins, minerals, or antioxidants, the answer is to eat more fruits and vegetables, not to choose a honey that might have a drop more micronutrients than the other one! And quite frankly, honey is another type of sugar, so honey should not be eaten in large quantities anyway.

You may wonder, maybe there are health benefits of pollen—there are some studies that seem to seem to indicate some sort of link. Well, perhaps there might some health benefits that have not yet been clarified by research, but I do know some nutrition changes that are actually supported by a lot of high quality literature—eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking less soda, and eating less red meat. Perhaps these may be areas of nutrition change that can be more impactful on our health than eating raw honey.

                This is a theme in how I practice nutrition: We need to be looking at our overall diet to determine its quality. Am I eating vegetables a few times per day? Am I choosing whole grains and other foods with fiber? Am I choosing beverages that do not contain sugar? Am I eating food that tastes good and is good for my health? Let’s focus on the main stuff before moving on the “extra credit” of nutrition.

                Check out this link for my blog about the basics of good nutrition.

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[1] Beals K, Ropa D. Effects of processing on the pollen and nutrient content of honey. The FACEB Journal. April 2013. vol. 27 no. 1 Supplement 859.7.