PASS THE SALT, PLEASE

If you have high blood pressure, you definitely want to keep your salt intake to 1500 mg. or less. (A teaspoon of salt is 2,325 mg. of sodium.) Even if you don’t have high blood pressure, it’s a good idea to keep your sodium intake low.

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2300 mg. per day. Here’s why: Salt increases your blood pressure, which puts an extra burden on your heart and blood vessels. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease, or have a stroke if they use a lot of salt.

But, we all know that some foods are bland and require salt to taste good. So, what should you do if you want to salt your scrambled eggs or ear of corn?

I recommend using Kosher salt, because Kosher salt’s coarse crystals have less sodium per teaspoon than ordinary finely ground table salt. Try Morton’s Coarse Kosher salt, which has 480 mg. of sodium per ¼ tsp. compared to regular salt which has 590 mg. Or, try Diamond Crystal with just 280 mg. of sodium per ¼ tsp. due to its hollow crystals.

You can also try Morton Lite Salt which has 290 mg. of sodium per ¼ tsp, and 350 mg. of blood pressure lowering potassium.

Pass the lower-sodium salt, please.

PROTEIN BARS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

Protein bars are not a whole food, but some are MUCH LESS processed than others. I recommend

protein bars when you’re on the road and might not have access to a whole food. What should you look for in a protein bar?

·        Minimal ingredients

·        Low ADDED sugar or sugar alcohols (11 grams or less)

·        No artificial sweeteners

·        210 calories or less

·        Enough protein to keep you full (4-20 grams)

·        Low saturated fat (4 grams or less)

·        Low sodium (150 mg. or less)

So, which protein bars meet these criteria?

·        Lara bars have relatively few ingredients, are made from whole foods, and are gluten free. My favorite is the Blueberry Muffin Lara bar which contains 190 calories and has 4 grams of protein with only 5 mg. of sodium. The ingredients are: cashews, blueberries, blueberry juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, and vanilla extract. The 17 grams of sugar are not added sugar they come from the blueberries! The downside to the Lara bar is that it is relatively small and not very high in protein which helps keep you full.

·        Rx bars also have few ingredients. They are made from whole foods and are gluten free. I don’t think they taste as good as Lara bars, but they have 3 Xs the protein. My favorite is the Coconut Chocolate for 210 calories, 6 grams of fiber, and 12 grams of protein. The ingredients are: egg whites, almonds, cashews, cacao, natural coconut flavor, seas salt, and coconut. They also have 6 grams of fiber while the blueberry Lara bar has only 3 grams of fiber. However, they contain 150 mg. of sodium which is a lot more than the Blueberry Lara bar.

·        Kind bars are also recommended but are certainly a bit more processed, although they are also gluten free. My favorite is the Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt which contains 200 calories, 6 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, 4 grams of saturated fat, 140 mg. of sodium, and only 4 grams of added sugar. The ingredients are: almonds, peanuts chicory root fiber, honey, palm kernel oil, sugar, glucose syrup, rice flour, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder, seal salt, soy lecithin, natural flavor, and cocoa butter.

Those are my top-three choices. The Lara bar is great if you just need a little something to tide you over. The Rx bar is good if you’re hungry and your next meal won’t be for a few hours. The Kind bar is perfect if you’re craving chocolate and want to avoid a candy bar. In addition, Kind bars now come in mini bars for just 100 calories and 3 grams of protein and Rx bars come in Kids size for 140 calories and 7 grams of protein.

When on the road and you don’t have an apple and almonds or another whole food, grab a protein bar as an “emergency snack”. Keep one in the glove box of your car, or your purse or brief case, so you don’t arrive at your destination ready to eat 2 rolls before your meal even arrives! But remember, protein bars should be an occasional snack. Whole food should be your first choice.

DELICIOUS SUMMERTIME TREATS

It's summertime, and if you're like me, you crave something cold and sweet after dinner. So, here are a few great-tasting options in lieu of a big bowl of ice-cream!

· A cup or two of frozen grapes are a wonderful alternative. (Grapes slowly release sugar and they taste sweeter when they're frozen.)  Personally, I prefer purple grapes. They taste great and they're more nutritious than the green ones.

·        Mix a tablespoon of walnuts into a 5.3 oz container of 0% fat Greek yogurt like Trader Joe’s coconut yogurt. YUM!

·        Try a peanut butter chocolate Enlighten bar sweetened with the safe sweetener erythritol for just 100 calories and 9 grams of sugar.

·        Have a Yasso Greek yogurt bar with 13 grams of sugar and stevia, which is also a safe sweetener, for only 100 calories. It’s very satisfying.

·        A Chilly Cow bar with 12-13 grams of sugar for just 100 calories helps you stay the course.

·        Make your own strawberry-banana “ice-cream.” Here’s how:  Blend together 1 small, sliced frozen banana with 5 or 6 fresh or frozen strawberries and ¼ cup of skim milk or if you have a food processor pulse for 1-2 minutes, scoop into a bowl and enjoy!

IT'S TIME TO GRILL, LET'S BE HEALTHY ABOUT IT

Summer is here and it’s time to dust off the grill. Make your grilling as healthy as possible by following a few tips to reduce the HCAs in your food. (HCAs, heterocyclic amines, are chemicals formed when muscle meats like chicken, hamburger, steak, and pork are cooked at high temperatures. HCAs are mutagenic, meaning they cause changes in DNA that may increase the risk of cancer. In January 2005, the Federal government officially added HCAs to its list of known carcinogens.)

·      Marinate – according to an article in Bon Appétit On-Line Magazine, “…a marinade will never really penetrate much past the surface of the meat. (Alex Delany, January 16^th 2018 - https://www.bonappetit.com/story/how-long-to-marinate-meat). The purpose of a marinade is to be the first thing that cooks when the meat hits the pan or grill…creating a nice caramelized crust.” Reducing the HCAs in your meat.

·      Microwave – believe it or not, if you microwave your meat or chicken first for 1 ½ to 2 minutes, and pour off the juices, you will eliminate 90% of the HCAs.

·      Try grilling swordfish, haddock, salmon, or tuna! (See my website for a great marinade for swordfish.) Fish has fewer HCAs if you don’t char it.

·      Keep your meat or chicken MOIST! The drier and more well done the meat the more HCAs you get.

·      Turn your meat or chicken frequently. Flipping your poultry, turkey burger, or burger every minute cuts the HCAs by 75-90% because the surface temperature stays lower.

·      Enjoy a veggie burger that generates few or no HCAs. My favorites are Blue Mango veggie burgers and Dr. Praeger’s California and Sweet Beet veggie burgers. Grilled veggies also have very few HCAs, and cruciferous veggies like broccoli and brussels sprouts may help the liver detoxify HCAs.

So, get out there and start grilling today - the healthy way!

PLANNING HEALTHY SNACKS FOR THE PICKING

"A failure to plan is a plan to fail."

Do you plan your snacks? Or, are you like most - eating whatever is in your pantry or fridge?

It's important to plan your daily snacks. I recommend you eat a healthy snack that contains a protein and a complex carb about every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism going and to prevent your blood sugar from dropping.  

Here are a few healthy snacks that you may not have thought of:

• 18 rice crackers spread with 1 TB of natural peanut butter. Also try cashew butter, almond butter, sun butter, or soy nut butter for more variety
• 1 apple, sliced, with cinnamon and 1 ounce of Cabot’s 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 TB of hummus with 1 cup of raw sugar snap peas, red peppers, or celery
• A hard-boiled egg, with the yolk scooped out and filled with hummus
• A Tumaro-Low-In-Carb whole wheat wrap, spread with hummus and grated carrots, rolled up and sliced into bite-size pieces
• 14 Kashi cheddar crackers with 1 reduced-fat mozzarella string cheese, cut up and placed in the microwave to melt the cheese
• Half of a whole wheat Arnold Sandwich Thin, toasted and spread, lightly, with natural peanut butter and a half of a banana, sliced, and layered on top

Plan a variety of snacks, so you don’t get bored. Prepare then in advance, so it doesn't become a chore when you're looking to munch on something. Make it as easy to grab a prepared snack as grabbing a bag of chips. You'll feel so much better knowing you're being health conscious. Now, get out there and get snacking - healthy that is!

SUGAR, HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day for women and 36 grams of sugar for men. This does not mean the sugar that naturally occurs in fruit and other whole foods. This recommendation applies to the additional sugar that the manufacturers add. A teaspoon of sugar is approximately 4 grams so that means that women should have no more than 6 ½  teaspoons of additional sugar and men should have no more  than 9 teaspoons. Sounds like an easy goal, or is it? I added up the amount of extra sugar I take in on a daily basis and was surprised to see that I exceeded the limit. Here is what I found:

2 pieces of whole wheat toast                                                              8 grams

1 TB of Smart Balance peanut butter                                                  4 grams

2 TB of Paul Newman Lite Raspberry Walnut Salad dressing            5 grams

2 Back to Nature Organic Peanut butter cookies                                 8 grams

1 Cliff MoJo bar                                                                                  10 grams

1 Wheat Hamburger Roll                                                                    4 grams

1 TB of Ketchup                                                                                 4 grams

1 Skinny Cow Ice-cream Cone                                                           17 grams

I was shocked to see that this added up to a whopping 60 grams of added sugar! And don’t be fooled by protein bars that say low sugar. They may have only 3 grams of sugar like Detour lower sugar bars, but they may also have as much as an additional 12 grams of sugar alcohol making a total of 15 grams of added sugar.  

So, what are the dangers of too much added sugar? Why do I need to cut back? According to a recent special on “60 Minutes” describing the work of Dr. Robert Lustig, the dangers are many including:  increased risk for heart disease, many cancers and Type II diabetes.

Here are a few substitutions that I can make and I bet you can too, to keep my added sugar at the recommended 25 grams per day.

Substitute: all natural peanut butter from the health food store without added sugar for the Smart Balance peanut butter                                                                            - 4 grams

Substitute: an apple and 14 almonds for the Cliff MoJo bar                 -10 grams

Buy no sugar added ketchup                                                                  - 4 grams

Substitute a cup of fresh strawberries for the Skinny Cow Ice-cream   -17 grams

I just saved 35 grams of added sugar and am back down o the recommended 25 grams. What changes can you make to reduce your sugar intake and enhance your health?

Omega-3 Fatty Acids - The Healthy Fat You Want to Consume

I recommend Omega-3 fatty acids to all my clients because Omega-3s deliver some big health benefits such as:

·        Helping to reduce inflammation

·        Helping to prevent arthritis

·        Helping to prevent dementia

Good sources of Omega-3s include:

·        2 TB of ground flaxseed (add to salads, cereal or yogurt)

·        3 oz of Wild Atlantic Salmon, Rainbow Trout,  or sardines

·        Omega-3 enriched eggs

·        1-2 TB of walnuts (add to oatmeal or yogurt)

·        ½ cup of cooked soybeans

·        1 TB of canola oil (use in cooking)

Although omega-3 fatty acids have many health benefits, some, like oils and nuts, can be high in calories. Bon Appetit!