Organ Meat: Part of a Nutritious Diet?

One of the funniest scenes I've ever seen in a movie was in 1988's Funny Farm, starring Chevy Chase. He sets a new restaurant record (3 helpings) for eating euphemistically named "lamb fries", which, unknown to Chevy's character, are stir-fried sheep testicles. His reaction to the waitress' post-record explanation of the secret behind the making of a great lamb fry is hilarious...

Many people have a similar reaction to the consumption of organ meat in general (e.g., hearts, liver, tongue, kidneys, brain, feet, ears, stomach (tripe), intestines (chitterlings), etc.) Brian Wansink in Marketing Nutrition explains how the American government during World War II, sending typically preferred muscle meat overseas for the troops, were trying to coax a reluctant public to eat more nutritionally-dense organ meat.

Occasionally on my political blog, I will discuss feijoada, a Brazilian meal concept I experienced during my 1995 work trips to São Paulo. The Brazilian restaurants where I ate served feijoada on Wednesdays and Saturdays; it attracts a large crowd of yuppies. There were two adjacent buffet lines, emphasizing a variety of organ meats (including ears and tongue) and black beans. [I'm an adventuresome eater and tried a variety of dishes, including pig ears; I think it must be an acquired taste...] I was told that the traditional meal dated back to the days of Brazilian slavery when the slaveowners would harvest the choice cuts from a hog (e.g., ham, bacon, and other muscle meat), leaving the organs. I also noticed some churrascarias (Brazilian steakhouses) serve dozens of chicken hearts on skewers (thumbs up). [Waiters in churrrascarias circulate around tables bearing large chunks of various meats, from which they carve servings onto your dinner plate.]

I have observed when I roasted dozens of chickens and turkeys over the years, the first thing I generally look to eat is the giblets (or miscellaneous organ meats) for the poultry (often packaged separately from the bird). Eberling and Geary argue that organ meats are non-plant superfoods; they claim that in mankind's early dietary history and in many cultures, nutrient-dense organ meats were often preferred to muscle meat. In fact, native groups in the far north often eat organ meats in place of scarce plant-based food sources. There are a number of distinctive nutritional benefits depending on the type of meat, including iron (liver), B vitamins, vitamin D, CoQ10 (heart), Omega-3, CLA and various important minerals. For those not preferring the source meats, the authors suggest certain products containing a seasoned mixture of organ meats, such as Braunsweiger, liverwurst, and head cheese. They also point out that the amount of certain nutrients depends on the source animal's diet, e.g., pasture or flaxseed versus conventional grains.

An interesting related discussion is the anecdotal evidence that many wild animals, after killing their prey, will target the organ meat first. (One can argue that "the world is complex", because what an animal chooses to eat may depend on factors like when the animal last ate, the relative abundance of prey, complementary sources of nutrition, etc.)

I believe in the principle of nutritional diversity--having noted in past posts that cherrypicking of foods (e.g., filtering out egg yolks or refusing to eat fattier dark meat from poultry) arbitrarily excludes some excellent sources of nutrients for one's daily diet. Thus, I'm making an explicit attempt within my own diet to rotate in cold-water fish, beef and other red meat (buffalo and ostrich), poultry, pork and organ meats.

Nutrition Miscellany: 10/7/09

State Fairs and Making Use of Deep Fryers

Corn dogs. The All-American treat. Nearly 500 calories, 60 carbohydrate grams, and 40% of the suggested daily amount of sodium. Texan cooks sometimes add a block of cheddar cheese to the mix. What better for one's health than processed meat, refined cornmeal, and deep-fried in Omega-6 vegetable oil (with bonus trans fats)? Granted, an occasional indulgence isn't a major concern. But the obsession with deep frying goes beyond hot dogs; in Minnesota they have put other "nutritious" fare, such as cheese curds, pasta, and pizza, on a stick. Not to mention batter-coated Oreo cookies, candy bars, Twinkies, ice cream, and even watermelon, optionally served with French fries or ice cream.

Is it any wonder that McDonald's continues to innovate with products like the 400-plus calorie McGriddle sandwiches? According to Dietblog, "For starters - the word healthy is no longer used by McDonald's because "our consumer research shows people don’t understand it and it’s actually a turn off when it comes to food items.” (McDonald's)." This is, plain and simple, resistance to change and a state of denial. I mean, is it really necessary to candy walnuts for salads? When I cracked walnuts at home, I never even thought of asking my mom for some table sugar to mask the taste of shelled walnuts... There are a lot of ways for McDonald's to make things healthier without resorting to tofu burgers, e.g., options like baked or broiled fish or tuna fish (vs. fried breaded fish), low-fat cheese or mayonnaise, reduced sodium and more imaginative seasonings, improved, more generous vegetable fixings (or a condiment bar), ground turkey, whole-grain buns or flatbreads, and more flexible combos (allowing substitutions of yogurt, side salads, veggie cups (e.g., broccoli, celery, and carrots), or vegetable soups, bottled water, etc.)

In the meanwhile, if you want something on a stick, might I suggest bringing along a 1.5 oz stick of Ostrim jerky? 14 protein grams, a good source of potassium, low-fat and 80 calories.

Food Journals

Madeline Vann of Everydayhealth.com wrote a recent post entitled "Write Your Way to Weight Loss", pointing out a recent study where overweight dieters who kept a food journal or diary were found to have lost twice the weight of those whom didn't. There's certainly something to be said about creating goals and fleshing out more specific behavioral objectives.

Obviously writing things down isn't diet and exercise themselves. I see it as a means of self-discipline; many websites, including Nutrisystem, provide interactive tools to log diet and exercise, including a default menu boilerplate based on Nutrisystem and supplemental items. I have to define foods not in the Nutrisystem database, including unit measures and calorie counts. The daily process of recording my weight and my dietary choices in details keeps me honest and less likely to cheat or binge. Maintaining multiple observation points also allows me to plot meal/daily calories and weight trends over time.

I have not reviewed all the weight-loss software and websites, but one could easily conceive obvious feature improvements over the rudimentary tools I've primarily used to date. For example, one way would be improve integration of standard grocery and fast food items; one could also visualize utilities able to separate macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats), fiber, vitamin and mineral intakes and configure alerts to flag nutritional gaps or imbalances and/or to enforce certain dietary rules (e.g., eat cold water, oily fish twice a week) and to generate intelligent grocery shopping lists (identifying more nutritious food items/brands for target menus and suggested buys, e.g., sales on in-season fruits and vegetables, lower-calorie frozen meals, etc.)

Fast Food and Nutrition Disclosure

AP writer Megan Scott wrote a short article entitled "Calorie Counts on Menus Force Hard Choices", noting that consumers have been rethinking their food choices as local regulations force disclosure of nutrition facts. For example, the Chipolte wrap, by itself, is nearly 300 calories; the burrito fillings can add up to 700 (or more) calories. That Dunkin' Donuts low fat blueberry muffin is roughly 400 calories. NOTE: Many fast food chains (e.g., McDonald's) post nutritional information on the Internet. However, it is cumbersome to navigate several websites to do things like compare competitive products. Some websites, such as myfitnesspal.com, have food databases where you can search for items (and their relevant nutrition labels), e.g., "Kraft macaroni and cheese" or "Chipolte burrito".

Ms. Scott discusses a recent self-report study showing that providing additional nutritional information to New Yorkers influenced their decisions on where to eat half the time and what they ordered (up to 80%) of the time. [I am generally supportive of regulations providing basic information consumers need to know to make informed dietary choices.] These kinds of results challenge the orthodox opinions (cited above) that customers don't want healthier food choices. I've noticed this anecdotally on my trips to Sam's Club; I'll notice other overweight people with healthier items in their grocery carts, including vegetables, fruits, and heart-healthy wild salmon.

I do want to take issue with nutritionists cited in the article. One worries that people may make food purchases based on short-term nutritional considerations (like lower calories) and may binge later. (This is more likely if you eat a meal high in simple carbohydrates versus satiating protein/fats/complex carbs.) I am skeptical about these concerns; I think the New York consumers are more concerned about right-sizing their meals or improving their nutritional value.

Another dietitian argues that people are one of three types: one doesn't care about nutritional information; the other extreme makes too much of nutritional data and simplistic dietary principles like "low fat", "low calorie" or "low carb" versus general principles of nutritional diversity; and those in the middle (e.g., preferring a varied, balanced diet) don't really need it. The point is more that people may not realize that comfort foods they've been eating all their lives are often higher than they realized in calories, fat, and sodium; in addition, a lot of people don't realize that low fat foods don't necessarily mean low calorie--so, for example, a food company may substitute sugar calories in place of fat grams. It can also be difficult to realize portions are oversized without that information.

I support this information at the place of purchase on the principles of consumer information usability. In my articles on computer documentation and usability, I mention work done in applied psychology, e.g., Patricia Wright; one relevant point is that readers do not perform well in dealing with fragmentary information, making interpolations, etc. Having salient information at the point of a task, in this case, a food purchase, is important. I would expect informed nutritionists to come into a food purchase decision highly motivated, with memorized facts and heuristics; this is not a realistic assumption for most consumers.

It is true that people may be aware of nutrition labels and not be motivated to read them. There are a variety of reasons that doesn't happen, including not knowing how to read and interpret a list of ingredients, but also coming to the purchase decision with invalid product assumptions. I mentioned in a recent post that I had been purchasing a popular brand guacamole dip. There were pictures of avocados on the container and I saw obvious bits and pieces of avocado in the dip. Then I discovered, through a Rodale website, that the leading ingredient of this product was soybean oil. So while I thought I was getting a large portion of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat in the dip, I was really getting a large portion of n-6 PUFA's, something we have far too much of in the typical American diet.

I think that forcing restaurants to come clean with nutritional information may result in a strategy similar to Denny's, as mentioned in a prior post: smaller portion desserts, healthier sides, lower-sodium preparation, etc. I think when restaurants see that their bigger-portion/higher-calorie/salt/fat foods are losing sales momentum, they may choose to right-size their menu options. To some extent, the chains are already recognizing that; for example, you can order a Subway salad or wrap equivalent of their popular sandwiches, and you can purchase a burrito bowl at Chipolte.

Nutrition Miscellany: 10/4/09

Beef: Consider the Source...

Men's Health has an interesting post over the "world's most powerful eating strategies". In an earlier post I argued that what animals eat makes a significant difference in the nutrition characteristics of their meat or products (e.g., eggs). Phillip Rhodes points out that Argentinians eat on average over 30 lbs. more a year in beef, a favorite whipping boy of establishment nutritionists, without any increased risk of heart disease. What accounts for the difference? A quarter-pound of conventionally finished American beef has over four times the saturated fat and twice the calories of a grass-fed Argentinian beef patty (140 calories, 2.5 grams of saturated fat). I mentioned in earlier posts that grass-fed beef also has a more balanced Omega-6 to Omega-3 PUFA ratio and higher amounts of CLA, a "good" type of natural trans fat. There are some online sources of American grass-fed beef (e.g., U.S. Wellness Meats). [NOTE: I have not ordered shipped items from relevant vendors.]

The China Study?

I have not personally read T. Colin Campbell's 2005 study, which purports to provide an empirical foundation for a preferred vegan diet based on extensive empirical data, based in China. I'm an omnivore and proud of it (some of my favorite foods are plant-based...) and will reserve substantive comments for my own review.

[I once was criticized by one of my mentor professors in undergraduate school for relying too much on secondary sources. I also discovered that in the process of developing a documentation measure that there were issues with a widely respected and used computer user satisfaction measure in my interdisciplinary academic field (management information systems). I decided to read the original dissertation, initially intending to look at its methodology as a potential model for my own approach; on closer investigation, I soon found myself with serious doubts about the reference measure (statistical tests, deviations from scale development in the applied psychology literature, etc.) and abandoned the author's approach. A few years later, I tried to publish my criticisms of this and other MIS measures and their utilization in the literature (in fact, I was unaware of any other academic raising these issues, and I simply wanted to open a serious debate before other researchers continued to crank out research using suspect measures). My article was rejected in personal terms with predictable criticisms, e.g., why didn't I submit my own user satisfaction measure? In hindsight, it was not surprising that the editor would farm out the article to reviewers with a vested interest in the criticized measures.]

You might think this would make me sympathetic to Professor Campbell; after all, the vegan lifestyle (no meat, fish or dairy) is not widely followed and challenges a more conventional American diet. And there are some noteworthy developments, like middle-class Asians eating a more Western diet and developing similar health issues. My intuition, though, tells me that blaming meat and dairy is a red herring, especially given the fact that recent domestic health trends have not been accompanied by commensurate increases in the consumption of meat and dairy; I would also like to see more evidence of a suspect, implied zero-sum relationship with the consumption of vegetables and fruits. I suspect that there are issues with the nature and extent of carbohydrate and fat intakes, in particular, an unbalanced amount of n-6 PUFA's and trans fats, the nature of animal feeds and more prevalence of fast foods, processed foods, and refined carbohydrates. I also wonder, in the process of presenting a case for a vegan lifestyle, whether Dr. Campbell sufficiently addressed known issues related with a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. (In fact, one of my nieces adopted a more vegetarian lifestyle before abandoning it.) There are other anecdotal observations as well, for example, Asian-Americans (including females) towering over their parents (suggesting nutritional factors).

One of my favorite pastimes during my academic career was to go around the college bookstore, shelf-reading, particularly for research methodology texts being used in other disciplines. In an analogous way, one of the things I might do with a book like Colin Campbell's is to look at the reader reviews on Amazon.com's website. I wasn't so much interested in enthusiastic readers saying how reading the book changed their lives and their views on food, but in the readers whom DISAGREED with him--and not in personal terms, but for very specific reasons. For example, there's a criticism that Campbell makes a case against a specific milk protein (casein) but doesn't examine counterbalancing effects of other milk proteins. Another notes that Campbell is the co-author of a China-based article pointing out beneficial effects of fish/fish oil, but this (among other studies) doesn't fit in with his book's pro-vegan slant. A third criticism is Dr. Campbell's tendency to jump to other broad generalizations that simply aren't true, such as the assertion that folate is exclusively available from plant sources (versus, say, organ meat). Chris Masterjohn provides a good summary of criticisms against Campbell's book and replies to Campbell's response. [I was not favorably impressed with Campbell's use of ad hominem arguments. Furthermore, I am troubled by Campbell's relationship with certain special-interest groups; a scientist must be impartial in fact and appearance.]

Turkey Legs!

I LOVE turkey; it's more than just a holiday food to me. And in that recurring holiday debate: I prefer dark meat (the color is due to higher levels of myoglobin, which facilitates oxygen transport) to white meat; being the oldest of seven growing up, I usually lucked out in getting one of the drumsticks. Later, in fact, the mother-in-law to one of my sisters was going around a few years back with a camcorder, catching me right in the middle of chomping down on a turkey leg and asking how I liked it (now THAT'S a flattering picture I won't post in my blog anytime soon...)

Carolyn Kylstra, in Men's Health post entitled "6 Power Foods You Should Be Eating", points out poultry dark meat stimulates production of the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK), which promotes a feeling of satiety, has only modestly higher calories per ounce (approximately 8) over white meat, and only about 15% of the saturated fat, which accounts for a third of total fat, is the "bad" kind.

Dr. Fernstrom points out ostriches bear only relatively low-calorie dark meat. Not to mention: "compared with white meat, [dark meat] contains more iron, zinc, riboflavin, thiamine and vitamins B6 and B12."

These facts (including, as I mentioned in a past post, the fact that egg yolks contain a lion's share of nutrients) point out the danger in blindly following conventional nutritional heuristics (e.g., low-fat/low-cholesterol) white meat, nonfat milk products or egg whites: Consider more of a "whole foods" approach and limit your portions.

Remembering Why I Love Trader Joe's

I first came to experience Trader Joe's while serving as the Oracle Consulting tech lead on an Oracle ERP implementation project for the City of Oakland, CA back in 1998. Oracle had leased some corporate apartments in Emeryville; Oracle felt there was no need for us to rent cars, because there was a nearby BART station (to get to the client site in downtown Oakland) nearby and a shopping mall with a large food court across the street. Some of my colleagues didn't like to do fast food and had very specific dietary preferences; a couple of people on the project did have cars, and every once in a while, I got invited along for a ride to a grocery. There was this buzz in the car about Trader Joe's, so we went to a local store.

The first thing I noticed when I went into the store was the people, in particular a few silver-haired hippies and, of course, a number of yuppies (in most cases, the kind of people you might find at a Whole Foods). It doesn't quite fit the stereotype of a health food store; you won't find the bulk food canisters. What you will find is what I would consider a healthier version of a supermarket concept (e.g., no junk food but healthier version of snack foods) without the premium prices of a Whole Foods. It also differs by carrying mostly its own private brands (with a small number of competitively-priced healthier brand items, e.g., McCann's Oatmeal and Food for Life breads).

You will find a wider variety of healthier foods with a twist I would term as premium private-label foods. In most cases, we think of store or generic brands as less expensive, comparable quality variations of branded foods. Trader Joe's marries the concept of low prices with healthier, quality ingredient food variations, often with innovative twists. Let me discuss a couple of illustrative examples from the list below. You can purchase a 1 lb. jar of organic unsalted crunchy peanut butter made from Valencia peanuts for $2.99, and a dozen brown large cage-free (i.e., high Omega-3) eggs for $2.69. In contrast, my local supermarket starts Eggland's Best at over $3 a dozen--and organic and/or cage-free eggs are at a significant premium to that price.

Some drawbacks:

• Trader Joe's doesn't have locations in every state. I sometimes write about Trader Joe's to my mom in Texas, and she points out there aren't any local stores.
• Trader Joe's maintains a small number of stores in an area. [I used to have to drive to Bethesda until they opened up a location in Columbia (technically, Elkridge).]
• Whereas Trader Joe's is on the web, it doesn't have an Internet storefront (and it doesn't sound like they have any near-term plans to do so).

Sample Checkout Tape

McCann's Irish Oatmeal tin, $4.99

TJ Soy (Milk) Essential (unsweetened), 1 quart, $1.69 (2)

Butternut Squash Soup, 1 quart, $2.49

Unsalted Macadamia Nuts, 12 oz., $6.29

Brazil Nuts, 1 lb., $4.49

Raw Mixed Nuts, 1 lb., $4.99

Dark Chocolate Jet Black Cocoa Almonds, 1 lb., $4.99

Sunflower Seed Nut Butter, 1 lb., $3.99

Frozen Berry Medley (blackberry, raspberry, blueberry), 1 lb., 3.29

Buffalo Jerky, 3.5 oz., $4.99

Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortilla, 10 small, $2.69 (2)

TJ Oat Bran, 2 lbs., $2.69

Organic Extra Dark Chocolate Bar with Almonds, 3.5 oz., $1.99

Tetra Garden Patch Soup, 1 quart, $2.99

Swiss Dark Chocolate Bar with Hazelnuts, 7 oz., $3.99

Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter, 1 lb., $2.99

Ground Buffalo Patties, 20 oz., $5.69

Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon Fillets, 7.99/lb, $8.47

Large Brown Cage Free Eggs, 1 dozen, $2.69

Lime Chile Mixed Nuts, 1 lb., $3.99

Canned Wild-Caught Pacific Red Salmon, 7.5 oz, $2.49 (2)

Crunchy Raw Almond Butter, 1 lb., $4.99

Whole-Wheat Pretzel Sticks, 12 oz., 1.99

Mini-Pearl Tomatoes, $2.49

Fresh Strawberries, 2 lbs., $4.99

5" Whole Wheat Pita, 8 pack, $1.49

Multi-Grain Wheat Sprouted Bread, 24 oz., $3.49

Whole Wheat English Muffins, half-dozen, $1.49

Just a few minor complaints: I would like my local store to carry frozen venison, grass-fed beef, and ostrich. (I have purchased venison at other locations in the past.) I'm not impressed with my store's current selection of tortillas/flat breads (I think they carry one lavash item in their fresh bread section. They do carry a few tortilla items in their refrigerated deli section. It would be nice if they carried Tumaro's, Flatout, or La Tortilla or offered a comparable private-label product).

An Abridged List of Free Recipe Links

Free Downloadable Recipe Books

Courtesy of Gizmo's Freeware, there is a webpage (click here) which maintains links for free downloadable cooking, food, and wine books in various e-book or audio formats. ["Free" does not include any related, applicable Internet service/download fee.]  NOTE: I have not personally pre-screened these recipes for nutritional value, and relevant e-book formats may require you to locate and install additional software on your PC. (Freeware viewers are available for most or all common e-book formats.)

Recipe Bookmarks


Here is an abridged list of recipe portal links from my personal bookmark collection. [Note: although I am not diabetic, there are relevant risk factors, and I believe in eating in a proactive, preventive manner, e.g., taking into account factors such as glycemic index/load.]:

123Drinks Free Mixed Drinks Recipe Website Cocktails Alcohol
All recipes – complete resource for recipes and cooking tips
American Recipes, on USA.gov
Arielle's Recipe Archives: Cajun
Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE - Cooking * Food * Dining
Beef Recipes
CDC Recipes
CookingCache.com
Cooks.com - Recipe Search and More
Cooks Recipes
Free Cooking Recipes
20 Quick Crock-Pot Recipes | Food | Disney Family.com
American Diabetes Association
Diabetic Recipes - Recipes by Category
Diabetic Recipes
Eating Well Recipe
efooddepot Recipe 
Epicurious.com: Recipes
Esquire's Recipes for Men - Esquire
Food Network
Gourmet Recipes Delicious Meals
Group Recipes - Food Social Network

Healthy Recipes! Nutrition, Weight Loss Topics And Free Cook Books

 iChef
Incredible Egg Recipe
Love to Know Recipes
MayoClinic.com Healthy Recipes
Meal-Master Recipes
MrBreakfast.com
MyRecipes.com
Native American Foods -- Recipes
NetworkedBlogs.com Recipes
NIH Recipes
Recipe.com
Recipe Archive Index
Recipe Center
Recipe Cottage: Home Cooking Recipes
Recipe Goldmine
RecipeLand
Recipelink.com
RecipeLion.com
RecipeSource
Recipe Trove
Recipes Wiki
Recipezaar
Canned Salmon Recipes
Santa's Net Christmas Recipes
Simply Recipes Food and Cooking Blog
SparkRecipes
WebMD Health & Cooking: Recipes
World Famous Recipes
World Hearth Recipe Collection
Yahoo! Directory Recipes

Low-Carbohydrate Recipe Links


Low-carbohydrate plans focus on limiting or eliminating the higher-glycemic (blood sugar-spiking) "white foods" (i.e., flour, potatoes, sugar, and refined rice) and related simple carbs (e.g., fruit juices and many fruits). I personally follow a less-restrictive lower-carb diet; for example, I don't think that emptying muscle glycogen stores is good for a healthy, active lifestyle. However, with breads, "less is more"; for example, if I was to eat pizza, the thinner the crust, the better (e.g., flatbread crust); if available, I would purchase whole-grain varieties. If I go to Subway, I'll order a wrap version of their sandwiches (available on request). [The low-carb purist will insist on making it a salad.]

NOTE: Many of the recipe portals listed above have low-carb recipes which you can access by doing a site search on low-carb. For example, RecipeZaar has a very low carb category with nearly 14,000 recipes and a reduced carbohydrate category with over 60,000 recipes.


Alt.support.diet.low-carb Recipes
Low Carb Cookbook
Low Carb Luxury Recipes
low-carb.com Low Carb Recipes
"My" Lowcarb Recipes

Nutrition Miscellany: 9/26/09

Sam's Club Update

--Salad Dressings. I noticed on my most recent trip that the club is now carrying twin pack bottles of Hidden Valley Light (40-50% lower fat and calories than the regular brand). Lately though, I've become much critical in reading salad dressing ingredient labels in general (beyond calories); in part, this was stimulated by the fact one of the Rodale websites pointed out a certain guacamole dip I was buying from a supermarket contained more vegetable oils than guacamole. Avocados are an amazingly nutritious fruit (eaten in moderation) and a superb source of monounsaturated fats. Things like soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup automatically set off yellow flags to me. Anyway, I took a pass, although I'm pleased to see lower-calorie versions available.

My personal preference is extra virgin olive oil for salads or cooking (olive oil is almost 75% monounsaturated). A second oil to consider (in a salad dressing, not for cooking) is flaxseed oil, which contains the highest percentage of an Omega-3 fatty acid, ALA. (ALA is a precursor to DHA/EPA, e.g., in fish oil, although we only able to convert a small percentage.) If I have to settle for another oil for salad dressings, the most reasonable alternative is canola oil, which is a runner-up in the monounsaturated and ALA categories. Litehouse (not carried by Sam's Club) has a jalapeño ranch (made with canola oil) that I like. [On a side note, beware of products which give you a multiple choice of vegetable oils like soybean or canola. I'm always going to assume the worst case scenario.]

The other thing I try to look for in salad dressings is how the product is sweetened. I mentioned in my Favorite Things post that I have purchased Walden Farms (which is sweetened with sucralose). Kraft used to offer "Carb Well" products and also used sucralose in its salad dressings (but they also used soybean oil, which is over 50% n-6 PUFA).

--Veggie Dips. I will often purchase the three-lb. bag of fresh broccoli florets; when I eat the broccoli raw and allow myself a dip, there are a couple of relevant items I have purchased from the deli/ prepared foods section of the store. First, my stores sell Yucatan guacamole (the vendor advertises its products as 95% avocado). Most lower-carbers like myself consider avocado as a preferred fruit, with low net carbohydrates and "good" fat (i.e., monounsaturated). Second, it also carries a ready-made branded spinach dip (at about 70 calories for 2 tablespoons).

--Jerky. I never cared much for the taste of jerky when I was a kid. There are a couple of things that made me reconsider: (1) it is portable and doesn't require refrigeration, and (2) you can get jerky for a number of meats or fish which can be hard to obtain in fresh or frozen form in many supermarkets, e.g., venison, ostrich, buffalo or salmon. Sam's Club offers some economical values on varieties of Jack Link's. (I have separately purchased Ostrim, a blend of ostrich and beef.) A 1-to-1.5 ounce high-protein, low-fat stick at under 100 calories is one way I cope with occasional between-meal dieter munchies.

--New Fad: Water Bottles. I recently purchased a reusable Clear2Go water bottle from Clear2O (not stocked by Sam's Club); this comes with a replaceable water filter attached to the lid. A principal concern is not having plastic that leaches into your drinking water and in particular is BPA-free (BPA is thought to be related to insulin resistance). The Clear2Go bottle is made of LDPE #4 (which is one of the non-leaching plastics). Of course, you can always fill a water bottle from a filtered water cooler or dispenser, but with this unit, you can refill your water bottle from any public source away from home. In any event, I was shopping for replacement filters for my Brita UltraMax and noticed most of the water filter container packages (e.g., Brita and Pur) seem to come bundled with free water bottles. Anything which that facilitates dieter exercise and good quality drinking water is a good thing.

The Angus Burger Wars

As a small investor, I have been interested in how McDonald's (and its competitors, such as Burger King) would finally address the premium burger segment, which is a mainstay in casual dining chains like Fuddruckers, Chili's, and others. Well, it seems as if they've decided on a particular cattle breed, a bigger burger (from a quarter to a third of a pound), more upscale fixings (e.g., types of cheese) and a bakery-style bun; it comes with a premium price tag and steep increases of calories (starting at over 640), fat, and sodium. [Heaven forbid instead of increasing portion size (I think a quarter-pound is enough), they should think of something like marinating burgers or seasonings beyond salt and pepper or offering customers a choice of  low-fat cheeses, condiments or a whole-grain bun!]

Hats off to Denny's for going beyond the typical fast food executive excuse ("our customers don't want to buy healthier food") for its innovative "Better for You" menu options, including things like smaller portions of calorie/fat-intensive foods (What a concept! Portion control! In a restaurant!), reduced-sodium food preparation, and vegetable sticks and fruit slices for kids.

The Thin Roll Wars

I've mentioned in past posts my fondness for Arnold's Multigrain Sandwich Thins (100 calories). (Speaking  of burgers, I like to get my George Foreman grill up and running, fry a low-fat burger and add a fat-free slice of cheese, a layer of baby spinach leaves, picante sauce, mustard, onions and some sliced jalapeño peppers. A quarter-pound burger fits the thin roll quite nicely.) Pepperidge Farm has come out with a competitive product, Deli Flats, which come in 3 flavors (100% whole wheat, 7-grain, and oatmeal). They also market a brand of very thin bread slices (about 45 calories) Let's hope the trend catches on (less is more). Of course, if you want to do away with bread altogether, you could try a trick every lower-carb dieter knows--substitute large lettuce leaves for bread...

Nutrition Action Looks at Nuts

If you read my last post, you know that I am a skeptic on the Lipid Hypothesis (the CSPI is in the tank for it). You would think the facts that some ethnic groups (e.g., Eskimos) have existed on diets high in saturated fats without significant coronary heart disease, that some studies show much of clogging arterial plaque consists of polyunsaturated fats, and that saturated fat is necessary for number of purposes (including calcium absorption, a preferred nutrient for vital organs, cell stability, and an improved immune system), and that mother's milk largely consists of fat, most of it saturated, would lead some people to pause before replacing saturated fat in one's diet with polyunsaturated Omega-6 fats (i.e., most vegetable oils and shortening, used in many packaged and deep fried foods), unbalanced without enough Omega-3 fats in one's body (particularly DHA/EPA, found in oily fish).

Generally, I frown with overly simplistic dietary heuristics and prefer nutritional diversity.  One of the differences I had with lower-carb contacts was their choice of vegetables based strictly on carbohydrate grams, even though vegetables vary in vitamins and minerals.

Nuts and seeds vary in vitamins, minerals, fats, etc. The October 2009 3-page feature article ("Going Nuts") gives short-shrift to the discussion of minerals (nothing beyond a gratuitous reference to magnesium and copper in the second paragraph) I don't have an issue with their criticisms of excessive salt, sugar, etc., and I don't mind their raising the issues of calories and saturated fats. The question, in my view, is more about limiting one's portions--NOT the number of saturated fat grams in a single serving.

CSPI systematically eliminates macadamia nuts (one of my favorites, a superb source of monounsaturated fat, highest in B vitamins), Brazil nuts (best source of selenium), and cashews  (highest in zinc) from "best bite" consideration, solely based on the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat (re: Lipid Hypothesis).

A couple of other critical notes: David's Sunflower Seeds receive an honorable mention. I had stopped eating David's Sunflower Seeds a while back after I noticed, with considerable dismay, the third ingredient listed on the ingredient panel: partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Even most laymen know once you see "partially hydrogenated", you think "trans fat"; be aware of nutrition labels that read "0 grams of trans fat" because that's an artifact of label reporting requirements (e.g., less than half a gram of trans fats) and serving size. This article didn't say a single word about process-generated trans fats, even though they are worse than any other type of fat.

Finally, if I was going to pick a favorite nut, it's easy--almonds, hands down (best source of calcium and fiber, high in protein, vitamin E and monounsatured oil). CSPI got on my bad side by refusing to rate Emerald Almonds Cocoa Roast (there are additional health benefits for dark chocolate), a best buy or honorable mention, primarily because the producers use a small amount of acesulfame potassium (an FDA-approved artificial sweetener) in conjunction with sucralose. [This product is one of my favorite things.] CSPI has a known ax to grind against  this sweetener, based on cancer-related concerns, which the FDA and other organizations reject.

Coping With Conflicting Nutrition Guidelines and Evidence

Monica Reinagel of the Nutrition Data Blog recently posted an article entitled "More Evidence That Saturated Fat Has Been Falsely Accused?" The article begins by noting a commentary which summarizes a statistical relationship between obesity (particularly visceral or abdominal fat) interacting with insulin resistance and cancer. Thus, weight loss is seen as a key strategy in cancer prevention.

Nutrition and Obesity: Are Misguided Dietary Guidelines a Contributing Factor?

Diet and exercise. Ah, diet: that's the rub. We have a number of often contradicting guidelines; the orthodox diet point of view over the past 40 years has been the low-fat paradigm, but even with a supermarket flooded with low-fat products and slumping sales in higher-fat products like butter and cream, we see a growing prevalence of obesity, even young schoolchildren developing type-2 diabetes in unprecedented numbers. Could dietary changes, e.g., from away from dairy fats, eggs, whole grains, and minimally processed meats be part of the story?

Background: Why the Low-Fat Diet


We often discuss the macronutrients protein, fat, and carbohydrates; with protein and carbs at 4 calories per gram and fats at 9 calories per gram. If we look at restricting the diet based on food grams, limiting fat grams has been the classical low-fat diet to cutting calories and weight. [There are some important nuances; for instance, protein and medium-chain triglycerides (e.g., lauric acid, the saturated fat in coconut oil) have thermogenic effects. Proteins require more digestive processing, using about 10% of caloric intake, and MCT's are readily converted to energy for metabolism.]

Fats are primarily categorized as monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated (PUFA), and saturated fats. Monounsaturated fats (e.g., olive oil) tend to lower LDL (bad cholesterol), polyunsaturated fats tend to lower both LDL and HDL (good cholesterol). Saturated fats tend to raise both LDL and HDL. (The relationship between saturated fat and HDL is in dispute.) Polyunsaturated fats can further be subdivided into Omega-3 (n-3) and Omega-6 (n-6). These are considered essential fatty acids, i.e., our bodies do not manufacture them and hence depend on dietary sources. Omega-3 fatty acids, which tend to be understated in the American diet, are found in cold-water fish (DHA/EPA, e.g., in salmon and sardines), and certain plant forms (ALA, in flaxseed and walnuts); relevant benefits include better brain function, favorable cardiovascular characteristics (eg., anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant), and some protection from certain cancers. Omega-6 fats include most vegetable oils and shortening, typically overstated in the American diet; they are generally considered inflammatory but promote healthy hair, skin, and nails and help regulate hormonal and emotional balance. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids interact with each other, so a proper balance is important.

Controversies Over Dietary Fats

In particular, saturated fat has been the focus of much debate; some studies show a significant relationship between a high saturated fat diet and coronary heart disease/stroke and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) or between saturated fat and cholesterol (also considered linked to coronary heart disease). Enig and Fallon, however, note that the American diet at the turn of the twentieth century (when CHD was not a significant public health issue) was much higher in consumption in animal saturated fats (e.g., butter, tallow and lard); the primary American dietary shift in the early twentieth century, was from animal fats to vegetable oils, shortening and hard margarine. (Dr. Enig, I note with amusement, refers to her food industry and enabling government bureaucrats and establishment critics as "dictocrats". She makes a compelling case of academic politics and pervasive bureaucratic groupthink.)

Among other things, Enig has focused on dangerous trans fats (which have a double whammy of raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol); her dissertation suggested that trans fats impede the effectiveness of enzymes in dealing with carcinogens. [Trans fats are generated in the process of hydrogenating heat-unstable (primarily Omega-6) vegetable oils, which enables baking and improves food product shelf life; deep-frying with partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening, a staple for many fast-food restaurants, is another important dietary source.] She also cites a long list of studies of adverse affects related to vegetable oil consumption (for example, one 1994 study reported about three-quarters of an artery clog was unsaturated fats, and other studies mention adverse affects on mineral or Omega-3 metabolism).

One of the relevant points of discussion is the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in the diet. Iin a more natural food setting, this is roughly 2:1; in a more contemporary diet, this ratio can range from nearly 10-20:1.

What comes to mind is the old adage: "you are what you eat". We see this clearly from examples in egg and meat production. Many "free-range" hens or hens fed (high Omega-3) flaxseed meal produce eggs higher in vitamin E and lower in calories and fats. In finishing animals (fattening them up for butchery), cattle have often been fed Omega-6 feed (e.g., corn and soybeans, which have certain thyroid-suppressing effects) Farmers also discovered when they added coconut to pig's diets, pigs LOST weight. Ironically, in attempting to meet the current orthodox demand for leaner meats, pigs may be finished with saturated fats (like beef tallow or coconut) instead of soybean oil. A recent study in Pig Progress , with authors sympathetic to the orthodox benefits of polyunsaturated fats, comparing the effects of sunflower oil diet to a beef tallow diet, did not report any changes in meat quality, but discovered a significant difference in adipose tissues reflecting the nature of the diets (with the beef tallow-diet animals higher in saturated and monounsaturated fats and lower in polyunsaturated fat) and the sunflower oil-diet pig fat with an unsatisfactorily high n-6 to n-3 PUFA ratio.

Similar concepts occur in other dietary decisions. For instance, grass-fed cows produce milk with a higher concentration of CLA, a "good" natural trans fat believed to help enhance insulin sensitivity, resist increases in belly fat, and raise good (HDL) cholesterol. Grass-fed meat producers claim a more ideal, natural Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio. We also see that age (and the accumulative effects of nutritional choices over a lifetime) may be a factor in phenomena like atherosclerosis; Enig cites a number of studies showing comparable results across cultures with different diets. One reason I will eat sardines and younger tuna (cf. Wild Planet brand) or wild seafood (e.g., versus farm-raised salmon) deals with minimizing the risk of metabolized contaminants.

The Anomalous Studies Cited By Ms. Reinagel

The Danish study reported on macronutrient intakes and waist circumference. Waist circumference (> 35" for women, > 40" for men) is considered to be a high risk indicator for several conditions (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, etc.) The typical orthodox advice is to limit sources of saturated fat (including beef, eggs, dairy and red meat), substitute leaner meats (e.g., chicken), and replace them with polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates. The study looked at results by gender along 21 food and beverage categories for a 5-year period of men and women (analyzed separately) between the ages of 50 and 64. What's particularly interesting is that for both genders, the consumption of red meat was inversely related to waist size, and for women, the consumption of dairy fats (e.g., butter, cheese, and cream) was also inversely related (whereas processed meats, poultry, and potatoes were directly related). Reinagel mentions, "Some would argue that a diet higher in fat and protein may be lower in carbohydrates and that carbohydrates drive insulin resistance and obesity." In particular, I would suggest (and I believe Enig would agree) that higher amounts of "bad" (high-glycemic) carbohydrates, n-6 PUFA's and trans fats are problematic, and minimally-processed whole foods (e.g., whole grain vs. white flour and unprocessed meats) are underrepresented. I would also add that the thermogenic nature of metabolizing protein and the satiety resulting from fats (including saturated fats) might help dieters limit their aggregate consumption of calories.

The second international study showed no relationship between certain identified foods (with saturated fats) (i.e., meat, eggs, dairy fats) and breast cancer.

Concluding Thoughts

I have not done empirical research in the nutrition sciences, but a number of studies I have seen seem to have issues with things like the use of self-report questionnaires, the nature of sampling (e.g., gender, age groups, etc.), the lack of standard measures/units, statistical power (e.g., small sample sizes), and single vs. multiple observation points. I'm also concerned with the liberal use of guidelines based not on confirmed hypothetical causal links, but motivated by correlational data. These guidelines are not often empirically verified. One classic example is the 8-glasses-of-water rule of thumb. When I attempted to debunk this myth in a low-carb forum a few years back, citing a prominent review on the topic by Heinz Valtin, I ran into a lot of resistance. (Subsequent reviews have repeated the same, and even snopes.com has addressed the issue.)

I am concerned about the amount of groupthink that Dr. Enig has encountered; she has been poking at some of the sacred cows in current medical practice and nutrition, such as putting otherwise healthy people on statin drugs based on arbitrary cholesterol levels. Many cultures (e.g., French, Eskimo and Asian), not to mention our own past, have eaten diets far richer in "banned" saturated fats without comparable CHD statistics. Whereas a more sedentary lifestyle has an obvious effect on a population where a majority of Americans are overweight, we still need to come to terms that the typical American diet today has a disproportionate amount of Omega-6's and trans fats, which are not well-metabolized by our bodies, and underconsumption of Omega-3's, not to mention a surplus of blood sugar-spiking refined or simple carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, breads, potatoes, etc.). We need to ask--if, holding cattle activity constant, cattle gain a lot of weight eating corn or soybeans but get thinner if you add coconut to their diet, do we have reason to believe that these foods are metabolized differently in humans? And if pigs finished on vegetable feed store a disproportionate amount of n-6 PUFA in their adipose issues, what are the implications for losing weight on an n-3 PUFA deficient diet?

I'm not optimistic about the future of useful nutrition research given the predominant Lipid Hypothesis paradigm (not unlike how politically-correct "global warming" groupthink stifles alternative points of view in the scientific community): you won't win grants to sponsor your research, you won't get published in highly visible journals or be hired by quality colleges or food companies, and there is no authentic scientific debate.

What about laymen, such as myself, knowing the scientific community seems unlikely to provide reliable, useful, consistent results in the near future? I think one thing, from my own experience with the development and validation of measures, is that laymen need to express some skepticism about artificial dietary benchmarks--e.g., limit saturated fat to under 10%, limit carbohydrates to under 20 grams daily, etc. Second, consider a variety of foods in one's diet, because meats, vegetables, nuts, etc., can vary in nutrition (e.g., various vitamins and minerals).

Third, be wary of food processing or filtering. Take, for instance, the almost slavish preference for poultry white meat (mostly because of its low-fat nature); dark meat, on the other hand, has almost twice the amount of iron and zinc, key elements of a healthy diet. Another prominent example is vilification of egg yolks (at the expense of egg whites): one estimate is about 90% of the nutrients in an egg are in the yolk. So when people start filtering out nutritious animal parts, cream from milk or elements of an egg or grains (to make white flour) to be consistent with arbitrary dietary restrictions, I believe they need to stop and think: What is the function of these filtered elements? For example, does the yolk provide any useful purpose to a hatching chick? Does dairy cream provide any value for the weaning calf? And if it is nutritionally valuable to a young animal, why would it not be nutritionally valuable to us? The issue, in my view, is not removing these nutritional elements but in enjoying them in moderation.

Finally, keep your diet in aggregate nutritional balance. For instance, I think many (if not most) Americans do not get enough Omega-3's and soluble fiber in their diets. To bring one's n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio in balance, you should decrease the n-6 PUFA's and/or raise the n-3 PUFA's in your diet--and consider eating products where source feed reflects a better nutritional balance (e.g., grass-fed animals).