I try my best to be cool and hip these days and stay on top
of the next big trends. I mean I wore Crocs way before they were even "cool."
In terms of food trends, one of the ones that I have been on to for a while has been
seltzer water. After having been spotted by my entourage of paparazzi with a can of one recently, its popularity has spread like
wild fire! The scene was a little like this…
Ok so I MAY have embellished
a little…but only about the whole wild fire thing J Anyways, seltzer water has
been trending recently according to this article,
so I figured I would give you the 411 on them.
What is seltzer
water?
Essentially seltzer water is carbonated water. It can also
be referred to as sparkling water, club soda, soda water, or the ever so
eloquently name, fizzy water. Ok so
maybe there are some minute differences between them, but for this blog I am
just going to generalize them all under one umbrella. If you really want to get
technical about it, just read this article ok? Most of the brands try to make themselves sound real fancy,exotic with names such as La Croix, Perrier, and San Pellegrino, but even Dasani has jumped in on this trend with Dasnai Sparkling.
Nutrition of seltzer
waters
Seltzer water offers the same health benefits as regular
water. Most contain no calories, sodium, or artificial sweeteners. Now, they do make some flavored seltzer
waters, most of which do not contain any
calories or artificial sweeteners, but be sure to check out the ingredient list. Don’t
ask me how they actually flavor the water without adding calories, I am not a
magician and therefore do not know.
Why?
Do you ever get tired of drinking plain water (assuming that
you are all drinking enough water and not sodas)? Are you
trying to ween yourself from soda? Do you want to be cool or pretend to be fancy? If you answered yes
to any of the above questions, seltzer water is for you!
Breaking it down
Basically drinking seltzer water is like drinking regular
water. It is not just for fancy, pretentious people who wear top hats to bed just for giggles. However, I just want to caution you so that this doesn’t happen to
you:
Recently I sitting at my desk going through my
inbox and counting down the hours till I could go home having a grand ole time
while perusing one of my daily dietitian newsletters (yes that is a thing and yes
I know how cool I am), I found an article that really just riled me up so much
that I opened a blank email and just fervently started typing my sentiments for
this blog post. My typing fervently kind of looked like this…
...but I wasn’t just typing my name over and over again…this
time anyways. What was this aforementioned article about you ask? Protein water.
Beth, why the
hostility towards protein water?
I will be the first to admit that I do tend to follow a more
holistic approach to nutrition i.e. no supplements, powders, etc. All of my
nutrients come from actual, real food. That being said, here is my take on
this. Water, and other beverages for that matter, is for hydration. Thirsty? Grab a some water. Similarly, if you want
protein, eat meat, dairy, legumes, eggs,
nuts, or vegetables
(yes, vegetables contain protein).
Why is everybody
obsessed with protein?
One of the things that everybody seems to obsess over
these days is protein. Just because a product has protein in it does not make
it healthy. Case in point…
I mean you could probably just whip up a batch of cookies or
brownies and dump some protein powder into the batter and it would basically be
the same thing.
PSA: Just taking protein powder will not make you look like
this…
Yes these people may take protein powder, but they also eat
healthy AND work out a ton and by working out a ton I don’t just mean a 30 min
jog or one yoga or spin class. Just saying…
Anyways, Americans get enough protein. The average person
needs around 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. (To figure out
how much protein you need, take your weight in pounds and divide by 2.2 and
then multiply that number by 0.8 to get how many grams of protein that you need
in a day---Oh and by the way, you are welcome I just laid out all the math for
you J
Can you over do it on
protein?
Yes. Protein has calories in it just like fat and
carbohydrates so if you are dumping protein powder into everything, it can add
up and cause weight gain. If you are really concerned about being healthy,
losing weight or whatever health related goal that you might have, why don't
you focus on cutting back on things such as processed foods, simple
carbohydrates, fried/fatty foods, added sugars, etc. and eat more fruits and vegetables. Just a thought...I know...call me crazy!
Breaking it down
As for me, I will take my water on the rocks—no protein
powder or added flavorings necessary. As for my protein, I would like it not in
the form of a powder, rather something that I actually enjoy eating…
But if you really are just that busy and hate the taste of
real food, just jump on the soylent train like the other people who are just too
busy to bother to eat…
Unfortunately, I am not that cool. My question is if you are too busy to eat, what do you do when nature calls? Just some food for thought. Well I am off to enjoy a water on the rocks and anything and everything pumpkin spice flavored! Until next time!
Ok so maybe Throwback Tuesday really isn't a thing, but I'll blame it on my ripe old age of being in my late 20s. Anyways, I was looking back through some old blogs and found one of my favorites that is still pretty relevant. What is this blog about you ask? Well my answer to this is embedded in this riddle (because old people love riddles). What do cows, soybeans, almonds and rice have in common? MILK! Without further ado, check out this oldie, but a goodie on milk alternatives...
My name is Beth Mack. My parents are Mark and Judy of
Ohio. Whoever reads this, make an attempt to get this to them. Today marks the
12th day of the Charlotte heatwave and it doesn’t appear to be going
away anytime soon. I have been putting in a lot of effort to stay cool, but my
boss insists that I come to work and make the treacherous trek from the parking
deck to my office while wearing my business casual clothes and risk
dehydration. Sometimes I feel like I am just going to shrivel up during this
journey. I have been sweating a lot and have an insatiable thirst. I can’t stop
thinking about how good a sports drink or water would be. But
then my inner health nut comes out and I think to myself, “Should I be drinking a sports drink?" I am not sure if I should, but I do know that all I want is to be this dog...
Ok so maybe I am being a tad dramatic, but it at least makes for an entertaining intro
right?!? Anyways, I wanted to talk about another one of my pet peeves today, which is sports drinks.
History of sports
drinks
Before I jumped on my sarcastic soap box, I wanted to give
you all a little history lesson to help me get my point across. I am not sure about the history of other sports drinks, but I do know that Gatorade was in fact developed at the University of Florida for the athletes on their football team to help with hydration, energy, and to help with recovery post workout. Not really sure about the exact story behind it, but my guess would be something along the lines of this...
What’s in sports
drinks?
Well, mostly water but also sugar and electrolytes. The
sugars help replenish your energy stores that you use when you exercise.
Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, etc) help your body function normally
and are present in sweat. Unfortunately,
when you sweat a lot you lose electrolytes. If you are curious about this whole
sweat thing, check out Gatorade’s website for more info.
Should I drink a
sports drink?
Sports drinks are designed for athletes that have you have
completed a workout of moderate to vigorous activity for 60 minutes or longer.
Now the terms moderate to strenuous exercise tend to trip people up a bit as
well. Prancercise...
...does not count as moderate to
vigorous exercise. Think more along the lines of running, cycling, playing soccer
or football or basketball, hiking, etc.
PSA: Softball and baseball do not count either
Well what about
coconut water?
Luckily for you, I have already talked about coconut water
in a previous blog. For those of you who do not feel like clicking on that link,
here are the cliff notes:
If you actually need a sports drink, coconut water is a good
alternative
Lower in sodium, which could be an issue if you happen to be
a marathoner or ironman person
Breaking it down
Sports drinks are designed for people who are doing moderate
to vigorous exercise for 60 minutes or more. The only other time there is some
benefit to consuming them is when you have had some serious and extenuating GI
distress or if you have been outside for an extended period of time doing some
serious sweating. By drinking sports unwarrantedly, you may as well just be
drinking a soda; it isn’t going to help you any. In most cases, plain old water
will do just fine. Should you be drinking a sports drink just because there is
a torturous heat wave outside? No. Should I have to work in this torturous heat
wave? No...
One of my pet peeves as a Dietitian is juice. Everybody thinks
its healthy. I mean look at this picture for crying out loud…
Unfortunately, just about all juices are not made that way, and even if
they were, juice still is not the best decision.
Why
are you so ant-juice Beth?
Well I am glad you asked, I just need to get this off my chest. My disdain for juice can be summed up in one infographic…
Yes, 100% juice does contain natural sugars, which is
great,however, your body cannot
differentiate between the two. To the body sugar is sugar.
Another common thing that keeps me up at night is people drinking juice in place of eating
fruits and/or vegetables. Why you ask? Well, I just covered the whole sugar piece as to why
this may not be the best idea, but the other big things that jumps out at me is
the lack of fiber. Ah yes, everybody's favorite nutrient. Riddle me this, what
keeps you fuller for longer drinking a glass of orange juice or eating an
actual orange? (The correct answer is eating an actual orange) One of the
reasons for this is because of the fiber found in the actual orange, which is removed
when juice is made (unless you take your oj extra pulpy), helps with satiation
(say-she-ation).
Well
what if I want to drink juice?
That’s fine, everything in moderation. Here are some things to
look for to make your juice drinking decision a little healthier:
Look for 100% fruit juice. Note: this will require you to
actually read the label not just look at the pictures on it. Case in point:
Fruit drink and fruit cocktail is essentially fruit flavored
water with tons of sugar added to it...the equivalent of soda or pop for my
Midwestern friends. Yes, 100% fruit juice does contain some nutrients that
soda does not, but it is not going to dramatically improve your health.
PSA:
Juice cleanses
Here are my sentiments on juice cleanses…
Essentially this is a giant waste of time and money. Your body
has a thing called a liver and not one, but two kidneys that “cleanse” your
body of toxins.
Breaking
it down
Not saying that you should never drink juice, but just be mindful
that it does contain calories. Does it come from fruit? Yes, the 100% kind sure
does. Does that make it "healthy"? Well, Ketchup comes from tomatoes, does that make it healthy? Not sure about you, but I don't see anyone (willingly) drinking ketchup. Anyways, I prefer not to drink my calories;
rather I like to actually eat food and feel full. Again, moderation is key and NEVER drink OJ after you have brushed
your teeth. Until next time!
Now that the
weather is taking a turn for the better, you may find yourself a little parched
while you are “studying” outside…
Let’s be honest…I
have been there and played that game too. You are all really just on Facebook,
Twitter, or watching Netflix. Anyways, back to being parched. As you vigorously
study away you become thirsty, but ponder, “What should I drink?” Now, you want
to be a little healthy so sodas are out, but what about this new line of plant
waters? Better yet, what about this diet water? No wonder why you couldn’t lose
those last five pounds; for the last 20 some years of your life you have just
been drinking plain water! Silly you!
Luckily you
have me to help sort out if you should or shouldn't be buying these fancy new
waters.
What are plant waters?
Well, that they are not really water, but more like juice. Some of the more known types of plant waters include coconut water and aloe
water. (Un
(Un)Luckily for us, we have newer ones that have popped up on the scene that include artichoke water, cactus water,
and maple water. As hip and trendy as I like to think of myself as being, I had
never really heard much about any of these new waters until I stumbled upon
this video… (Warning: it is a tad dry and the host has a British accent)
Well none of
these drinks actually have any research or science behind them. Do they contain
some vitamins and minerals? Sure. Are they going to miraculously help with
weight or whatever else they are purporting? Unlikely. Do they taste good? Does it really sound like
they would taste good? Whatever happened to just plain old water? If you want
the benefits of plant waters, add your own sliced up vegetables and throw them
in your water. If you really want the health benefits touted by these drinks,
why don’t you just eat said plant?!? For example, instead of being a fancy Nancy and paying $5 for
artichoke water, you could either...
A-buy artichokes and put them in your water
or
B-eat an actual artichoke.
Now I
know that being a Dietitian, everybody wants to know what I do. Do I drink
artichoke water or maple syrup water? No. Do I infuse my water with fruits,
vegetables, or herbs? No, but only because I am too lazy. I drink good old plain water (out of a filter).
Also of note is that typically
products like these have other stuff added to them. For example, one of these plant waters proudly claimed that it contains organic blue agave…which
is still sugar. Which brings me to my next topic…
Nutrition Mumbo Jumbo
I have written a little bit about this nutrition mumbo jumbo before, but upon a
little perusing of some plant water websites I found even more gems that I couldn't resist sharing. I knew I had found gold when I saw
the following statement…
“Targeted for daily hydration…X Plant Water is vegan,
low-glycemic, lactose-free, gluten-free and cholesterol-free. No added
colorant, flavoring agent, or caffeine is contained in X Plant Water. Just the
good stuff!”
Hmm…it’s almost
like its regular water! Another good one I found on one of
the websites were some “celebrity” endorsements. I use the quotation marks
because these “celebrities” are people I have never heard of. Just for fun let's pretend I were a marketer for just plain old water. If I wanted to use some celebrity endorsements my list would include: George Washington, Albert Einstein, Beyonce, and Nemo. I am somewhat surprised that these
plant water companies have not started using this for advertising…
Anyways, for more information on proper hydration check out this blog I did a while back. Well I am
off to go take some selfies…
‘Tis that time of year yet again. The pumpkin spice latte
has been shoved to the side as peppermint and eggnog mochas return to the
spotlight. The mall has not quite turned into a zoo quite yet, however you can
already find Christmas commercials on tv and radio stations playing Christmas
music.
Oh the holidays, full of friends, families, parties, and of
course food…copious amounts of food. When I go home for the holidays, there is
a day where our house is transformed into a sweatshop where we spend an entire
day cookies, chocolates, and fudge. Inevitably, there is always some squabble
about what color the cookies should be frosted and if there are enough
sprinkles on said cookie.
Between the stress of attempting to decorate your cookies
like the ones on the box…
The stress of spending an extended amount or time with
family…
And wanting to keep your physique yet being inundated with
cookies...
the threat of holiday weight gain is imminent.
Now, if you haven’t figured it out by now, the media likes
to exaggerate a little about the amount of weight people gain between the
holidays. The media claims range anywhere from seven to ten pounds, but in
reality most people only gain one pound. One pound may not seem like a lot but
if you keep that pound on, it starts to add up year after year.
To help guide you through this tumultuous time, I have
prepared for you Beth’s Ultimate Healthy Holiday Eating Guide!
Beth's Ultimate Healthy Holiday Eating Guide:
1. Exercise- I briefly touched on how stressful the
holidays can be; we have all been there. Whether it’s the frustration of fixing
the Christmas lights, the long lines at stores, figuring out what to get
everybody, or just being cooped up with your family, the stress can be
overwhelming. It is a saying in my family that it is not truly Christmas until
someone cries.
All of this holiday stress can be channeled in one of three
ways. The first is via emotional eating. The second way is best exemplified by
this scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas…
The third and probably the healthiest way is by exercising.
Have you had it with the lights or your mom nagging you about every little
thing? Try going for a jog or do some pushups instead of eating, drinking, or
screaming away your frustrations.
2. Wear tight clothes- You may laugh at me on this one,
but take my word on it. Leave the sweatpants, elastic waisted pants, flowey
dresses, etc at home and opt for something more figure forming that won’t give
or you can always just slap on a belt. I think we have been there after that
Thanksgiving meal where we ate too much and are so uncomfortable that we have
to unbutton our pants. By wearing tighter clothes, it helps serve as a reminder
and may help keep you from going overboard.
3. Eat a snack before the party- Instead of arriving at
the party starving and end up gorging on all kinds of not as healthy food, try
eating a small, healthy snack or meal before you go to the party. This way you
won’t go crazy and turn into the cookie monster.
4. Bring a healthy dish- There are no guarantees that
any holiday party will have healthy options. Instead of being “forced” to eat
not as healthy food, bring your own healthy dish so that there will be at least
one thing there that you won’t give you a Santa-esque figure.
5. Use a small plate and utensils- Instead of grabbing
the huge buffet plate, try using a smaller plate, perhaps a salad plate, and
smaller utensils. This will way it will take more effort to overeat. If you
really wanted to take this advice to heart while adding some culture to the
traditional holiday meal, try using chopsticks. If your chopstick skills are
like mine, you will get frustrated and just give up rather quickly.
6. Sit next to either the health nut, most judgmental
person, or person you dislike the most- One sure fire way to avoid
overeating is to sit next to the food police or the most judgmental person at
the party. Going up for seconds or loading up on cookies? Be prepared for a
snide comment or to be judged heavily. While it may be agonizing, it will make
you a little more conscious of what and how much you are eating in addition to want
to finish eating quickly to escape. This concept also applies to sitting next
to the person that you dislike the most as well.
7. Say no to Grandma (food pushers)- For some reason
grandmas and moms around the world have come together to decide that nothing
shows your love more than shoving cookies, cake, or more lasagna down your
grandkid’s/kid’s throat. Nobody wants to hurt grandma’s or mom’s feeling so if
saying no won’t work, just tell them you will take it to go. That way you can
eat it later as part of a meal or, depending on how good the food was, throw it
away. (Grandma if you are reading this, I have obviously never done this)
8. Fill up on fruits and vegetables- Fruits and
vegetables are lower in calories and contain fiber that helps you feel full.
9. Drink water- Keeping hydrated is important because
thirst is often confused for hunger. Instead of heading straight for the
fruit cake at the first pains of hunger, make sure that you are actually hungry
and not just thirsty. Also, not only does water help you feel full, but it will
help you avoid other liquid calories in the form of egg nog or other adult
beverages.
10. Eat slowly- It takes about 20 minutes for the signal
from the stomach to reach the brain to tell it that the stomach is full. This
is actually the key to success that competitive eaters use; the quicker you
down the food the more you can shove in before your brain recognizes that your
stomach is about to burst. So go ahead and slow down and talk to that weird
cousin of yours.
11. Keep sweets in opaque containers- If you or your
parents keep tons of holiday cookies or candies around try to put them in
opaque containers (containers you can’t see through) to keep them out of sight.
Research has shown that the “out of sight, out of mind” adage actually works.
12. Don’t eat out of the container- While lounging on the
couch watching all the Christmas movies or specials with the whole container of
cookies may sound nice and relaxing, it can be a train wreck for your figure
when you look down to see that you downed five cookies without even noticing.
Instead, put whatever it is that you are eating on a plate and put said food
away. This will help you from mindless eating more than you wanted to.
13. Only make a couple kinds of desserts- Instead of
making every recipe you pinned on your Pintrest board, only make two or three.
Think of it this way, if there are 15 types of cookies that you can choose
from, you will find it appropriate to eat more since there is more variety.
Lets say in this situation you eat five cookies. Now, if there were only three
types of cookies available, you would find it more appropriate to try maybe one
or two.
Now if you will excuse me, I need to perfect the grace that
I will be giving this year…
Well after this past weekend, I think its safe to say that
the dog days of summer are officially here. Nothing like temperatures well into
the 90s and humidity that styles your hair for you…
It’s days like this that I wish Under Armour had a line of
business casual clothes so I wouldn’t be soaked in sweat from walking from my
car to the office. Anyways, I naturally get a lot of questions in the summer about hydration and how much water one should drink. Before I
get into all of that, let me first talk a little about water.
Why Water?
For starters, about 60% of your body is made up of water so I
am going to go out on a limb here and say that it is pretty important. Dorky fact of the day: Water is
actually more vital than food. If you were on a deserted island you would die
of dehydration long before you were to die of starvation. Besides preventing
death, other positive attributes of water include:
Helps with satiety- A lot of times the brain
confuses hunger for thirst so you end up eating when you are actually just thirsty.
Keeps your skin looking good- Not that water is
going to instantly clear up your skin like Proactive or whatever the new acne
solution is, but think of your skin as a grape. Now think about what happens
when you dry out a grape. You get a raisin right?Which would you rather have your skin look like?
Has no calories
How much water should
I drink?
The recommendation that I was taught in school was to drink 1mL of water for every calorie that
you consume. Pretty straight forward right?!?Ok, ok, before you start making an effigy of me to practice voodoo on, let me simplify it for you. To start with, everybody’s water needs are a little bit different just as people’s calorie needs are a little different. Let's take a look at the old adage of
drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. If you do the math, that equates to about four bottles of water (16 ounce bottles) a day, which as you are about to see isn't that far off. The Institute of Medicine recommends 3 liters a day for
men and 2.2 liters per day for women. Thanks IOM but I am pretty sure most
Americans don’t use the metric system...
To put that in American terms for you, that is 6.5 bottles for men
and 4.5 bottles of water for women (16 ounce bottles). If you are a hippy such as myself and use reusable water bottles, you will have to do the math for yourself.
Do other beverages
count towards my fluid intake?
Yes, but some options are better than others. Beverages such
as coffee, juice, and soda count, but they are not as good as water is for
hydrating your body. Many people often forget that fruits and vegetables
contain water as well, such as hmm…let me think…WATERmellon. Other fruits and
veggies that are high in water include melons, grapefruit, lettuce, broccoli,
etc. so keep that in mind.
What about sports
drinks?
Ah….we have arrived at one of my biggest pet peeves! Instead
of getting on my soapbox for this one, I am going to keep it real simple for
you. If you are working out for less than 60 minutes water is all you need. If you
are working out for more than 60 minutes you may want to grab a sports drink or coconut water to
help replace your electrolytes and energy stores. If you are drinking a sports drink just for
giggles, you may as well be drinking a soda because it is not going to help
you in any way shape or form. In those instances of exercising less than 60 minutes, I am going to side
with The Waterboy on this one…
What about hot
weather and exercise?
Now you guys are getting good with these questions! I am so
proud! With the dog days of summer upon us making us glisten with a thin layer
of sweat before you even lock your front door, it is important to drink a
little bit more fluids to help compensate for the water that you lose via
sweat. The same goes for exercise, you will want to drink enough fluids to
replace the amount that you lose via sweat during exercise. That being said,
you can leave your camelbak at home if you decide to run a 5k…
How can I tell if I
am not drinking enough?
There are a couple of different ways that can help you
determine if you are consuming enough fluids. The first and most obvious sign
is if you are thirsty. Other signs are headaches, fatigues, muscle cramps, and if
you are like me, I get a tend to get a little sassy, well let's just say I am more sassy than usual :)
Another sign that you may not think of is the color of your
urine. Don’t act like you have never done this before. The ideal color should
somewhere around a pale straw color to a light yellow color. Does this mean you
should keep color swabs next to the toilet? No, but it is just something to
keep in mind. If for some reason this is something you are more interested in,
checkout this info graphic for more information.
Breaking it down
With the 90-degree days not going away anytime soon, make
water your new best friend. Now if you will excuse me, I have to decide what
color of these is the most flattering for my skin tone...
