Ice Cream for Mom, and Vitamin D for All

So it's crunch time for me, as I have to finish my thesis by August 13th. If this sounds like plenty of time, trust me, it's not! I am not known for my ability to write research papers and I have found that my adviser (who reads my drafts) has a completely different writing style than myself, which adds to the difficulty. Let's just say I can't WAIT to be done with graduate school and get a real job. Until then, I've got this blog to allow me to do some of the writing that I actually enjoy, thankfully.

In the News

Check this out: You're Obese, So Pay Up
My friend Amanda sent me a newsletter with a ton of interesting health-related news bites. This was one of them, and I didn't know what to think about it. Part of me thought it was fair but another part of me felt bad for the person who would be asked to pay extra, how embarrassing!

Recent Food Experiences

Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt is my favorite name brand of ice cream/yogurt.


Check out these nutrition facts, they aren't so bad (until you start eating more than one serving, which is not difficult to do)
Here is another favorite of mine:
BUT do you want to know the best kind?! MINE! I know I've blogged about my frozen yogurt before, but yesterday I made some of the best ever. Last night I celebrated Mother's Day with my mom (Sunday isn't a good day for either of us) and she had asked for a batch of my frozen yogurt. So of course this batch had some extra love.

I added SIX pieces of milk and dark chocolate (yeah, only four are pictured)


2 T peanut butter and about 1/2 cup chopped almonds and pecans

Started with 3/4 cup sugar and 1 cup vanilla soymilk.
After adding 2 cups 1/2 and 1/2, plus some vanilla extract and a bit of cayenne :) , I poured it into the ice cream maker.

Five minutes later:

15 minutes later:

20 minutes later, YUM!


I added all of the yummy pieces and then mixed it up:
































Nutrition Research Update
The American Dietetic Association reports that children and adolescents are continuing to be deficient in vitamin D. Rickets, which is the softening of the bone in children, is often the result of inadequate vitamin D. Recently the American Academy of Pediatrics raised the Adequate Intake (AI) of vitamin D to 400 IU, from 200IU, for children and adolescents. This is especially important for children who are fully or partially breastfed, children/adolescents who do not get enough sun or drink enough milk, and children/adolescents who have fat malabsorption problems (such as cystic fibrosis).

When I read this I remembered reading another article about the possibility of raising the adult recommendation. Currently the reccomendation is 200 IU for those aged 19-50, but I personally do not think this is enough and I predict that this number will increase in the next year.

Vitamin D has been in the news for its possible ability to prevent cancer and increase immunity. Mainly, however, it is known for its ability to maintain normal calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood and it helps absorb calcium and maintain strong bones (prevention of rickets in children, and osteomalacia in adults, which is softening of the bones).


With summer coming up we are all hopefully in good shape as far as vitamin D. Why? Because we will be outside more often and therefore will have more exposure to the vitamin D producing sun. You normally don't get told to not where sunscreen, but 10-15 minutes out in the sun without sunscreen is all you need, 2-3 days a week, to get enough vitamin D. But in my opinion it never hurts to get more. The upper limit (UL) is 2000 IU and if you are out in the sun all day your body will not continuously make vitamin D, therefore you don't have to worry about "overdosing" on vitamin D because of your sun exposure.

Food sources of vitamin D:
Yogurt (look at the label to make sure it has vitamin D)
Cheddar cheese (" ")
Milk (soy or cow's, but look at the label)
Calcium and vitamin D fortified cereals and/or juices
Salmon, pink, with soft bones
Supplements:

Viactiv provides 500 IU of vitamin D
Flintstones vitamins provide 400 IU vitamin D


New Food Experiences

On the topic of Vitamin D, I thought I would share with you a tasty treat my mom taught me yesterday. I am probably the ONLY person who hasn't ever tried greek yogurt. I think I just figured I wouldn't like it, but thanks to my mom I learned that it's AWESOME!!!
Unfortunately it doesn't have any vitamin D, but 20 grams of protein, zero grams fat (my mom buys the fat free one), and only 9 grams of sugar (compared to about 14-25 grams in normal yogurt) makes this a very healthy treat!


It's especially good with:
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 packets of Splenda
1 T peanut butter


This was a true treat. I have to say, it was better than the dairy free chocolate pudding I made, although the dairy free pudding has its own health benefits that outweigh this.

Until next time, get some vitamin D, and enjoy a great Mother's Day tomorrow!