Taking a Break, But First Get to Know Me!

The last 24 hours have been incredible. Nick and I are now officially home-owners (and officially in major debt, haha)!! The house needs a LOT of work, but we couldn't be more happy, and proud. This next week we will be working on getting everything organized, buying a new bedroom and living room furniture, straightening up the yard (garden!!), and so much more. I have decided to take a week off from blogging. I may still read some blogs here and there, but there will not be any new CANDID RD posts until later next week or next weekend. I plan to do a post that includes pictures of our new home!



Coco of Balance, Joy, and Delicias has passed on two fabulous awards to me (thanks Coco!). I rarely post much information about myself, so here is your chance to get to know me a little better.


I'm supposed to write ten things that make me happy:

1) When Nick is happy, I am happy (we live together, so you know, if he's sad, I get sad! And when he's in a good mood, I am too, most of the time....). I'm also happy when my mom is happy, because she's the true love of my life.

2) Waking up to the sun shine

3) My morning coffee and blog session

4) Reading nice comments on my blog (you guys sometimes write the sweetest comments, and they mean so much!)

5) When I make someone smile or laugh

6) Eating ice cream

7) Weddings (especially wedding cake)

8) A good workout, which makes me SWEAT

9) Watching the 6:30 pm World News and hearing happy stories (I find that this is rare these days)

10) Having something to look forward to on the weekends

Question: What makes YOU happy?

Now I need to tell you ten honest things about myself. In reality, I'm one of the most honest people I know (which sometimes bites me in the butt because being honest isn't always a good thing) but I know there are a few things you don't know about me, and I'm going to "spill it" right now....

1) I wanted to be an actress when I was young, and my favorite actress was Kirstie Alley (I loved her in Look Who's Talking!). I took acting lessons for several years, but then quit.

2) I used to be a quitter. I quit ballet, gymnastics, baton, track, lacrosse, piano, French horn (yes, I played the French horn!!), and as I said, I quit acting lessons. I am no longer a quitter because I want to be a role model for my children.

3) I used to be a party animal. I've probably mentioned this before, but for those of you who are new to my blog, there you go, I was Gina the partier! That doesn't mean I didn't take school seriously. I did. I was just so type A that I always got my studying done before night time rolled around, so I always managed to go out! Let's just say I took full advantage of college :)

4) I have a crazy obsession with mustard. I sometimes use a sickening amount on burgers, sandwiches, brauts, etc. I know, I know, it's got a lot of sodium, but it's better than mayo....right?!

5) I can't leave the bedroom in the morning without making the bed. It's some sort of obsession. It MUST be made! And yes, I've got Nick hooked too.

6) I still watch the Real World, and The Real World, Road Rules Challenge on MTV. Yikes.

7) I sometimes don't shower after I workout. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just admitted that! Yeah, I have these cloths that I use to give myself a sponge bath of sorts. This is only when I don't have time to shower. I get away with this because I have never had an issue with smell. I mean, I think I would know by now! Are you disgusted yet??

8) My first job was at Bob Evans and I was not a waitress, I was a busboy (busgirl??)! I was also a hostess, but my memories are from busing tables. Can you imagine???

9) I was once fired from a waitress job because I failed to give someone her 32 cents change. She called and had me fired. That was actually a good thing. I had to get out of the waitress business!

10) I was an only child for 13 years, until my brother Joseph was born. I still feel like an only child sometimes, but Joseph is the best kid in the world!

Giveaway ALERT

Kristen (aka the Swanky RD) is having a purse giveaway!

Thanks for reading about me! Have a great week everyone. I'll cya back here in a week :)

Soy Protein Isolate, and the Danger of Added Sugar

Happy Thursday everyone!! Only one more day until Friday, aka move-in day for Nick and I! Because we have lived in this tiny apartment for the last 3 years, we barely have any furniture. We plan to live without much furniture for at least a few months. It will be...interesting.

Some of you still have questions about bananas in the fridge. I'd like to clarify something. If your drawer is set at a high humidity, your bananas will get soft faster. You need to make sure it's set at low humidity (some fridges will say, others won't, but I'm not really sure how you find this out, sorry!). In general, just keep them on the counter if you don't know about the humidity, but always separate them if you want them to last longer.

SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE

A couple of you have asked me about soy protein isolate. What is it? Should it be avoided? Soy protein isolate is exactly as the name implies; isolated soy protein. It is made by removing the beneficial fat (omega-3) from the soybean, as well as the dietary fiber. What is left is the soy protein (isolated). It's used in many protein supplements, bars, and powders.

KASHI BAR

You'll find it in many other foods too, just start looking at the ingredient lists. In my opinion this is not something that should necessarily be avoided (I know I've heard about some bad chemicals in soy protein isolate, but I don't know enough about this to give you an honest opinion). Do keep in mind, however, that you don't want to eat too much because soy protein isolate has many isoflavones (phytonutrients that may help prevent breast cancer, but which may have a link to breast cancer if you consume too much). If you stay away from processed food (or at least consume them in moderation), you won't be consuming too much soy protein isolate, as it's really only found in processed foods! I try to get 25-30 grams of soy protein each day, but the best sources of soy protein are foods such as edamame, tofu, and tempeh, NOT processed foods with soy protein isolate.

Added Sugars

Remember back in 1990 when the "low fat craze" hit America? Ok, maybe you don't remember, but I do! That's about the time that America started to blimp and gain a bunch of weight. Ironic, right? Basically, as I've said in previous posts, once companies started removing the fat, they replaced it with sugar and salt. In reality, that just made most products even more unhealthy!


A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was published recently, which associated added sugar (found in so many foods these days) with decreased HDL (good) cholesterol and increased triglycerides. These are two important risk factors for heart disease. Check out the research here.

Just as a reminder, let's look at all of the sources of sugar in the bar below:

- Evaporated cane juice syrup
- Brown rice syrup
- Evaporated cane juice
- Pear juice concentrate
- Honey
- Barley malt syrup

Just to be fare, here's a Fiber One bar:
- Sugar (x4)
- Malt
- High maltose corn syrup
- High fructose corn syrup

** Both Kashi and Fiber One are companies I respect, quite a lot. Most of their products are fantastic. Their bars? Well, that's another story. I'm not a fan. But in reality, as I said before, I am not a fan of most bars. **

Coming Up

Saturday I will post some things about me that you may have never known. Curious?? You should be! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading :)

Refrigerator Food Safety. Is Your Fridge SAFE??

Today I'm going to start with a few things from yesterday's post:

1) I keep my bananas in the refrigerator because it slows down the ripening process. This has a lot to do with the humidity in your drawer. It should be set to low, because fruits ripen faster in areas of high humidity. Veggies are the opposite, as they will stay more crisp in areas of high humidity. BTW, it also helps to separate bananas! They will ripen slower if you separate them.

2) I keep my whole wheat flour in the refrigerator because, again, it will last longer in the fridge. Whole grains have the endosperm, germ, and the bran (refined grains don't contain bran and germ). The bran and germ contain oils that could possible go rancid. Your flour will last a long time outside the fridge, but it will last longer in the fridge!

3) I looked at the ingredients for the Silk Almond Milk and noticed the second ingredient is evaporated cane juice. What a BUMMER!! I will not be buying this anymore :(

How Safe is YOUR Refrigerator?!

My master's thesis focused on food safety, specifically which factors predict whether or not an RD will teach food safety (fresh vegetable food safety) to their clients and/or patients. You may find this strange, considering I have not once (that I can remember) written a post focusing on food safety. Having posted about the foods in my refrigerator yesterday, here are seven "Chilling Facts" about American's refrigerators, which were accumulated from research by Tennessee State University, Kansas State University, and RTI International.

Source: The ADATimes, a publication of The American Dietetic Association

1) Fewer than 50% of Americans know that their refrigerator should be below 40 degrees F. If it's higher than that your food is at risk of being contaminated by bacteria (and I'm not talking the good bacteria that you find in yogurt!).

2) A large majority of Americans have no idea what the current temperature of their refrigerator is. Do you have a thermometer in your refrigerator? I'll admit, I don't. I'm bad. However I do know that my refrigerator is cold enough because the food in the way back always freezes. I should still get one though. And it's not just important to get a thermometer, it's also important to check the thermometer! One of the areas I'm not sure about, despite my food freezing in the back, is the food on my door.....

3) Most refrigerators tested by researchers (76%) had an internal temperature that exceeded 40 degrees F. Ninety-one percent had door temperatures about 40 degrees F. Try not to keep foods like meat, poultry, fish, or dairy on the door. When you open the refrigerator those are the first to get warm. Same with your freezer.

4) More than half of Americans store their food in a way that makes cross-contamination an issue. According to the article and the research, it's likely that many people have spoiled food in their refrigerator right NOW! Remember, eggs can be stored up to four to five weeks beyond the carton's packing date. Leftovers should be discarded after four days. Also, don't place raw poultry or meat on the top shelf unless it is well packaged. To learn more, check out FoodSafety.gov.

5) Very few people (if at all) clean their refrigerators thoroughly. As part of my research at OSU I had to take a sponge and do swabs of people's refrigerators, under their drawers. You should have seen some of the crap I saw.....nauseating. Have you taken your drawer out lately?? A thorough cleaning includes emptying out the fridge, cleaning out the interior surfaces with a wet towel or disinfectant wipe, and taking out the bins/drawers to clean them, and clean the area underneath. I do this before I go to the grocery store, when my fridge is pretty empty. Be sure to DRY ALL SURFACES because a wet refrigerator means bacteria may thrive.

6) The produce bin is the area in the fridge that is most likely to harbor bacteria. The researchers didn't find just any bacteria either, they were pathogenic bacteria such as E. Coli and Salmonella! This doesn't surprise me after some of the stuff that I saw during my time swabbing people's refrigerators. Make sure you use your produce fairly quickly and don't allow it to spoil. If it does, clean the drawer with an antibacterial rag or spray.

7) A faulty door seal is a major problem! Check your door seal and see if there is resistance with a gentle tug. There should be some resistance. Also check for mold between the cracks (there shouldn't be mold). This is typically a problem in older refrigerators, but can be a problem even in new ones! If your door seal if faulty or the seal is losing it's grip, this could create condensation inside the fridge, causing mold and inconsistent temperatures.

Coming Up

My next post will include a new recipe and the low down on the common ingredient; soy protein isolate. Later in the week I will show you what's in our freezer and cabinets. Oh yeah, I'll also be posting about our big MOVE! BTW, does anyone have any good suggestions for a mattress? We're currently looking for a new one and we don't know where to begin.

Thanks for reading everyone. Have a great day!

"Product Contains Probiotics", Really?

Thanks to everyone who read yesterday's post, and re-tweeted the message! I truly think our government is a lost cause when it comes to doing something about the confusion and lack of consistency that surrounds health and wellness. I hope Ellen will see our Tweets and start helping us spread the REAL message. Obviously this is wishful thinking, but it's always worth a try. So much needs to be done, and it won't happen overnight. This is something that will takes YEARS to tackle, but we have to start NOW!


I read an article in Nutrition Action Healthletter the other day, which focused on probiotics. Here is some information I pulled from the article, which I thought you might find interesting.

- When buying a probiotic product, look for the specific strain. Unfortunately most products do not disclose the strain, only the genus and species of the bacteria. If you are looking for more specific health benefits (such as reduction of diarrhea, help for IBS, etc.), the strain must be known, or else the name of the probiotic really means nothing. For example, Lactobacillus (group) acidophilus (species), what's the strain?? Sometimes it takes an e-mail or a phone call to the company. If you are just looking for the general health benefits of probiotics, such as help for lactose intolerance, or restoring a healthy GI tract, the strain may not be necessary.

- Dose matters! Just because a product has probiotics, doesn't mean it's going to be helpful. If the product does not list the amount of probiotics, what's the point of buying it? For clinical benefits it's important to have at least a billion live probiotics, but most products on the market these days don't even have close to that amount. This doesn't mean the probiotics that you are consuming aren't helpful, as they do add up. If you're just looking to re-establish a healthy digestive system, even a million will help (but I'm doubtful that some of these products even have a million!). Remember there is no one in charge of making sure these companies are being honest with these probiotic claims. Nor is there anyone regulating the doses in each product.

- Survival matters! Yogurt and other dairy products are the best way to get probiotics because the milk acts as a buffer and makes the stomach acids less active and less able to destroy the probiotic (yes, your stomach acid will kill the probiotic, unless the company has created a probiotic that can survive your stomach acid, which very few companies have done). Look for companies who have had a THIRD PARTY investigation of the viability of their probiotics (ie: can they handle your GI system? Are they shelf-stable? Have they survived the manufacturing process?). Don't waste your money on products that can not prove viability. Also, be aware that products that sit on the shelf for a long time may be loosing their probiotics, slowly, but surely.


Some of the products of which I'm skeptical are the teas that claim to contain probiotics.. I'm really wondering if they are worth their outstanding price (in my opinion, paying any more than $2 for tea is ridiculous). Many of the teas I see simply list the probiotic, but not the amount, and of course not the strain (to read more about KOMBUCHA tea, check out this article). There is no requirement for the use of the word "probiotic" on a label, so pretty much anyone can use it! The Nutrition Action Healthletter looked at a few products, and here is what they found:

1) Activia: May speed transit time (time it takes for food to be digested, basically) and may help relieve stomach grumbling and gas. However, unlike the claim on the label, it's still not clear whether it can help with occasional irregularity.

2) Yoplait Plus: There is little published evidence that this product helps with, well, anything! I do still think the probiotics in this product are helpful for the general population, but are they any more helpful than the typical yogurt? Probably not, so I wouldn't waste my money.

3) Bigelow Probiotics Tea: Unlikely to do much to aid digestion (such as the claim indicates).

SPEAKING OF TEA..... Coco is having a TEA giveaway! This tea doesn't make any crazy promises, just that it's delicious and fresh. That's all I need in a tea :)

Here is where I get my probiotics; KEFIR! Kefir is a natural source of probiotics, and it's a dairy product so at least I know my stomach acid will be slightly buffered and thus less likely to kill the beneficial probiotics. If I had a more specific condition, which warranted more probiotics, I would look for a respected supplement with the specific strains listed, and THIRD PARTY research to back up all of their claims. The information about probiotics is exhausting, but to learn more, visit USProbiotics.org.

I also get my probiotics from yogurt. Thanks for delivering these yogurts for our 5k race tomorrow, Chobani!

Coming Up

Starting today I'm pretty much busy, busy, busy, 24/7. I have a ton of work to catch up on, a 5k race to tackle in the morning (I'm not running, just organizing the race....), and then a trip to the casino boats down south, for which we are leaving right after tomorrow's morning race. On Sunday I'll (hopefully) be posting a recap of the 5k race. I hope it's a hit!

Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great weekend.

Food Revolution Review, and My Tuna Salad Recipe!

This month has been crazy, and it's getting crazier each day! This week I have the 5k race I've been planning for the past several months, and then we are going straight to Cincinnati (down south) for one of Nick's friend's 30th birthday. We're going to the river boats, which are packed with crazy casinos. I probably won't do a lot of gambling, but it will still be fun to get out of town for a night. Then the following week we MOVE! I'm excited, but also very nervous. We're going to be very poor for a while. Oh well, we'll be so busy working on the house it won't even matter!
Did you watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution last week? I finished watching it on Saturday morning. It wasn't quite as interesting as the last episode, but I've still got a few things to say.

Likes

• I love how Jamie decided to go straight to a major source of entertainment and information for the community. Not the senators, but the most popular radio DJ, Rod. What a great idea. Even though Rod was completely against the idea at first (although I think that might have been an act for the show....) he got everyone on Jamie's side eventually and he helped get 1000 people involved in the revolution. Fantastic.

• I love how Jamie dressed up like a green bean (or a pea pod??) at the beginning of the show. As stupid as he looked, it's actually suggested that in order to get your children to eat more fruits and veggies you should make it fun and entertaining. Associating fruits and veggies with cartoons or other fun characters is actually a great idea. Heck, it worked for McDonald's!

• The trip to the morgue was a great way to open Rod's eyes (and America's eyes) to the seriousness of the obesity epidemic. Did you see that casket?! Goodness.
  

• Jamie was pushing the use of frozen vegetables. I loved it. Jamie is a well known and respected chef, so to see him using frozen vegetables is really fantastic. I love frozen vegetables. They are so delicious, convenient, and they are frozen at their peak freshness.
  

• That dance they did in the park. WOW!!! I wanted to be in the dance myself!! It looked like so much fun!

Dislikes

• I've only got one dislike, but it's a big one. Where are all the tips and suggestions?? This entire show has been about what is wrong with the city and what needs to be done to help people get healthier, but I have not heard any tips on cooking and eating healthier. Yeah, Jamie throws out a few suggestions here and there, but I want him to teach the TV audience too! He keeps saying, "you can cook cheap and healthy meals that don't take very long", but how?? Jamie, you need to provide more tips! I kept waiting for some fantastic information about what to buy, how to save money when shopping for ingredients, how to choose a good recipe, how to choose a lean cut of meat/poultry, but I heard nothing! Maybe this is coming up in future episodes?? I saw him use a real block of parmesan cheese, but is this something that people in this city (and other cities in America) can afford to buy? I know that sounds odd, but real parmesan cheese is expensive, and it goes bad fairly quick! He needs to throw out tips such as, "try the already shredded parmesan cheese if you wish! The taste is similar, and the price is lower, and it lasts much longer!".

Question: What were your thoughts on last week's episode?

Quick, Healthy, and Cheap Recipe #20
Tuna Fish Sandwich

Ingredients
(1 Serving)
6 ounces Albacore tuna
6 t plain Greek yogurt
2 t regular mayo
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 t pepper

Possible Modifications

• Use any kind of tuna you wish (in water please). Albacore has more omega-3, but light tuna may have less mercury. Choose your battle.

• Use regular yogurt instead of Greek

• Use light or fat free mayo

• Add more walnuts or use almonds, peanuts, or pine nuts

• Add any spices you wish

• Add avocado, celery, egg, raisins, or dried cranberries (I didn't do this because these ingredients give me stomach problems. Bummer, I know)
  

My Rating: 8 out of 10
It would have been better on a piece of bread, but since I have yet to find any bread that I can eat, the bread in the picture was just for show. I ate this on it's own.

Nutrition Facts
(These nutrition facts do not include the bread)

Coming Up

Tomorrow I will post about some foods that you may think are "healthy" but which may not be as healthy as you thought. The point is not to discourage you from eating these foods, but to make you more aware of the ingredients on food labels and how companies try to trick you into thinking their foods are superior.

Have a great day everyone! Thanks for reading.

Sugar By Any Other Name.....

Have you ever wondered why your plain yogurt contains 10 grams of sugar? Or whether the "fruit juice concentrate" in your power bar is a better form of sugar than table sugar (sucrose)? These are questions I receive quite often, so it's time for a quick review.

Carbohydrates (Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen bound together) come in two forms:

• Simple mono- or disaccharides (glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, sucrose, and lactose)
• Complex polysaccharides (starches such as legumes, corn, potatoes, bread, and cereals)

• Fiber? On food labels, fiber is considered a carbohydrate. This is because fiber is a type of polysaccharide, which plays a structural role in plants. Humans cannot digest fiber.

When you look at a food label, this is what you see:

The cereal above has 24 total grams of carbohydrate, 2 grams of which is from indigestible dietary fiber, and 10 grams of which is from simple sugar (one of the six I mentioned above).

When you look at a label for milk or plain yogurt, you may see this:

Strange? You wouldn't think milk or plain yogurt would have any sugar, but lactose (a type of simple sugar) is found in all dairy products. On the food label it is considered a carbohydrate, and is under the sub-category "sugar". In my opinion, there should be an alternative sub-category called "Added Sugar". Would you know that the plain yogurt above has zero added sugar? Many of you may have know that, but some may have not. In fact, the typical amount of lactose found in dairy products is about 12 grams per serving.

What about this "Just Fruit Bar"?


Check out the ingredients. Pear Puree, Pear Concentrate, Cranberry Concentrate.

According to the nutrition facts, this one bar has 35 grams of carbohydrate, 6 grams of which are from fiber (nice!), and 23 grams of which are from sugar. In this case, the sugar is in the form of fructose. Is it any more healthy since it's in the form of the "fruit sugar, fructose"? Not really.


Yes this is a less processed form of fructose than HFCS, but if you were to eat a serving of fruit, which is what this bar is trying to mimic, you would only be consuming about 15 grams of fructose, not 23. You'd also be getting a lot of phytonutrients, which do not survive the heat it takes to create a "fruit juice concentrate".



Bottom Line: Carbohydrates are best in their most natural form; whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products. Limit your added sugars (from the extra sugar companies add to their products, other than the naturally occurring lactose and fructose) to 26 grams for females, and 37 for males.

Speaking of sugar, Julie is having a VitaTops giveaway!! Yeah, they have sugar, but less than most muffins, that's for sure.

Coming Up

Tomorrow I will post a new recipe and my thoughts on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution form Friday. Did you watch?! I also have an interesting post about Kashi, and whole grains coming up this week.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day.

Did You Know... ?

Thanks to everyone who has entered my giveaway! I read everyone's comments last night and it sounds like Chobani needs to start cranking out more blueberry yogurt. I think about 70% of you like the blueberry flavor best. I do too :)

The following is a list of some of the random information I have learned from blogs, magazines, and newspapers this year. I literally wrote these down on a piece of paper so I would never forget them. Sadly I can't give credit to who/what produced this information, but I only wrote down information from sources that I trusted.

DID YOU KNOW...... ??

1) Children laugh 400 x per day, adults 8-10. Today, be sure to LAUGH!

2) Kids are more likely to eat veggies when hungry, so serve them as appetizers so they are more likely to eat them.

3) If you're looking to have better sex, the following foods may help; avocado, saffron, chili pepper, vitamin C and E, asparagus, oysters, chocolate.

4) High stress=Low testosterone. Don't be offended if your partner isn't interested in making love, it may be a sign he is stressed.

5) The probiotics, which are naturally found in yogurt, ferment the lactose in yogurt and create lactic acid, which is why yogurt is good for people with lactose intolerance!



5) Calcium citrate and carbonate are the best absorbed forms of calcium (this is ironic too because calcium carbonate is what is found in my soy milk. Funny, the USDA doesn't count soy milk as milk!).

6) Want to benefit from prebiotics? One source said to try to get 5-7 g/day. You can find prebiotics in so many foods now, as inulin (which companies are calling "fiber" even though it really isn't) is a prebiotic. Prebiotics are found naturally in kefir, artichokes, raw garlic, wheat bran, and raw onion.

7) MAX heart rate=220 minus age. Workout to this, or 85% of this for maximum intensity, and for maximum calories burned.

8) To find out how much fluid you should consume each day divide your weight by 2, and consume that number, in ounces. Obviously this is an estimate. As I said in a previous post, it also depends on your diet and activity level.

9) Polyphenols (found in dark chocolate, tea, berries, etc.) have little antioxidant activity. Their benefits come mainly from their effects on cell signaling processes, which may help prevent diseases such as cancer.



10) Whole grains are fantastic. They have phenols, flavanoids, vitamin E, and fiber. Unlike refined grains, which have very few of these, if any.

11) You need 80 minutes of sleep for a full sleep cycle. This is why "cat naps" sometimes give you such fantastic energy. If you woke up for work in the morning in the middle of a cycle, and only got through 60 minutes of your sleep cycle, a 20 minute "cat nap" will complete the cycle!


12) It takes 30 minutes for caffeine to kick in.

13) Did you know that Jessie is having a Peanut butter giveaway?!

Coming Up

Today I did a presentation at the Columbus Zoo about reading food labels, and tomorrow we have a booth at their annual employee health fair. You should see the fun game we have planned, and the great prizes!! I will post about it on Thursday.

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!