Beating Winter Blues with Nutrition

   
It's thought that each year 2-3% of Canadians suffer from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. About
another 15% of us have milder winter blues. Even though winter has shorter days of the year, with the cold and darkness, for some these days can certainly seem to be longer. For anyone out there who does feel like that, with the end of January just about here, the good news is we're about halfway through the winter season. So we can't change the weather, but what can we do during winter months? Well, eating the right foods can help to play a role in people feeling their best and beating wintertime blues. Getting enough adequate nutrients, especially vitamin D and omega-3 fats are key.
Vitamin D, or the sunshine vitamin, is one that people tend to lack in. This time of year especially.

We usually obtain vitamin D from two sources. The sun, or food we eat. In Newfoundland and Labrador the sun's rays are only powerful enough to help us produce this vitamin for a few short months during the year, usually the summer. In fact, this is true for essentially any one living north of about New York. People who have darker skin, are older, overweight or obese tend to have lower levels too. If you're 50 years of age or older you should be having a vitamin D supplement daily of 400IU in addition to dietary intake. So where can you find vitamin D from food? Sources include things like milk and fortified beverages, such as soy, oily fish, egg yolks, and margarine. We know that vitamin D is  really important for bone and dental health, but lately it's been linked to potentially aiding in prevention for many disease states as well.

Ever hear someone say fish is good for the brain? Well if they're referring to fish high in omega-3 (and not deep fried with chips) that's certainly true. Intakes of omega-3, the good fats are thought to be protective as well. Like vitamin D many people don't get enough of these in their regular diet. Fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, herring, char, trout or sardines or plant sources like flaxseeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds or soybeans are good sources. Try and have these foods at least twice a week.

Serotonin, a feel good chemical our bodies produce, is also worth noting. As it gets darker earlier, we get less exposure to the sun, which can lead to a drop in this healthful and helpful substance. The drop people experience sometimes causes depression and food cravings. You can boost serotonin levels with healthy carbohydrates. Things such as whole grain bread, rice and pasta, sweet potatoes, yams,  pumpkins, and squash. Choose these over foods like white grains, French fries, sugary cereals, sweets and treats. It can be tempting to give in to those sugary foods, and yes you may feel some 'goodness' at first, but it will surely peak and quickly drop. The good feeling you'll get from eating the wholesome healthy carbs first mentioned will be much longer lasting. Serotonin also increases with exercise.

Being physically active and eating well not only helps our bodies to be healthy, but keeps
our minds feeling good too. Increasing your intake of these foods can certainly equip you for feeling your best during the cold winter days. However, if you think you're experiencing more than just wintertime blues and say winter depression, aka Seasonal Defective Disorder, be sure to follow up with a healthcare professional.

As seen in The Telegram January 30, 2012

Portions Out the Window

 

If you frequently visit the drive through at Tim Horton's, today this might seem true. Starting today
standard cup sizes have changed. Instead of introducing a 'new' extra large size, each size has shifted
down one to make way for a larger serving. What was a small is now extra small, large is now
considered a medium and so on. The good news for coffee lovers is you are getting more for your
money (as sizes will increase but prices remain). However, the critical dietitian in me ponders about the message this, and other commercial portion sizes, imply regarding health and weight.

Let's first consider the example we have demonstrating healthy eating, Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide. It gives us two references for beverage size. One for juices, the other for milk. A standard serving of juice is 4oz, and milk 8oz, or the equivalent of a (now) extra small at Tim's. Judging by these new portion sizes and speaking in terms of health, what we may consider extra small is really more like the ideal portion size. So how much exactly is a new 24oz extra large? At 710ml it's a total daily recommendation of milk for a young teenager. Just under half the bare minimum of what most need for overall fluids each day. And probably the easiest visual would be about 4 standard size coffees.

It's likely that people will continue to order according to serving size name, and not how much the serving actually contains. Calories in coffee and tea arenegligiblee, so it's more the caffeine and what you add to the beverage that is going to matter. When it comes to the caffeine, Health Canada tells us as adults that 400mg or the equivalent of three 8oz cups of brewed coffee should be the max we take in per day. It's less for those who are younger, pregnant or breastfeeding. Taste buds are programmed to usual habits, meaning any change will taste different at first. A now large coffee with the former large fixings just isn't going to taste the same. The likely solution for many? Adding more fixin's to get that same great taste. More cream, sugar or milk, plus the same usual portion, equals more calories without realizing it. A double double might just turn into a triple triple with you even knowing it.

Obesity, like exaggerated portion size, may be becoming the norm too. True or false, an individual is
considered obese only when they are 100 or more pounds overweight? Obesity is usually defined by a BMI, or body mass index, which takes into account your height and weight. It actually doesn't take
many extra pounds for an individual to be considered medically obese. So the answer is false. But if
you said the answer was true you're not alone. Most people will overestimate height and underestimate weight. Even I am sometimes surprised when I calculate a BMI and it determines someone as obese, when in actual fact they look overweight. Or at least what society has portrayed us to believe as overweight. Whether we want to admit it or not, like portion size, we have  non-consciously shifted our views of weight as well. It's not that we don't think obesity and portions are a problem, rather we are programmed in a super-sized society to think that larger is the norm.

Will I have a Timmy's coffee now and then? Of course. Eating is also about everything in moderation. However, with the portions increasing I am going to try and make a conscious decision to 'downsize' from my regular medium size to the (still medium) new small. Same taste, same calories, and more money in my pocket.

As see in The Telegram January 23, 2012

Child Food Marketing

    
According to information released last week by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC),
Canadians say obesity is the most important health issue facing our children and youth. Demonstrating this is the fact that in November 2011, one in four children across Canada were overweight or obese. In addition, the PHAC has also stated, 60% of people feel the federal government isn't doing enough to deal with the problem and want them to do more.

Perhaps we can modify and monitor the advertisement of food and beverages we have towards children. It may not sound like an important piece to the obesity crisis, but in actual fact it is. You see, foods children eat and even more so what they ask their parents to buy, and then they ultimately eat, are often influenced by advertising. Many of the ads are focused on products that are high in calories, fat, sugar and/or salt too. Advertising of unhealthy foods has not been proven to have a direct impact on childhood obesity but it certainly seems like there could be a connection. We know that it can contribute to poor food choices, ultimately leading to excess weight gain.

The results of the PHAC study indicate most Canadians strongly approve bans on junk food marketing aimed at children. 53% feel strongly to ban all marketing of high fat, sugar or salt foods aimed directly at kids and youth. 60% feel the marketing should be restricted. We certainly aren't the only ones that feel that way. Several European countries have voluntary and regulatory approaches already in place.  Ireland bans the use of celebrities or sports figures to promote food or drinks. Norway has banned radio and TV advertising to children and during children's programming. France also has a law against advertising unhealthy foods on TV with fines for those who choose not to follow. There is no such requirement for Canada yet, however since 1980, and with a few exemptions, Quebec has banned advertising to children thirteen and under, including the advertisement of junk food.

Sure we can start off as voluntary, but we all know that if something gets legislated it's more likely to stick. Down the road, mandatory guidelines may have to be the answer. You see, along with many countries in Europe, the United States has voluntary approaches as well. A report from the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group from the end of last year indicated media companies and major players in the food industry coordinated lobby efforts to ensure mascots like Tony the Tiger could still be used to help sell products. Last year alone over $37 million was spent in an effort to stop voluntary guidelines around the marketing of food to children in efforts to combat obesity. Big companies such as Nestle,  Kellogg, McDonalds, General Mills and more are amongst the list of participants. What's potentially upsetting is the fact that most of these companies are also major sources of campaign money for US congress members.

People are exposed to hundreds of media marketing messages every day. It's also thought we make
more than 200 decisions a day on food. As adults we have the ability to decipher hidden messages,
intent and ultimately make a sound decision based on fact and science for ourselves. Children are
vulnerable. Current advertising practices play an important role in shaping children's food and
beverage choices, preferences, dietary patterns, food-related attitudes, beliefs, values, behaviours and
health. Perhaps the regulation of marketing food and beverages to children is part of the obesity
answer.

As seen in The Telegram January 16, 2012

Out with the Old and in with the Real

2011 was said to be the year of nutritionism. Nutritionism, it's the act of glorifying or demonizing a
particular ingredient or aspect of food itself. In other words, looking at simply one slice instead of
the whole pie. To some, this may not seem like such a bad idea. Navigating the grocery aisle today
can require a degree in chemistry, and so singling out one ingredient could be simplifying the choice
between healthy and junk for some consumers, right? Wrong. It's why dietitians will say food first,
supplements second. It's why eating a balanced and varied diet in healthful foods has been shown to
reduce risk for chronic diseases, rather than taking a supplement cocktail. It's because you are getting
more than just food.

For 2012, predictions say it to be a year of getting back to whole and natural foods. Out with nutritionism and in with farm to fork. It's thought that in the coming year, more people will be buying whole and making more foods from scratch while reclaiming family meals at the dinner table too. Even the big giants are already on the bandwagon for this trend. At the end of December you probably came across a blog post from an Ontario nutritionist which garnered a lot of media attention. It really wasn't anything new, but she posted online what was claimed to be a McDonald's cheeseburger bought back at the end of 2010. Left on the counter for one year, it had no visible signs of decomposition and except for some dryness, it resembled one just 'freshly' purchased from the store. McDonald's advertisements this month are set to start a new campaign telling the story of their food, from 'farm to fork'. There are a few videos online showcasing their potatoes - "They're good now. Just wait 'til they're McDonald's fries." According to the Globe and Mail, it has many people upset. Franken-food, farmwashing, and from 'farm to lab' are a few of the f-words people have been using.

My advice for 2012 is be a little more skeptical about the food you eat. Just because a healthful
ingredient, word or sentence is added to our food or it's packaging doesn't make it that much better for us than the real deal. Does a lot of added fibre trump the high sugar content? I'm not so sure. What
I do know is singling out one particular aspect of food and glorifying it certainly isn't better for our
health. (Sugar) water with added vitamins and minerals, chocolate covered granola bars and rainbow
cereals with added fibre, and last but not least boxed mac and cheese with veggies like cauliflower. If
something seems to good to be true, unfortunately sometimes it is. If anyone is a fan of Jamie Oliver's
Food Revolution, you may have seen an episode involving him encouraging school age kids to prepare their own ice cream sundae while shortly after visually demonstrating to kids exactly where some of the ingredients actually came from. Bug secretions, human hair, duck feathers, etc. It's highly
educational and worth the watch. Plus, for anyone needing a little more motivation to keep some foods off the table for new year resolutions it might just do the trick!

With all the nutrition and health misinformation out there, it can certainly be tough to know fact from
fiction. Stay tuned for the month of March, which is Nutrition Month here in Canada. For the last two
years healthy eating information was focused on Farm to fork initiatives and this year it will be focused on helping Canadians 'Get the Real Deal on their Meal'.

As seen in The Telegram January 9, 2012 

New Years Resolutions

    

Nearly two thirds of people make New Year resolutions or have made resolutions in the past. Of the
resolutions made in recent years, 30% are related to diet, weight and/or health. A lucky 20% of people will stick it through and see significant, long term change. And the other 80%? It's usually a mix of stating a resolution but not seeing it through, or attempting to create change and eventually reverting back to old ways. So how can you have a successful and healthful New Year you ask? Below are the tried, tested and true ways to get yourself on the 2012 path to success for eating and living well. Think SMART. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. If you can keep these factors in mind when setting a goal you're one step ahead of the rest. It's much easier to stay motivated and feel a sense of accomplishment if you are working towards something.

Be sure to strive for something that can be easily obtainable within say one month. And pick only one thing to change at a time and go from there, as change can sometimes be difficult. Suppose you may want to eat the daily recommended servings of fruit and vegetables, or lose 5lbs. It's may not sound like much, but these are good goals. Speaking from experience, it's the small, manageable steps people make that usually end up becoming habits in the long run. A good example of a small smart resolution would be over the next two weeks transitioning from a double double every morning to a medium coffee with just one milk. It doesn't seem like much, but over the course of a year calorically speaking this alone you could save you roughly14 lbs! When you achieve your healthy eating goal determine another and be sure to set your sights a little higher.

New Year resolution tip #2 is to be more aware of what goes into your body. Think of your body as a
car. When you put gas in a car it runs well, but if you put something else in there which doesn't belong it likely won't go very far. It's no different for our bodies and what we eat. When it comes to food try and keep temptations at bay. This is certainly challenging any time of the year, but especially so after the holidays. Remove tempting foods from the refrigerator and pantry, plan meals ahead for the week, make a grocery list for these meals based on the foods you already have on hand, and buy only what you need. When going for something to eat ask yourself if you have a heart or stomach hunger.

A stomach hunger, is when you are truly physically hungry, but a heart hunger is more an emotional
desire for food. Feed the hunger, hold off on the desire. If you need even more motivation place a
reminder in a frequented spot. A motivator could be the picture of the bathing suit you'd like to buy
for that spring vacation, a photo of your former self, or some key words to help inspire you to see your resolution through. A food journal is also a good way to help you become more aware. Not only
can this help you recall everything you eat, but you can also use it to record how you feel when you
ate something. This works for two reasons. One, because people who write down what they eat, are
usually more accountable for what they are putting in their bodies and two, because they are probably
going to review it later they will be prone to eating less.

My third offering of advice is the simple saying two heads are better than one. Whether it's a goal to
lose weight or eat better, doing it with a friend increases your chances of success that much more than
if you were to do it alone. The other benefit here is that because this resolution is so popular you are
quite likely to know at least one other person with this goal in mind who can be your buddy. If you
haven't made a resolution yet, it's not too late to grab a friend and set a smart resolution. All the best
for health in 2012!

As seen in The Telegram January 2, 2012