Take Control of your Movie Theatre Experience

This is a topic of frequent discussion with clients – what can I eat at the movies? Since the usual movie fare of popcorn with cheap oils, hot dogs, soda, nachos with sodium laden condiments, and candy hardly qualifies for a health contest how can you transform your movie experience into an enjoyable and healthful experience?

LA Times writer Mary MacVean wrote an article earlier this year on Snack Bar Health Reform.  She interviewed some key chefs to see what they would recommend for healthy movie food available for purchase.

Evan Kleiman, chef-owner of Angeli Caffe and host of the weekly radio food show “Good Food” on KCRW suggested fruit and veggies with peanut butter for dipping.

Stefan Richter, the chef at LA Farm in Santa Monica suggested hummus or a fruit and cheese platter.

These are wonderful choices but since movie theaters seem more interested in selling snacks than providing health options what can one do for healthful choices at the movies?  Here’s your grocery list for a good movie viewing experience:

1.  A baggie of your favorite mixed raw or dry roasted nuts with a few chocolate chips or dark chocolate squares to sweeten up the mix

2.  3-4 cubes of your favorite hard sliced cheese with apple slices or grapes

3.  A cup of your favorite tea or a decaf latte with extra foam and some cocoa powder on top to sweeten a little

4.  Celery topped with natural peanut, almond or cashew butter and a few raisins, also known as ants on a log in a children’s world

One thought to consider:  are truly hungry when you attend a movie, or is it just a habit to eat while watching?  A few years ago I started bringing a bottle of water and made sure I ate a meal or a snack prior to the film. 

If you are hungry, consider one of the above options.  Otherwise, maybe rethink your default response of movie eating.  You don’t have to be lured by the sounds and smells of fellow movie goers consuming unhealthful fare. Healthful eating can make your experience even more enjoyable….even at the movies.

Is it Healthier to be Vegetarian?

In dinner and party conversations you may hear “I’m now vegetarian” or “I decided to become vegan.”  Is being vegan or vegetarian really healthier?

I see many vegetarians in my practice.  Although I am not vegetarian I respect those that are and see it as my job to help them be responsible about being vegetarian.

This week’s LA Times Article by Jeannine Stein was a great representation of what can happen with vegetarianism gone wrong.  The article Vegan But not Always Healthy showed a family who defaulted to snack foods and ate very little protein on a regular basis.

What does it mean to be a responsible vegetarian?  Being diligent about getting your protein and other nutritional needs met so your health is not compromised is responsible vegetarianism. 

I am not a fan of fake or processed food.  Many vegetarians default to packaged soy and other protein sources.  These foods contain multiple ingredients and are far from healthy.

How can you be a healthy responsible vegetarian?

• Get your protein needs met – consume organic eggs, grass-fed or European cheese, nuts/seeds, nut butters, beans, cottage or ricotta cheese and plain yogurt.  A combination of these foods can easily meet your needs, which vary depending on your age, size and activity level

• Consume calcium rich foods - this can be easy to do if you are eating cottage/ricotta cheese or plain yogurt as they are high in calcium

• Consider omega 3 supplements.  The three omega 3’s – ALA, DHA and EPA and essential to lowering inflammation in the body and assisting with hormone balance.  They also feed the brain so the rest of the body functions well.  ALA can be easily met with 1 tablespoon per day of ground flax seed.  DHA and EPA can be found in fish oil supplements.  If you prefer not to include these, there are vegetarian DHA supplements

• Eat your veggies (1 dark green leafy and 1 orange/yellow/red per day)

• Consume 3 servings of fruit per day

• Make sure to get your healthy fats – avocados, nuts/seeds, olive and walnut oil

• Avoid processed foods in packages with multiple ingredients

If you are vegan, it requires even more diligence and a consult with an R.D. could help prevent any vitamin or mineral deficiencies that can arise if your nutritional needs are not met.

Health is not about being vegetarian or not vegetarian.  Health is consuming whole real foods that your great-grandmother would recognize.  Foods that don’t have a label or less than 5 ingredients are the healthiest.

So the next time you’re at a dinner, maybe say “I’m a flexitarian.”  People will wonder what you’re up to.

Paring Without the Knife

This week’s LA Times article by Michael Hiltzik regarding the man who had gastric band surgery and died 3 days later was jarring.   A 6 foot 6 inch man who weighed 300 pounds sought out surgery thinking he could get a better job weighing less.  He was only 36 years old, a schoolteacher with 6 children who had his whole life to live.

I remember back to the initial days of being a clinical dietitian at UCLA and taking care of those who had had gastric bypass surgery.  More than a few had severe health problems and some died of complications related to the surgery.  These experiences in themselves biased me towards not being an advocate for weight loss surgeries.

Personally I feel the surgery is treating the symptom, not the cause.  Research shows many who lose weight regain the weight within a 5-10 year period of time.  Why?  They have not dealt with the underlying root cause of their weight issues.

Many individuals are genetically preprogrammed to be overweight or have a weight issues.  However, a healthy lifestyle of exercise/activity and an individualized eating plan can do wonders for weight management.  It may be hard work but no surgery is required.

The conferences I attend on how weight loss surgeries change appetite, hormones, and result in high amounts of weight in a short period of time do sound appealing.  However, both the short and long-term complications scare me.

A client of mine had bypass surgery and lost half her weight 6 years ago.  She bought a new wardrobe, and was thrilled with her new self.  However, since she had not dealt with the emotional issues that brought on the weight in the first place, she regained most of the weight within 5 years.  She found herself in my office distraught and needing lifestyle skills to manage her weight.

Another one of my clients who had lifelong issues with weight was considering bypass surgery and after speaking with someone who had it decided against it.  He realized if he set his mind to it he could lose weight.  He sought out my services and is losing weight at a good clip due to his efforts of mindful lifestyle eating and exercise.

There are several types of weight loss surgeries which all require eating a very small amount of food.  If one tries to overeat, there are physical consequences.  Why give the control of your body over to a “forced” control of food? 

If the emotional issues of eating are not dealt with, no amount of surgery will keep it off forever.  Most people find a way to eat around it.  Healing your relationship with food is hard work but instead of physical it requires emotional surgery but no knives are not required.

Seek out help from a qualified professional who can bring you on a safe journey of lifestyle intervention.  You’ll save yourself more than the physical scars and financial burdens – you might even safe yourself from death – fast or slow….

Remember, it’s prevention not prescription.

Obesity, Insulin Levels and Cancer?

Last week’s LA Times article on Obesity’s Role in Cancer was timely.  We know excess weight is critical in the development of diabetes and heart disease.  But now a correlation between increased weight and cancer?

About ten years’ back one of my clients brought in an article linking high insulin levels to cancer.  Since one of my specialties is diabetes I follow all the research on diet affecting insulin levels.  Now cancer was in the mix as well?

Research over the last few years has linked high insulin levels to development of certain types of cancers and its reoccurrence.  A diet high in processed carbohydrates increases production of insulin, which in turn can increase cell growth of tumors in the body.  When insulin levels are high, tumor cells are fed, thus dividing and multiplying.

So is there a connection between carbohydrates and cancer?  Hmm…let me rethink that plate of pasta.

A group of researchers examined the records of 89,000 women participating in the Nurses’ Health study in 2002.  The women who were overweight, did not get much exercise, and ate a lot of starchy foods were 2.5 times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than those who ate healthy carbohydrates.

One of the co-authors of the study, Charles S. Fuchs, discussed how replacing starchy foods that increase insulin levels with healthy carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables can improve your health by not only lowering risk of cancer, but diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well.

In 2007, a major report called Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer:  A Global Perspective was published linking cancer to diet, physical activity, and weight.  The most profound finding of the report linked excess body fat to six types of cancer, including colon, kidney, pancreas, and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and endometrium and post-menopausal breast cancer. 

So let’s break it down.  Excess weight and eating starchy carbs increase insulin levels which can increase growth of tumors and cancer risk.  Our romance with the taste and feel of comfort food - starchy carbohydrates - may not be achieving the health we so desire. 

To keep your insulin levels normal try eating some protein at each meal or snack along with a healthy source of carbohydrate like fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds, and add some healthy fats.  I’ve recently used spaghetti squash in place of pasta with meatballs and it was a pleasant surprise.

Imagine a salad with greens, goat cheese, pine nuts, avocado, tomatoes and some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Healthy CAN be tasty and enjoyable AND help you prevent cancer!

Harvard researcher Walter Willett, M.D. states “Obesity is approaching smoking as a cancer risk.”  Perhaps now is the time to tackle the problem of food with the same vengeance as the anti-smoking campaigns.  Remember it’s prevention, not prescription.

HOW Much Exercise Do You Need to Maintain Your Weight?

How much exercise do you need to maintain your weight?  This week’s Harvard study reports 60 minutes a day of moderate intensity exercise 7 days a week.

Sixty minutes a day 7 days a week?  Did I hear that one correctly – 7 hours a week? 

The researchers were not studying prevention of diabetes, cancer, heart disease or how to lose weight – just how to maintain it.

If you want to prevent diabetes, studies show walking 30 minutes per day can lower your risk by 58%.  For men, thirty minutes of exercise per day lowers the risk of morbidity and mortality by 50%.

However, these researchers were not looking at disease prevention.  They analyzed 34,000 healthy US women of normal body weight to see how much exercise was required to MAINTAIN their body weight over 13 years. 

The Los Angeles Times quoted:  “we wanted to see in regular folks - people not on any particular diet - what level of physical activity do you need to prevent weight gain over time," said the lead author of the study, Dr. I-Min Lee, an epidemiologist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard University. "It's a large amount of activity.  If you're not willing to do a high amount of activity, you need to curtail your calories a lot."

I can relate.  I have terrible genetics.  And because I like to eat, I am at the gym by 6 AM most days.  I figure if I want to look like my job and not become diabetic or obese there is not a choice – like taking a shower or brushing my teeth. 

Some days I’m on autopilot but the rewards of not having diabetes, heart disease in addition to maintaining a healthy weight are the payoffs.  Being comfortable in my body, having good energy and restful sleep keeps me motivated to stick to the program.

Even if you unable to exercise this much, the health benefits of some exercise out weigh coach potatoism.  Remember, it’s prevention not prescription.