A Few Nutritional Tweaks for 2009

I recently finished In Defense of Food, the follow-up book to Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  Now I am a nutritional sciences geek so I love the subject and will gleefully pore over the paragraphs that may be a little boring if your science affinity comes in other varieties.  But, this book is actually a reasonably quick and easy read with practical advice.

 

Those who know me well would hardly suggest that I am an unhealthy eater.  My knowledge of nutrition is pretty strong - partly due to interest and partly due to my former life as a personal trainer.  About 70% of my diet focuses on lean protein, fruits and vegetables, whole grains and dairy.     But, all things can be tweaked and I have decided to throw in a few additional goals for ’09 and observe the results, if any.

 

The biggest message in the aforementioned book is that Westerners eat very little real food.  We all know that, right?  Our food is becoming  more and more processed, more and more engineered.  I was discussing this in New York while having lunch with some work colleagues.  The discussion was prompted by the calorie counts on the menu at McCormick’s, but that is a whole different issue.   We shared stories about how one could eat in a more “whole-some” manner.  My colleague John mentioned someone he knew who decided to eat nothing that had a bar code.  That’s a pretty good one, but obviously really tough unless you kill and process your own meat (if indeed you eat meat).  Even for a vegetarian or vegan, this would be a daunting task in suburban America.  One of Michael Pollan’s recommendations was to avoid eating anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize.

 

So, after all that musing, I have decided to try a few specifics:

 

• Drinking my coffee black or with milk only.  I have been consuming that nasty non-dairy creamer for as long as I have been drinking coffee (many, many years).   There is no redeeming quality to that swill and it doesn’t even taste good. 

• Cutting down on processed soy.  Ouch.  This one is going to be tough as I much prefer soy lattes to those made with milk.  I also really like all of that fake meat stuff and some would consider it healthy.  But, there is a lot of controversy around excessive soy consumption and especially when it is processed to the point that it doesn’t resemble a bean.  I will try to limit my soy intake to edemame or minimally processed tofu.  Yummy!

• Picking out whole foods first at the grocery store.  This is a lot easier at Whole Foods, but still difficult.  I have gotten pretty lazy and like convenience foods as much as the next gal.  But, I’ll give it a try and see how well I do.

 

What are your nutrition goals for the year? 

Comments

[Tara]

I like these, Karyn. I may have to pick up that book. However, I have a question for you: as a vegetarian, I am well aware how excessive soy consumption is bad (especially for women), but what do you think of other alternatives? I do love tofu but I eat more microproteins (I think that is what it is called, in Quorn products, it is actually a fungus and lower cal/higher protein than soy!), and veggie proteins and seitan than I do soy. You did not mention those specifically so I was unsure if you have not tried them or were referring to most "meat alternatives" being bad. As knowledgeable as you are I am very interested to hear your opinion. See you soon! ~t

[Karyn German]

I have eaten a few products with TVP, but I personally don't like the taste. I certainly haven't read anything controversial about them, as I have with soy.

I'm surprised that I haven't missed my soy products now that I am eating much less of them. I have become totally in love with freshly ground raw peanuts and regularly use the grinders at whole foods. Gonna have to try fresh almond butter next.