Et tu Coffee?

Coffee lovers have had it good recently. Study after study continue to show that drinking moderate amounts of coffee ( 2  - 3 cups a day) is not only not bad for us, but may actually offer some significant health benefits. So its disappointing to find coffee shops misleading (or is it lying to?) us about the trendy "coffee drinks" that they offer.

Take, for example, Dunkin Doughnuts, long synonymous with coffee. When you order your Dunkin' Frozen Coffee you might expect to get a cold cup of coffee with perhaps some sort of flavorinig and creamer. A reasonable expectation. But Dunkin Doughnuts has a surprise for you!

What you are actually getting is 840 calories, 27 teaspoons of added sugar and 22 grams of fat (a two and a one day supply respectively), in a 32oz cup. That's right. You can now get sugary beverages by the quart. How do they manage to pack so much goodness into the frozen treat? Simple. A blend of water, cane sugar, phosphoric acid, natural coffee flavor (why not just use coffee??), salt (yes, salt), sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate and, of course, everyone's favorite coffee add-in, xantham gum.

Dunkin Doughnuts is far from the only company to be pulling this kind of crap on their customers. Pizza Hut recently unveiled its 1,150 calorie Meaty P'Zone, a calzone-like pocket of cheap white flour stuffed with salt, cheese and processed meats.

The point is, eating out is a mine field for anyone who aspires to spending the rest of their lives not requiring a seat belt extender when they get on an airplane. Restaurants are now required to put calories on their menus, and that's a great start. But the burnden is on each of us to be aware of what we are stuffing ourselves with, and how that might affect our waistlines and our health.

"There is a whole generation of people who have never had the P'Zone," Pizza Hut's Chief Brand Officer told Forbes magazine. That's about to change.

Veggies Get No Respect

Vegetables are nutritional superstars. Pretty much every credible diet - Mediterranean, DASH, Paleo, Weight Watchers - are built around them. In many countries, vegetables are the centerpiece of the meal. Not here in the USA though. Nine out of 10 Americans fall short of recommended guidelines (at least 3 cups per day), despite the fact that this is not a very large volume.

Here are some facts about the neglected vegetable that may surprise you.

1. All vegetables are good vegetables. Sure some are richer in nutrients than others, but who cares? They are all packed with minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients. And the available variety is enormous, so you surely can find some that you enjoy.

2. Vegetables are your dieting ally. They can help you seriously slash calories without feeling empty and hungry. As a snack they will add about 20 - 50 calories to your total, and they are mostly water. So unless you slather them with butter or oil, they add almost no fat.

3. Veggies protect your heart and brain. Although we often read about vegetables as cancer fighters, the strongest evidence is for how they support your heart and blood vessels (and thus your brain). A recent study in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that those eating at least 3 cups per day of vegetables had a 30% lower risk of heart disease and stroke, compared with those who ate little or none. The original DASH diet study concluded that a diet emphasizing vegetable and limiting meats resulted in a drop of 8 - 14 points in systolic blood pressure (the upper number) - a comparable drop to what you would get using the most common blood pressure drugs.

4. Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh, and sometimes more so. Freezing and thawing can can sometimes result is a "mushy" vegetable, so they are often best used in cooking. As always, don't overcook.

5. Vegetables can be steamed, boiled, sauteed, fried, roasted, baked and grilled.  Growing up, I was traumatized by Brussels sprouts. Then I was served them at a Thanksgiving dinner. They were delicious. The difference? They were roasted with garlic and oil instead of boiled. The way you prepare them can produce very different tasting results so experiment.

6. Everything counts toward your total. Lettuce and tomato on your sandwich, carrots dipped in hummus as a snack, salad, peas and corn with dinner. You'll be surprised how easy it is to reach 3 cups a day.

7. A typical serving of vegetables is 1/2 cup, so you are looking for 6 servings a day. This is not a lot, so its pretty easy to run up the score.

Working some vegetables into your daily diet is easy to do and pays health dividends. Be creative and you'll surprise yourself to find you even enjoy them.

Beans: Fresh or Canned?

Whether or not you are vegetarian, vegan or just cutting back on meat, beans are a wonderful source of plant based protein. They contain a wide range of cancer fighting chemicals such as isoflavones and phytosterols. And they can help lower your cholesterol, increase the amount of beneficial fiber in your diet and help moderate blood glucose fluctuations.

But they are not always easy or convenient to prepare fresh. I've been complimented more than once on the "nuts" in my home made chili because no matter how long I soaked or cooked the beans they never seemed to be done. So what about using canned beans? Are there enough nutritional advantages to starting from scratch to make it worth the effort?

Probably not.

The soaking, cooking and canning processes can lower the nutritional content of beans, but not very much. Fresh or canned, beans remain a good source of protein, fiber and nutrients. And canned beans are ready to eat right out of the can - a big plus in my book.

But there is a drawback to canned beans. Like almost all canned foods, they can be very high in sodium content. Some canned beans offer you 450 - 475mg of sodium per serving (about 1/3 of a 15oz can). Canned chili can be much higher. But there are two ways you can improve on that.

Look for "low sodium" versions. These can be as low as 120mg per serving.

And always rinse the beans thoroughly in water. This can reduce the sodium content by as much as 40%.

Either way, enjoy "the musical fruit" and make beans a regular part of your diet.

Good News from the War on Cancer

Between 1990 and 2015, cancer death rates in the US have declined by about 25%. That's a big number and certainly very welcome news. The decline was seen across the board but most notable for lung, breast, prostate and colon cancers.

According to CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the reasons for this decline in death rates are advances in early detection and diagnosis, improved treatment options and changes in lifestyle and lower smoking rates.

While the specific impact varies with the type of cancer, "lifestyle factors including smoking, the typical high-fat, refined-sugar diet and physical inactivity account for the majority of cancer", according to the National Institutes for Health. The majority of cancers. Last I checked, most of us have 100% control over what we eat and whether or not we smoke. Maybe we should exercise it.

Five Popular Coffee Myths

In the USA, 64% of everyone age 18 and over drink at least one cup of coffee a day. That makes it big business. In 2016, the worldwide coffee market had revenue of just over $100B, representing consumption of 500 billion cups of coffee every year. As a commodity, the value of coffee is second only to petroleum. Unsurprisingly, this leads to an enormous amount of marketing misinformation and urban legend around the ubiquitous beverage.

Here are 5 popular things we all know about coffee that just ain't so.

1. Dark roast coffee has more caffeine than lighter roasts.
    All coffee contains the same amount of caffeine by weight. By
    volume - the way most of us measure our coffee - darker roasts
    actually have a lower caffeine content than more lightly roasted
    beans.

2. Dark roasted beans have a richer, more complex flavor than
    lighter roasts.
    According to coffee expert and blogger Denver Wilkenson, "When
    it comes to the roast of your coffee, while a great deal of it simply
    has to do with personal taste, don’t believe mass marketing that
    says the dark roast is the ultimate expression of quality coffee.
    It’s not. Dark roast simply means that the coffee bean has been
    roasted to a higher temperature and typically for a longer period
    of time. This causes all of the flavor molecules stored within the
    coffee beans-both the good and bad flavors-to be burnt away. By
    roasting so dark, the end consumer (you) can’t tell whether it’s a
    good bean or a bad bean because all the natural flavors have
    been turned to charcoal.

    This is not to say that dark roasts are worse that light. But the
    fact is that worldwide, only about 10% of coffee beans produced
    are of "excellent" quality. The other 90% are good, average or
    poor. Dark roasting disguises this inconvenient fact while
    marketing converts it into a benefit. So it goes.

3. Decaf is bad for you.
    This myth arises because when decaffeinated coffee was first
    developed the caffeine was chemically removed using benzene,
    a petrochemical now known to be carcinogenic. This is no
    longer the case. Manufacturers now use water, methylene
    chloride and ethyl acetate in vastly smaller amounts.

4. Coffee is bad for your heart.
    While unsure what the exact mechanism of action may be,
    recent reviews of multiple studies of coffee consumption have
    reached the exact opposite conclusion. Otherwise healthy
    people who consume a moderate amount of coffee -  3 to 5
    cups a day - have a 15% lower risk of a cardiovascular event
    than non-coffee drinkers.

5. Coffee will help you lose weight.
    The idea that caffeine aids in weight loss comes mostly from
    (surprise!) manufacturers of weight loss supplements. There
    are no independent clinical studies that show any relationship
    at all between weight loss and caffeine (let alone coffee)
    consumption.

The takeaway? Consumed in moderate amounts, coffee is not bad for you and in fact may have some small health benefits. Dark or light roast, regular or decaf seems to make no difference, so choose the kind you like and enjoy it.

5 Painless Ways to Cut Back on Sodium

Most of us struggle to keep our daily consumption of sodium within the recommended 2,300mg. According to the CDC, the average American is getting 3,136mg daily and a large part of the problem is that most of that - 71% - does not come from our salt shakers. It is mostly hidden away in the prepared foods and restaurant meals that we eat.

Even if you take pains to choose healthy foods, this hidden sodium can add up pretty quickly. Bread and baked goods, canned foods, salad dressings and many other regularly consumed foods contain far more sodium than we imagine.

Here are 5 steps that you can take to cut back without resigning yourself to bland, tasteless meals.

1. Cut back gradually, not all at once.
    Start switching to lower sodium versions of the products you
    already use, and adding just a but less salt to your meals. You
    may not even notice and, if you do, your taste will adjust
    surprisingly quickly. Example: I am a big V-8 fan. When I made
    the switch to the "low sodium" version, it tasted a little flat and
    watery. But within 2 weeks it tasted fine. Now if I try the regular
    version, it tastes like sea water it is so salty. Start slow and as
    your taste adjusts, cut back a little more.

2. Learn the language.
    Food labeling is designed to confuse and mislead you. Learn the
    language so that you know what you are getting. Read the
    nutrition facts label, and remember that everything is listed "per
    serving" so check the serving size. Here is how to decode the
    marketing babble.

    "Low Sodium" means  a serving contains 140mg or less of
     sodium.

    "Salt/Sodium Free" means less than 5mg per serving.

    "No Salt Added" means just that. None was added during
     processing. It does not mean the product contains no sodium.

    "Reduced Sodium" means there is 25% - 50% less sodium than
     is found in the regular product. So a canned soup that may
     have 800mg of sodium will still be providing 400mg to 600mg
     in its "reduced" version.

3. Compare options.
    It pays to compare sodium content across - and even within -
    brands. It can vary by as much as 100%.

4. Rinse canned foods.
    Yes, rinse them. Canned beans and vegetables can be very
    high in sodium. By rinsing them in a colander under water
    you can reduce the sodium constant by as much as 40%.
    Obviously this is a poor strategy for soups and sauces.

5. Don't use any salt in cooking.
    Instead of adding salt for flavor, try different herbs and
    spices. Garlic, oregano, basil, dried peppers, curries,
    turmeric and cumin all add a lot of flavor with no sodium.

If you sometimes think that markets and food companies deliberately try to mislead you, that is because they do. But with a little knowledge and a little effort, you outsmart them. Remember, its your health, not theirs.

Fiber, Fiber Everywhere and What Are We to Think?

Fiber is everywhere these days. You can't walk down a supermarket aisle without "High Fiber!", "Improves digestion!" or "100% MDR of Fiber!" shouting at you from every shelf. And its no longer just cereals either. Yogurt, ice cream, bread, pastries, cookies and even candy now all boast about their fiber content. Is it fact? Or food industry fiction?

What is fiber anyway? And why does it matter?

"Fiber is a group of indigestible carbohydrates than are not broken down - digested - in the stomach or small intestine," says Nicola McKeown, a nutrition scientist at Tufts University near Boston. Among its many health benefits adequate fiber improves digestion, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, helps regulate fluctuations in blood sugar and helps us loose weight. The recommended daily fiber intake is 38g for men and 25g for women. The typical American gets about 15g per day. Supplements and fiber added to foods seem like a good way to close the gap. But are they?

A 2002 National Academy of Sciences study grouped nutritional fiber into two broad categories: Intact and Processed. Intact fiber is that found in fruits, whole grains, vegetables and plants. Processed fiber is extracted from plants or formulated in a laboratory. Under current labeling rules, either type of fiber is listed as just "fiber".

Not all fiber is alike, nor does all fiber have the same health benefits. "They (fibers) don't all do the same thing," explains McKeown, "any more than all vitamins or minerals do the same thing."

With intact fibers this is generally not an issue because fruits, beans, whole grains and vegetables all contain a mixture of different fibers. With processed fibers that is not the case. "Some may have no health benefits at all," says McKeown. "Food producers add fiber for a variety of reasons, and that sometimes gives the food a health halo."

A more useful breakdown of fibers is insoluble, soluble, viscous and fermentable.

Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water, and it isn't broken down by the gut and absorbed into the bloodstream. It adds bulk to waste in the digestive system, which helps keep you regular and prevent constipation (as well as any related problems, like hemorrhoids).

Soluble fiber, on the other hand, will dissolve in water and so can enter the bloodstream.  It helps control blood sugar and lower cholesterol.

Viscous fiber absorbs water to form a gel-like substance inside the digestive system. It helps soften stool so it can slide through the GI tract more easily and it also binds to substances like cholesterol and sugar, preventing or slowing their absorption into the blood. It may also boost the population of good bacteria in the gut, which is linked to improved immunity and anti-inflammatory effects.

Fermentable fiber is broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. (Think gas.) This promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, aids in the absorption of certain minerals and lowers acidity.

Most processed fibers are soluble, non-viscous and fermentable. As such they are the least likely to provide any significant health benefits.

So where does this leave the person who just wants to eat a healthy diet? Health experts set dietary fiber targets assuming the consumption of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains that all contain a mix of different fibers, not on cookies and candy to which a single processed fiber may have been added as an afterthought.

So your first line of defense is to get enough dietary fiber from various plant sources. If you do choose to supplement (I do) make sure you know what you are getting. If the label makes it confusing, difficult or impossible to figure it out, be suspicious and try something else.