Nutrition & Mental Health (part 3)...and an Oops

I like, read and acknowledge all comments.... but I don't get very many comments (hint -- please don't be shy).  So recently I stopped checking for feedback daily and switched to weekly...and  missed seeing until now Kathryn's comment on this post. Kathryn Elliot is the nutritionist-herbalist behind Limes & Lycopenes, a well-written, informative and delightful-to-read blog "dedicated to cutting through the rubbish, misinformation and downright silliness about health, diet and food."

Be sure to check out her Mental and Emotional Health archives and this series of posts on foods and eating habits that nourish the mind. Thank you, Kathryn, for writing on this often-overlooked topic.

Michael Pollan's critique on "nutritionism"

You already may  know that Michael Pollan has published a new book.  Perhaps you've also read Marion Nestle's praise for his "manifesto."   But the next link  may be new to you so I'm going to mention Planet Green has a post on In Defense of Food , which includes 11 guidelines for eating the "Pollan Way."

Almost one year ago, on the previous version of my blog, I wrote about this Michael Pollan's article.  At that time I didn't know he was writing a new book.  Here's my post from February 2007:

Recently, I came across an extremely concise food guide presented as a brief directive with two qualifying phrases: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." This is how Michael Pollan begins his New York Times Magazine's essay on what to eat for good health. In the remainder of this article, he elaborates on how the ideology of "nutritionism" has created a "conspiracy of confusion" about what we should we eat to be healthy and suggests nine unscientific (his own word) rules of thumb. Pollan counters the reductionist-scientific perspective with guidelines grounded in culture, tradition and food-sense. I'm tempted to share many excerpts from this intelligent and compelling article, but will restrain myself and recommend you go read it. OK, I have to share this great one-liner: "Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health."
Link to Unhappy Meals by Michael Pollan

Trying new shades of green, orange, yellow, red and purple

Photo credit: Claremont Farmers'  Market 2006 by libraryman.
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Yesterday,  Planet Green's food-smart contributor, Kelly Rossiter,  suggested we check out a new site to help us increase our intake of fruits and vegetables.  It's the University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center's recipe collection where you can search for recipes based on preferences and dietary restrictions.  Kelly has written an excellent description of the site so rather than paraphrase her words, I'll  encourage you to read her post. 

What I will do, though, is post about my experiences using the site's features. This morning I imagined myself using the recipe search tool in different scenarios. For example, 

1. Counseling a patient/client with active cancer who is a vegan and needs a high protein diet.  By entering the appropriate search terms (vegan, high protein), you will obtain these results:  Boiled Lentils  and Glazed Edamame Beans. OK, I admit "boiled lentils" do not sound that exciting but I really like the tip that is part of the recipe title, "add to soups and stews." As dietitians we often make suggestions on how to increase the protein-density of meals. Here is another option besides skim milk powder.

2. Responding to the comment "I'd like to eat more foods in-season, especially the dark, green leafy vegetables like kale, chard and mustard greens but I don't  know how to prepare them so they taste good."  You can either browse the index or, if there are dietary restriction, use the search tool to find recipes  (all meeting the low-fat criterion) like Spaghetti with Mustard Greens and Italian Sausage,  Southwest Swiss Chard and Bean Soup, Wilted Winter Salad,  and Vegetale Posole (with kale).

Thank you, Kelly, for pointing out this new site.  I've already found it personally and professionally useful.

Link: University of Michagan's Comprehensive Cancer Center's recipe collection.

Planet Green stays on my 2008 reading list

Do you ever feel like this frog in a pond of aquatic plants,  drowning in the sea of blogs?

One of my decluttering and simplifying steps during this first week of 2008 is to discontinue all but two of my RSS subscriptions on environmental/sustainability topics. This has nothing to do with their quality, which is excellent.  Unfortunately, I just can't read fast enough to keep up with the volume of posts.  It seems pointless to keep "starring" articles I have no time to read critically or with a view to changing my behavior. I think a better strategy will be to set aside time periodically to do focused searches on Grist, Treehugger and Worldchanging.

In a recent post, I mentioned that Planet Green is quickly becoming one of my favourite blogs -- a daily must-read. It's one of the two environmentally-flavoured RSS feeds I'm keeping.  Actually, calling it "green" or "environmental" is too limiting. Nearly everyday there are posts that can be tagged with "health", "food", "cooking", "nutrition", and most of all, "practical."

Here are a few of today's posts -- I've selected the ones I think would interest other dietitians:

• Soup of the Week
• Follow the 3-Month Rule for Fruits & Vegetables
• Cook with Foods that Fight Cancer

I'm particularly looking forward to Kelly Rossiter's series of posts on this third topic. She writes:

We are constantly inundated with studies and information regarding food that is potentially cancer causing, as well as foods that we should avoid eating to reduce the likelihood of the disease. When studies conflict, it becomes difficult to know what to believe. Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras are taking the opposite tack and are writing about foods that we should be including regularly in our diet. ....Beliveau is a professor of biochemistry and the chair in the prevention and treatment of cancer at the University of Quebec at Montreal. Gingras is a researcher in the Molecular Medicine Laboratory of UQAM-Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal. Together, they have come up with a common-sense book which carefully outlines the properties of these foods and why they are so efficacious.

Food & Health Content on Planet Green (one of my new favourite blogs)

Image credit: Fractal Broccoli

Planet Green is

"[a] user's guide to living mindfully on this big blue marble we all call home.... Passionate, positive, yet always practical, Planet Green is bursting with smart tips, easy-to-understand advice, and inspiring anecdotes to help you tread more lightly on the only Earth we've got. And before you know it, you'll be rolling your Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle—like a seasoned pro."

And yes, the blog really does live up to the claims in this introduction, which I copied from the one of its first posts. I've saved and starred nearly every food or gardening post that's been published since this blog was launched a couple of months ago. Here are a few of the health and food-related posts to give you a sense of the site's content -- but I think you probably will want to check out more.

Cooking Basics: Stocking Your Kitchen,  Chinese Cooking and Thai Cooking -- from the Stock Your Kitchen series.

Cooking Basics: Choosing a Cookbook

India's Vegetarian Cooking and Simply in Season -- from the Create a Cookbook Library series.

Chick-Pea Soup and Edamame Spread -- from of the Pot-Luck Party contribution series;

Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies, and Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies from the Beginning

Kelly Rossiter, the prolific, practical and engaging writer of all these posts, clearly is a foodie and gives compelling reasons for making the effort to cook real food.  I don't know if she also is a dietitian but her messages are consistent with what we promote, such as this variation on the "everything in moderation" message that accompanies her Pumpkin Cheese-Cake post :

Okay, before anyone jumps all over me about how unhealthy this recipe is, I will say right up front - Do not make this cheesecake and then sit down and eat it all yourself. This is strictly a party recipe, where people can take a little sliver of it as a treat, enjoy it and then be done with it.

My husband is a rower and I once took this as my contribution to the luncheon held after his rowing club's regatta. Healthy, fit people all, but that cheesecake was gone in an instant. Occasional indulgence is okay, just don't make a habit of it.

Sensible advice that promotes the joy of eating as well as cooking. Thank you, Kelly.