Americans' food habits ... and national healthcare

You've seen the Nutrition Facts labels on foods -- they give you the nutrition info per serving of that food, and they also provide a Percent Daily Value, which is based on a 2000-calorie (or "average") diet. In other words, this number represents the contribution (expressed as a percent) of that nutrient to a diet providing 2000 calories. The number 2000 was agreed upon by FDA nutrition scientists who came up with the newest nutrition facts label.

Maybe at one time, 2000 was the average number of calories consumed by American adults. No longer. According to recent research, the average American consumes over 3,500 calories a day. I found a fantastic interactive diagram that illustrates caloric intake of various populations around the globe. (You'll need Flash installed to use it.) This illustration shows the percentage of calories contributed from each food group among different nations. You will notice that Americans consume the most calories, and that Americans get almost 40% of their calories from fats and sugars. Intake of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and root veggies (all together), only account for 10 percent of total calories. TEN percent! Another 23% come from grains (white flour is the base of a huge proportion of what Americans eat), and 24% from animal products. No wonder 2/3 of Americans are overweight and diseases of excess are at an all-time high.

Compare US sources of food calories to that of other countries. We consume the most fat, sugar, and animal products, while consuming the least plant-based foods, of all countries represented.

And our healthcare crisis overshadows that of any other country.

Do you think these two facts are related?

Whether you support or reject universal healthcare, I have a question for you. What about personal accountability? While there's been widespread debate over the national healthcare plan, much of it revolves around whether or not the government should offer an affordable plan to everyone, and what should and should not be available to people. But looking at the problem a bit differently, why do we have this crisis in the first place? Why are premiums so high, and why is everyone in the red?

For many years, healthy people were the majority of the insured and sick folks were the exception. All of the insurance premium money went into a pool that provided medical services and pharmaceuticals for unexpected illnesses and illness of older age. Nowadays, insurance companies are having a harder and harder time affording to insure people because so much more money is being spent on preventable disease management and drugs, and the affected are getting younger and younger. Now, the majority of the insured need more money in treatment than their premiums cost. And the shrinking source of that money? Premiums from healthy people who take care of themselves.

Which, I feel, points to accountability. Are people who eat themselves into a heart attack or gastric bypass surgery entitled to full coverage of these procedures? People choose unhealthy lifestyles knowing full well the risks. Sure, smokers' premiums are a bit higher, and some insurance plans charge more for high BMI (measure of obesity). But this does not begin to cover the cost of all the drugs, illness, and treatment resulting from lifestyle-related diseases.

In my opinion, if more people actually took care of themselves by eating less overall, incorporating more plants and less junk, and exercising, our healthcare crisis wouldn't be so dire.

I'm interested in hearing others' views on this.

Vegetarian moms less likely to have kids with diabetes

Pardon my absence; switching over to a new computer has taken over as priority lately. I'm happy to return to regular postings with a report of this recent study, which looked at vegetable consumption in 6,000 Swedish pregnant women and, 5 years later, risk of diabetes in their child. It turns out that the higher the vegetable consumption during pregnancy, the lower the risk of type 1 diabetes in the child. The vegetable link, while strong, may not reveal the whole story, warn the researchers. Something else about the women's lifestyles could also be at play.

This study reminds me of another way that vegans are protected against type 1 diabetes; some research has suggested a link between dairy consumption and increased type 1 diabetes risk. For example, this study from 2000 (click to see the full-text version of it) from the journal Diabetes declares, "our results provide support for the hypothesis that high consumption of cow’s milk during childhood can be diabetogenic in siblings of children with type 1 diabetes." Another study published in the same journal in 1993 found a link between early exposure to dairy milk and diabetes risk.

At this point, no one knows conclusively what causes susceptibility to type 1 diabetes, but it looks like a plant-based diet, at least in part, plays a role in reducing risk.

Portland, Oregon: A Vegan's Paradise

Many thanks to all who asked... I will finally write about my Portland trip. My husband Dan and I were there in late September following a few days in Reno, which I wrote about here. On a personal note, it was an especially important trip because, as I mentioned before, it marked our 10th wedding anniversary, and, it was a much-needed week of complete relaxation, total avoidance of computers, and no child (who, by the way, had a ball at home with his grandparents).

Portland was incredible. The weather was perfect, the people were welcoming, and the vibe was outstanding. We took a lot of pictures but the memory card got corrupted, so unfortunately a lot of the photos are gone. But we do have some from another card. I was going to blog all about the trip but I never got around to it after coming home!

Portland is the most bike-friendly city in the US. We arrived in the late afternoon, took a train to the hotel, chilled out, and then the next morning we walked to City Bikes Co-Op and rented bikes and a bike map (very useful -- showed the best bike routes around town. Thanks guys!). We basically biked everywhere the whole week we were there! We stayed east of the river so we biked across the bridges most days; the bike paths are everywhere! One day we biked along the river going south, and it just kept going for miles and miles along a train and beautiful woods.

We tried 6 or 7 veg restaurants; all of them were great. It was a vegan's paradise.

My favorite day was when we biked into town on a Wednesday, when they have an amazing Farmer's market right in the middle of town.

We got some fruit and walked around, then biked to the university area. We got on the train, hung our bikes on the hooks (can you believe they have hooks for your bike?), and went 1 stop up the mountain to Washington Park.







We took the bikes up the elevator and out, and coasted down the hill for some time, then stopped where there were hiking trails.







We locked up our bikes, hiked and ran on the trails (PERFECT packed dirt trails, and I got to break in my new trail running shoes).






Eventually we ran into the Japanese Gardens, so we decided to take a tour. They were beautiful.







Then we hiked back up, got on the bikes, and rode back into the city. We headed straight for Voodoo Donuts and had a glazed and some other concoction with about 83 toppings.






Then we rode back to the hotel, showered and changed, and went to dinner at Portobello, our fanciest meal there. We indulged in Pate al Tartufo (pate with bread, figs, mustard), polenta, and gnocchi. And dessert. If only I could remember what. I just remember it was good. Everything was scrumptious.

Here are some of the other vegan and veg-friendly restaurants we visited:

Vita Cafe: This was a favorite of mine. We biked there for breakfast several times. They have a ton of comfort food and the feel of the neighborhood is great. We even got to know some of the staff pretty well. (Hi, Dave.) If you go, the morning potatoes are a must-try. And if you're gearing up for a day of hiking, do try the porridge; it kept me going for hours. Dan loved the chicken-fried steak. We both loved the corn cakes and scrambles. Across the street they have a place with vegan pizza. In fact at least 3 pizza joints have vegan pizza. I can't recall the names; do the goog before you go, to see what's in the neighborhood you'll be in.

Paradox Palace Cafe: Ok I can't stop thinking about their BBQ Rib & Peanut-Sesame Salad. I cannot remember anything else about the place. Order that.

Bye-and-bye Bar: Vegan bar food? You bet! We had a grilled cheese for goodness sake! And I had the Bye and Bye drink... served in a quart-sized mason jar, I kid not. And they don't skimp on the alcohol. That night we traveled by hotel shuttle, rather than bikes, in case you're wondering.

Blossoming Lotus: Raw food! Loved it. The Nachos were seriously one of the most delectable things I've ever eaten. We also tried the live sampler platter (highly recommend); my favorite on the plate was the cashew hummus. It's only been a month but I cannot remember what else we tried!

Sweatpea Baking Company: More than a bakery! One morning we got bagels and GLOBS of "cream cheese" -- it was a taste of Long Island out west. Their cinnamon rolls are terrific. Everything looked good but we only have 2 stomachs between us so we couldn't try everything we wanted to. Of course, this bakery is part of the Vegan Mini Mall, so we also spent a lot of time (and cash) at Food Fight and Herbivore. In fact last night I made beef stroganoff from the mix I got at Food Fight.


Planning to visit? Make sure to check out Veg Portland before you go!

Christina Cooks Vegan

Do you ever have a realization that something has been there right in front of you, and it totally relates to you and what you love, but you never knew about it? It's surreal, right? Here I am, a vegan, foodie, and dietitian, and I am ashamed to admit I never knew about Christina Pirello. Do you know who she is?

The other day I came home from a jog and plopped on the sofa with my mom, who was visiting for the day. She had the tube on in the background, and there on PBS was a cooking show called "Christina Cooks." The word "tofu" caught my attention so I started to watch. This lovely woman Christina was making 3 recipes containing silken tofu, and ALL were vegan! I thought, how lucky, I stumbled upon "tofu day" on this show, but not only that! I stumbled upon a cooking show that is ALL VEGAN! I couldn't believe it. My mother was very amused by my reaction, I am sure. The show ended with singer/songwriter Jon Michaels playing his guitar and singing right there in the kitchen, which was a nice touch.

I went to Christina's web site, checked out the recipes, and read her story. Christina is the author of the newish book "This Crazy Vegan Life," which I actually have heard of (and flipped through at the bookstore), along with other books. I never knew she had a cooking show too. A Philly native, Christina is a TV personality, talented chef, cancer survivor, and health guru. She's had her show going for SEVEN years! Plus she gives cooking demos and classes, mostly in Philly, but in other cities as well. After spending several minutes on her web site, reading her story and watching her video, I felt as though I've known her for years. Check it out!

I am so thrilled that her cooking show has gone mainstream. Her angle is health, and the "V" word is used sparingly (actually, I don't think she used it at all in this particular episode), so omnivores are her main audience. As such, what a service she is doing not only for her viewers, but for the animals and the environment. Her recipes look delicious and simple; I learned a thing or two about making perfect pan-fried tofu (something that I always manage to mess up, usually due to it sticking to the pan) and other quick and easy delights. She obviously inspires her fans to eat better and get excited about cooking, which is so important for people to include more plant-based meals in their diet.

New study on fruit and vegetable consumption in the US

Today the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the results of a new study called the State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009. This document summarizes data for fruit and vegetable consumption from multiple sources and, for the first time, breaks the results down by state. It also discusses policies and environmental supports that can make it easier for everyone to eat more fruits and vegetables.

The report lists the top states for fruit and vegetable consumption, and the bottom ones. It's interesting to note that most of the former group are blue states, while the latter group are the red states. Does this mean that Democrats care more about what they put in their bodies? Or is there some other explanation?

While all states are well below recommendations, those states doing a better job of eating their 2 or more fruit servings and 3 or more vegetable servings are, for adults:

District of Columbia - 20.1 percent
Vermont - 17.9 percent
Maine - 17.7 percent
Hawaii - 17.5 percent
New York - 16.5 percent
Massachusetts - 16.4 percent
Connecticut and New Hampshire - 16.2 percent (tie)
Arizona and California - 16.1 (tie)


Among the states most in need of improving fruit and vegetable consumption are (among adults):

Mississippi - 8.8 percent
Oklahoma and South Carolina - 9.3 percent (tie)
Alabama - 9.8 percent
South Dakota - 10.0 percent
West Virginia - 10.3 percent
Kansas - 10.6 percent
Kentucky and North Carolina - 10.8 percent (tie)
Arkansas and Missouri - 11.2 percent (tie)

(Taken from a press release from the Produce for Better Health Foundation.)

Healthy Savings from Mambo Sprouts

Coupons are awesome. They're a main reason I subscribe to my local Sunday paper--they have pages and pages of grocery store coupons. But most weeks I'm disappointed, as more coupons get left behind than clipped. This is because the vast majority of them are for products that I wouldn't buy: heavily processed foods, cleaners that harm the environment, sugary cereals, mixes and similar things filled with preservatives, refined sweets and beverages, and junky bars, cookies, and salty snacks.

This is why I am a frequent user of Mambo Sprouts coupons. Companies that offer coupons through Mambo Sprouts are carefully selected to be organic and/or natural, healthful, and good for the environment. The Mambo Sprouts folks have been around a long time -- I remember using the coupons years ago, back when "green" was just a color and when "organic" was a term most people thought were reserved for certain chemists. I'm sure I've saved over $350 on Mambo Sprouts coupons alone! Now, of course, they have a cool web site with recipes, articles, shopping, events, and printable coupons, in addition to their traditional coupon book and mailer.

Right now Mambo Sprouts is celebrating back-to-school with product savings that appeal especially to families like mine. For example, there's a coupon for $.50 off two Clif ZBars for kids, a convenient mid-day snack option on the go or packed in your child's backpack (they're organic and made with whole grains). They also have one for $1 off Robert's American Gourmet -- the folks who make Tings. Ben loves finding Tings in his lunchbox, and I feel good about it because they look and taste like "cheese puffs" but they're 100% vegan, baked (thus low in fat), and gluten-free (they contain only corn, expeller-pressed oil, nutritional yeast, and salt). Just a few of the kid-friendly savings include $.75 off a Healthy Valley product (have you tried their bars?), $1 off Ian's organic cookies (the chocolate chip buttons are vegan), and buy-2-get-1-free Stretch Island Fruit Strips. They also have $1 off my favorite coffee -- Equal Exchange (organic and fair-trade) AND my favorite tea -- Good Earth. They also have one for $1 off any Seventh Generation cleaner, which I always need!

You can get Mambo Sprouts coupons at Whole Foods (they have a special collection called "The Whole Deal") and at most health food stores (just ask the store manager or use the online store locator), and you can receive them by mail (they come with a newsletter with informative articles and recipes too) by signing up at their web site, mambosprouts.com. You can also print some (but not all of the ones from the booklet) from the web site. I recommend both getting them mailed to you AND signing up for their enewsletter, so you can get updates on new product savings, including online-only coupons.

The best thing about Mambo Sprouts (besides the money I've saved) is that I don't have to spend a lot of time combing through a newspaper or coupon web site to get the ones I really want--they've done the work for me!

Vegan at LAX

Note: This post nwas written on September 13, 2009

So here I am at the LA Airport and I have some time to kill so I whipped out Dan’s computer for a bit of a rant (for once, I left mine at home on vacation).

Dan and I are on our long-awaited trip out West, celebrating our landmark 10th anniversary. We’re waiting to board a plane to Portland, OR, America’s vegan-and-bike-friendly city, and we can’t wait. But first we must endure airports.

Before I rant, allow me apologize to Reno. Reno, I am sorry. I misjudged you. And I’ll miss you. I fully expected to have major problems finding decent food in Reno, but boy was I wrong! First of all they have the most amazing Whole Foods I’ve ever been to, with more vegan choices (local to the CA Bay Area) than I’ve ever seen. They actually have a Trail Mix "Bar" (not a bar like a wrapped snack, but like a salad bar)! Perfect with our morning oatmeal! And fortunately, we stayed at a hotel that is walking distance from the Whole Foods. Furthermore, we enjoyed s dinner out at a Thai restaurant that made everything vegan for us (thanks, Thai Lotus). And we enjoyed yummy dinner one night at Pneumatic, an all-vegetarian restaurant downtown. Thanks guys. I took some great pics there but my memory card got corrupted and is unreadable.

Anyway, to add to the vacation serendipity, yesterday we drove to Lake Tahoe for a day of biking and sailing, and happened upon a natural foods store (and I mean happened upon – we were looking for the bike trail that goes along the Truckee River and we went totally the wrong way and saw it, our own oasis!) called New Moon. We asked the folks there for directions and they got us back on the path, and after our 12-mile ride we lunched there, enjoying a 100% raw meal that was absolutely outstanding. We got the sprouted lentil salad with Indian spices and a cilantro dressing as well as the Raw-Co, a “taco” whose shell was red cabbage and innards were all sorts of delicious fresh veggies, seeds, soaked nuts, sprouted beans, and herbs/spices, served with a raw lemon tahini sauce.. Nothing could possibly beat this healthful, energizing, delicious lunch on this gorgeous day after a long ride. Plus the folks there were super-friendly.

So this morning we said good-bye to Reno, and now we have this horrific layover at LAX. With no time (or appetite) for breakfast this morning, getting off that plane, I was HUNGRY. No more trail mix, soy Jerkey, or Lara Bars (our usual travel fare); I wanted a real meal. Unfortunately the only places (without leaving security) to eat here are Burger King, Starbucks, a fish restaurant, and a California Pizza Kitchen kiosk (with ready-to-go food).

First, to Starbucks. We got a fresh fruit salad. A little pricey at $5 and change, but that’s no surprise at a Starbucks. Some of their drinks cost the same. (They also have nuts, trail mix, and oatmeal, all of which are good choices, but we were growing tired of these foods and craved a salad.)

Next, to CPK. They had 3 salad choices! Yeay! Oh, wait, ALL THREE have CHICKEN. Shame on you, CPK.

Next to the fish restaurant, called Gladstone’s Fish. They have salads on the menu! And it’s a sit-down place so surely they can make salads to order, right? WRONG. They flatly refused to make us a salad without some sort of meat in it. Shame on YOU, Gladstone’s Fish.

Next, to Burger King. They have a side garden salad, bird flesh optional! Yeay! So I got it. Imagine my surprise when I was told how much it costs – $5.79. Not that this is a terrible price for a salad, but this is Burger King for goodness sake. The guy in front of me got a ginormous burger with fries and drink... for around the same price. No wonder cash-strapped folks skip the salad and go right for the burger and fries! Understandably, they would rather pay less than a penny per calorie of food (typical “value meal”) than several cents per calorie (vegetables). What this comes down to, I have figured out, is that Burger King penalized people who try to eat well. How dare they charge so much for a salad, which by the way, as evidenced by the photo above, contained lettuce, five pathetic little baby carrots, four tiny cherry tomatoes, and of course the obligatory croutons and cheese (straight from the “garden”). I understand that they operate on volume, and thus must charge more for a salad (which also has a far shorter shelf life than, say, frozen french fries). But if they charge so much, no one buys it and the price has to stay high. So that said, why not reward people who want vegetables instead of fatty, salty food for lunch, charge them a fair price for the salad, and raise all other menu items by 1 cent? Call it BK’s own health tax. And imagine if their competitors did the same! Judging on this country’s current fast food consumption rate, I bet if they did this, they would make a huge difference in the morbidity rate in this country. But they’re not in the business of health, they’re in the business of profit.

The salad was surprisingly good. The vegetables were very fresh (I like to think this isn’t due to the addition of some chemical to retard spoiling, but I’d rather not go there right now). They also had lite Italian dressing (vegan), by Ken’s. The cheese was in a separate section so easy to omit, and the croutons came in an individually wrapped bag (there were about 49 ingredients in there, some not vegan, so I skipped them). An addition of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit (from Starbucks) would have made it better; in hindsight that is what I should have done. But it’s hard to be creative when you’re hungry. So... next time.

Off we go to Portland, where fresh, delectable plant-based meals abound.