This is why you find nutrition advice confusing

Earlier in the week, my colleague Elisa Zied emailed asking for my definition of “real food”, she also posted the question on Facebook. Many of her dietitian friends weighed in.  Some had eloquent explanations. You can read the article here but to summarize many said real food was “minimally processed” or “food you can grow yourself”, the way Mother Nature intended us to eat. Makes sense, right?

I was at my son’s soccer practice reading the post and rattled off a reply. I have noticed many parents feed their children what I would consider real food. Clients who I cannot convince to purchase organic anything are suddenly filling their kitchens with organic milk, eggs and fruit once they have children. Noting a disparity I will sometimes ask, "do you give your children artificial sweeteners or soda?" and they’ll quickly assure me “NEVER”. I also added that real foods aren’t generally packaged and that real foods don’t require factories. Again, I wasn’t writing a research article I was giving a quick opinion. However, it’s a statement I stand by and might tell a client or friend if they asked.

Not a minute later someone replied to my comment. I wasn’t aware opinions could be incorrect but I was told I was WRONG! By my definition hummus and yogurt weren’t real. I resisted the urge to get in a Facebook fight and said I’d stand by a diet of unpackaged food over packaged and processed food any time. Whatever.

This same person was quoted in the article saying, “terms like real food and clean eating are elitist.” Another dietitian felt the descriptor like “real food” is full of judgment. Here’s the thing, when it comes to food I’d rather be elitist than underachieving any day. The reason Michael Pollan, who is quoted at the start of the article, has such a platform is that he wasn’t afraid to hurt the public’s feelings by saying we need to eat plants, we need to eat foods with few ingredients and we need to cook. He also wasn't afraid to make waves with food companies (something many dietitians worry about especially if they are working with them).

I’ve written about the fact that the words thin and skinny are suddenly taboo. I’ve discussed  “everything in moderation” which I’ve seen RDs use to include soda and cheez-its and things that aren’t even moderately good. If it’s judgmental to point out that we all can benefit from more greens, more fish and less sugar, food dyes and processed food I’m judgmental and I’m fine with it. Off to sip my snobbish green juice and “eat clean”.
What would be your definition of real food? What do you think of the term? Is it elitist?

Parents magazine says processed foods are “best”

Nutrition confusion abounds. I’m often asked “what should I look for on a food package?” Aside from choosing fewer foods that come in packages I usually suggest looking at the ingredient list. It’s also easy to trust a publication or expert and get sucked into “best of” lists. Sadly, the criteria for these lists is often some numerical cut off- making sure there isn’t too much sodium or too much sugar or fat in a product. I’d suggest turning this logic around. If a magazine is going to suggest something ask yourself what does this have in it or what nutrients or benefit does this offer me? It’s not enough for a food to be better than the worst of the worst.  That’s setting a very low bar for consumers or in this case parents and children.

So when this list of Parents magazine 25 best packaged foodspopped into my inbox I looked. And I found

Jif Whips

Ingredients: MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT.

 “Families are so busy that it's more important than ever to ensure that our kids eat quality, healthy foods at home and on-the-go,” said Dana Points, Editor-in-Chief, Parents magazine. “We were impressed by the variety of packaged-food options at the supermarket that tasted great and had a good nutritional profile.” 

I know Dana, she's super smart but are parents so busy that they need sugar and bad fats “on the go”? Yes, there are a variety of packaged foods at the supermarket even one from a company on this same list, Smuckers, and the ingredients for their peanut butter? Peanuts and salt.

What other quality foods should our kids eat according to this? Parents magazine says processed cheese and Tyson nuggets. I get busy, I get easy but peanut butter doesn’t need processed fats, cheese ingredients can look like this Pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes (thank you Cabot) and doesn’t need to be from Laughing Cow. That’s not “fast and fabulous” as the online headline reads.

Sure there were a few organic items in the 25. It was nice to see Applegate listed even if it was for their bacon. There is a place for a healthy snack or even cookie but the options with the best ingredients, for my children and yours or for you and me, aren’t made by Keebler and Newton’s.

What do you do when you come across sub par nutrition advice? Do you mention on social media? Let the publication or person know? What are your favorite fast and fabulous foods?
For the record I wrote in to Parents and said this

I was happy to see your "25 Best Packaged Foods" in my inbox. I wasn't happy about what I saw. I understand busy and the need for convenience but I don't understand sub par ingredients certainly not on a "best" list from such a reputable publication. My thoughts are in this blog post. As I said here, it's not enough if an item isn't the worst of the worst (even though some listed well…) it needs to offer our children (or us) something. Let's set athe nutrition bar higher and perhaps say "maybe you will not purchase or require all 25 of these foods" but here are crackers or snacks with more fiber or non-refined grains etc"

Lauren Slayton MS RD
note: I initially indicated the Jif had trans fats (partial hydrogenation) it does not this is a processed fully hydrogenated fat- still far from the "best" and my fault for posting quickly.

Ditch the (Bottled) Salad Dressing

Lovely photo, thank you Lisa

I have a longtime client who has maintained a 20-pound weight loss for almost ten years. She’s savvy when it comes to food ingredients,  she orders wild salmon from Vital Choice and knows to BYOC (bring your own chicken) so she doesn’t have to eat the antibioticy option at the salad bar at work. She was in my office for a check-in recently and we reviewed her daily routine. “Speaking of that salad, how are you dressing it?” I asked.  “I use Newman’s,” she answered. I raised my eyebrows and told her “you can do better than that.” “I know most dressing is bad but even Paul Newman’s”?

I mean no disrespect to the deceased and truly admire the charitable work Newman’s Own has done. Yet their dressings have up to two teaspoons of sugar (1 teaspoon= 4 grams) per two tablespoon serving. This isn't meant to single out any one brand, this holds for all salad dressings. I’m sure some of you will say that one to two teaspoons of sugar isn’t that big of a deal. The issue is that sugar doesn’t have to be there. Furthermore, this is really an example of a food that could be two to three real ingredients and instead has 20 scary ones (to be clear, Newman's steers clear of the scary ingredients). Sugar, HFCS or artificial sweeteners aren’t the only issues; salad dressings are preservative playgrounds.  

Here are some of the ingredients you'll find in salad dressing. I can always tell a troublesome ingredient because spell check doesn't recognize it.

• Natamycin: acts as a preservative or antifungal
• Calcium Disodium EDTA: preservative; prevents air from spoiling food products, known to cause skin reactions and GI upset. It us currently under investigation by the FDA for mutagenic or reproductive effects.
• Carmel color: food coloring known to be a carcinogen and immunosuppressive
• Autolyzed yeast extract: texture, taste
• Sulfur dioxide: preservative
• Sodium Benzoate: preservative, one of the ones research links to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children
• Soybean Oil- much of the soybean oil used in dressings is genetically modified
• MSG
• Xantham gum: used to add volume and viscosity; it’s not necessarily harmful carbohydrate used in a lot of gluten-free products, but do we need to be adding carbohydrate to our salad dressings?

I’m just not sure why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly healthy meal pouring junk on top.

How much dressing do people typically use? 

The serving size listed on bottles is two tablespoons. Most people report using one to two tablespoons but are these people really measuring? A pour could end up being double that amount especially with the gargantuan salads many places serve. Also, some people think they are doing themselves a favor by ordering the dressing on the side then using the “dipping” technique. While this does allow you to control how much dressing you use on your salad, be careful not to dip the entire amount they give you on the side as it often exceeds what they would have otherwise put on the salad to begin with!

Tasty Alternative

When I embark on a mission to get clients to DIY with food, I know I’m going to have to engage in the time debate. When it comes to dressing, I’m going to win with debate. Go into your kitchen or work cafeteria, pour some olive oil and squeeze a lemon wedge or two. If you say that took more than a minute you’re lying or live in a much larger house than I do.

Easy Lemon Vinaigrette

1 small jar (I use leftover Zoe tuna jars)

1 lemon (lemons produce three to four Tbs. juice)

Olive Oil (double the amount of lemon juice)
Salt (optional) and Pepper 

Squeeze lemon juice in jar, add oil and shake. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. That’s it.

You can add lemon zest, Dijon mustard, parsley or basil or a minced clove of garlic. I also love experimenting with vinegars (fig, apple cider, balsamic). The point is that’s it’s easy, tastes better and saves you from ingesting sugar and preservatives.

At restaurants you can ask for olive oil and lemon on the side or olive oil and vinegar. To quote Kelly Clarkson, whose salad dressing habits I know nothing about, “oh sweetheart put the bottle down.”

Do you own bottled salad dressing? Would you consider ditching it? How is your salad dressed?