Is Sushi Safe To Eat?

Rice is often the first food infants are given because it’s unlikely to cause allergic reactions and it’s easily digested. Rice also figures prominently in many cuisines and is consumed in greater quantities by those on gluten free diets, as rice is gluten free. Plus, if you have people list the “good” carbs, brown rice is high on the list. The news that Consumer Reports found most white and brown rice samples to contain worrisome levels of arsenic is concern for many people.

We talked about arsenic in apple juice last year. It was Dr Oz pushing the envelope with testing. Many criticized him for blowing the scare out of proportion. Even after 200 rice samples were tested by Consumer Reports and many found to exceed the acceptable arsenic content for water (acceptable?)  the FDA isn’t alarmed. “We’re not prepared, based on preliminary data, to advise people to change their eating patterns.” And to my surprise (sarcasm), the Rice Federation agrees “there is no documented evidence of actual adverse health effects from exposure to arsenic in U.S.-grown rice.” This reminds me of a client who recently called her doctor’s office complaining of chest pains. They told her they didn’t have any openings.

FDA and rice peops how’s this for alarming info:

“In 2001, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that people drinking arsenic-contaminated water at 10 parts per billion would have a 1-in-300 risk of developing cancer over their lifetimes. Recent research suggests that people ingest about that much arsenic in a just a half-cup serving of rice, not an unusual amount for millions of Americans.”

 To see how your rice stacks up here’s a link to a handy and depressing chart.

So how did the arsenic get in the rice? Aren’t arsenic-containing pesticides banned? They are now, for the most part, but they weren’t in the past. Actually fields where cotton used to grow are suggested to figure into this situation. Remnants of the arsenic remain in the soil. Since rice gets flooded with water as it grown, it’s the perfect chemical storm. It absorbs the arsenic to a degree other crops do not. Rice, from Southern states, has higher arsenic levels than California or Asian rice according to this first round of testing.To add insult to injury, brown rice may have higher levels of arsenic than white rice. The fibrous bran layer, removed and polished in white rice, remains in tact in brown rice. The very part of the grain that’s ups the nutritional ante here acts like a chemical sponge. Before you switch back to white, less arsenic doesn’t mean safe.

Now that I’ve hopefully riled you up, what should you do? First, think about how often you eat rice. For some, rice is mainly a sushi ingredient. Note that brown rice syrup is also used as a sweetener. Perhaps you eat pad thai or rice cakes or rice milk? I liked this arsenic quiz to assess potential arsenic in your diet.We contacted the manufacturers of Foodtrainers’ products that contain rice. We immediately received a response from 22-Day Bars. They told us their brown rice protein was from Axiom Foods. They sent us a link for their independent testing for arsenic. I would hope other companies would take matters into their own hands.

When you cook rice at home (I say stick to brown) wash it well. You can also cook it ala pasta in a lot more water than you normally do. This is an Asian method and at the end of the cooking time you can drain excess water. We are suggesting our prenatal clients skip rice altogether.  For the rest of us, these are completely my own guidelines but I would keep rice to once per week. If you have a baby eating rice cereal ask your pediatrician about switching to oats instead.

Representatives from NY, NJ and CT are trying to introduce legislation for the FDA to set limits for arsenic in rice (the only limit in place is for water). The bill, appropriately titled the R.I.C.E Act, or Reducing food-based Inorganic and organic Compounds Exposure Act will hopefully accomplish that.

This is scary stuff. If there’s any way to see a bright side it’s that maybe I have a way to have clients control their sushi intake…but the mercury in the fish didn’t do it so I’m not sure.

Where do you get rice in your diet? Have you changed your rice intake since learning of the arsenic concerns? Any steps I didn’t mention to safeguard yourself or your family?

Is Your Eating Gay Or Straight?

I am normally quite critical of those without nutrition training writing nutrition books or telling people what to eat. I’ll make exceptions when the advice is smart, funny or, naturally, when its something I agree with. In Wednesday’s Dining Times I read an article about Simon Doonan’s new book “Gay Men Don’t Get Fat”.  Immediately, the fact that Mr Doonan is the creative ambassador at Barneys went out the beautiful window, I was drawn in and laughing out loud.

Jeff Gordinier, the author states, “one of the tongue-in-cheek propositions of Mr. Doonan’s book is that the vast range of the world’s culinary options can be boiled down to two core categories: gay food and straight food.”

Some examples of gay food are:

Baby Arugula

Baked Chips

Sushi

Figs and Dates

Food that's“lighter and brighter, it feels art-directed”

Straight Food:

Meat

Cheese

Stews

Fried Food

Mexican Food

Black Angus meatloaf on a menu is described as “the Burt Reynolds of foods.”

Lest you think gay food is healthy and straight food is not macarons, the French cookie, are gay. Mr. Doonan says, “I can’t believe any red-blooded straight guy can even walk into a macaron shop. If you want to ruin a politician’s career, just publish a picture of him shopping for macarons.” 

When I finished the article I stopped for a moment and thought something I never have before…according to Simon Doonan’s criteria I may very well be a gay male or eat like one anyway. So if, as a straight woman, I identify more with gay male food, is the converse true too?  Nope, according to Mr Doonan, lesbian food is “earthy and healthful”. Examples are organic olive oil, thick porridge and heaping helpings of wheat germ. But in the Venn diagram of sexual orientation stereotypes and eating “whole grain bread is both ferociously lesbian and wildly heterosexual.”

My graphic design skills are severely limited but observe some groups overlap

While I contemplated arugula and googled Gay Men Don’t Get Fat I found all different theories on the subject, have fun and try to guess “the real reason gay men don’t get fat” according to Gawker. It’s much saucier than my one (grass-fed organic) beef with Mr Doonan. You see, Mr Doonan is anti-avocado. The distinction between straight female eating and gay male eating may be a lack of fat phobia among straight females. Or maybe avocados are “earthy and healthy” and a lesbian food. My friend, upon reading this article declared “I think I’m bisexual as I love sushi and Mexican.  So there are exceptions to every generalization.

As fate would have it at 2:16 yesterday, while I was writing this post, Barney’s sent an email informing me of a signing for Gay Men Don’t Get Fat tomorrow (Saturday) from 3-5pm at the New York Madison Avenue store.  I’ll be in Vermont eating what Doonan would call “hetero” food but maybe you can go.

Do you find poking fun at stereotypes offensive or fun? Is your eating gay or straight? Did you guess the real reason gay men don’t get fat without clicking on the link?

Market Melissa Visits East Side Fairway and Dreams up Her Ideal Food Store

Market Melissa reviews the new Fairway Market and dreams up her what her ideal market would look like, take it away Melissa.

You won’t be hard-pressed to find a food market in NYC but what’s tricky is finding one that has everything on your weekly shopping list. I often go to 3 different stores in order to get the best produce, seafood and organic food. Fairway Market is a true one-stop shop. While Westsiders have been enjoying this store for over 50 years, the East side was just recently blessed with one this summer.

Brittany (our summer nutrition nerd) and I checked out the new store on a recent Friday afternoon. We were there around 11am and had quite an enjoyable shopping experience. This was a sharp contract to my experience at the West side store, which I like to compare to the game show Supermarket Sweep.

What I love about the new East side store are the wide aisles (for NYC) and how well everything is laid out and organized. The organic produce is clearly labeled in its own section of the store. In addition to the organic choices, you will also find all of your mainstream brands you find at other supermarket chains.

Here are some of the highlights that wowed us Supermarket nerds:

• A wheat free, gluten free, dairy free section – You won’t need to scour the aisles to find products that meet these allergy needs. All of the products that meet these criteria are neatly labeled and packed into a nook downstairs. 

• Ground peanut butter and almond butter station – Whole Foods has this as well. This is perfect for those who can’t be trusted with a full jar of peanut butter at home. You choose how much you want to purchase with a no nasty ingredients added. 

• Probiotic section – Next time you experience digestive woes or your immune system needs a kick in the butt, head to this section of the store. You will find everything from Kombucha, yogurt shots such as Siggi’s yogurt here. and supplements including Culturelle. 

• Oil tasting section – No more just picking up a plain extra virgin olive oil. Fairway has a whole section dedicated to different flavored oils, which you can taste with a small piece of bread that is offered. We opted out but there were numerous shoppers dipping in (perhaps double dipping).

• Made to order sushi – For all of you sushi lovers out there, Fairway offers grab and go, as well as made to order sushi. The best part is you can also request brown rice.

Despite the "specialty" nature of the store, Fairway is known for great value. I have yet to find a store in the city that can beat Fairway’s prices. Shoppers beware though – not everything is healthy. As always, read your labels and steer clear of the hot food self-serve bar upstairs.  They were serving fried chicken and mac n’ cheese during our visit.

Lauren asked me what my ideal supermarket would look like. After spending a good part of the past year at various markets I said:

It would be a place where everything you could possibly want would be available to avoid running to 10 different stores.  I would have a seasonal/local section and plenty of organic options. I'd love a cafe like Whole Foods so customers could buy food and sit down and eat and really spend time there. A juice bar would be nice. My store wouldn’t sell items with HFCS, hormones, food dyes or artificial sweeteners (so it may be a smaller store). And of course there would be someone like myself who could offer shopping advice and recipes to correlate with what the store was currently selling.

Where is your favorite place to shop? Do you find you need to visit numerous stores to find everything you need? Tell us about your dream market.

Overwhelmed with food shopping? Join us on a Market Foodtraining tour at the new Fairway or your store of choice. Contact Melissa to hop on the next tour. Not in NY? Follow Melissa on twitter (@MarketMelissa) for the latest market finds. Melissa is also giving away a NYC Market Foodtraining tour for four. To be eligible leave a comment below telling us you’re in the NY area.

My Idea of Stadium Food

Last weekend, a friend emailed asking if my son would like to go to the Mets game with her son and husband on Tuesday (notice she wasn’t going).  There was no need to consult my son, I replied and accepted on his behalf. My husband said “we should get tickets and go to the game too, it’ll be fun.” When I woke up Monday morning, I spotted something in the printer. There were Mets e-tickets husband had printed, I counted and there were 3.  I had optimistically assumed  the “we”  had meant husband and 7 year old, it never crossed my mind I was part of this Citi Field plan. I could’ve weaseled out, could’ve invited a friend for my son. I didn’t go this route because my boys are leaving for 7 weeks today. I’m sure, the few of you who read this blog, will hear more than you want to about this but for now let’s just say I was apprehensive enough  about their departure to miss a new episode of Chopped and eat stadium food. Even I can be a good sport.

As a nutritionist, stadiums in some ways are enemy territory. I always feel as though I have my "fists up" and need to be ultra-vigilant with the various dietary obstacles I'm sure to encounter.  There are people who feel soft pretzels, beer and hot dogs  are part of the baseball experience. I am not one of those people.   Knowing this, I did some pre-eating before we left the house. I had ½ an avocado and some leftover roasted asparagus acknowledging this was likely the only green I would see (I was wrong the Oakland A’s actually have green on their uniforms).

After dropping my son off at his friend’s apartment we made our way to the game.  We arrived early and decided to walk around for a bit. There’s a great area for kids  at Citi field with batting cages and dunking booths. I laughed that the Shake Shack burger line was easily 75 people deep,  the line for the batting cages? Three people.  While we waiting for my son’s turn, I made a comment to my husband about healthy food. The woman in front of us  eavesdropped overheard, she turned and said “I think the healthiest thing are the hot dogs, if you look at the calories they’re pretty good.” I passed on this “teachable moment” but people are really confused about nutrition when hot dogs are described as “healthy”.

There was a gluten free booth at the stadium featuring “gluten free hot dogs”, “gluten free hamburgers” and “gluten free sausage”.  I wasn’t intrigued by the gluten free junk and settled on a sushi roll. I picked a cooked shrimp roll as  Anisakis isn’t the way I’d like to drop a couple of pounds.  My husband had a pulled pork sandwich from Blue Smoke.  Clearly he and the hot dog fan have similar notions of what “healthy” means but he returned from the bar with Absolut Pear “on the rocks”  for me so I will not be too critical.  I’m sure the pretzel people would think eating sushi and drinking vodka at a ball game is sacrilegious  but I was thrilled. I’d even go again (when the kids get home in 7 weeks).

When was the last time you were at a stadium? Did you pre-eat beforehand? What did you eat at the stadium? Any healthy stadium finds?