HealthCastle.com Nutrition Tidbits Podcast

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

Angela St. Cyr shares her tips and tricks to truly live your life on a local diet. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Angela St. Cyr Ever wondered what it would truly be like to feed your family only foods that are grown and produced within 100-mile radius of your home? The Food Network Canada featured a 100-Mile Challenge Series in which several families signed up for the challenge of eating only local foods for 100 days. Angela St. Cyr and her family was documented by the Food Network show and shares her tips and tricks to truly live your life on a local diet.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits Podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, Editor-in-Chief for HealthCastle.com. Ever wondered what it would truly be like to feed your family only foods that are grown and produced within 100-mile radius of your home? The Food Network Canada featured a 100-Mile Challenge Series in April, in which several families signed up for the challenge of eating only local foods for 100 days. Joining me today is Angela St. Cyr, whose family was documented by the Food Network show. She is here today to share her experience and talk about tips and tricks to truly live your life on a local diet.Thank you for joining me Angela. Angela St. Cyr: You're welcome, no problem. Gloria Tsang, RD: Now, you stand out as one of the most creative and resourceful cook out of all the families featured on the show, how and from whom did you learn how to cook? Angela St. Cyr: When we first got married, we couldn't afford to buy pre-packaged foods. So I just started figuring it out on my own and decided that I really enjoyed it and have stuck with it ever since. Gloria Tsang, RD: So did you just purchase recipe books, follow them and kind of change it to your way or did you actually go for a cooking class? Angela St. Cyr: No, I actually purchased a few cookbooks but I have a very short attention span when it comes to reading so I would adapt to the recipes as I saw fit. I would really use them mostly as inspiration and an absolute love of creating food came from that. Gloria Tsang, RD: One of the biggest shock to the system for all the families and also for the viewers was that when you were asked to purge your kitchen of anything that isn't grown or produced within 100 miles radius of your home, what were some staples or ingredients in your house that was purged out? Angela St. Cyr: The ones that people don't normally think of, to be honest with you I wasn't even thinking of how important they were and the fact that they weren't local were simple things like baking powder, baking soda, sugar, which is far less expensive than honey. Just some very simple things that you wouldn't normally connect as being pre-packaged foods which is what people immediately think of when they think of eating 100 miles. Well, all pre-packaged foods are gone. You are losing a lot of things that you require to bake also. Gloria Tsang, RD: Yeah, like wheat and flour and instant noodles, things that we have taken for granted for a long time. Angela St. Cyr: Yes, absolutely. I don't think we realized how much stuff we were actually purging until that very day. Gloria Tsang, RD: How did you manage without these ingredients and what are some of the major substitutions you've made? Angela St. Cyr: At first without the ingredients, it was very difficult and food was really redundant. Again, I love cooking and love creating so I couldn't leave it that way. We learn to adapt recipes to substitute the sugar for honey. Instead of making loaves of bread, which required lots of flour which I didn't have at the time, we started using pancakes for a multitude of things. We even had grilled cheese sandwiches made from pancakes because pancakes t...

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

Meeru Dhalwala tells us how Indian cuisine is more than butter chicken. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Meeru Dhalwala In celebration of May being Asian Heritage month, and inspired by the success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, we cast this month's spotlight on tasty Indian cuisine. Author and Vancouver Sun columnist Meeru Dhalwala, co-owner of the world-famous restaurant Vij's in Vancouver, BC, tells us how Indian cuisine is more than butter chicken.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: In celebration of May being Asian Heritage month, and inspired by the success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, we cast this month's spotlight on tasty Indian cuisine. Now, if the image that comes to your mind at the mention of Indian cuisine is butter chicken, then you have a long way to go! Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, editor-in-chief for HealthCastle.com. Joining me today is author and Vancouver Sun columnist Meeru Dhalwala, co-owner of the world-famous restaurant Vij's in Vancouver, BC. She is here today to tell us how Indian cuisine is more than butter chicken. Thank you for joining me Meeru. Meeru Dhalwala: Hi Gloria. Thank you for having me. Gloria Tsang, RD: Let's expand our definition of Indian cuisine. Now India has such a rich, diverse food culture. And one important part of that food culture consists of many vegetarian dishes. Could you give us examples of some common vegetarian entrees? Meeru Dhalwala: Well, the most common are eggplant, cauliflower, peas, spinach and all of the greens. There really isn't a green that you wouldn't use. You could even use broccoli when you are cooking Indian food. Then, you've also got the lentils and beans. Basically, the spice pallet is so huge that you really that there is really an ingredient that you can't use with Indian food. Gloria Tsang, RD: One of our items that we often talk to ours users about on HealthCastle.com is legumes (beans and lentils). But many really shy away from them thinking that they take a long time to prepare or simply just too difficult to prepare. Can you share some of your favorite ways to prepare legumes or some tricks and tips for a good meatless dish? Meeru Dhalwala: There are different types of legumes. Let's say you don't have a whole lot of time. I tell people, look, even if you don't have to soak the bean or put them in a pressure cooker or slow cooker because you don't think that far in advance about dinner, can just buy the canned beans. That is absolutely fine. At home, I tend to use a pressure cooker. This can be intimidating to people at times but it's worth the investment and once you get a hang of how it's used, you can have organic beans literally for $0.45 or something. It's not just beans and salt, which is boring, but its beans with onions, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander and turmeric. If you want, you can add a little bit of yogurt in to the whatever bean curry that you are making. You turn something as boring as beans into a really hearty meal that is way better tasting than even a vegetarian chilli, which has tofu and kidney beans in it. Gloria Tsang, RD: That sounds so tasty! Meeru Dhalwala: The depth that you get, whether you get chickpeas, kidsney beans, pinto beans, mung beans, and even orange / red lentils, those cook very quickly, in about 20 minutes. So it's almost endless. Gloria Tsang, RD: Wow, you sound so excited about cooking beans. Meeru Dhalwala: Yes, I do get quite excited about it. Gloria Tsang, RD: For some of the home cooks, what are some of the common spices or maybe spice combinations that you recommend they stock in their own pantries? Meeru Dhalwala: What I recommend first of all for everything is turmeric.

Dr. Lisa Weasel helps us understand the GM food controversy. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Lisa Weasel, PhD There is quite a bit of coverage of genetically modified foods in the media, but a lot of it seems quite emotional. In the often passionate debate about GM foods, it is sometimes difficult to get the real scoop on what is fact vs. fiction. Molecular biologist Dr. Lisa Weasel, author of Food Fray, helps us understand the GM food controversy.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: There is quite a bit of coverage of genetically modified foods in the media, but a lot of it seems quite emotional. In the often passionate debate about GM foods, it is sometimes difficult to get the real scoop on what is fact versus fiction. Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits Podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, Editor-in-Chief for HealthCastle.com. Joining me today is molecular biologist Dr. Lisa Weasel, author of the book Food Fray. She is here today to help us understand the GM food controversy. Welcome to the show Dr. Weasel. Lisa Weasel, PhD: Thanks for having me. Gloria Tsang, RD: Now with any controversial topics, there are always supporters and opponents. What exactly are the opposite camps debating about? Lisa Weasel, PhD: I think that there is a lot of controversy around food systems today. We see a lot of food contamination incidents. I think people are having trouble trusting our food regulations. And when you get to a new technology, something that has never been tested out before, and it involves moving genes from one species to another species (that being our food), people can be concerned about playing god or if there is enough safety testing. On the other hand, genetically modified foods agricultural biotechnology may have the potential to help us address some of the pressing environmental issues that we have, like droughts, climate change, and increasing the security of our food supply globally as we see the cost going up. As more and more people are slipping into food insecurity and hunger around the world, we are looking for better ways to use technology to improve our food security. So I think those are the two opposing sides of the debate. To question whether this is a safe and responsible technology for our health and the environment versus whether it might have good humanitarian outcomes. Gloria Tsang, RD: Currently, our foods are not labelled with GM (genetically modified) technologies so what are some of the GM foods that are widely consumed in North America? Lisa Weasel, PhD: That's an area where there is a lot of misunderstanding. I don't think that people know which foods have genetically modified ingredients and it's pretty simple. 92% of the soybeans grown in the United States last year were genetically modified. 80% of the corn, canola, cotton seed oil (any processed foods with cotton seed oil in it) and papayas are genetically modified. Starting next year (2010), sugar produced form sugar beets contained genetically modified ingredients. But that's basically it in terms of what's out there. So in general, soy, corn, canola and starting next year, sugar. Gloria Tsang, RD: Are there any differences in nutritional value of foods that have been genetically modified? Lisa Weasel, PhD: I think that some of the questions about nutritional value and how the genetically modified technologies affect the entire plant and overall biochemistry have yet to be answered. Technically, genetically modified foods, are engineered to have two traits. One is a gene that allows a plant to resist the application of herbicides so the plant will grow even when weed killer herbicides are applied to it. The second trait is a gene that includes a pesticide protein that kill pests when they bite into the food. So genetic modification is not intended to have nutritional a...

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

Lorna Sass tells us tidbits about whole grains that every home cook should know about. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Lorna Sass We talked about the different types of fiber in our last episode, and in our celebration of National Heart Month, we are moving on to discuss whole grains. The situation with whole grains is similar to fiber - we know they are good, but we just don't eat enough. Lorna Sass, author of Whole Grains For Busy People is here today to tell us tidbits about whole grains that every home cook should know about.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: We talked about the different types of fiber in our last episode and in our celebration of National Heart Month, we are moving on to discuss whole grains. The situation with whole grains is similar to fiber - we know they are good, but we just don't eat enough. Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, Editor-in-Chief for HealthCastle.com. Joining me today is Lorna Sass. Her latest cookbook is called "Whole Grains For Busy People". She is here today to tell us tidbits about grains that every home cook should know about. Thank you for joining me Lorna. Lorna Sass: My pleasure. Gloria Tsang, RD: Now HealthCastle.com readers often tell us that they can't tell what's 100% whole grains. Well no surprise! Some labels are just hard to understand. Tell us some common misleading phrases found on food labels. Lorna Sass: Well, seven grain, multigrain - those are very tricky kinds of labels because they suggest that the food in question is whole grain. But, often times, it's not. Another misleading label would be "made with whole grain". That could mean a half a percent whole grain or stone ground suggest healthy whole grains. The fool proof way that I recommend which cannot be tricked is to read the label and before the name of every grain, the word "whole" must appear. Let's say you are getting whole grain pita. On the label, it should say "whole wheat flour". If it's a multigrain pita, it should say "whole wheat flour", "whole rye flour", "whole oat flour". You get the point. That word "whole" has to be listed in the ingredients. Gloria Tsang, RD: Most people associate whole grains with whole wheat bread, brown rice and instead brown rice and whole wheat pasta but whole grains is a lot more than just these right? Lorna Sass: Yes. And fortunately a great variety of whole grains is now getting more and more in supermarkets because they are being much better distributed. And also, because of the growing number of people who have to follow gluten-free diets, we are finding many of the gluten-free grains in supermarkets as well. These would include brown rice, buckwheat, millet and quinoa. Quinoa is probably one of my all-time favourite quick-cooking whole grains. It takes about 12 minutes to cook. It's a complete protein as it has all the essential amino acids. It comes from the Andes and it's very, very flexible. One thing that I tell people that they can easily do is substitute quinoa for any of their favourite pasta or rice salad recipes. Just cook up the quinoa and substitute it. The way I like to cook quinoa by the way, is a little bit unusual. I like to cook quinoa, the way people cook pasta, in a large pot of boiling water. Then I drain it when it's done. And it's nice and fluffy that way. Unfortunately, a lot of the packaged directions for quinoa call for 2 to 1 (water ratio) and you end up with porridge often times. I think that's why quinoa hasn't caught on as well as it should because it's an absolutely delicious grain. Gloria Tsang, RD: When I hear you say the preparation is 12 minutes of boiling, it just got me. It's so easy to make. Lorna Sass: Yes. Gloria Tsang, RD: Now let's talk about millet. You mentioned that as well.

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

We know we are supposed to eat more fiber. But not all fiber is created equal. Dr. Janet Brill gives us the lowdown on the various kind of fiber. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D, RD, LDN 2400 Americans die of heart disease every day, that's an average of 1 death every 37 seconds. What can we do about it? For one, we know that a high-fiber plant-based diet can help prevent or lower the incidence of heart disease. Nutrition Expert Dr. Janet Brill, author of the book Cholesterol Down: 10 Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol in 4 weeks gives us the lowdown on fiber.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, Editor-in-Chief for HealthCastle.com. 2400 Americans die of heart disease every day, that's an average of 1 death every 37 seconds. What can we do about it? For one, we know that a high-fiber plant-based diet can help prevent or lower the incidence of heart disease. Joining me today is Nutrition Expert Dr. Janet Brill, author of the book Cholesterol Down: 10 Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol in 4 weeks. She is here today to give us a lowdown on fiber. Welcome back Dr. Brill. Janet Brill, PhD, RD: Thank you Gloria. It's a pleasure to be back. Gloria Tsang, RD: Last year, you talked to us about foods that can lower cholesterol. It is American Heart Month again and I can't wait to invite you back. Briefly tell us how fiber intake can promote heart health. Janet Brill, PhD, RD: Let me make it very clear. Dietary fiber is one of the most important weapons in our fight against heart disease, the number one cause of death in American men and women. So people who eat a higher fiber, whole grain rich diet have a significantly reduced risk of heart disease. Gloria Tsang, RD: Now, the recommended level of fiber intake for adult women is 25 grams per day and 38 grams for men per day but data shows that most North Americans only eat half of the recommended levels. Why is it so hard to get enough fiber? Janet Brill, PhD, RD: I think the problem is that people simply are not choosing to eat enough of the healthful foods that are high in fiber. Or perhaps the popularity of the low carb / high protein diets which are extremely low in fiber. Maybe people are eating too much fast food; it's hard to find high fiber foods in your fast food restaurants. The best thing that people can do is to embrace healthy carbs because that's where the fiber is - in the whole grains, the brown rice, the dark, dense breads with bran, fruits,vegetables, legumes and nuts. All of these are heart healthy, high fiber foods. And by the way, beans are your heart's best friend. They are a fabulous food - packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals and are ridiculously cheap. For a few cents, you get a whole lot of nutrition and lots of fiber. Gloria Tsang, RD: And I think beans are totally a type of good that people don't pay attention to. It's so easy to cook with canned beans. Janet Brill, PhD, RD: It's really unfortunate. Gloria Tsang, RD: Absolutely. Janet Brill, PhD, RD: Americans seem to have passed over beans, which are so fabulous. For example, if you had just a bowl of split pea soup (which is a legume), that would give you half of your daily fiber requirement, just in a little bowl of soup. Gloria Tsang, RD: One of the top pages on HealthCastle.com is about soluble fiber versus insoluble fiber. So which fiber is actually good for the heart? Janet Brill, PhD, RD: When you are thinking heart, it's going to be the soluble one but I just want to make it clear that both types are really good for your health. They have different physiological effects. Insoluble (fiber) promotes digestive health and bowel regularity. When it comes to heart health,

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

Laura Stec talks to us about a way of eating that is just as good for us as it is for the earth. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Chef Laura Stec Did your New Year's Resolutions include switching to an environmentally-friendly way of eating that can be sustained long-term? Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits podcast. Chef Laura Stec, co-author of the book Cool Cuisine, talks to us about a way of eating that is just as good for us as it is for the earth.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: Did your New Year's Resolutions include switching to an environmentally-friendly way of eating that can be sustained long-term? Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, editor-in-chief for HealthCastle.com. Joining me today is Chef Laura Stec, author of the book Cool Cuisine. She is here today to talk to us about a way of eating that is just as good for us as it is for the earth. Laura, thanks for joining me. Laura Stec: Thank you. Gloria Tsang, RD: You refer to fruits and vegetables grown in healthier soil as being "high vibe". What exactly is high vibe? Laura Stec: High vibe is exactly the food we want to eat, which is foods grown in healthy soils - with hands of loving grace from farmers that we may even know. Our machine cuisine or what term the global warming diet in the book, is based in efficiency and not flavor. When we start looking at the solutions to global warming, we realized that some of the solutions can be the best thing that can happen to the culinary world in a long time because they start with the basic important idea of treating and caring for the soil. We should look at the soil not as some kind of irrelevant thing that doesn't really matter, but we should look at as a fine Bordelaise sauce. This is the analogy we used in the book. Thinks like putting in compost, putting in seasonings and flavors just like we would as cooks, pulling things out of our spice cabinets. So seasoning our soil with basically our leftover food and good quality manures that can then give us the minerals, seasonings and flavors that we need to produce better tasting product and we call that high vibe food. Gloria Tsang, RD: For the average person, how do we know that a specific fruit or vegetable is grown in healthier soil when we go to a grocery store or a farmer's market? Laura Stec: Well you can't actually but there is a label called the USDA organic in the United States which means they are grown organically. That could be one start but there are different levels that farmers can achieve that certification. The best thing to do in any state in the US is to search out your local farmers. That starts at the farmer's market. Get to know them, find out where their farm is. If you have the opportunity, visit them no matter what month they may be growing (fruits and vegetables) - attend events at their farm if they are open to the public and get to who is growing your food. That way, you can be assured of one of the most important things that people require from our food system, which is food safety. The closer you are to the source of your food, the more safe your food will be, as well as delicious and healthful. Gloria Tsang, RD: You mentioned energy efficiency. One of the things that you talked about in your book with regards to seafood choices is to eat "low". What do you mean by eating low? Laura Stec: Eating low would be fish that are low on the food chain. That would be fish that don't eat other fish or are vegetarians such as tilapia, which is actually a vegetarian fish. Or fish that are eaten by other fish, such as herring and anchovies. Other things that are low in the food chain in the sea are mussels and clams. When we do that (choose seafood low in the food chain), we can have the sea be more efficient at being able to produce food.

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.

Dawn Jackson Blatner tells us how to become a vegetarian the 21st century way. Host: Gloria Tsang, RD Guest: Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN We know the many health benefits of eating a plant-based vegetarian diet. In fact, vegetarians live 3.6 years longer than meat eaters. So you want to become one, but don't want to eat cardboard soy products everyday? You are not alone. Nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of the Flexitarian Diet, is here to tell us how to become a vegetarian the 21st century way.   Transcript: Gloria Tsang, RD: Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits Podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, Editor-in-Chief for HealthCastle.com. We know the many health benefits of eating a plant-based vegetarian diet. In fact, vegetarians live 3.6 years longer than meat eaters. So you want to become one, but don't want to eat cardboard soy products every day? You are not alone. Joining me today is nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of the Flexitarian Diet. She is here today to tell us how to become a vegetarian the 21st century way. Thank you for joining me Dawn. Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN: Thank you for having me. Gloria Tsang, RD:Now, I am always confused with all the vegetarian terms, such as vegans, lacto-ovo, etc... Now we have a new term called flexitarian? Tell us what it really means. Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN: This is basically two words put together - flexible plus vegetarian so you get the word flexitarian. This is a new way to eat that minimizes meat without excluding it all together. Why I live it is that you get the health benefits of being a vegetarian without having to give up meat. Gloria Tsang, RD: So are you a vegetarian or a flexitarian? Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN: I'm a flexitarian and proud of it. Gloria Tsang, RD: Now my grandma was a vegetarian, a strict vegan vegetarian. I grew up with tofu so I simply love soy products but I know that not everyone shares the same passion. Being a vegetarian is not about just eating soy products, isn't it? Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN: Well you know what's great about this book is really for people who have the tendency to want to eat more vegetarian foods but don't know where to get started. In the first chapter where it talks about different food groups, I go through not only soy beans, but I go through all different kinds of beans, nuts and seeds you can put in your diet to replace meat but not necessarily exclude it all together. Gloria Tsang, RD: What are some of the protein foods that you suggest to replace meat? Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN: To be a flexitarian, you can either be a beginner, advanced or an expert. If you are a beginner, you would have two meatless days per week. If you were advanced, you would have three or four meatless days per week. And if you were the expert, you would have five or more meatless days per week. Depending on how aggressive you are going to get, this would determine the types of protein you would have to start using. If you were to do it a couple of times a week, you might try garbanzo beans, black beans and maybe some almonds. If you are going full monty, you are going to have a lot more variety so you could try white beans, large lima beans, all sorts of different tofu's and tempeh that are fun to try and experiment with. Gloria Tsang, RD: We actually talked about the benefits of beans a few months ago. Many of our readers wrote to us telling us that beans are difficult to prepare. What are some of the easy steps that one should go about in preparing beans and legumes? Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN: The first very exciting thing about this book is that it's 60% recipes because I know that people really want to learn how to prepare these foods.

Listen to fun diet tips by registered dietitians and medical doctors to lose weight and reclaim health. Nutrition Tidbits Podcast brought to you by the largest online nutrition community HealthCastle.com.