Whole vs Refined Grains

We've been taught by food marketers over the past few years to look for "whole grains" on packages. And if you see it, just like if you see "gluten free!" or "no high fructose corn syrup!" you just assume it's healthier than another package that doesn't call out these things. And that, my friends, is what we call "marketing" - little short cuts that drive perceptions and purchase.

But ask the average American consumer and they likely couldn't articulate what whole grains actually means and why they're better. Can you?

It's actually quite simple. Whole grains leave the grain completely in tact, so you get the whole kit and kaboodle, just as Momma Nature intended: the bran, the germ and the endosperm.

• The bran (the outer layer) contains the fiber, hugely beneficial in slowing the digestion process, and protein.
• The germ (this is what sprouts) is rich in vitamins and minerals.
• The endosperm is just the starch, which is essentially a whole lot of sugar.

A product like whole grain brown rice contains all three. White rice is just the endosperm; everything else has been stripped away - sugar rush! A good rule of thumb: when in doubt, buy brown. (But just be a bit careful as some brown-colored grains are posers: they are white grains that have been colored brown with molasses or caramel color. One other thing to note: there IS such thing as whole wheat white flour; it's just whole flour made from something called white wheat. Confusing!)

You may be wondering why any food manufacturer would go to the trouble of refining grains if the whole grain is that much better for you. That's a simple answer too: bran and germ spoil more easily, so refined grains offer a longer shelf life.

All this is just a preamble to this article, "The Whole Story", which ran in the NYT last week. I love Bittman's perspective - and his recipe suggestions! - but thought it could use some education for those still scratching their heads about what "whole" really means. Because I've found when it comes to health, a better-educated consumer will make better decisions on a more consistent basis.

Crowding Out The Negative

I've written about the concept of crowding out in previous posts, but always in the context of food: by adding more healthy stuff to your diet, you'll naturally reduce the unhealthy stuff. For example, if you're trying to cut down on the amount of soda you drink, better to gradually "crowd it out" by drinking more water rather than trying to quit soda whole hog and immediately.

I got to thinking how this concept could apply beyond food.

As a health coach, my strategy is to encourage and reinforce the positive versus focusing on fixing the negative: crowding out! There will always be negative presence in your life but how much or how little you feed it determines its effect.

How does this work in the real world? A few examples:

1. I ask my kids every night to tell me three great things that happened during the day. Unfortunately, it's often easier to remember the stuff that wasn't so good, that made them upset, or that disappointed them. But starting with the good stuff always helps crowd out the bad stuff, thereby weakening the effect it has on them. And it makes bedtime a whole lot more fun!
2. I've trained myself to ask my clients "what's new and good?" rather than "how are you?" at the start of every session. It forces them to think about their answer versus the typical knee-jerk "I'm fine" response we always give and get to the latter question. And importantly, it always starts our sessions on a positive note (unless the answer is "absolutely nothing!" - but that hasn't happened yet!), which crowds out the negative and makes our discussions surrounding any issues that much more fruitful. 
3. When taking care of really little ones, crowd out bad behavior. Always better to teach good behavior by acknowledging and encouraging it when it happens, rather than waiting to reprimand and "fix" bad behavior. This is not to say we should just ignore bad behavior, but putting the stronger emphasis on good is much more effective.

What good stuff in your life could you feed right now to crowd out the not so good?

Beat This Heat!

I came the closest to fame yesterday as I've been since I won an essay contest on the subject of sportsmanship when I was nine, and got a free dinner for my Boston Bruins-obsessed Dad and me with Bobby Orr...

NY1 interviewed me in Prospect Park! It was 5:45am, and I was doing none other than the Scientific 21 Minute Workout, opting to call it "strength training" for the purposes of the interview.

The report was focused on the heat wave currently melting the better part of the country. The interview was cut down, and I'm telling people the best parts were cut, of course, since it turned out rather boring (and my name is apparently Wylie King), but her questions centered around strategies to beat the heat. My thoughts:

- Exercise early, before the heat really kicks in: having children helps since if you want to spend time with them in the morning, you want to be out and back before they wake up!
- Don't overdo it: we can learn from our kids on this one. If they feel terrible, they'll stop playing rather than trying to "get one more mile in!"
- Drink lots of water: so many of us suffer from dehydration as it is, which not only can trick our brains into thinking we're hungry and cause us to become unnecessarily agitated, it can also be seriously dangerous.

If I'd been prepared for the interview, however, I'd have done some research on the kinds of foods that help maintain optimal health in the heat. Embarrassingly enough, I couldn't with absolute confidence have said what they were beyond citrus fruits and light veggies, and thinking about how people eat in hot climates. But the former is obvious and the latter doesn't necessarily help without context: Louisiana is hot, after all, but I don't know that anyone would characterize it as a mecca of health.

So I did some very complex research (google) and found that my knee-jerk thinking was spot on. The why's are where it gets interesting, however, and can aid in future decision-making rather than restricting you to an exact list of recommended foods.

1. Eat your water: Water-rich produce like watermelon, cucumbers and lettuce will all help keep you hydrated while providing great nutrition at a low calorie count. 

2. Add some flavor! Herbs like mint, cilantro and basil have naturally cooling and soothing properties. Zero calorie additions that provide tremendous upside in the heat.

3. Embrace what's counter-intuitive: Spicy foods are actually a great way to cool down. Eating them causes us to sweat, and sweating is our own little air conditioner. So think ginger, chilies and cayenne pepper. 

4. Bring on the citrus: Lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits - all of them are hugely cooling, naturally aid in digestion and strengthen immunity with strong doses of Vitamin C. Get creative. Have them whole but also squirt them into drinks, onto salads, etc. 

5. Choose your protein wisely: I love a good barbecue just as much as the next guy, but a great steak in heat like this takes its toll on your body. And it's that much harder to digest which means your body heats up trying to do so: counter-productive! So opt for delicious legumes instead.

OR, move to northern Canada.

What We Can Learn From Summer Vacation

One of my favorite recurring pieces in the NYT is 'Really?' in the Health section where they prove or disprove health claims. A recent one discussed whether the claim that kids gained weight over the summer was true or not. Spoiler alert: it is.

And I'm not surprised.

My family and I just came back from a week and a half of summer vacation (context for this post and also my excuse for being absent since June!) Now this wasn't the lying-around-all-day-drinking-pina-coladas-by-the-pool-trying-everything-there-is-on-the-menu-just-because kind of vacation. No, this was me, my husband, my mother and my sisters in charge of six cousins ranging from three months old to seven years old. This was a "Momma can we play baseball, can we go golfing, can we walk on the beach for hours and hours and collect sea glass, can we can we can we?" kind of vacation. And the answer to all of those questions (if preceded by a please) was always (well, most of the time) "yes!" My kids didn't gain weight, but I did. How?

I had something in common with those kiddos who gain weight over the summer, and that is that I had completely slipped from any sort of routine. Getting up at 6am and exercising just seemed very unvacationlike. And if the kids get up before exercise happens, the chance of it happening are slim to none. And why not have an extra cup of coffee since we're all hanging out in the kitchen for an extra half hour? And Coley hasn't finished his French toast (on organic whole wheat using pastured eggs, 100% grass-fed milk and real maple syrup, of course!) and I'm on clean up duty so I might as well finish it rather than waste it. And making a salad for myself when we have just a two-hour window to hit the pool between thunderstorm threats seems selfish, so I'll just grab a hot dog off the grill like everyone else. And it's 6pm and the kids are playing out on the sun-soaked deck. Anyone care to share a beer?

Does this sound familiar? (If not, I've just stuck my foot in my health coaching mouth!)

Routine keeps adults in check just in the way it keeps kids in check. The reason my kids and their cousins didn't gain any weight and I did was because rather than disrupting their routine, they just added more gas to it - running, jumping, playing, constantly on the go - whereas I wasn't as diligent as I typically am about ensuring greens with every meal, keeping it to good carbs and saying no thank you to ice cream. No food stood a chance in these kids' bodies as active as they were. And actually, getting them to sit to eat anything more than a bite before they were off on their next adventure was next to impossible. Conversely, the kiddos who gain weight over the summer are those who've been taken away from school and sports routines and embraced a more sedentary lifestyle, either because they enjoy ten hours a day of video games or because based on their circumstances, they have no other choice.

Unlike for the kids in the study, the few pounds I gained were worth it. They'll go away naturally soon enough as I dive back into my routine. And they're worth their weight (pun intended) in mental health. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for a majority of our nation's children, and the results of this study could lead to a lot of goodness if responded to in a meaningful way. Regardless, a refreshing twist here is the suggestion that school, typically called out as the demon that establishes and promotes bad habits, can really help keep kids' health in check. With school menus getting cleaner and greener, and school vending machines being kicked to the curb, fingers will have to be pointed elsewhere: routines and habits formed at home travel far...