Wellness #39: Nutrition

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

The articles listed under Topics had some fascinating information. As an example, the article on "The Nutritional Effects of Food Processing" shows the nutrient losses resulting from freezing, drying, and cooking food, as compared to the natural raw food. According to the table shown there, dried fruit has up to 80% less Vitamin C than raw fruit. I knew that dried fruit tends to add more calories to your meal, because you tend to eat more of it, but I did not know about this nutrition deficit as well. I see more grapes and fewer raisins in my future.

I also found the concept of the "Better Choices Diet" interesting, even though it is recommended only for very self-disciplined people. Here are the basics: 1) Make a daily record of everything you eat. 2) Determine which food contribute the most calories to your diet. 3) Make Better Choice substitutions for those items. (The site has a list of such items). 4) Repeat. The "Better Choices Diet" takes a long-time to work, but it offers multiple paths to success, whereas most diets with lots of rules offer multiple ways to fail. It sounds like a plan that could work because it encourages long-term intelligent choices.

recipes.sparkpeople.com

Here's a true library recipe, served at a 1997 branch meeting.

Southern Corn Casserole (recipe from a North Channel branch staff member)

*Green Giant White Shoepeg Corn, 3 cups (2 cans)
Cream Cheese, 1 cup (1 8 oz. package)
Butter, salted, 1 stick
*Green Chiles (Whole), 3 oz (chopped and seeded)
*Whole Milk / Vitamin D, 0.5 cups
*Kraft Finely Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 0.5 cup

Heat cream cheese, milk, and butter until well blended. Add drained corn and chiles and mix together. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (sprinkle with the grated cheese about 10 minutes before end of baking period). Serves 6.

This is a VERY rich recipe, so I substituted light cream cheese, skim milk, used a half stick of margarine, and used half the cheeese. Compare the results below.

Amount Per Serving

---------------------ORIGINAL -------------------MODIFIED
Calories----------------442.6---------------------------291.6
Total Fat---------------- 33.2 g------------------------- 17.3 g
Saturated Fat----------- 20.6 g-------------------------- 5.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat------ 1.1 g-------------------------- 2.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat-----7.8 g-------------------------- 3.3 g
Cholesterol-------------- 93.2 mg----------------------- 14.4 mg
Sodium---------------- 704.1 mg---------------------- 685.6 mg
Potassium--------------- 50.5 mg----------------------- 16.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate ------26.9 g------------------------- 26.6 g
Dietary Fiber-------------- 1.5 g-------------------------- 1.5 g
Sugars ---------------------5.5 g------------------------- 5.9 g
Protein--------------------- 8.8 g -------------------------6.4 g

The modified version has 3/4 of the calories; 1/2 the total fat; 1/4 of the saturated fat; about 1/6 of the cholesterol. And I bet it tastes just as good! Library Potluck 2.0.