Jessica's Nutrition Blog

Response to question from FOODPICKER: Since I live alone, I rarely cook (if ever). I have type 2 diabetes and I’m wondering which is better… eating frozen dinners or restaurant food? Thank you for your help.

jtschultis — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:00:25 +0000

I think the best step for you is to start cooking! I have lived alone for almost a year now and prepare nearly all of my meals. You can find some simple recipes online or in cookbooks, cook them up, and freeze them yourself — your own homemade frozen dinners! For example, on Monday I bought 2 packages of lean ground turkey. I sauteed an onion and mixed it with the turkey and added some seasonings (Worchestershire sauce, minced garlic, a little salt and pepper, and an egg). I separated it into 8 equal portions, put them in some freezer bags and popped them in the freezer. That took me only about 20 minutes. Now, anytime I want a turkey burger, I just take one out in the morning and its ready for my George Foreman grill at night. Surely, every once in a while I will pop a frozen Lean Cuisine in the microwave or go out to dinner and that is fine! However, you can freeze almost anything you cook and I truly believe its a better alternative than frozen dinners or restaurant food.

Mechanically Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil???

jtschultis — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:42:13 +0000

In an attempt to get some work done today, I stayed at school a little longer than usual. I decided to grab a snack, a KASHI GoLean crunchy protein and fiber bar (chocolate caramel flavor). After I finished this delicious treat and I was surprised to find that it had 2 grams of saturated fat. For those of you who don’t know, you should keep your saturated fats below 10% of your total calorie intake, and trans fats to <1%. As I read the ingredients label I saw a term I had never heard of before: Mechanically Fractionate Palm Kernel Oil. My first instinct was to think: a fancy name for partial hydrogenation = trans fats. NEGATIVE! I did a little research and it turns out that this process is a way to stabilize and semi-solidify oils, while not creating trans fats. Apparently it is a little more costly than hydrogenation so that it why it is not used a lot in other snack foods. While I still do not like the 2 g of saturated fat in what I thought to be a really healthful snack, I appreciate the company for spending the extra money to avoid adding trans fats to their products.

FYI: I recently read the ingredients list on one of my favorite snack foods: Sun-Maid yogurt raisins. What do I find? PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL which = TRANS FAT! Although the label says 0 trans fats, remember to always read the ingredients list because they do not have to list it if its <.5 g. So much for my favorite snack!

Lactose Intolerance

jtschultis — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:05:31 +0000

Miriam, thanks for your question!

Being Lactose Intolerant means that you do not efficiently produce the enzyme (lactase) which breaks down the carbohydrate in milk (lactose). Since you can’t drink cow’s milk, you need to make sure that you get all of those nutrients you are missing. Calcium is really important at this time because you are still building bone mass, which will help prevent development of Osteoporosis in the future. Other dairy foods like cheese and yogurt are good sources of Calcium. They have been fermented so the lactose has already been broken down and you won’t get sick. If you want a milk-like drink, Soymilk is a good alternative for adults. I have not heard anything about soy products causing cancer and would be curious as to where you did hear those rumors so I could do some further research. Soy is incredibly good for you. It is high in plant protein and is a good protein source for vegetarians. Soymilk is fortified with the vitamins and minerals so that it stands up to milk, so if you like it, by all means drink it! There are other milk alternatives. Lactaid is cow’s milk with added enzyme to break down the lactose. I have recently tried Almond Breeze and I find it delicious as well, and it has also been fortified to meet Calcium needs. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Hello everyone!

jtschultis — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:06:30 +0000

Hello! My name is Jessica and I am a nutrition apprentice for http://FOODPICKER.org, a website that is designed to help people with diabetes. I am a student in an undergraduate Nutrition Science/Dietetics program and I will be writing and commenting on various topics associated with nutrition, concentrating on Diabetes.