3 T. low-sodium baking powder
1 small can mild chopped green chilies (rinsed)
1 cup white posole (soaked overnight, but not cooked)
4 egg whites
1/2 package nonfat dry milk (1 package makes 1 qt.)
water, enough to make a corn bread consistency
Spices
1 T. garlic powder
1/2 t. black pepper
Bake for approximately 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 425 degrees.
JANUARY 2020
Nutrition Advice: What Is Your Source?
When I am giving a lecture on any aspect of nutrition, I always describe those in the audience as a group of “experienced eaters.” Personally, I have over 50 years of eating experience. Some in the group have more experience than I do, some have less, but we are all experienced. We know how to eat. The problem is that this experience does not make us nutrition experts. Eating a lot, just like cooking for many years, does not make one an expert on nutrition.
My favorite “nutrition expert” story is about a schoolteacher I met who shared with me some new nutrition ideas that I had never heard before. When I asked her where she got her information (her nutrition source), she told me it came from the man who was the janitor at her school. I trust people specializing in janitor work to inform me about how to efficiently and safely keep a physical facility such as a school building, in operation. They may know something about nutrition, but more than likely, they only have an interest, which may or may not be accompanied by actual knowledge.
Also, I recently had a woman relate that her husband was functioning as a house husband and was doing all the shopping as well as all the meal planning and food preparation. This man had informed his family that they needed meat (either pork chops, roast beef, meatloaf, etc.) for every meal because his aunt told him it was important. Today, there is really only one legitimate reason for eating meat: one likes the taste. But her husband was preparing meat, not because they all liked its taste, but because it had some nutrients that they needed and could obtain no other way than through eating meat each meal. When I asked this lady about the nutritional expertise of her spouse, she stated that his aunt told him what was needed in each meal.
Expertise
I approach every patient I see with 1 major long-term goal for them: to become their own nutrition and exercise expert. This is what self-responsibility is all about. But there is another very important part of taking control, being in charge, and making decisions. One needs to know how to ask for help. One needs to know how to tap into true “expert” advice. It is impossible to be an “expert” in everything one does. (You have probably met someone who thought they knew everything about everything!) The key is to know how to get connected to those who are the experts. This is one of the major attributes of the computer. You can now get online and find out all you want to know about almost any topic or area. There are also newsletters designed for the layperson. Computers and newsletters feel somewhat generic to many people, especially when it comes to their own personal nutrition. We learn an eating style at home from our parents, and many want to discuss this only with a real live person who will listen carefully to their story. Gentleness is required when someone is told that the nutrition habits that he learned from his mother are not very healthy.
Caution
I have recommended that you be cautious about using the school janitor, your spouse, or your husband’s aunt as your nutrition authority. I am also cautioning you to be careful about the nutrition information that you get from your medical provider. I was recently asked to give a lecture to first-year residents in family practice medicine with the focus of my discussion being on what common nutritional inaccuracies I hear in the clinic that are proposed to patients by their medical providers. What inaccuracies, misconceptions, old wives’ tales, etc. are being passed on to patients from the doctor? Although there are rare (very rare) exceptions, medical providers have no training in nutrition. A 1-hour lecture on vitamins in a biochemistry class has absolutely no bearing on understanding the complexities of personal eating styles and behaviors. There is a long list of inaccuracies that we pass out in our medical settings. I will share only the following:
For potassium, eat bananas. This is at the top of the misinformation list. First, because every medical provider in America prescribes it, and secondly because it is one of the worst habits to start. I know we are all in love with bananas but remember 3 things that bananas do. First, they are high-calorie (double an equal quantity of almost any other fruit). Secondly, they cause an upward spiking of the blood sugar, which results in a massive release of insulin and then a very quick dropping of the blood sugar level (hypoglycemic response). This makes humans hungry, sleepy, and grouchy. Finally, bananas are the single most constipating food available. Let me repeat: Bananas cause constipation. Use bananas if diarrhea is the problem and you are looking for a cork.
Eating several little meals throughout the day is better for weight control than the regular pattern of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is better known as “grazing.” People who graze rarely control their weight. First of all, the many little meals slowly grow into many bigger meals. Secondly, because grazers eat all the time, they learn to connect food with almost everything in their day. (Yes, it is true that experimental rats that are caged up and fed many small meals do well with weight loss. Remember, adult humans are not fed controlled amounts; rather they eat.)
The first step is to get rid of the saltshaker on the table if you want to reduce the sodium in your diet. Sounds good, except that salt from a saltshaker is usually on the outside of the food item, and it hits the tongue very quickly. Thus, a few salt crystals pack a lot of salt “taste.” Much more damaging are the several teaspoons of salt (not a few crystals) in processed and even home-prepared foods. When salt is in the recipe and mixed into the food, it takes a much larger amount to get a salty taste. The first step to reducing sodium intake is to avoid processed foods and not add the teaspoons of salt called for in many recipes.
Try to eat a hearty breakfast and a little larger lunch, and then cut back at dinnertime. Bad advice. People who eat big breakfasts and big lunches are hungry again at dinnertime. Even if they are not hungry at dinnertime, they eat “big” at dinner because that is what they are used to doing. When the first 2 meals of the day are “big” that is how you are learning to eat: big! Eat a small breakfast of cereal and possibly a piece of fruit. Keep lunch light by having a fruit and only 1 other item such as a soup, sandwich, bagel, salad, yogurt, baked potato, etc. Now you have formed a healthy mentality. You are into “light.” Dinner follows automatically. Light (a balanced meal that fits on 1 plate) at dinner now feels satisfying. Note—there is another very important reason to avoid eating a big hearty meal: heavy meals put you to sleep. Want to be awake all morning? Have cereal and fruit for breakfast. Want to stay awake all afternoon? Avoid a big lunch.
Final Advice
Be careful where you get your nutrition information. Be a critical consumer. Find a nutrition expert that has up-to-date ideas. Become your own expert. Remember, this is the twenty-first century!
FEBRUARY 2020
Eating 10 little meals instead of 3 regular meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) works good for weight loss in laboratory animals (rats). It teaches humans to graze. Grazers rarely control their weight.
—The Author
Creamy Black Bean Chili with Celery
Recipe:
Place the following in a Crock-Pot and cook on LOW all day:
3 cans of black beans, rinsed to remove salt or (a 1-lb. bag of dry black beans, soaked overnight, brought to a boil, covered for a day)
1/3 head of celery, chopped from the top of the head to include the leaves
1 large sweet