Nutritionist's Holiday Wish List
By Donna Marlor
| By Donna Marlor
R.D., M.A. |
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It was late October when I sat down to write my annual holiday nutrition article. Ironically, the weather gods helped to get me in the mood. " … There will be a major fall in barometric pressure, followed by a drop in temperatures and up to 6 to 12 inches of snow is possible over the next 36 hours …" White stuff! And more than a dusting, this was going
to be a Saturday for rock skiing.
I needed some spirit lifting. A severely sprained ankle had changed my training plans. I missed running. I missed my running friends. My nonaerobic lifestyle was causing a personality change – for the worse. I had a "Bah! Humbug!" attitude in October.
But as I started writing, my mood improved. The holidays. Skiing. Vacation. Snowshoeing. Holiday parties. More skiing. Yes, the dark clouds outside were looking better than a baker's dozen of Prozac.
Having roused my spirits into the proper holiday frame, I began to type up my Christmas wish list. What could a nutritionist suggest for your holiday basket of treats? I'll skip the partridge in a pear tree. But I do have some nifty ideas for you to give to a friend, your spouse or maybe even to yourself. Santa, are you listening?
Kickstart Breakfast Foods
Cold mornings call for a hot beverage to wake up with. For many of us, only one aroma will get us out of bed: rich, brewed coffee. If your coffee isn't coffee without half–and–half, it's time to try something new. White Wave has introduced a soy creamer that will appease your taste buds without cementing your arteries. Look for it in original and french vanilla flavors.
For the noncoffee crew, hot cocoa mixes from Nestle's and Swiss Miss are a great choice. Both companies have gotten the message that taste and health are important. Now you enjoy a cup of cocoa and get 20 percent of your daily calcium requirements. Just another good excuse to indulge in some chocolate, I say.
Desktop Lunchables
I just transferred departments at work. Telehealth is the name of their game and from what I can gather, the ability to eat lunch in front of a computer monitor while working is a required competency for working there. I've been doing some trial and error lunches over the past few weeks and have come up with some winners. StarKist ready–mixed tuna salad and crackers is a healthy choice, although it does require more dexterity than a
slice of Natural Oven's Hunger Filler bread, toasted to perfection and topped with peanut butter.
If you have a fork, napkin and access to a microwave, then Ragu Express can give you the traditional spaghetti meal to train on in less than 3 1/2 minutes. Each serving contains 200 calories, 3 gm fat, 36 gm carb. Use a single serving as a snack, or double up for a light meal.
Snacks & Energy Bars Keeping up your energy level in–between work and workouts can be challenging. It's easy to get into a junk food rut. Tackle those energy lows with one of these new products. A sure replacement for M&M's is a product called Pulse. Packed in a convenience zip–top container, Pulse
snacks contain several whole ingredients, including fruits, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. Each serving is 95 calories, 3 gm fat, no saturated fat, 16 gms carbohydrate and 3 gms protein. It's a great stocking stuffer for the camper in your life.
There is a snack bar for every specific need in 2002. Balance bar has introduced the Oasis nutrition bar, geared towards women's higher calcium and iron needs. For the over–40 crew whose joints and bones are starting
to complain, Schiff has the solution: Soy One nutritional bars. Offered in Chocolate Raspberry and Apple Cinnamon flavors, each bar contains 1,500 mg of glucosamine and 1,200 mg of chondroitin.
Quick Furnace Stoker Meals
Lot'sa pasta is what glycogen–depleted muscles demand. If you can boil water, then you can create a super healthy pasta meal with new whole grain pasta products from Eden Foods. Test out the new Kamut Vegetable Spirals which feature organic whole kamut, spinach, beet and carrot or the Mixed Grain Spirals, created from a blend of whole kamut, organic seminola and whole rye.
No need to worry about slaving over a stove to create an excellent pasta
topping. With a quick twist of a lid, Dell'Amore fresh basil and garlic pasta sauce is ready to go.
If you're not up to boiling water, then Alessi Focaccia Classica is a no–fuss alternative. Just follow the simple 1–2–3 directions on the back of the package. For a quick focaccia pizza, use crushed tomato sauce, a dash of Italian spices and a final layer of mozzarella cheese.
Immune System Boosters
Let's face it – no matter how bad your wax is, it won't slow you down as much as a miserable winter cold. Give your immune system a boost with health enhancing friendly bacteria found in Lifeway Organic kefir and cheese. Kefir is a probiotic drink with more than twice the friendly bacteria
found in yogurt. Look for kefir in plain, strawberry, raspberry and peach flavors. Kefir Farmer Cheese and Kefir Farmer Cheese Lite also contain active kefir cultures.
Dannon Yogurt is also an excellent source of friendly bacteria. For the nonyogurt fans, Dannon has come out with another new drink called Actimel. It contains the active L.Casei bacteria and comes in orange and vanilla flavors. Currently Actimel is being test marketed only in selected cities.
New Hydration Picks
There are a lot of new beverage products to select from at the grocery store these days. One of my recent discoveries is Powerade Light. Lower in calories than regular Powerade, the Light version has only 7 gms of carb, 25 calories, 55 mg of sodium and 30 mg of potassium per 8 ounces.
Unlike many "lite" beverages, it does not contain an artificial sweetener. This is a great pick for a shorter workout or for a beverage to replace regular soda pop.
For simple thirst quenching with a hint of flavor, try Glaceau's Fruitwater. It has no sodium, carbohydrate or calories. This is a good product to use if plain tap water is just too boring to drink.
Kitchen Gadgets
I would be remiss if I didn't say a word about a few "essential" kitchen gadgets. The first is a cheap, nonelectronic, nonbattery operated tuna drainer. It is a little plastic colander that fits perfectly into a can of opened tuna. When you drain off tuna water – no messy spills or squirts. It's just too handy to be without.
The second kitchen gadget is a good set of knives. Yes, I know you
probably own a dozen knives of varying shapes and sizes but I'll bet they're about as sharp as the edges on my 1996 pair of skating skis. Dull knives make more work. Get a good set and you will be amazed at how quickly you can prepare a meal.
Supplement Resource Book
Last on my list is a book for those of you into supplementation. It is the new "PDR for Nutritional Supplements," which is a scientific reference for supplements, herbs and nutraceutical food products. Look for it in bookstores or Amazon.com. Price? $59.95.
That's the Nutritionists' Christmas List for 2001. Get a jump on your holiday shopping by filling a basket with my recommended list. A great gift solution for the person who has everything. Of course, you may want to
add a box of Christmas cookies and a good bottle of wine.
Happy Holidays!
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