NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
January 6, 2000
A new year, a new resolution or two, right? Why not end that routine this year. Why not do something really dramatic: make a lifestyle change.
No, I'm not referring to a surgical procedure. I'm focused instead on making a change in your eating habits--a change that will last a lifetime, not merely the time it takes for your willpower to wane. Now, some of you might be asking, "If I can't muster the determination to lose weight and keep it off, how can I summon the inner strength to make a dramatic lifestyle change?"
Let me tell you a story that reads like a meal, beginning with cheese and ending with fruits and vegetables. I love cheese, virtually all kinds of cheese, with the possible exception being Limburger and any others that smell like the inside of a garbage can. During our unabridged cheese phase, my wife Nicki and I typically would eat a pound or two of Colby cheese a week: on sandwiches, melted over tortilla chips, in salads and casseroles, and I may have even eaten a slice, or ten, wrapped around fish sticks. One of my favorite ways of eating Colby back then was to slice a thick piece, put several dashes of hot pepper sauce on top of it and with deft balance, guide the entire chunk into my mouth.
All the while I was downing cheese by the pound, I rationalized that my exercise regimen was enough to burn off the extra calories. Then one day I realized that if anything were to upset the calorie-intake/calorie-burning balance I'd established, the bathroom scale, serving as the scale of justice, probably would no longer tip in my favor.
It was with a large amount of trepidation that I began to cut my cheese intake. I remember thinking that I'd never be able to give up my hot-sauce-and-cheese snack. But I have, and to my surprise I've found that I enjoy cheese even more now that I'm eating less of it. Proving, I guess, the axiom about less being more. In place of the cheese, I've started eating a lot more lower-fat foods containing fiber--beans, grains, fruits and vegetables--foods that allow me to pile on the portions and the health benefits. Proving too that more can be more.
The lesson this story has taught me is that people can change their behaviors. It's never easy, but the reward, when it comes to food, is greater variety. I think you'll find the recipe that follows to be rewarding.
Lentil and Garlic Soup
Adapted from a recipe appearing on the Searchable Online Archive of Recipes from the University of California, Berkeley (http://soar.Berkeley.EDU/recipes/).
Yield: 8 servings (about 1 cup each)Ingredients:
7 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 cups red lentils
2 tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 onions, quartered
1 tablespoon minced lemon peel (yellow part only)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt and white pepper to taste
¼ chopped fresh cilantro (optional)Procedure:
Using a 4- or 5-quart Dutch oven, bring broth to a boil. Add lentils, tomatoes, garlic and onions. Cover pan and simmer 45 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Put soup in blender or food processor and puree. Return soup to pot, add lemon peel, cumin, salt and pepper, and bring back to a simmer. Cook for five or 10 minutes longer to allow seasonings to permeate soup. Serve in individual soup bowls and, if desired, garnish each serving with a teaspoon of cilantro.
What's Your Take on This, Julie?
Now's the time when many people are deciding to slim down and setting lofty goals to eat skimpy portions or avoid certain foods altogether. Cover stories on popular magazines tempt us with promises to "get thin quick" and best-selling fad weight-loss books fatten the wallets of authors who are part of the multi-billion dollar diet industry. Unfortunately, weight-loss diets that don't involve a lifestyle change fail 95 percent of the time.
Some of the most tempting diets are the high-protein diets, but many of these diets are low in fiber, vitamin C, folic acid and vitamin A, because the diets shun the grain group--and even fruits and vegetables. If you've been around someone who has been strictly following a high-protein diet, you might remember that they were irritable or complained of headaches. You might have noticed they had bad breath too.
Eating high-protein foods causes an increase in ketones, chemicals produced by the body when it's starved of energy-providing carbohydrates. People on high-protein diets may spend a lot of time in the bathroom because their body is trying to rid itself of ketones through increased urination. Yes, they've lost weight, but it's mainly water. So, high-protein diets can cause dehydration, and the increased nitrogen content of high-protein foods strains the kidneys and could cause long-term damage.
Here's an enticing idea: Start eating more--more fruits and vegetables, more whole grain foods and more beans, lentils and other legumes in an overall diet based on the Food Guide Pyramid. Research has shown that eating plenty of high-fiber whole grain foods and at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit a day can reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease.
Try this flavorful high-fiber recipe to start out the new year. At 200 calories and less than 1 gram of fat per serving, it won't weigh you down. It also contains about 6.5 grams of fiber per serving and 28 percent of the daily recommendation for iron from the lentils.
Much of the soup's flavor comes from garlic, a bulb that's high in sulfur-containing chemicals that may have some health benefits, although the research is inconclusive so far. To preserve the possible benefits, though, researchers suggest letting peeled, crushed fresh garlic sit for five minutes before heating. The reason? Garlic contains an enzyme (allinase) that acts on the amino acid responsible for forming those sulfur-containing compounds. Heating the garlic immediately would inactivate that enzyme.
Along with eating more, start moving more, too. Physical activity is a key to reach and maintain your desired weight. You don't have to be a runner or an aerobics instructor. Even 10-minute increments count toward the recommendations for 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on five or more days of the week.
###
Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136
Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187
Click here for a pdf version of this graphic. (27KB b&w recipe)