Posts from — August 2009

Yesterday, the Mass. DPH issued a public health advisory on bisphenol A (BPA), warning pregnant and breastfeeding women and children up to two years old to avoid exposure.  Although heralded by some as a “landmark warning” about BPA’s toxicity, the DPH stopped short of calling for a ban on BPA.

You’ve probably heard about BPA before, it’s been in the news a lot lately.  BPA is used in hard polycarbonate plastic food and beverage containers, including some water and baby bottles and sippy cups, as well as in the epoxy lining of food and infant formula cans.  But BPA is an estrogen “mimic,” meaning that it activates the same receptors in the body as estrogen does.  In fact, according to the Center For Science In The Public Interest (CSPI), BPA was first studied in the 1930s as a synthetic estrogen for women.  Chemicals like BPA are known as “endocrine disruptors.”

BPA leaches into food and drinks, and numerous studies show that BPA exposure is associated with a wide range of adverse health effects including breast cancer, infertility, early-onset puberty in girls, diabetes and obesity. The DPH advisory also cites recent studies that found BPA can interfere with chemotherapy for breast cancer.

I think that Congress needs to step up and ban the chemical in food and beverage containers, period, no qualifications. And while a ban is being implemented, the FDA should follow Massachusetts’ lead and initiate a public education campaign to educate consumers on avoiding BPA exposure.

You can read the related article in today’s Globe here.

Want to find out more about hard plastics?  Read CSPI’s informative article “Hard Questions About Hard Plastic,” which includes information on how to reduce your exposure to BPA, and a key to what all those recycling numbers on the bottom of plastic containers mean.

A couple of tips from me:  Eden Organics is the only manufacturer I know of who currently produces canned goods in BPA-free cans.  You can get Eden brand foods at Whole Foods.  And if you’re using canned tomato products, try finding some packaged in aseptic brick pacs instead – such as the Pomi brand, which is also available at Whole Foods.  Those Tetra Pacs are BPA-free too.

Leaves and twigs . . . colon-blow . . . whatever you call it (these are some of my husband’s favorite disparaging terms for fiber), we’ve been hearing it for a while, now – “eat fiber.”  But even I find it hard to get 25-30 grams of fiber into my daily diet, and I eat a ton of fruits and veggies and very little processed food.  And then there is the matter of all those new foods with fiber added – yogurt with fiber!?  Fiber in a diet drink?  I don’t go for those sorts of Franken-foods, but a lot people do, and so one wonders . . . is the fiber that’s added to those as good for you as the naturally-occurring stuff?

Turns out it’s not, according to the Center For Science In The Public Interest.  Their article, “Fiber Free For All,” was published in the Nutrition Action Healthletter last summer, but to date it’s the best run-down on fiber I’ve seen. 

One strategy for getting your requisite grams is to start off your day with a bowl of high-fiber cereal, or a high-fiber, low-calorie bran muffin like these from the Zen Bakery.  Little tip from me – Trader Joe’s sells these under their own name – they’re called “Apple Cranberry Bran Muffins,” and they’re much better if you heat them a little in the microwave before you eat them.  Word to the wise!  They are VERY fiber-y and a bit of an acquired taste . . . but they’ll give you a good boost of fiber for only 80 cal.  I eat one of these almost every morning (along with 3/4 c. of Fage 0% yogurt and some fruit).

For snacks or an on-the-go breakfast, Gnu Foods makes some great fiber bars.  They’re higher in calories, around 130 per bar depending on the flavor, but each bar has 12 grams of fiber, and the flavors are tasty – and they’re a lot less hardcore than the cakes.  The Cinnamon Raisin and Orange Cranberry flavors are my favorites.  I’ve been eating these since they were first launched, and now they’re available at most Whole Foods – you can buy a few and see which flavors appeal to you.

Page 6 of the CSPI article has a list of foods and their fiber counts – try something new this week, bulgur pilaf, perhaps?  Get those numbers up!

I’m Sarah Isenberg, a recovering lawyer, avid home cook, cancer survivor, nutrition/fitness/food enthusiast, wife and mother, freelance writer and editor, and I’m here to help.

If you’re interested in being as healthy as you can be, without making yourself (or your family) insane in the process, you’ve come to the right place.  I follow all sorts of health-related news, read zillions of food and lifestyle magazines, and try loads of recipes in my own kitchen.  I also love to dine out in and around Boston. 

Some might call me a “health freak.”  I do exercise almost every single day.  I do buy organic when possible.  I don’t eat fast food very often.  I avoid foods with artificial ingredients and additives and make most of our meals from scratch.  I’m skeptical of the industrial food machine and of big pharma.  But I’m also interested in balance – so while I’m a regular at my local Whole Foods and farmers’ markets, I also occasionally treat myself to some Crunchy Cheetos, and I believe that Velveeta makes a GREAT grilled cheese sandwich.  In short, I practice balance and moderation in my approach to healthy eating and living. 

Small, incremental changes in the way we live and the way we eat can make a big difference in our overall health.   Semi-Sweet is an effort to share what I’ve learned, what I’m learning, what I’m cooking and what I’m eating.  Take away what you like and apply it to your life.  I hope you enjoy the blog.

Today the Times Magazine had a great article by Michael Pollan, entitled “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” about how cooking in America has become a “spectator sport” with the advent of cooking shows and other food-related television programming.  And once again, Pollan has succeeded in clearly articulating problems with the American food culture.  I will admit, I love this guy.  When I read his books and articles, I feel like I imagine the women who read Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique must’ve felt – refreshed to have someone give voice to so many of the thoughts I have about food.

You should check the article out for yourself, but there were some scary stats on how few Americans actually cook anymore, and a frightening prediction that future generations will have even less desire to cook. 

All this got me thinking.  There are two major reasons why I want to teach my daughter to cook.  One is, there is so much pleasure and nurturing associated with serving and preparing food.  The other reason is practical.  Although I don’t feel compelled to cook for my daughter out of some sort of motherly duty, I do feel compelled to teach her to cook so that some day, she can call up the skill for herself, even if she doesn’t choose cooking as a hobby like her mother.

My culinary knowledge has served me well in many different ways throughout my life.  As a poor grad student and a young lawyer burdened with staggeringly high school loans I was a bean master-chef, queen of stretching a box of pasta with veggies and cheese.  I rarely ate meat, not for health reasons, but because it was too expensive, as were most prepared foods.

And isn’t parenting about preparing your kids as best you can for the future?  Instilling competence and resilience so that they can roll with life’s punches?  I’d argue that being able to feed oneself, well, is part of that.  And maybe L. will turn out to be a microwavin’ maven, but it’ll be her decision to spurn her mother’s home-spun ways, and not because I didn’t teach her the basics along the way.