Thinking Twice About Diet Sodas

Many people down multiple diet sodas daily to avoid gaining weight, stay full between meals and get a caffeine-induced energy boost.  For many years, many people have seen diet sodas as the perfect way to get what they want without all of the sugar and calories.  But, these drinks may be causing more damage than we realize.  If you're an avid diet soda drinker, I strongly encourage you to read this great article by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.:  Diet Soda Depletes Calcium and May Increase Heart Attack Risk. 

For those of you who want the cliff notes version, here it is:

• Studies show that Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) concentrations rise strongly after drinking diet soda.  PTH increases blood calcium levels by releasing calcium from our bones.  Over time this can greatly affect bone mineral density.
• Women who drink diet soda excrete more calcium in their urine than those who don't.
• The intense sweetness of artificial sweeteners may confuse the body and lead to increased appetite and weight gain.
• Diet soda consumption has also recently been linked to kidney disfunction and an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

The bottom line:  An occasional diet soda is probably fine, but regular, high intake may be problematic.

Corn Salad Recipe

It's getting to be that time of year for lighter meals and lots of fresh produce.  One thing I absolutely love to make is fresh corn salads and salsas.  All you do is boil a few cobs of corn and when they cool, remove the kernels.  Or even better, cut the kernels off some leftover grilled corn. You can use these fresh corn kernels to make lots of great side dishes and condiments.  Here's two of my favorites:

Corn, Tomato & Basil Salad

Fresh Corn on the Cob
Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Fresh Basil, cut into ribbons
Olive Oil, to taste
Balsamic Vinegar, to taste (just a splash or two)
Fresh ground Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

Fresh Corn Salsa

Fresh Corn on the Cob

Tomatoes, chopped

Jalapeno Pepper, diced

Bell Pepper, chopped

Green onion, chopped

Fresh Cilantro, chopped

Olive oil, to taste

Lime Juice, to taste

Fresh ground Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

 
A couple hours (or a day) ahead of time, cook the corn in boiling water (or use leftover corn on the cob).  Cut the kernels off the cob and cool in the refrigerator.  Combine the cooled corn, with the remaining ingredients and stir to combine well.  Enjoy!

My Snack Box

For many of us, eating is less about what we know and more about how we live.  I’m a Registered Dietitian, which means I know a fair amount about healthy eating.  I can pretty accurately guess the calorie counts of most foods, know all of the tricks for healthy cooking and can spot trans fats from a mile away.  And I definitely know that swinging through a drive-thru on a whim for an order of fries and a coke is not the best healthy eating strategy.  However (and this is a smidge embarrassing) I’ve found myself doing that very thing on more than one occasion.  So, what gives?  How does a person who makes her living telling other people how to eat find herself grabbing for fried foods and a soda? 

I figured out a while back that eating healthy is about more than just our knowledge.  We have to plan for healthy eating.  And when we’re running around stressed and skipping meals, we set ourselves up for failure.  You see, our bodies know when we need food and if we’re ignoring this fact (like skipping breakfast or lunch), our bodies will start screaming with hunger at us.  And when this primal sense of hunger takes over, our food knowledge goes out the window.  We simply grab for whatever will satisfy us quickly…which usually looks like something that comes through a drive-thru window.

After figuring this out about myself, I came up with a rather obvious solution that has honestly changed my eating habits.  It’s a box full of snacks that I keep in the trunk.  I’ve named it the “snack box” (ingenious, I know).  I load this box with healthy snacks like freeze-dried fruit, nuts and kashi bars to grab when I’m hungry throughout the day.  This keeps my panicky, stuff-french-fries-down-my-throat hunger away and ensures that I stay fueled on healthy foods.  It’s so simple, but it’s often the simple changes that make a lasting impact on our health.

What do you do to keep the crazy munchies away?

Free Kindle Book!

My sister's book, The Christian Mama's Guide To Have a Baby, is free this week on kindle!  So, even if you're not pregnant, download it (you never know)!  The goal is that the book gets into the top 100 free Kindle books and every download helps.  This book is honestly the best pregnancy book I've read.  It's funny and informative and this is a great chance to get it for free.

Should I Be On A Low-Acid Diet?

The Alkaline (or low-acid) Diet has been around for a little while now and I'm starting to get more and more questions about it.  So, I thought it might be helpful to give you my quick opinion on the diet.  The main idea behind the diet is that by eating low-acid foods, you can lower disease-causing inflammation and improve your overall health by changing your body pH.

First of all, it's important to know that your blood pH is tightly regulated by systems in your body that will not allow it to fall outside of the range of 7.35-7.45.  You can't significantly alter your blood pH, which is really good because it's very dangerous when your pH goes outside of these parameters.  God made your body to control it's own pH properly, so, you don't need to eat the right pH balance of foods to do this.

That being said, I don't see a huge problem with this diet as it encourages eating foods that we know are healthy (not necessarily because of their pH, but because they are simply healthy foods).  These foods include beans, nuts, olive oil and lots of fruits and veggies.  The diet discourages eating processed foods, coffee, alcohol and animal proteins.  All things that we know can be issues when consumed in excess.  So, the bottom line is that this diet may provide some health benefits, but probably not for the reasons purported.

What other diets are you curious about?  Let me know and I'll write a review!