October 2003

Healthy eating@foodwatch
This month celebrate Nutrition Week 2003 from 13 October by eating an extra piece of fruit and a salad every day. You'll do your health good and trim the kilojoules (Calories).
www.foodwatch.com.au
 
* * ENJOY A SALAD FOR GOOD HEALTH
National Enjoy-a-Salad Week runs from 20 to 26 October and aims to encourage Australians to eat more salads to help the fight against obesity and to improve our health. Created by McCormick Foods Australia, who have just launched an innovative range of single serve dressings, croutons, herb sprinkles and seed-nut sprinkles, they help transform a basic salad into something crunchy, inviting and exciting. Salads, from coleslaw to mesclun, give you a wide range of vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants all for very few kilojoules (Calories). As they're eaten raw, heat-sensitive vitamins are not affected.
 
* * NEW BOOK FOR HEALTHY CHILDREN
Look out for a great new book from Nutrition Australia designed to get kids back onto healthy eating and curb their fast food habits. Titled The Secrets of Healthy Children, it covers the key issues facing parents today like ages and stages, school lunches, eating out, picky eaters, special diets and overweight kids. At $14.95, it's excellent value. I'll be launching it during Nutrition Week in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. For details, contact your state office of Nutrition Australia or visit their website.
 
* * ANOTHER FAT REPLACER ON ITS WAY
Remember Oatrim and Simplesse? Now a US company FiberGel Technologies has developed Z-trim, a carbohydrate-based fat replacer discovered by Dr George Inglett of the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture (the Z stands for zero kilojoules or calories).
According to its website, Z-trim can be used to replace 40-60 per cent of the fat and kilojoules and increase insoluble fibre in a variety of foods such as mince meat for hamburgers, bread, cheese, dips, dressings, spreads, desserts and ice cream. Most importantly, it doesn't change their taste, texture or mouth feel.
Z-trim is made by processing corn hulls. The hulls are put in an alkaline solution, heated and sheared until they break down into simpler 'units' of insoluble fiber. When mixed with water, the processed hulls produce a clear gel that can be substituted for fat in foods.
Let's hope that overweight Americans don't compensate for the 60 per cent reduction by treating themselves to 60 per cent MORE food!
 
* * NO WARNING REQUIRED FOR OLESTRA
On to another US fat substitute. The FDA no longer requires a labeling statement for olestra, the no-kilojoule fat substitute developed by Procter & Gamble. The label no longer has to say that olestra may cause abdominal cramping, loose stools or and that it inhibits the body's absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K.
However, FDA will require manufacturers to continue adding vitamins A, D, E, and K. FDA approved olestra in 1996 for use in savoury snacks like potato chips, cheese puffs and crackers.
Following a review of studies, FDA concluded that the label statement was no longer warranted because 'real-life' consumption studies showed olestra caused only infrequent and mild effects. I discovered this myself when my 14 year old son and his friend consumed an ENTIRE pack of US fat-free Pringles I had been given as a sample (as teen boys do). To my surprise they had no symptoms! For additional information, read the FDA's media release. Products containing olestra are not approved for sale in Australia.
 
* * CATHERINE IN CANBERRA
During Nutrition Week, you can hear Catherine speak on Finding the Balance - protein and carbohydrate intakes on Thursday 16 October at the Southern Cross Club in Woden at 6.30pm. For more details, visit Nutrition Australia.
 
* * ACTIVE LEISURE - THE KEY TO KEEPING WEIGHT OFF
Researchers from the Netherlands have discovered that what you do during leisure hours - not set sporting commitments - is what determines whether you keep your weight down.
By following up a group of 261 people for 18 months after they had completed a six month weight loss trial, they found those that maintained their weight loss spent more leisure time in active hobbies such as walking and cycling and less time watching television than those who regained.
Those that did a team sport (meaning they trained once a week and played a weekend game) struggled to maintain their weight compared to those who were active in their spare time. Activities that keep you outdoors and away from the television (sedentary living) made the biggest difference.
Ref: Baak et al. Leisure time activity is an important determinant of long term weight maintenance after weight loss in the Sibutramine Trial on Obesity Reduction and Maintenance (STORM trial). Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:209-214
 

** LOVE FOOD CHILI-HOT? THEN READ ON �.

• Chili's fire is derived from capsaicin, a group of five related capsaicinoids, which have the ability make our eyes water, mouths burn and sting any exposed skin.
• Chilies are known the raise the metabolic rate, one of the reasons why a curry often warms you up. This has been promoted as an advantage to dieters, as a body with a 'super-speed engine' burns fuel faster.
• Chili lovers swear that chilies stimulate the secretion of saliva and gastric juices and act as a 'digestive aid'.