Don't Drink Your Calories! (Part 1)

This topic, "Don't Drink Your Calories" will be the first of many, because quite frankly I think most people are unaware of how many calories they can 'potentially' drink. Today, our supermarket aisles are packed with soda drinks, energy performance drinks, and vitamin enriched waters! And then we have the coffee drinks - the Caffè Lattes, the Coffee Coolattas, the Frappuccinos (with or without a twist, lite or not). Oh, and lets not forget the shakes!

This summer I asked my niece and her three teenage friends if I could get them something from an unnamed coffee establishment. I seriously had to ask the girls to repeat their coffee order 3 times ! This caused my anxiety level to increase, and by the time I ordered their drinks I mixed up the coffee part of the order, but I did remember the whipped cream! I recall thinking, these drinks are more like desserts. I did wonder how teenagers view them - as drinks or desserts?

I'm not saying that all drinks are equally bad and should be completely avoided from ones diet (I'll come back to this in other posts). I recognize that every individual is different, their caloric needs are different, their food preferences are different, and their body weight is different. I think making informed choices about what we drink and eat is a personal decision. But here is where I see the problem (please weigh in on this) - I think most people are clueless as to how many calories they actually consume daily from beverages or ice-cream based drinks. Let me give you an example.

If you were to guess how many calories are in a large Baskin-Robbins Chocolate Oreo shake (which by the way is 32 oz), what would you guess ? (I wasn't even close!)

2,600 calories.

And the saturated fat?
59 grams (and note, this is not total fat)

My husband brought this to my attention when he read about it in last weeks Boston Herald. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1148553

And lets be honest - it is shocking!

It raises questions.

If people drink their calories, do they displace other calories from their diet?(in this case avoid eating for the rest of the day!).

Does the average person know how many calories they are drinking?

If the nutrition information is posted - do they care?

Certainly some questions to ponder on ...

So why do I get all fired up about drinking calories? Some facts....

• The obesity epidemic exists across all age groups in the US - children, adolescents and adults.
• In 2006, 16% of children and adolescents, aged 2-19 years, were obese (i.e. at or above the 95th percentile on growth charts).
• In 2005-2006, 33% of adult men and 35% of adult women were obese.
• Both the portion size and the number of caloric beverages people consume has increased over the years.
• Excess calories from beverages leads to weight gain.
• The national costs attributed to both overweight and obesity are in the order of $90+ billion
• Approximately half of these costs were paid by Medicaid and Medicare.
• Obesity rates continue to rise in the US.
  

Topic to be continued...

Dr. Oz's Green Drink – Bottoms Up !

After my friend Kate gave me her list of immune fighting dietary supplements, I recalled watching the Oprah show on which Dr. Oz promoted his “Green Drink". So, without haste, I sent the recipe to Kate and wished her luck drinking this daily concoction ! Here is how it looks:

Ingredients:
2 cups spinach
1 medium cucumber
1 celery stick
1/2 inch or teaspoon ginger root
1 bunch parsley (about ½ cup)
2 apples
Juice of 1 lemon
4 oz. of spring water or a handful of ice cubes

Note: This recipe serves 1 to 2 people.

So what do you do with all these greens ? Throw them in a blender, puree it for a couple of minutes and then serve it in wine glass and knock it back !

What's the health benefit ? Nutritionally speaking, its loaded ! If you drink the entire amount you are going to get approximately 12 g of dietary fiber (**recommendation for dietary fiber posted below). Plus, its rich in antioxidant vitamins A, C and E. Antioxidants protect our cells from free radical damage and they help repair the damage when it occurs – keeping us healthy. These vitamins will help regulate the immune system and help prevent or fight infection. Another health benefit of this smoothie is that it is nutrient dense i.e. lots of nutrients compared to the number of calories. It contains approximately 215 calories. If you are on weight watchers and counting points, this smoothie will cost you 3 points. Keep in mind that you may only want to drink ½ of the portion and you are therefore consuming less calories/points.

My personal opinion: If it doesn't make you throw up, then you are over the first hurdle ! Interestingly, ginger is used in Asian medicine to treat stomach aches, nausea, and diarrhea. Hmm, perhaps this is why a slice of ginger root it is added to this smoothie.

I'm a firm believer to give things a try at least once before you come to any conclusion. So I plan to try this for 14 days. I may modify it a little - a shot of vodka perhaps (just kidding !). I will keep you posted on how the experience goes and should you decide to join the bandwagon, share your comments on how you think it tastes!

Bottom line: You will boost your immune system with this low calorie, fiber rich smoothie if you can tolerate the taste !!


**Daily Recommended Fiber Intake
Women
25 grams per day, for women younger than 50
21 grams per day, for women older than 50
Men
38 grams per day, for men younger than 50
30 grams per day, for men older than 50