Balance of Food

Guest blogger Melissa Dobbins shares wisdom on National Diabetes Month

I have been begging my dietitian friend Melissa for some time to write a guest blog entry at BalanceofFood.com. She is whip smart, very educated on these matters, and communicates well in print and television about the messages that people need to hear. And she always seems to do so in the right tone: knowledgeable but not condescending.

I first met Melissa on Election Night in 2004 when I was still in the early stages of my struggle to eat better. She has been a professional and personal resource for me since then.

So Melissa finally agreed to share some of her wisdom with us, and it comes at an appropriate time, given that today is the last day of National Diabetes Month, and we are in between Thanksgiving and Christmas:

As November comes to a close, I want to make one last shout out for National Diabetes Month. For people with diabetes, every month, well actually every day, is a reminder to focus on diabetes in some way.

Sometimes it's thinking twice about what or how much you're about to eat, or checking your blood glucose to see how your last meal affected it, or trying to decide if you need to make any adjustments in food or medications before you exercise, or simply remembering to take your medications in the first place.

The longer I work in the field of nutrition, the more I come back to the reason I chose to become a dietitian 20 years ago: When it comes to food, I have a passion for helping people be informed and unafraid. As a certified diabetes educator, I love helping people with diabetes make those everyday decisions and get more involved in their diabetes management.

To help inform and motivate people, I created a "roadmap" for managing diabetes for my recent TV segment on ABC 7 (WLS-TV) Chicago. Check out the video and the Web copy to learn how you can be in the driver's seat.

My friends and family asked me a few questions about that TV segment and so, here's a sneak peak behind the scenes:

What made you decide to check Ben Bradley’s blood glucose during the segment?

I really wanted to show how quick and easy it is to do, and that people with diabetes do this daily. I wasn't so sure about showing the blood, but I guess that is the reality of checking blood glucose! Ben was a good sport about it.

The food looked so good. How did you decide what food to display?

As always, I wanted to choose visuals that would be meaningful in just a blink of an eye. I wanted viewers to be able to see that you can still have appealing and satisfying meals when you have diabetes or are just trying to eat healthfully. So, I pulled out an 1800 calorie sample menu and made a few adjustments such as choosing bran cereal instead of corn flakes and apple slices instead of ½ cup of juice to get more nutrients, especially fiber, into the meals.

The segment seemed so short — did you get to say everything you wanted to say?

TV segments are always painfully short — you are lucky if you get more than 3 ½ minutes. You need to boil your information down into soundbites and useful tips. We did run out of time before I got to talk about Continuous Glucose Monitoring, a cutting-edge technology that some people with diabetes might find to be a useful tool. This device measures your blood glucose every 5 minutes so it can provide much more information than traditional blood glucose monitoring and may therefore improve your diabetes control.

The American Diabetes Association now recommends the A1C test as a way to screen for pre-diabetes. Since this is a simple blood test that does not require fasting, people may be more willing to take this test. I'm all for anything that is going to encourage more people to get screened for diabetes or pre-diabetes and help us catch the disease earlier so that we can treat it earlier and help prevent or delay long-term complications.

What current diabetes and/or health goals are you working on? Preventing weight gain over the holidays? Stepping up your exercise level? Drinking more water? Let us know if you have any challenges or tips to share! Weigh in (pun intended) with your thoughts in the comments section below.

Melissa Joy Dobbins, MS, RD, CDE is the Director of Nutrition Affairs for the Midwest Dairy Council, and is also a National Dairy Council spokesperson and an Illinois Dietetic Association spokesperson. Check out Melissa’s blog at TheDairyReport.com and follow her on Twitter @MelissaJoyRD.

We want to thank Melissa for her time and information. And we hope she won't be a stranger to the pages of BalanceofFood.com.

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Will lame duck Congress be able to pass food safety and school lunch bills?

Lame duck normally implies that not much will get done. This lame duck Congress session — hopefully — will be an exception. The narrow window for the food safety bill and the school lunch bill is now, and won't be there for long. Given the GOP control of the House that will take place in January, this is the only shot for the two bills.

The lame duck session starts today.

Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser wrote an op-ed in The New York Times that sums up well the issues in the food safety bill. When (if?) the bill is passed, look to see whether the (Sen. Jon) Tester (D-MT) amendment stays in the bill to help protect small farmers and food suppliers.

The school lunch bill issue has been covered in numerous articles here at BalanceofFood.com.

The question to be answered this week — hopefully — is whether your government, paid for by your tax money, cares about what you eat.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010 from Balance of Food

Hope you are enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with good food and great company. We are taking the day off and there will be no podcast on Friday.

If you are reading this while hiding from the family, and you need something to read, check out the back list of columns, essays, and podcasts. Tuesday's look at the true definition of cheese is worth a read. The exclusive with Nigella Lawson was really insightful. And for something lighter, there is the question of what would be your ultimate fantasy league sandwich.

Also, check out the Twitter feed with links to cool stories. This would be a great time to follow the Balance of Food Twitter feed if you aren't already doing so. We will be back on Monday with more columns.

U.S. standards need to limit labeling 'cheese' for actual cheese

The Double Down sandwich has come to Canada.

This news isn't surprising, but in watching the commercial that announced this news, there was one intriguing difference between the U.S. and Canadian versions.

The Canadian commercial mentioned that the sandwich contained "processed cheese." The sign at a KFC location at a Canadian mall said "processed Monterey Jack cheese." (In Canada, processed is pronounced PRO-cessed, unlike the American pronunciation of pro-CESSED.)

The U.S. ads say cheese without mentioning that it is processed. It's the same "cheese" so why the difference? United States' standards from the FDA and USDA to the FTC allows processed cheese product to be labeled as "cheese." Canadian standards don't allow you to do that.

Why would you call it processed cheese if it wasn't? But the better question is why the U.S. allows something that isn't cheese to be called "cheese."

Proper food labeling should be obvious: call the food what it is from an objective standpoint. Unfortunately, U.S. standards strongly discourage this.

Nacho "cheese." Cheese sauce that is portrayed as "cheese." Dairy Management pushing highly processed fat-laden cheese. The government is in the cheese business, but they aren't focused so much on actual cheese.

"There is no food closer to my heart than cheese. In fact, according to my doctor, it has nearly filled my aorta." said Stephen Colbert, who is growing into a food expert, as he mocked the use of cheese in last Tuesday's "Thought for Food."

Colbert pulled out a slice of American cheese, straight out of the wrapper. This food is known as American cheese, even if the label clearly states: "pasteurized processed cheese product."

While the label in small print spells out the truth, the food manufacturers are allowed in larger letters to say "American cheese." This isn't cheese. Nacho "cheese" isn't cheese.

Food consumers complain that foods are deceptively portrayed; there will be some of that regardless. But having a system of food standards — not run by the USDA — could be implemented where food has to meet a basic set of rules to be labeled as something that might constitute the product in question.

In other words, we shouldn't call something cheese unless it really is cheese. If processed cheese is processed, we shouldn't be afraid to call that out. We can handle the truth, and the cheese as long as both are real.

Thanksgiving is about food and loved ones; cut back on the anxiety and the portions

Should the economy determine what is on your Thanksgiving table?

If you are having trouble putting together enough food, would you sacrifice elsewhere on the food menus during the week? Justify leftovers for several days for the cost of a giant meal?

If you don't do turkey, and you pick something more expensive, would you cut back?

We put so much emphasis on having the ultimate meal at Thanksgiving, the pressure, the "OMG we have to have this dish because we ate it 30 years ago," the travel anxiety, the calls to the Butterball hotline.

Food is the key, but there have to be simpler ways to enjoy a feast without the craziness. No wonder women who cook these dinners look at the men who fall asleep while watching the football games and wonder what this was all about.

Breathe. Enjoy the experience of sharing food with relatives and friends. Have fun with the food, but don't go overboard. Relax. No one will go hungry.

And if you have someone at your Thanksgiving table who is trying to do better, be extra nice to them. Appreciate their sacrifice to adjust their lives. Love them, don't hassle them. If anything, ask them for tips on what works for them.

Podcast: The truly hidden costs of free food

This week's podcast deals with the truly hidden costs of free food.

To access the podcasts, check them out in the podcast library.

Podcast 111910

'South Park' serves up satire of the obsession over the Food Network

If you are really obsessed about the Food Network, you might not take kindly to the South Park parody from last night's season finale. On the other hand, if you can appreciate a bit of humor on the subject with a definite sexual overtone, the episode is just right for you.

Stan's dad, Randy Marsh, is so obsessed with the cable food channel that he watches it in secret after his wife has gone to bed. The next morning, Randy has made them breakfast: goat cheese and heirloom tomato frittata topped with creme fraiche. (Randy consistently mispronounces creme fraiche throughout the episode.)

Stan says, "Can I have a pop-tart?"

Randy's eagerness continues on, getting a job in the school cafeteria. He makes Food Network type dishes instead of the regular school lunches. Eventually, a number of Food Network chefs enter the picture, challenging Randy in a school lunch throwdown.

Kyle remarks, "Can I just get some g*d d*mn tater tots?"

Jamie Oliver is portrayed as being concerned about school lunches being healthy and he cries a lot. Paula Deen looks even fatter, and Giada DeLaurentiis' features are even more exaggerated. Bobby Flay, Alton Brown, Guy Fieri, and Mario Batali receive better treatment in the parody, though Cartman dresses up as Gordon Ramsey.

While the episode focuses on the obsession over the Food Network, the angle of that type of food ending up in the school cafeteria is unintentionally poignant. The menu behind the kids is filled with pizza, tater tots, hot dogs, chocolate milk, Salisbury steak, chicken nuggets, and carrot sticks with ranch.

"Who says that school cafeteria food can't be healthy, delicious, and gourmet? Today, we're going to be making the students my tasty baked ziti with basil and fresh mozzarella."

Randy also cooks them a potato-encrusted scallop with lobster foam topped with creme fraiche. When Cartman notes that pizza is on the day's menu, Randy says his take on a pizza is "Asian slaw on flatbread, deconstructed and topped with a nice parmesan aioli."

This is even more out there than what Jamie Oliver did in Huntington.

Comedy Central will rebroadcast this episode tonight at 10:30p, 12:16a early Sunday morning, 10:31p Sunday night, and 2:08a early Monday morning (all times Eastern).

Sarah Palin would be better off offering solutions than false premises

"Who should be deciding what I eat?" the politician asked a crowd at a fundraising event. "Should it be government or should it be parents? It should be the parents."

Here is what is fascinating. No one in the food debate thinks the government should decide what you eat. No one, not even as a joke. But this politician thinks this is true, and has the need to express this out loud.

So why is there a political divide on helping us set better standards for food?

Okay, this is a question I have asked over and over. And to be fair, there are many more concerns where politicians argue back and forth about things that have nothing to do with concerns of the American people.

The politician from the quote is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is also a mother. Maybe Sarah or Todd or someone else makes lunches for Willow and Piper, her children that are still in school. Maybe their kids don't eat the school lunches their fellow classmates eat.

But shouldn't we give the children and adults the best quality food? Aren't Americans worth that effort?

There isn't anything wrong with people disagreeing, politicians included. But we have to agree on two things: 1) there is a problem, and 2) if you don't like the solutions of the other side, you have to offer your own.

If, as the article implies, Gov. Palin disagrees with Michelle Obama's initiatives, then Palin should offer a solution. Even a bad solution would be better than nothing.

The Congress, in its lame-duck session, will debate a school lunches bill and an improved food safety bill. Republicans and conservative Democratic politicians have fought against these bills or have weakened them -- but they don't have alternative suggestions except the status quo.

This isn't to bash any particular politician or political bias -- not even Gov. Palin. We want solutions. We want answers. Self-serving rhetoric won't get us closer to having an improved food supply.

Twinkie Diet proves you can have fun with food and still do well

Politics aside, can you seriously take diet advice from Rush Limbaugh?

The fact that Rush made fun of the so-called Twinkie Diet isn't a surprise, nor that the radio show host turned it into a diatribe against Michelle Obama and "liberals wanting to control what we eat."

Given Limbaugh's own weight battles, perhaps he isn't the best expert to get food and nutrition information.

Of course, Limbaugh, the rest of the MSM, and others missed the point of the Twinkie experiment: it's about calories.

Every 6 months, I make a pilgrimage to Canada for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is enjoying Canadian treats. Dessert is a pretty rare thing for me, but I like an occasional treat. And Canadian Twinkies and King Dons are better-made than their American counterparts.

On this past trip, I bought boxes of Twinkies, Hostess Cup Cakes (no King Dons, sad), and Jos. Louis, a Canadian chocolate cup cake.

They aren't for my everyday diet, and I do try to make sacrifices with my other food consumption to make room for the Canadian treats.

There was the milkshake moment. I had noticed a new burger place while walking though Little Italy in Windsor, Ontario during the last visit. So I checked it out this time.

I had noticed the milkshake options. Normally, I don't do milkshakes because it's too much for my system at one time. I do make exceptions, so I had to look at the list. And there it was: King Dons milkshake.

There is that point in your life where you only get one shot to try something you hadn't thought existed on the planet. King Dons in a milkshake.

To explain for my non-regular readers, King Dons existed in the United States alongside Ding Dongs when I was a child. I still think of them as two different Hostess products, but currently King Dons are Canadian versions of Ding Dongs — all of them being different from Hostess Cup Cakes.

So I ordered a King Dons milkshake. Unfortunately, the server came back and said they were out of King Dons (which might account for why I couldn't find them on this trip). So they offered to substitute Hostess Cup Cakes. Not what I wanted or dreamed about if I had such dreams, but still better than anything I had been offered in some time. I went for the Hostess Cup Cakes milkshake.

The burger wasn't that great, the fries were OK but smothered in salt, but that milkshake was amazing.

The Twinkie Diet is about how you can make choices that involve "bad food" and still make it work. If you do food right, you can have a little bit of fun and make a good food system work.

Stephen Colbert shares 'white bread' hors d'œuvres philosophy with Martha Stewart

In case you missed the segment last week, Stephen Colbert had Martha Stewart but the creative inspiration for appetizers came straight from Colbert.

In noting that he was one of 11 children (Martha is one of 6), there were often unsupervised time to make unusual appetizers.

Colbert started out with mixing mayonnaise and French's mustard in a small bowl, ans then serving the mixture on a saltine topped with paprika.

Stephen's next "recipe" featured another staple: Wonder Bread spread with mayonnaise and then topped with Kool-Aid powder. Martha liked the first dish, but wasn't crazy about the smell of the second dish.

Colbert's final recipe was taking a slice of liverwurst, peeling away the label, pouring Heinz ketchup and then mashing the concoction and serving it on a saltine.

The segment was a marvelous send-off on what Martha does, was extremely hilarious, and makes us wonder if Colbert will soon come out with a cookbook.

The beauty of childhood and child-like thinking is that food doesn't have to be glamorous to be fun and fun to eat.