I started researching and discovered that sodium is a surprise ingredient in many foods. Sodium occurs naturally in some foods- usually in tiny quantities. However, there is a significant amount of sodium in beets, celery and dairy products.

People sometimes use sodium and salt interchangeably, probably because salt is the most common form of sodium- about 40% of sodium is salt and 60% chloride.

Sodium, a mineral found in the fluid surrounding the cells in our body helps regulate blood pressure and fluid volume. It also helps maintain pH  balance. Our muscles and nervous system need sodium to function properly.  It is unusual to have a sodium deficiency-unless you were vomiting, had diarrhea or were sweating excessively. Most diets contain more than enough sodium.

Too much sodium in our diet is the issue:  it raises blood pressure which is a major factor in heart disease and stroke; it may increase water retention; increases calcium loss from our bones.

The Center for Disease Control reports that 10 food groups are responsible for over 44% of the sodium intake in the American diet.  That’s not even counting the salt we use in cooking or at the table.

The USA Dietary guidelines suggest limiting sodium intake to between 1500 and 2300 milligrams a day, that is less than one teaspoon of salt. Unfortunately, the typical daily Western diet contains around 5,000 milligrams.

I assumed chips and pretzels and other salty snacks are the number #1 source.  WRONG- they are number #10.

The number # 1 source of sodium in our diet is bread and rolls. It’s partly because we consume a lot of bread and there is a lot of sodium in many breads. There is as much as a 150 mg difference between amounts of sodium in packaged breads. Often low fat breads have less sodium. Glad to see that the bread I usually eat has only 75 mg of sodium per slice. However, Bill brought home a delicious challah the other day and now that I’m learning about sodium I noticed it had 220 mg per slice. That was an awakening.

Processed foods usually contain a lot of sodium in the form of preservatives and flavor enhancers. A shocking 75% of the sodium in our diets is added by manufacturers in foods such as: cold cuts including bologna, ham, corned beef and other luncheon meats. And folks look out for the sodium in pizza and sauces. Yikes. The mozzarella alone can add 700 mg of sodium. And wait till you see the amount of sodium in canned soups!

I was startled to see that sodium in cheese can range from 54 mg. in an ounce of Swiss cheese (4 mg in reduced-sodium Swiss) to 454mg. in Parmesan.

Let’s teach our children to enjoy low-sodium foods.

Why should we help our children develop a taste for salty foods that is not good for their health and influences their eating patterns for life?

There is research to suggest that when children have high salt intake it may predispose them to the development of high blood pressure.

Some helpful strategies to shake the salt habit

The most important strategy is to become an informed consumer. I thought I was and I’m astonished by my own ignorance. I had no idea that poultry and beef are often plumped up with a salt solution

A practical strategy is to plan for those high sodium foods. When knowingly consuming them on occasion, cut down on other sources of sodium that day.

Another strategy is to look for products with less sodium, For example soy sauce, luncheon meats and cheese come in reduced-sodium alternatives.

Keep in mind when eating out that breading and sauces add sodium to dishes.

Use more herbs and spices to season food instead of salt.

Rinse canned foods, such as tuna and beans to remove the sodium.

Do more home cooking and make extra to take for lunch.

Gradually cutting down on adding salt in cooking or at the table.

Unprocessed, or fresh foods contain the least amount of sodium. Serve more fresh fruits and vegetables instead of chips, pretzels and salted nuts.

Buy foods “with no salt added” on their labels.

Check out some fun ways to serve fruit snacks and veggies in our book- Funny Food.

Small changes in the way you eat will result in big differences over time. Slow and steady not only wins the race, but it is the best way to assure success.

Change is a process, so why would anyone expect overnight success?

Tara Parker-Pope wrote in the NYT Science Times about her decision to go vegan, inspired by former President Clinton’s vegan diet.  “..if a man with a penchant for fast-food burgers and Southern cooking could go vegan, surely I could too.”  She bought vegan food and tried to change overnight.

Tara couldn’t, and neither did Bill Clinton. He didn’t go from eating greasy hamburgers to vegan meals in one bite. It is too scary and disruptive to our lives to make a huge change at once. What we eat is a reflection of who we are and our family history.

My parents brought their family food traditions with them from Europe. As a young child I ate lots of fatty foods and canned vegetables. We lived across the street from New York City’s Henry Street Settlement House where there were nutrition classes for immigrant families. My mother learned about nutrition and changed how she cooked.  Her children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren eat fresh salads and snack on fresh fruits and raw vegetables.

If good eating habits are important to you, pick a snack or a meal to begin making changes. You are more likely to actualize it if you share your commitment with others, or if you write it down. Then make a plan to be sure you do serve the healthy snack or meal. There are lots of delicious examples in our book, Funny Food.

It may help to select the day you’ll shop for the food. Maybe share your healthy food goal with the family so everyone is on board.

If you have children you may want them to shop with you. Pick a snack or meal that they can help prepare. In the process your family will be developing new nutritious habits. Make new family meal rituals and your children will develop traditions that encourage a healthy lifestyle for generations to come.

Start easy, and gradually increase the number of meals that are healthy. Weight Watchers reports that if you keep track of what you eat 70% of the time, you will lose weight.

Improving eating habits doesn’t require 100% perfection.

To change, just bite off what you can chew.

Bill not only creates imaginative food art, he’s also a renowned jazz guitarist.

Whether he’s improvising a breakfast or a jazz solo, it puts him in a good mood.

So when we do Funny Food workshops, Bill uses food and music to make it fun for children and families to learn about nutrition.

At a workshop for Jazz at Lincoln Center, Bill said, “Music and food have a similar affect on us. They are both nourishing–make us happy, give us energy, are soothing, help us focus, improve our memory, and have the power to heal.”

Kids and parents are mesmerized and inspired by Bill’s food art and enjoy making their own healthy Funny Food. Music puts them in the groove and they leave feeling peachy. Here’s one of Bill’s songs:

Funny Food

“I make Funny Food for breakfast

‘cause it’s fun to start the day

Using my imagination

In a crazy, whacky way

It’s fun to be creative

Anything I make’s ok

Doesn’t matter what it looks like

Gonna eat it anyway

I’m looking at my Funny Food

And what is that I see?

A silly, healthy, funny face

Looking back at me.

When I play with Funny Food

It puts me in a happy mood

And when I eat my Funny Food

It makes my body feel so good.

Daniela is building her play history with the experiences she has with her grandfather- the enjoyment, the creativity and humor will be stored in her memory.

In this Ted Talk,  Dr. Stuart Brown said “play in childhood makes us happy and smart adults”.

Play is essential in the development of children’s brains. It helps promote cognitive, social, emotional and physical growth. Imaginative food play is fun and teaches children about good nutrition, but it is much more.

Play fires up the brain and sends impulses to the frontal lobes that builds skills such as shaping behavior by activating or inhibiting other brain regions. Daniela is learning self-regulation and self-control when she laughs at a funny food creation at the dinner table. Self-regulation helps kids and the adults cope with stress.

Daniela enjoys Bill’s images and she also likes to make her own healthy food. When she plays with her food, she is learning cognitive flexibility. If she makes something that doesn’t turn out as expected, she has learned to use the food in innovative ways to create something else.

Research suggests that divergent play material, like blocks, and funny food, contribute to children’s ability think creatively; to solve divergent problems, make discoveries.  Our two older grandsons, Ethan (18) and Simon (16) cherish the memories of food play with Bill.

And, both boys are exemplars of creative problem solvers who can come up with multiple solutions to a problem. So it must be true!

It got me thinking about how much sugar I might be consuming without realizing it.

I don’t sweeten coffee, tea or cereal, and I rarely drink soda. I try to avoid foods with “added sugar” noted on the containers.

But, I wondered if I was eating sugar unknowingly and consuming extra calories that I don’t need.

It is an unexpected ingredient in many foods. It is used to boost flavors, balance acidity in foods that contain vinegar, and help bread rise.

The only sure way is to read labels.

Ingredients are listed in descending order by the amount that is in the product. If you see sugar listed among the first few ingredients then you know the product is high in sugar.

The tricky part is that sugar has many different names depending on where it comes from and how it’s made.

An ingredient that ends in “ose” is a sugar. It is the chemical name for many types of sugar including fructose, glucose, maltose and dextrose.

After I heard Bittman speak- I looked at a health bar that I carry when traveling.

I was surprised to find the following ingredients listed: corn syrup, sugar, high maltose corn syrup, sugar cane fiber and fructose.

How healthy can this bar be? We may be sabotaging ourselves.

“There’s no nutritional advantage for honey, brown sugar, fruit juice concentrate or other types of sugar over white sugar.”
– Mayo Clinic

Consuming Excessive amounts of sugar leads to serious health problems including tooth decay and the spread of obesity. Sugar gives us empty calories and may result in skimping on more nutritious food and missing out on important nutrients.

The American Heart Association recommends about 6 teaspoons of sugar a day for women and 9 for men.  Most Americans consume more than 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day.

One 12-ounce can of regular soda has about 8 teaspoons of sugar. That’s the daily limit before eating any other food that has sugar such as a fruit flavored yogurt, ketchup or a cookie.

In “The World Is Fat”, author Barry Popkin writes, “We are what we drink,” and many people drink between 450-500 calories a day. Try these two strategies to cut down on liquid calories.

If you are a soda drinker, can you replace a glass of soda with a glass of water?

If you like fruit juice, drink 100% fruit juice and not a juice drink that has added sugar.

Even better, eat the fruit instead of the juice.

I was shocked to learn that it takes almost a pound of oranges to make an 8 ounce glass of juice.

Fruit juice concentrates the sugars and strips away the appetite-satiating fiber and bulk of the fruit.

Another way to cut sugar consumption: Choose breakfast cereals carefully to avoid added sugar. If you or your children are used to sugary or frosted cereals look at our book, “Funny Food” for whimsical ways to make unsweetened cereals taste delicious.

Replicate some of the images and you and your children will be taking an important step to fighting the sugar overload.

Have a sweeter 2013 with less sugar.

The National Restaurant Association’s director of Nutrition & Healthy Living, Joy Dubost, Ph.D, R.D., interviewed Bill about how our book “Funny Food”.  You can see the videohere.

In the video Bill describes that when kids look at our book they get excited to make and eat Funny Food. Children are willing to try foods they have never tasted if they are involved in making it.

It can be a one-minute breakfast face- a couple of raisin eyes, a nose and a mouth. If there is time over the weekend, families can be creative and try more complex dishes. Making food together is a fun way to nurture better eating habits for everyone. All the ingredients in the book are healthy and most of the images are made using multiple food groups and follows the good health guidelines.

“Funny Food” also has many step-by-step pictures on how to make the more complex dishes.

The Restaurant Association is actively encouraging its members (over 50,000) to offer healthy meal choices for children available in their restaurants. The Association is collaborating with Healthy dining to help parents and kids select healthy menu options. This is a volunteer program and already 30,000 restaurants are participating in the program called Kids Live Well.

Check out the restaurants in your neighborhood that are offering healthy meals along with accurate nutritional information.

The recommended choices have increased amounts of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low fat dairy.

The more individuals and organizations work together, the better chance we have of fighting childhood obesity.

We’re excited to work with organizations that are involved in offering healthful choices and helping people to understand why they are good choices.

“Funny Food” makes a great gift.

And although French fries were tempting, we shared a baked potato.

However, at a table very close to ours, we couldn’t help noticing three young and very overweight men gulping huge milkshakes. When their food arrived our eyes nearly popped out of our heads.

Portions were huge and hanging over the sides of the plates, (like the men in their chairs) overloaded with fats and carbohydrates– hamburgers with bacon, cheese and piled high with unidentifiable shiny stuff. Their “vegetables” consisted of fried onion rings and French fries. And as if to defy every healthy guideline, at the end of the meal they ordered two pies and a chocolate cake a la mode, topped with whipped cream.

I overheard one of the young men talking about his upcoming wedding, and the thought of the next generation forming similar eating habits made me cringe.

Having been an educator for over 40 years I began to imagine having a conversation with the men as I would with a teacher or a student.

I would not say…“ Hey, all you need is one dessert and three spoons!”

Rather, I would listen for an opening to connect with the interests of the men:

Is the soon-to-be groom interested in losing weight for his wedding?

Is there a family member who has a chronic health condition such as diabetes?

What do they know or want to know about the connection between long-term health and nutrition?

I might:

• Begin with what they already know and move gradually to increase their knowledge about healthy eating.
• Explore their willingness to change and their desire to learn some new skills to improve their well-being.
• Encourage them to think about and then articulate their beliefs about the relationship between food and long-term health.

I would try to help them change just one thing in their typical meal.  I recognize that it is a slow process and change takes time.

The issues of obesity and health are complex and are closely tied to other areas of a person’s life–their economic situation, their family culture, their emotional make up, their friendships, and habits to name a few. It can be overwhelming to change, but the alternative is frightening.

As a result of our growing girth, seats on buses, trains and airplanes are too small. There is disagreement on how to handle the issue. An online poll conducted by the Chicago Tribune of people who use public transportation. shows that there’s an even split between those who prefer benches where people of all sizes can fit comfortably, as opposed to bucket seats.

This split is evident in the way transit agencies are dealing with the issue. In New Jersey, the transit agency is adding 2.2 inches to new seats. Agencies in other states are not willing to increase seat size to accommodate heavier passengers; they are more interested in seating capacity.

I have seen people who are obese standing on the NYC subway because the allotted available space was too small. I’ve also seen them squeeze into a typical 17.5” seat where their bodies spill over to the next seat.  They get nasty looks or grunts from their neighbors. How embarrassing and stigmatizing for the person!

An HBO documentary, The Weight of The Nation, reports on a bias against people who are overweight in our society. People who are overweight describe feeling excluded and humiliated by strangers making outrageous comments- calling someone “fat” right to their face. They don’t feel safe when strangers and even co-workers make unflattering or derogatory remarks such as “you take up so much room.”

The People who are overweight feel judged and know that there is an assumption that they are lazy, sloppy, undisciplined, unhappy and unsuccessful.

How can we help?

Friends, relatives and strangers may want to help, but making hurtful comments that are embarrassing to a vulnerable person is not helpful. Obesity is a very complex issue and we should not judge people.

A personal pet peeve of mine is when a descriptive adjective is used before “person”- such as- the elderly person, obese person or homeless person. They are people- who may be elderly, obese or homeless.

We need to build awareness of this bias. It is not okay to discriminate against any group- including people who are overweight.

We have to fight obesity and not attack the people who have it. Look for ways to increase the quality of life for people who are obese that will help them emotionally and physically.

One positive way to fight obesity is to have fun making and eating healthy, nutritious food. Examples are in our book “Funny Food.”

A post election article in the NY Times described the strategies used by the Obama volunteers to bring out the voters.

I’m going to use their proven techniques to enjoy the holidays and stay on plan.

The volunteers did not merely knock on doors to remind people to vote. They “used subtle motivational techniques that research has shown can prompt people to action.”

1.  They reminded people that they had voted before. “We know you voted in the past.” This statement acts as a prompt to vote again.

We can think about times when we were able to enjoy holidays and not stuff ourselves. This is a good prompt for me.

2.  Some volunteers asked people if they would sign a commitment to vote thus making the promise public. I wrote a blog about making a public commitment. Motivational research shows that it works!

3.  If people said they would vote the volunteers asked them to be specific in their planning and say what time they would vote.

Research has shown the more you can preview exactly what you will do and when, the more likely you are to do it.  It is easier to do something if you have already previewed yourself doing it.

I will use the three motivational techniques to help me in my struggle with temptation. I am being very specific.

1. I am reminding myself of times I had fun without overeating.

2. I’m making a public commitment to you.

3. I am picturing myself at a party.

To help me with the third strategy I will wear clothes that are snug to remain conscious of how much I’m eating.

I will keep a glass of sparkling water in my hand to keep my hands busy. It will also make it awkward to reach for food. The water will also fill me up.

At parties where it’s OK to bring a dish I will bring a salad and veggies.

Most important for me is not to hang around near the food.

If I see it I want it.

I will stick to this plan, I hope you can to.

Shop by color- A peach is green.

Posting calories hasn’t worked as well as expected. Researchers are trying different approaches to improve the health value of the food people purchase.

The August issue of the Yale Rudd Center Health Digest reported on a study done in the cafeteria at Mass General Hospital that showed that color-coded food helped hospital workers make healthier choices. Using the traffic light style color codes (green, yellow and red) on food and beverage selections -green being the healthiest and red the least healthy items.  4,642 employees were tracked and after 6 months food with a red label decreased by 15% and beverages with the red label decreased 39%.

Color-coding food is an effective way to cut through the nutritional clutter and help people avoid unhealthy items.

I hope we see color-coding coming to our stores soon.

Shop by Number- A peach is 100

Another approach already in many supermarkets across the country is shopping by number. I described The Nu Val system in a blog on 6/14/12. After that blog was posted I got some emails thanking me. I urged readers to ask their supermarket to add the Nu Val System.

It is a number system (1-100) the higher the number the more nutritious the food. This is another simple way to move towards improving the quality of your purchases.

Whether you use numbers or colors- once you get the food home you need to get the kids to eat it.

Easy ways to get kids to eat what you bought

With just a few raisins it’s easy to make a fun plate that will entice kids to eat healthy food.

Four raisins in a bowl of oatmeal will make a funny face…and if kids make it, they’ll eat it.

Using an amusing and creative approach may get kids interested in expanding their food choices-especially if they are involved in making the meal!

Put a few veggies on the plate to make a nose, eyes and mouth and you might get the kids to eat that too.

Utilizing some easy, methods we can cut down on the feeling of being overwhelmed with nutritional information and improve the quality of our lives.