Candy is dandy, however...

photo by Claire Hugron

I may be a nutritionist but there’s no way I’m going to be a killjoy when it comes to Halloween. In my books, this fright-night celebration is about letting our kids be kids. And that means giving them the okay to indulge in sweets, if they so desire. 

Instead of outlawing Halloween treats, we need to help kids learn to manage them. According to Ellyn Satter, a Madison, Wisconsin registered dietitian and psychotherapist, Halloween can be a valuable experience for children because it teaches them how to regulate their candy intake and, potentially, improve their overall relationship with food.

Satter, who has authored four best-selling books, including Your Child's Weight: Helping Without Harming, advocates letting your child relish their Halloween haul: have them spread the candy out on the kitchen table, sort it and eat as much of it as they want. Then let them do the same the following day.

On the third day, have your youngster put their sack of goodies away and provide them with a couple of pieces at meals, for dessert, and as much as they wish at snack time. 

If your child can follow this rule, they get to keep control of their loot. If they can’t, you take the reins with the message that as soon as they can manage it, they get to keep it.

Satter’s approach isn’t easy for parents because it requires a neutral stance on sugar-laden foods and minimal interference. But it emphatically recommends that treats be relegated to structured times: meals and snacks. Accompanying candy with nutritious foods allows kids to satisfy their nutrient needs and hunger, reducing the likelihood that they’ll fill up on sweets.

photo by Claire Hugron

Having a nourishing meal before your child heads out trick-or-treating is particularly important and pumpkin black bean soup fills the bill.The black beans, which are pureed and hardly recognizable, make it a hearty dish. Prepare the soup ahead of time and serve with cut-up veggies and a whole wheat baguette.

The amount of seasoning in this soup may be overwhelming for small children’s sensitive taste buds. If that’s the case, use half the amount of pumpkin pie spice mix while sauteing the onions and garlic. You can always add more, if it needs more zip, as the soup is simmering. Pumpkin pie spice mix can be store-bought or homemade. If you don’t have it on hand, here’s a recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix

makes 2 1/4 tablespoons

1  tablespoon (15 ml) ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon (7 ml) ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon (3 ml) ground allspice

3/4 teaspoon (3 ml) ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cloves

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

serves 6

What you need:

3  tablespoons (75 ml) olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2  tablespoons (30 ml) pumpkin pie spice mix

1/2  teaspoon (2 ml) red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground black pepper

4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock

1 - 14 ounce (398 ml) can diced tomatoes

1 - 28 ounce (796 ml) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 - 19 ounce (540 ml) can black beans, rinsed well and drained

balsamic vinegar (optional)

sour cream or creme fraiche (optional)

What to do:

In large saucepan, heat olive oil on medium-low. Add onions and saute for about two minutes. Add garlic, pumpkin pie spice, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Stir well to combine all ingredients and continue to saute for another two minutes. 

Add vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, pumpkin puree and black beans. Stir to combine ingredients then raise heat to medium-high, cover and bring to the boil. Once at the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly; salt may be needed if low-sodium veggie stock is used.

Uncover and carefully puree soup with a hand-held blender or regular blender. If using the latter, puree soup in three-cup batches, covering blender lid with a dish cloth to prevent hot liquid splashes.

If the consistency of the soup is too thick for your taste, add water to thin it out. Before serving, add a few drops of balsamic vinegar and top with sour cream or creme fraiche, if using. 

For more information about Ellyn Satter’s philosophy on feeding children, visit right here.

published in the Vancouver Courier, October 28, 2011

Learning to slow down

Recently I had dinner with my 22 month-old godson, Callum. Leftover spaghetti was on the menu and as he ate I couldn’t help but notice how much he savoured every fist-full of pasta. While there was spaghetti everywhere, there wasn’t a trace of guilt or shame to be found. And once Callum had enough, he pushed the bowl away and smacked his lips – he was done. For him, the party was over.

Watching Callum reminded me that all of us are born with that same innate wisdom about food and our bodies. As we grow older, though, some of us retain it more than others. Living in a health-conscious and appearance-obsessed society takes its toll: we can lose touch with our joie de vivre and our body’s internal cues. 

Dr. Brian Wansink, a food psychologist at Cornell University , would agree. Wansink , who is also the author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, believes we’re particularly lousy at listening to our fullness cues. Many of us don’t stop eating unless we’re physically uncomfortable.

Wansink proposes that our fullness cues are influenced by how much we chew, taste, shallow, think about food, and how long we spend eating. 

We are a nation of fast eaters. One study described by Wansink revealed that if we’re eating lunch alone, we spend only 11 minutes eating in a fast food outlet, 13 minutes in a workplace cafeteria, and 28 minutes in a moderately priced restaurant. This is bad news considering it takes 20 minutes for our stomachs and brains to realize we’ve had enough.

According to Wansink, most of us decide how much we’re going to eat before we even begin. We eyeball how much food we think we want, dish it out, and then eat until our plate is empty. Instead of relying on our body signals, the empty plate becomes our cue to stop.

After conducting countless studies, Wansink strongly believes our bodies have only three main internal cue settings: “I’m Starving”; “I’m Full but I Can Eat More”; and “I’m Stuffed”. 

Within the “I’m Starving” mode, there is a bottom level to our internal cues where, past a certain number of hours, we don’t experience hunger pains any differently. Whether we haven’t eaten for 8 hours or for 18 hours, we feel equally hungry. (Although I believe we would most likely experience other physical symptoms such as low energy and poor concentration as time went on without food). The “I’m Stuffed” setting contains our internal cue ceiling, beyond which we can’t continue to eat without experiencing physical pain. 

Between these two extremes lies the grey zone, the “ I’m Full but I Can Eat More” category, which Wansink feels requires most of our attention. This is where we can always find room for more food even though we’re close to our fullness ceiling. How many times have we found space for dessert after a filling main course?  

One of the most practical ways we can respond to Wansink’s findings is simply slowing down. The truth is the faster we eat, the more we eat. We need to give our bodies a chance to acknowledge its satiety. As much as possible we should set aside at least 20 minutes to eat a meal and 10 minutes for a snack. And just like Callum, we should try to savour every fist-full of food.

Coconut oil requires caution

Last week I was enjoying lunch with friends when the topic of conversation turned to coconut oil. One of my diet-conscious mates was describing a dish she recently prepared using the tropical fat. Everyone at the table was terribly impressed; what a healthy alternative to canola oil or olive oil. To say that I didn’t share my friends’ enthusiasm is putting it mildly.

For some time now, the subject of coconut oil has been setting off my crap detector: an intuitive device that’s been honed from years of observing the worthy-of-consideration to downright ludicrous trends in food and nutrition. 

When I began my undergraduate nutrition degree in the early 1980s, coconut oil and the other tropical fat, palm oil, were well established as the beloved fats of food manufacturers. Their creamy texture, long self-life and low cost made them ideal for producing highly-processed foods.

But by the end of that decade, about the time I started practicing as a dietitian, tropical oils experienced a major fall from grace. Nutrition research revealed that these fats were linked to elevated blood cholesterol levels and, as a consequence, could increase our risk of developing heart disease. 

Now, more than 20 years later, coconut oil can be found in many natural and health food stores where shop owners ask a pretty penny for products that claim to cure a plethora of health ailments.

Most of the positive health effects associated with coconut oil are based on anecdotal evidence; there isn’t a lot of published research. But we do know that the once-held belief that saturated fat--whether from animals or tropical oils--raised blood cholesterol levels and increased our risk of heart disease, isn’t entirely true.

Today it’s clear that the effects of saturated fat on blood cholesterol levels varies from person to person. Genetics, body weight, gender and lifestyle (such as diet, exercise, alcohol consumption and tobacco use) need to be taken into consideration.

photo by Valentyn Volkov via istockphotos.com

According to Dietitians of Canada, there is some scientific evidence that consuming coconut oil doesn’t raise our total and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels to the same extent as butter. However, coconut oil may increase our blood cholesterol levels to a greater extent than vegetable oils. 

All fats and oils, whether we’re talking about olive oil, butter, walnut oil or coconut oil, are comprised of a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. While coconut oil is a highly saturated fat, it doesn’t appear to worsen or improve cholesterol levels in most people. 

This finding is supported by epidemiological studies that show people who consume high coconut fat diets--such as Polynesians--tend to have low cholesterol levels.

Although adding moderate amounts of coconut oil in the context of a healthy diet is unlikely to significantly affect our heart health, we still need to practice caution; this fat’s effects on cholesterol aren’t fully understood.

So far there’s absolutely no scientific proof that coconut oil strengthens our immunity, improves digestion, gets rid of acne, or prevents heart disease, arthritis, and other chronic diseases. 

Compared to other fats, the body uses a few more calories to process the tropical oil because of its chemical structure. But any calorie-burning effect is minimal at best; coconut oil is by no means a weight-loss aid.

published in the Vancouver Courier, October 21, 2011

Big packages, big bodies

Like many of us, I love a good bargain. During these tough economic times, who doesn’t value saving money?

That’s why I bought a Costco membership for the first time. Within days, I was buying all kinds of stuff. You know, things I really needed like a 12-pack of lint-remover brushes, two bathrobes, five calendars featuring scenes of France and enough toothpaste to last me until 2014.

I was also bringing home vast quantities of food: 3-pound containers of ground coffee, 2-pound bags of potato chips, and 4-pound jars of peanut butter.

Not wanting to waste any of this, I was snacking every three hours and cooking meals that could feed eight. In short: I was constantly eating.

But recently, after one too many potato chips, I began to wonder: Do we take bigger handfuls of chips when the bag is gigantic? Is it possible that we scoop out more peanut butter from a barrel-size jar?

Do we eat more food when it comes from a large package as opposed to a smaller container?

Food psychologist, Dr. Brian Wansink, and his team at Cornell University believe we do. These researchers have conducted numerous studies that examine the impact of package-size on our food consumption behavior.

According to Wansink, we look for cues that tell us how much to eat and one of these signs is the size of the package or bottle. Like big portions on our plates, big packages make us believe it’s normal and appropriate to eat more.

One of Wansink’s studies investigated how much spaghetti people eat when given different quantities of ingredients to prepare the pasta meal.

The researchers invited individuals to cook a spaghetti dinner for themselves and their spouses in a community kitchen. Wansink and his colleagues provided the food: half of the volunteers were given a medium-size box of spaghetti, a medium-size jar of pasta sauce, and one pound of ground beef. The other study participants received larger boxes, jars, and packages of all three food items.

After the meal, Wansink and his fellow researchers surreptitiously weighed the amount of pasta, spaghetti sauce, and ground beef remaining in the packages as well as the quantity of the pasta dinner that was prepared by the volunteers but not eaten.

They found that people who were given the large packages of ingredients typically cooked 23 per cent more food than those who received the medium ones.
And more importantly, the Cornell researchers discovered that study participants ate on average 20 to 25 per cent more from larger packages. This same result was observed in other studies besides spaghetti – it didn’t matter what kind of food research volunteers were consuming from a large container.

Apparently, big packages, boxes, and bottles bump up how much food we prepare. We serve ourselves larger amounts and according to Wansink and his team we tend to eat 92 per cent of the portion.

Purchasing large containers of food may seem like a great way to pinch pennies but not if our warehouse club membership leads to overbuying.

One of two things happen when big food packages enter our kitchen: we either throw it out because we’ve grown tired of the food and, before long, it’s gone stale; or we overeat – we can’t stand wasting a crumb even though the food may be well past it’s prime.

We’re not ahead of the game if we end up with a slimmer wallet and a thicker waistline. We need to keep our consumerism in check. And on that note, if anyone wants a free lint-remover brush, drop me a line.

originally published in the Vancouver Courier, September 16, 2009

The secret to losing weight

Each year Canadians spend billions of dollars on diet pills, herbs, supplements and programs that promise miraculous weight loss. Almost all these products and regimens are based on one premise: if we want to trim our waistlines we need to stop eating certain foods or, perhaps, eliminate particular food groups from our diet altogether. 

The weight loss industry is extremely preoccupied with the types of food we put in our mouths. But it’s not carbohydrates, fats, or sugar that makes us gain weight. It’s not that we’re eating the wrong combinations of food or that we’re having meals and snacks that are detrimental to our blood type. The problem is we’re eating too much. The culprit is our portion sizes.

Over the past 30 years, portions have subtly and steadily increased. Muffins are now the size of miniature doll houses. Bagels resemble life-preservers. And our dinner plates look more like serving platters. 

All this is not helpful given that many of us abide by the law of portion size: the more food we have in front of us, the more we eat. 

Dr. Barbara Rolls and her colleagues at Penn State University have repeatedly seen this law in action. Rolls and her team observed that research volunteers  habitually ate more when served larger amounts of food. Hungry or not, their study participants consumed greater quantities of sandwiches, snack foods, or restaurant meals, compared to when they were given smaller portions.

Similar behaviour has been studied in children and it appears the law of portion size kicks in somewhere between the ages of three and five. Researchers, Dr. Leann Birch (also of Penn State University) and Dr. Jennifer Fisher of Baylor College of Medicine reported that 3 year-olds, when given a lot of food, will eat only until they feel full. They’re not influenced by serving size. But by the age of 5, something changes – a child will pretty much eat whatever portion they’re given.

Clearly, large portions encourage us to eat past the point of feeling full. We like to keep munching away.

So how do we overcome our human nature and win this battle? Our first line of defense needs to be eating smaller portions. We have to start putting less food on our plates, especially for those of us who aren’t great at listening to our fullness cues.

A friend recently told me an interesting story about plates and portions: A young couple was getting ready to move out of province and in an attempt to do some early preparation, they packed most of their dishes six months in advance. For meals prior to leaving town, they set aside luncheon plates. 

photo by Paul Johnson via istockphotos.com

The couple ate the same food as usual but meals were served on these smaller-sized dishes.

Lo and behold, their clothes began to fit differently and over a six month period both of them lost a significant amount of weight. Neither of them realized they were consuming less food until their bodies began to shrink.

It’s ironic that so much money is blown on the dieting industry, yet many of us rarely consider reducing portions as a weight management option: a strategy that’s practical, effective, and economical. 

Most diet products and programs don’t fit our everyday lives. They fail to work because their approach to food isn’t in sync with the way we really eat. Cutting out our favorite foods is a lousy idea but cutting down on how much we eat of them is more realistic. 


originally published in the Vancouver Courier, September 9, 2009

Defining moderation

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it” -- Oscar Wilde

While I appreciate Wilde’s sentiment, I have to argue when it comes to edible temptations. We can’t possibly give in to every desire that comes our way. Not if we want to fit comfortably into our beloved jeans or, more importantly, live past the age of 35. For us to enjoy good health and a decent life expectancy we need to show some restraint in the food department.

But what does moderate eating look like? Early in my career, the concept of moderation baffled me. I struggled with helping patients apply it to their daily lives. It felt wrong to tell them exactly what they should eat but I also felt I wasn’t providing enough guidance. 

Then I heard about the 80-20 eating philosophy from Patricia Chuey, a registered dietitian and entrepreneur. Chuey believes the 80-20 guideline provides a more realistic approach to eating compared to the “all or nothing” mentality. We feel less intimidated once we realize we don’t have to be perfect eaters to be healthy.

Chuey’s philosophy supports eating and drinking portion-wise amounts of whatever our little hearts desire but with one major caveat: if we're trying to stay healthy we should aim to eat well at least 80 per cent of the time. The remaining 20 per cent of our eating can be pleasurable indulgences that are not necessarily high on the nutrition totem-pole. 

“If we can honestly reflect back on a day or a week and say we made healthy choices at least 80 percent  of the time, we’re doing well. Does this mean we should intentionally eat unhealthy food 20 per cent of the time? Absolutely not.”, says Chuey. She goes on to caution against using healthy Monday to Friday eating to justify a weekend-long food frenzy.

When we do indulge, though, Chuey is passionate about making delicious food choices. Getting great pleasure from food provides us with satisfaction and a sense of well-being. Regular treats such as chocolate, a glass of wine, or ice cream, can minimize feelings of deprivation and help stifle urges to overeat. We're more apt to eat moderately when we know there will be other opportunities to enjoy these foods.

Besides being mindful of food choices and portions, Chuey also encourages us to be aware of our satiety, meaning how full our stomach feels. Whether we're eating tofu stir-fry or creme caramel, we need to practice stopping when we feel comfortably full. Even munching on carrots to the point of popping a shirt button just isn’t healthy.

Making everyone happy at Thanksgiving

In our modern times, many of the friends and family who gather around our table at Thanksgiving come with opposing food preferences: some worship the almighty bird, while others take a pass. An intense dislike or moral issues about eating animals, leave them wanting nothing to do with Mr. Tom Turkey.

For home cooks, this creates a Thanksgiving dilemma: how do you make a meal that pleases everyone--carnivores and vegetarians, not to mention those who are vegan. This time-crunched holiday is stressful enough without making different dishes for different people. But, at the same time, you want everyone to feel included.

Here are two recipes that will make life easier because even though you’re roasting a turkey and vegetarians or vegans are among your guests, everyone can at least enjoy the same gravy and stuffing.

Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy has been adapted from this recipe submitted by freelance baker, sticks n’ scones, on the popular blog, Food52.com. Interestingly, it won top prize in the blog’s best gravy contest beating out many traditional turkey-based entries. I’m not surprized after making this gravy for my family; my meat-loving father lapped it up as if it were soup.




The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made a day in advance therefore eliminating the last minute hassle of whipping up a gravy from turkey pan dripping. In fact, it’s better made ahead of time because the flavours intensify. I used a mix of dried morel and oyster mushrooms but any kind of edible dried mushroom works. 

When it comes to the sherry I used it because I happen to have it on hand. I have to admit, it added a certain je ne sais quoi to the flavour. But if you don't have it in the house don't run out and buy a bottle just for this. Use red wine or forget it completely.


To accommodate vegans, substitute olive oil for the butter and additional vegetable stock for the cream.

Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy

makes 2 1/2 cups

What You Need:

1/2 cup (125 ml) dried mushrooms

2 cups (500 ml) vegetable stock

3 tablespoons (75 ml) unsalted butter

1 small shallot, finely minced

1/4 cup (60 ml) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 ml) light cream (6% M.F.)

3 tablespoons (75 ml) low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons (30 ml) minced fresh thyme

1 tablespoon (15 ml) dry sherry (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

What To Do:

Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl. Bring vegetable stock to the boil and pour over mushrooms. Let steep for 20 minutes. Remove mushrooms from stock, mince and set aside. Don’t add back to stock. Reserve stock for later.

Over medium heat, melt butter and saute shallots in a medium-sized saucepan until they’re translucent (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper while cooking. Add flour and stir continuously until flour is well incorporated into butter and shallots. Stir mixture and cook for 3 minutes to make sure gravy doesn’t have a raw flour flavour. Lower heat if mixture begins to burn.

Using a whisk, gradually add the reserved vegetable stock (leaving dried mushroom sediment behind) to the butter-four mixture. Whisk continuously until liquid is smooth. Raise heat to medium high and cook, while whisking occasionally, until sauce begins to come to the boil and thickens.

Turn heat down to medium and whisk in cream, soy sauce, thyme, reserved mushrooms and sherry (if using). Continue to cook for another few minutes until gravy is heated through. Adjust seasoning according to taste.

Vegetarian Sourdough Stuffing is a recipe of my own and adapts well to different ingredients. If apple, mushrooms and walnuts aren’t to your liking, think about using pears, dried fruit and other kinds of nuts. The recipe can easily be doubled for larger gathering.

Cooking stuffing outside the turkey in a separate pan allows the bird to cook faster and more evenly, reducing our risk of being exposed to food-borne illnesses. According to Health Canada, stuffing is an ideal place for bacteria to grow: it’s moist and slow to heat up and cool down. All stuffing, whether cooked separately or inside the turkey, should be heated to a minimum internal temperature of 74°C (165°F).

Vegetarian Sourdough Stuffing

makes about six cups

What You Need:

1/2 large loaf sourdough bread

3 tablespoons (75 ml) olive oil, plus extra for oiling baking pan.

2 medium celery stalks, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced

3 large button mushrooms, diced

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) pepper

1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground sage

1/4 cup (60ml) chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon (15 ml) minced fresh thyme

1 cup (250 ml) chopped walnuts

1 cup (250 ml) vegetable stock

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes without removing crust. Evenly spread cubed bread out on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, tossing cubes after 10 minutes. Let cool and transfer to large mixing bowl. Increase oven temperature to 350 F.

Over medium-high, heat olive oil in large non-stick skillet and saute onion and celery until tender (about 5 minutes). Season with salt, pepper and ground sage. Add apple and mushrooms and cook another 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add fresh parsley and thyme.

Transfer to large bowl with bread cubes, add walnuts and mix well. Gradually add stock and combine well until bread is lightly moistened and ingredients begin to stick together. If you like your stuffing on the drier side you’ll probably only need half the amount of the stock.

Evenly press stuffing mixture into oiled baking pan. Choose a pan that allows the spread stuffing to be no more than two to  inches deep. At this point, stuffing can be kept refrigerated for several hours until needed.When ready to bake, bring to room temperature and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.


originally published in the Vancouver Courier, October 6, 2011