Healthy Food & Healthy Living by Dr. Ayala

This Thanksgiving count your blessings, but what about your calorie count?

Excessive gratitude has no known side effects, but Thanksgiving overeating is a concern that’s on many people’s mind.

In much the same way that a rotation of foods and nutrients are demonized and blamed, (fats, carbs, gluten, eggs, dairy – the villain changes the theme remains the same) Thanksgiving, holidays and celebrations are seen as weight gain disasters.

But just likes gluten can’t be blamed for all that ails us, one or two indulgent meals can’t change your fate or weight by much.

That’s not to say that the heavy feeling – and regret – people have post Thanksgiving isn’t real, and that it isn’t time to approach the overflowing holiday plate a little different.

Holiday weight gain, myth or fact?

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of a 6-week festive season, in which office parties, food gifts and cookie displays at the office are interspersed between holiday meals. While one meal can only add so much, 6 weeks can open the floodgates.

A review in the journal Obesity, looked at six studies in adults, demonstrating significant weight gain over the holidays in five of them. In one of the studies following 195 people over 6 weeks, from late November to mid-January, the participants gained an average of 0.8 pounds – which they kept on one year later. Weight gain was even greater in the other four studies and ranged from 1.2 to 2 pounds!

The review examined another six studies of people trying to lose weight, and those fared no better: they gained on average 0.6 to 2 pounds. So even when the intent is to lose weight, even when people are watching their weight, the holiday season stands in their way.

Binges and steady indulgences

It’s interesting to compare holiday weight-gain studies findings to those of studies of overfeeding. In an overfeeding experiment participants were fed 1000 excess calories a day for three weeks. Not surprisingly, the participants gained more than 4.5 pounds. But they lost this excess weight within 6 weeks after the overfeeding experiment ended. Another overfeeding experiment, which lasted 100 days, resulted in greater weight gain – 18 pounds – and although much of the weight was lost when the experiment ended, the participants remained about 3 pounds over their starting point, and continued to gain weight over the years.

Another recent study, had volunteers add 1000 extra calories derived from high-calorie snacks such as chocolate, potato chips and meal replacement drinks to their regular regimen.

Five days of overfeeding had little effect on body weight and body fat, but 28 days changed body mass and fat mass: after 28 days participants gained on average 3.5 pounds of weight, of them, almost 3 pounds of fat. There were also metabolic consequences: Post-meal blood glucose levels spiked when participants overfed for 28 days and insulin levels spiked as well. These changes in insulin production and insulin clearance suggest of the emergence of insulin resistance – the body loosing its sensitivity to insulin.

These studies, each of them small, suggest that at least in healthy, young people, short-term overeating is buffered; the body regulates and shifts the excess energy so that glucose and insulin, and even weight are quite stable.

On the other hand, oversupply that lingers can take its toll and may have metabolic and long lasting consequences.

Clearly, the more you repeat a damaging behavior the more of the exposure you accumulate, but beyond that, when you repeat a behavior it becomes a habit; habits stick and are hard to break.

Do you really enjoy being stuffed?

Many people comment on how stuffed they feel after the Thanksgiving meal.

Being stuffed is not a holiday core requirement.

There’s no reason to fill your plate with the most caloric-dense of the dishes offered – if you fill half the plate with the veggies you’ll lighten your load. If you watch what you drink you can shave off hundreds of excessive empty calories – sugar and alcohol in drinks add up and go unnoticed.

There’s no reason to eat until you can’t eat another bite.

But if you enjoy the occasional binge just relax about it. Overindulgence happens. That absolutely doesn’t mean you might as well just give up. One meal or one day don’t matter, you can surely get back to your healthy routine.

Make the most of the holiday. Count your blessing, not your calories.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Dr. Ayala

Flavor comes first

“Imagine if a startup came up with a new invention, a perfect bite of finger food that explodes in your mouth when you chew on it, releasing juicy, sweet, acidic flavors, with afternotes of sun and the mysteries of wine lingering in your mouth after you swallow,” my oldest son said while popping a grape into his mouth.

Because that’s what a grape is; it’s one of the most perfectly delicious products on earth.

Not to insult the apple, or the avocado, or the carrot. They are all marvels of flavor, with endless culinary potential.

So why aren’t people excited?

Could it be because we’ve pushed fruits and veggies as good-for-you chores? Are we marketing vegetables all wrong?

We eat with our mind, not just with our taste buds. Our perception and state of mind, the surroundings, the presentation, and what other people think all affect what food will actually taste like to us. There’s a whole body of evidence to show this, but I’m sure you already know it from personal experience.

What would happen if we emphasized the tastiness of healthy food? Would people find them more enticing?

What’s in a name

In a new study in Psychological Science researchers from Stanford University examine how a focus on pleasure and taste, rather than on health attributes, affects students’ choices.

The researchers displayed taste-focused labels – the intervention – against health-focused names and basic labels. The flavor focused titles included “Herb n’ Honey Balsamic Glazed Turnips”, “Sizzlin’ Szechuan Green Beans with Toasted Garlic”, “Twisted Citrus Glazed Carrots”, and “Ultimate Chargrilled Asparagus” – the kind of names used in restaurant menus. The names were designed to communicate flavor, preparation method and a positive experience. Health focused titles included “Healthy Choice Turnips” and “Nutritious Green Beans.” Basic, neutral labels were non-descriptive, i.e., “Turnips” or “Green Beans.”

The randomized controlled study took place over 185 days, across 5 university dining halls, included about 140,000 diner decisions, 71 vegetable dishes and 24 types of veggies.

Taste focused labels increased veggie selection by about 30 percent, compared with the health-focused label, and by 14 percent compared with the basic label. Take note: the health-focused label performed worse than the basic label!

Taste focused labels increased vegetable consumption by about 40 percent.

The catch: a tasty sounding name has to also deliver on the promise of deliciousness. Taste focused labels worked when the cafeteria also prepared the dish well; since the experiment was conducted in several dining halls the culinary level wasn’t uniform, and in the school in which the veggie failed to deliver on expectations a mouthwatering name made little difference. Adding more words and listing ingredients works to create an expectation, but expectations do need to be met.

Get excited about veggies

You don’t need a marketing consultant to get your family excited about veggies, but you can get some inspiration from restaurants.

Famed chef and philanthropist José Andrés – who can’t be suspected of veganism –writes in his new cookbook, Vegetables Unleashed:

“We need to find ways to get people excited about things that sprout from the earth. We need to show the world just how sexy plants can be.”

Excitement comes from using good produce, from interesting and varied preparation, nice presentation, a sprig of herbs and a few crunchy nuts used as a garnish.

How about a mouthwatering name? Giving dishes at home chef-y names may sound fake and unnatural, up to you, but do please consider skipping the good-for-you saves-your-eyesight advocacy. Most kids find it boring and aren’t the least bit interested in aging gracefully.

I’m with Andres: get kids’ tastebuds excited about veggies.

Dr. Ayala