Blog 2: Carbohydrates and Added Sugars

Carbohydrates and Added Sugars

Foods that are high in carbohydrates are providing energy to your body, with around 4 kcalories per gram. They are providing single sugars by digestion and absorption, mostly in small intestine, for energy. (Drummond & Brefere, n.d.) Foods that are high in added sugars, on the other hands, provide zero nutrient but many added calories (AHA, n.d.) to the body and it is addictive. They are digested faster than complex carbohydrates, which increase the workload of pancreas by promote insulin resistance. 

Robert Wiedemann, (2019), [Photos], https://unsplash.com/photos/FJGZFxtQWko

Negative Health Effect of Too Much added sugars

Obesity

Consumption of too much added sugars will induce weight gain. The research by Faruque (2014) has indicated that the amount of sugar intake has direct impact to obesity. 

Increase Risk of Heart Disease

People consumed 8% of their kcalories as added sugar will have a 38% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. (Harvard, 2022)

Alexander Grey, (2019), [Photos], https://unsplash.com/photos/oKay0q7Pa30

Whole Grain

Whole grains means it contains all the germ, bran and endosperm of the entire grain seed without any process. 

Positive Health benefits of Whole grains

Decrease the risk of stroke

A research claimed that eating whole grain has lower risk of stroke. It is based on a data of around 250,000 people, which clearly indicate that the risk of having stroke can be reduced by 14%. (Jennings, 2019)

Improve Digestive Health

The fiber in the whole grains helps prevent constipation and diverticular disease. A study of around 170,000 women have been carried out to show the effectiveness of eating high intakes of fiber, contribute to the digestive system. (Harvard, n.d.)

Carbohydrate-containing food: 

Shanghai Yangchun Noodles 

The packaged food with added sugar(s):

Brookside Dark Chocolate

The added sugars in Brookside Dark Chocolate are Sucrose, Glucose, and Fructose.  

Whole Grains: 

Dempster’s 100% Whole Grains Bread

Quaker Oatmeal Squares 

Chinese Spicy Steak Sandwich (2 servings)

Ingredients 

Mayonnaise

• 2 whole eggs

• 1 tablespoon of mustard

• 250ml Olive oil

• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice 

• Salt to taste

Chinese Spicy Aioli 

• ½ cup of whole egg self-made mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon of Chili Beam Sauce (Toban Djan)

• 1 tablespoon of mustard

• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice 

• ½ teaspoon of chili powder

• ½ teaspoon of honey

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 teaspoon of grilled pepper sauce

Boursin Cheese Sauce 

• 15g of butter

• 1 tablespoon of AP Flour

• 100ml of whole milk 

• 70g of Boursin cheese of Garlic and fine herb favor

Steak Sandwich 

• 1 large onion

• 1 green bell pepper

• 2 tablespoons of butter

• Chinese Spicy Aioli

• Caramelized Onions and Green bell pepper

• 100g of Mushrooms

• 100g of Lettuce/Spinach

• 1 tbsp olive oil 

• 2 Whole grain bread 

• 6oz of beef sirloin 

Instructions

• Put the mustard, lemon juice, 2 whole eggs and 1/3 of olive oil into the food blender. Turn the blender on for 10 seconds, and add 1/3 of olive oil again, keep repeating the process until all the olive oil has been used. Then we can get the mayonnaise. 

• Mix all the ingredients of the aioli together and set aside You can add some grilled pepper sauce from Chinese supermarket but that optional, it can thicken the spicy flavor of the sauce. But remember that only oil of grilled pepper sauce and Chili Beam Sauce should be used. 

• Add 15g of butter into a pot and then add 1 tablespoon of AP flour when melted. Whisk them well and add 100ml of Whole milk and bring to boil. When it started to thicken, add the boursin cheese into the pan and set it aside. 

• Cut the onion and green bell pepper into julienne. 

• Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the onions and green bell pepper until saute, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Then add 1 tablespoon of butter and add the mushroom and fry it to saute and season with sea and pepper. 

• Season the steak with salt and pepper only. Put it into the fridge without covering up for 15 minutes. 

• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cook to steak to medium rare to medium, which reach the internal temperature of around 120F to 130F.

• Add 2 tablespoons of butter and rosemary, to baste. 

• Let it rest for at least ½ of the cooking time, it let the juice to redistribute. 

Assemble the Sandwich

• Remove the whole grain bread crust. Toast by using toaster. 

• Spread the bottom piece generously with spicy ailoi. Top with mushroom and lettuce then beef, onions and green peppers.

• Then pour over the cheese sauce. 

• Cover it up and Enjoy!

The ingredients in above recipe is quite easy to find. You can find the Chili Beam Sauce and Grilled pepper sauce in T&T supermarket. It is the first time I make the cheese sauce and the mayonnaise so that is a brand-new experience to me and that is really good. The challenges of this recipe mainly come from the mayonnaise and the steak. It is difficult to judge how many olive oil need to be added and I may use olive oil and canola oil together next time as the taste of olive oil is a bit heavy. Moreover, thermometer is required to cook the sirloin, but next time I may consider a tenderloin instead which the texture of it is softer which is more suitable for the steak sandwich. I will definitely make this recipe again as it is really delicious! 

Reference List

Add Sugars, American Heart Association (AHA, n.d.)

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/added-sugars

Nutrition for foodservice and culinary professional, 10th Edition (Drummond & Brefere, n.d.)

The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States (Faruque el at., 2014)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6959843/

The sweet danger of sugar (Harvard, 2022)

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar

9 Health Benefits of Eating Whole Grains (Jennings, 2019)

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-benefits-of-whole-grains

Whole Grains (Harvard, n.d.)

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/whole-grains/

Blog 1: Bring Mediterranean Diet to your plate!

What is Mediterranean Diet?

Mediterranean Diet is a way of eating that people followed in some countries around the Mediterranean sea, like Spain, Italian and Greek etc. It mainly encourages a large amount of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and healthy fats consumption and control the intake of processed food and added sugar. It also emphasize using olive oil as principal source of fat with little amount of daily product and alcohol. (Katherine, 2019)

Moreover, a Mediterranean Diet Pyramid has been provided as a guide to let people familiarize with what they consume every day, provided by Mediterranean Diet Foundation ,MDF (2010). 

Mediterranean Diet Foundation, MDF (2010), Diet Pyramid [image], https://dietamediterranea.com/piramidedm/piramide_INGLES.pdf

It can be observed that this pyramid is not just simply a food guideline, it also include a regular activity in the bottom of the pyramid. That means the main concept of Mediterranean diet also includes activities and rest, more importantly, interaction among different people. The physical activities with implementation of Mediterranean diet proved that there is a great impact on extending the life and significantly reduce the risk of death, as mentioned by Ismael et al (2018). Although the combine effect of them cannot be analysed independently, it also gives a strong evidence of the pros of carrying out Mediterranean Diet. 

Jez Timms, (2018), [Photos], https://unsplash.com/photos/BHD2OxkYGSk

Benefits of Mediterranean Diet

1. Reduce the risk of heart disease

A large investigation has been carried out in Spain by PREDIMED (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet), which has involved more than 7000 people and separate into 3 groups. It showed that the group with consuming additional extra-virgin olive oil had about 30 percent lower risk on heart events. This may explain why good olive oil pay an important role in the Mediterranean Diet. (Sheryl & Moira, 2022)

2. Weight loss and Maintenance

Joseph and his partner (2016) has compared the effect of Mediterranean diet with low-fat diet in the effectiveness of weight loss. The result indicates that the people involved in Mediterranean diet has lost 2 to 5 kilograms more than those using low-fat diet. It is a healthier way of eating of maintaining a low body fat. 

3. Life Extend 

As mentioned before (Ismael et al, 2018), the people who eat Mediterranean diet have significantly longer telomere lengths in white cells, and telomere length normally considered indicator of aging. The shorter its length, the longer the process of aging. So this eat style do increase the time you live in the planet in certain aspect. 

4. Prevent in Cancer

According to a systematic review (Sheryl & Moira, 2022), Mediterranean diet can help in reducing certain types of cancer such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer and head cancer. The research also give evidence on the prevention of death in cancer survivors regarding to using this diet. By reducing the intake of processed food, it is also an effective way to prevent cancer. 

5. Ease Depression

16 studies have been carried out in 2013 (Rahe, 2014) has indicated that Mediterranean diet may ease the condition of depression. But in the conclusion of that essay, the number of surveyors may not be enough and there are also several variables that may affect the result. So it may not give out a affirmative conclusion and more analysis should be provided. 

Comparison between Mediterranean Diet and Canada Food Guide 

In fact, the dieting habit of Mediterranean diet is quite similar to Canada Food guide. They both emphasis on the daily intake of vegetables and fruit should tend to 50% and the whole grain food should be 20 – 25%. The difference is that the Mediterranean separate the type of meat to white and red and contain the intake of a little wine. Table is summarized and can be referred as below (Canada Food Guide, 2022): 

	Mediterranean Diet	Canada Food Guide
Fruits and Vegetables	6 -12 servings	10 servings
Protein Foods	2 servings	3 - 4 servings
Whole Grain Foods	4 – 6 servings	3 – 4 servings
Wine	100ml daily	Not recommended

Reference list:

A practical guide to Mediterranean diet (Katherine, 2019)

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-practical-guide-to-the-mediterranean-diet-2019032116194

Diet Review: Mediterranean Diet (Harvard T.H. Chan, 2018)

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/mediterranean-diet/

Mediterranean Diet 101: A Meal Plan and Beginner’s Guide (Kris, 2021)

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mediterranean-diet-meal-plan

What’s the Mediterranean diet? (Mediterranean Diet Foundation, 2010)

https://dietamediterranea.com/en/nutrition/

Mediterranean diet, physical activity and their combined effect on all-cause mortality (Isamael et al, 2018)

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ismael-Alvarez-Alvarez/publication/320088986_Mediterranean_diet_physical_activity_and_their_combined_effect_on_all-cause_mortality_The_Seguimiento_Universidad_de_Navarra_SUN_cohort/links/5d639ea592851c619d770448/Mediterranean-diet-physical-activity-and-their-combined-effect-on-all-cause-mortality-The-Seguimiento-Universidad-de-Navarra-SUN-cohort.pdf

8 Scientific Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet (Sheryl & Moira, 2022)

https://www.everydayhealth.com/mediterranean-diet/scientific-health-benefits-mediterranean-diet/

Systematic Review of the Mediterranean Diet for Long-term Weight Loss (Joseph et al, 2016)

https://www.amjmed.com/article/s0002-9343(15)30027-9/fulltext

Dietary patterns and the risk of depression in adults: a systematic review of observational studies (Rahe et al, 2014)

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-014-0652-9

Canada Food Guide (Canada Food Guide, 2022)

https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

Nutrition in Culinary Industry

Jacopo Maia, (2017), [Photos], https://unsplash.com/photos/-gOUx23DNks

Nutrition certainly plays a more and more important role in the culinary industry. The concept of eating healthy is spreading all over the world in a rapid speed. People are paying more attention on what and how much they should eat, government of different countries are also implementing different policies and regulations to promote health. 

The foremost reason behind is definitely the rise of social medias on the internet. The celebrities nowadays are not limited to the one in the TV shows or movie but also in the social media platform like Instagram and Tiktok. The enormous number of KOLs (Key Opinion Leader) instilled lots of different knowledge, either good or bad to the new generation and one of their characteristics is the appealing body shape. The teenagers and even adults will treat them as idiots and find the ways to become one of them. Due to the convenience of internet, they will figure out the importance of nutrition in the food eventually. 

The government has also set up rules and laws to make the residents become more realized in what they eat. The industry labelling tool has been developed and most of the prepackaged foods required a label according to the law (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2022). This makes the residents can easily refer to what nutrition are contained in the boxes that they are going to purchase, which on the other hands raise their awareness on nutrition. On the other hand, government of Canada has also published the ‘Canada’s Food Guide’ to give more solid guideline to everyone on what they ate. (Canada Food Guide, 2022) It is clearly shown that the Canadian government is also focusing on the nutrition of everyone in the country. 

Last but not least, many chain restaurants are also promoting some new recipes which are healthier than the original one as other choice. Fast food shops like McDonalds contain Nutrition Calculator in website and providing dishes like ‘Ranch Chicken Snack Wrap’ as a healthier options to the customers. (McDonalds, n.d.) Some long lasting companies such as Campbells’ Soup is also providing ‘All Healthy Request’ Soups. 

The health related deaths and obesity are still happening and influencing everyone. But I believe that there is an equally high influence of healthy food concept among the people. Nutrition will always play an inevitable role on the culinary industry. 

Reference list:

Food products that require a label (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2022)

https://inspection.canada.ca/food-labels/labelling/industry/food-products/eng/1624290469261/1624290680899

Canada Food Guide (Canada Food Guide, 2022)

https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

McDonalds’ Nutrition Calculator (McDonalds, n.d.)

https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html

Campbells Healthy Request (Campbells, n.d.)

https://www.campbells.com/healthy-request/

Credible and Non-credible Website by using CRAAP Test

Ronda Dorsey, (2021), [Photos], https://unsplash.com/photos/ZoVR7mPHMGo

Example of Credible Website: Harvard School of Public Health

Example of Non-Credible Website: Reddit.com

Astounding numbers of information can be acquired on the internet with lots of misleading or untrue facts. We should treat them with deliberated attitude. In evaluating sources, a method of SIFT check can be adopted to check the credibility of the website:

S: Stop

Before reading any articles, we should first stop and get a head-up that what/where the source or information are coming from? 

I: Investigate

Check the reputation of the claim or source, who wrote the article or which organization is that? Is the source biased or does author have experience in the topic of being discussed?

F: Find Trusted Coverage

You should able to find a report of data/analysis based on the claim if it is trustworthy. 

T: Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to Original Context

The article should contain reference list/link, go to the original context to see how truthful and how many data are adopted to draw out the conclusion. 

Most likely, we can first check the reputation or qualification of the organization/author and the time of being published. Then check if the reference list can be found. And see if the author has any bias on the topic.