Archive for category Nutrition
Recipe – Home Made Cottage Cheese
Posted by bradinator in Nutrition, Recipes on June 25, 2009
Since being told this recipe by a friend, I have practically stopped buying my store brand cottage cheese and instead purchase the milk needed to create my own. It tends to come out a little more like pannier then cottage cheese in consistency, but I think that is because I do not boil it long enough. the major advantage of doing it this way is that this home made stuff has no sodium, where store bought tends to have about 2000mg per cup.
Ingredients:
2L Milk (Any percentage will work, I usually use 2% or Whole)
Vinegar (maybe half a cup)
Directions:
1) In a very large pot, fill the bottom with about an inch of water and bring it to a slow boil. This will help prevent the milk from burning to the bottom.
2) Add the milk to the pot. Bring the milk to a boil (approx 95-100c) while stirring. From my experience, bringing to around 98C over a long period of time yields the most cottage cheese.
3) Allow to slow boil for about 2-3 minutes. Add the vinegar and begin stirring. The milk will separate and become curds (cottage cheese) and whey (vile yellow liquid).
4) Using a sieve or cheese cloth, drain the curds and whey. Rinse the curds in cold water until cool.
And thats is. Your done! If you can getting the timing and temperatures right, I think you can get a 50/50 split of curds and whey. Usually I end up with around a 25/75 split, wasting alot of the milk. Still the overall cost is less then a tub of cottage cheese and in my opinion much tastier.
Recipe – Banana Shanny Pancakes
Posted by bradinator in Nutrition, Recipes on June 17, 2009
This is probably one of my favorite recipes and definitely my favorite breakfast. I developed this recipe with the help of my friend, who told me to use bananas for better consistency.
Ingredients -
1 banana
1/2 cup of dry oatmeal
1/2 cup of egg whites
1 egg
Optional: 1/4 cup of cottage cheese (adds consistency and slightly more creamy texture)
Directions:
1) Through all of the above ingredients into a blender and blend until it has the consistency of pancake mix
2) In a heated (med to med-high) skillet, spray lightly with cooking spray
3) Pour batter onto the skillet evenly and cook until the underside is brown and solid enough to flip with a spatula.
4) Flip and brown the other side to your liking.
5) Once done remove from the pan, sprinkle some cinnamon and enjoy. Maple syrup goes nicely with it as well though I find it far to sweet with the banana already in it.
Nutritional Info:
Protien: 35 grams (40 with cottage cheese)
Carbs: 65 grams (67 with cottage cheese)
Fat: 5 grams (7 with cottage cheese)
Calories: 450 kcal
Comparing Apples and Oranges
Posted by bradinator in Nutrition on March 15, 2009
I think I found a new way to waste my time, comparing food nutritional values. Comparing apples and oranges is supposed to never happen because they are far too different… Or are they!? Lets take a look.
| Apples | Oranges | |||
| GI/GL | 38/5 | 42/4 | ||
| Fat | 0.2 | g | 0.1 | g |
| Mono-Sat | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Poly-Sat | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Omega 3 | 9 | mg | 7 | mg |
| Omega 6 | 43 | mg | 18 | mg |
| Saturated Fat | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Carbohydrates | 14 | g | 12 | g |
| Fiber | 3 | g | 2.5 | g |
| Sugar | 11 | g | 9.5 | g |
| Starch | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Protein | 0.3 | g | 0.9 | g |
| Calories | 52 | cal | 47 | cal |
| A | 54 | UI | 225 | UI |
| C | 4.6 | mg | 53.2 | mg |
| E | 0.2 | mg | 0.2 | mg |
| K | 1.8 | mcg | 0 | mcg |
| Thiamin | 0 | mg | 0.1 | mg |
| Riboflavin | 0 | mg | 0 | mg |
| Niacin | 0.1 | mg | 0.3 | mg |
| B6 | 0 | mg | 0.1 | mg |
| Folate | 3 | mcg | 30 | mcg |
| B12 | 0.1 | mcg | 0 | mcg |
| PantothonicAcid | 1 | mg | 0.3 | mg |
| Choline | 3.4 | mg | 8.4 | mg |
| Bataine | 0.1 | ~ | ||
| Calcium | 6 | mg | 40 | mg |
| Iron | 0.1 | mg | 0.1 | mg |
| Magnesium | 5 | mg | 10 | mg |
| Phosphorus | 11 | mg | 14 | mg |
| Potassium | 107 | mg | 181 | mg |
| Sodium | 1 | mg | 0 | mg |
| Zinc | 0 | mg | 0.1 | mg |
| Copper | 0 | mg | 0 | mg |
| Manganese | 0 | mg | 0 | mg |
| Selenium | 0 | mcg | 0.5 | mcg |
| Flouride | 3.3 | mcg | ~ |
Actually it would appear that they really are not that different in a nutrional comparison. Oranges seem to have the upper hand when it comes to nutritional value and have a lower GI and GL impact. The differences are minimal for most categories, though an orange have much more vitamin C then an apple. I guess it really boils down to if you do not mind having to peel your fruit first.
Battle Royale: Sweet Potato Vs. Yam Vs. White Potato
Posted by bradinator in Nutrition on March 4, 2009
Comparing rice has peaked my interest in comparing the differences in food items nutritional value.
Below I have prepared a chart based off the information at NutritionData.com’s website for a Sweet Potato, Yam and White Potato. The values below are based on 100g of the uncooked vegetable.
| Sweet Potato | Yam | Potato | ||||
| GI/GL
Calories |
61/11
86cal |
37/8
118cal |
58/10
77cal |
|||
| Fat | 0 | g | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Mono-Sat | 0 | g | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Poly-Sat | 0 | g | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Omega 3 | 0.1 | mg | 12 | mg | 10 | mg |
| Omega 6 | 13 | mg | 64 | mg | 32 | mg |
| Saturated Fat | 0 | g | 0 | g | 0 | g |
| Carbohydrates | 20 | g | 28 | g | 18 | g |
| Fiber | 3 | g | 4 | g | 2 | g |
| Sugar | 4 | g | 0 | g | 1 | g |
| Starch | 12.7 | g | 24 | g | 15.4 | g |
| Protein | 2 | g | 2 | g | 2 | g |
| A | 14185 | UI | 138 | UI | 2 | UI |
| C | 2.4 | mg | 17 | mg | 20 | mg |
| E | 0.3 | mg | 0.4 | mg | 0 | mg |
| K | 1.8 | mcg | 2.3 | mcg | 1.9 | mcg |
| Thiamin | 0.1 | mg | 0.1 | mg | 0.1 | mg |
| Riboflavin | 0.1 | mg | 0 | mg | 0 | mg |
| Niacin | 0.6 | mg | 0.6 | mg | 1.1 | mg |
| B6 | 0.2 | mg | 0.3 | mg | 0.3 | mg |
| Folate | 11 | mcg | 23 | mcg | 16 | mcg |
| B12 | 0 | mcg | 0 | mcg | 0 | mcg |
| Pantothenic Acid | 0.8 | mg | 0.3 | mg | 0.3 | mg |
| Choline | 12.3 | mg | 16.5 | mg | 12.1 | mg |
| Bataine | ~ | ~ | 0.2 | |||
| Calcium | 30 | mg | 17 | mg | 12 | mg |
| Iron | 0.6 | mg | 0.5 | mg | 0.8 | mg |
| Magnesium | 25 | mg | 21 | mg | 23 | mg |
| Phosphorus | 47 | mg | 55 | mg | 57 | mg |
| Potassium | 337 | mg | 816 | mg | 421 | mg |
| Sodium | 55 | mg | 9 | mg | 6 | mg |
| Zinc | 0.3 | mg | 0.2 | mg | 0.3 | mg |
| Copper | 0.2 | mg | 0.2 | mg | 0.1 | mg |
| Manganese | 0.3 | mg | 0.4 | mg | 0.2 | mg |
| Selenium | 0.6 | mcg | 0.7 | mcg | 0.3 | mcg |
From the chart we can see that generally these three items do not vary that much in nutritional content, though there are a few exceptions. Yams are the highest in calories and carbohydrates, containing about %50 more then the Sweet Potatoes and White Potatoes. It is also the only root in the group to contain zero sugar. Sweet potatoes contain a wallop of Vitamin A, giving you about 250% of your needed intake in just one 100g serving. As for the other vitamins they are all relatively close for daily % requirements. Except for potassium, which Yams contain about double the others values, minerals are also close.
So which do you choose? At this point it would almost boil down to taste. If sweet potatoes were not $5 a kg here (vs. $5 for 5kg for white potatoes), I would buy them all the time. Obviously one could argue that cooking these items does change the nutritional value, and it does. A small amount of starch is converted to sugars when they are boiled and some nutritional value is lost, but the difference is minimal.
Just remember that in the scope of an entire day of eating healthy, well-planned meals, the differences in food items like these, cooked or not, has very little impact overall.
Brown Vs. White: The never ending rice debate
Posted by bradinator in Nutrition on March 3, 2009
Asked me this question three years ago and I would have told you there was no debate and brown rice was the only type of rice your should ever eat. The strange thing is that there are millions, if not billions of people that eat rices white counter part on a daily basis.
When I began to delve deeper into the actual nutritional difference between white and brown rice and maybe some startling discoveries. They really are not all that different, especially if you compare them on NutritionData.
White Rice and Brown Rice, medium grain and already cooked. The gist of this info is provided on the table below. I have only included the values which changed from the milling of the rice.
| Value | Brown | White |
| Calories | 110 | 130 |
| GI/GL | 55/12 | 70/18 |
| Protein | 2.6g | 2.7g |
| Carbohydrate | 23.0g | 28.2g |
| Fiber | 1.8g | 0.4g |
| Total Fat | 0.9g | 0.3g |
| Omega 3 | 14.0mg | 13.0 mg |
| Omega 6 | 309mg | 62.0mg |
| Folate | 4.0mcg | 58.0mcg |
| Magnesium | 43.0mg | 12.0mg |
| Phosphorus | 83.0mg | 43.0mg |
Basically the carbohydrates increase, but fiber is reduced, the fat, including the omega’s are almost completely removed, as well as several minerals become slightly lower. The rest of the changes are negligible. All in all the total nutrition change is actually quite small in the whole scope of your daily intake.
I guess the reason for this post is that you can enjoy white rice guilt free. I think white rice has been labeled unhealthy and is being used fuel for buying its much more expensive brown counterpart in the name of “healthy choices” marketing. Anyways, can the millions and millions of people that eat white rice daily really be wrong?
The Sumo Diet – How close is it to your own?
Posted by bradinator in Diet, Nutrition, Rants on February 14, 2009
You ever wonder how a Sumo wrestlers eat? You may see some very scary similarities.
Without speaking to a Sumo wrestler in training directly I can only go off of my research. So lets look at what I found:
- They skip breakfast everyday
- They eat a large lunch, generally followed immediately by a nap or very sedentary activity (desk job anybody?). This is very important for young Sumo’s in training as it is very effective at putting on weight.
- They eat a large, communal dinner a few hours before bed. Beer and Sake are are usually consumed during this meal as well.
- Typically they eat about 4500 calories a day (including drinks)
Do you skip your breakfasts? Do you eat a large lunch (anything over 1000 calories) followed by a low energy consuming activity? Is your next meal a large late night dinner? Drink any calorie laden beverages today with your meals, juice, soda, beer or otherwise? I hope you answered no to most if not all of those questions. Even if you keep your calories low so you should be losing weight, allowing yourself to enter starvation mode (going 4+ hours without food) will -NOT- help you lose weight. It actually does the opposite and helps your gain weight more effectively.
Like any athlete a Sumo wrestler will eat and train a certain way to achieve the goals necessary to excel at his sport. Being big just happens to be one of those parts. So unless you are a Sumo wrestler or planning to become one in the near future I think its safe to say your goals are not the same. If that is the case then why are you eating like one?
If you are eating like this hopefully your still getting as much exercise as a training Sumo does…
Multi-Vitamins – A multitude of ways to waste your money?
Posted by bradinator in Experiments, Nutrition on February 5, 2009
Until recently I have taken a multi-vitamin everyday, along with several other vitamins depending on the time of the year (for example – Vitamin D in winter) or the type of training I was doing (Brewers Yeast, a B complex during particularly hard training regiments for “improved energy and recovery”). The funny thing is I never felt any different when I took them.
Actually its not really that funny because I may have been wasting my money for the past several years. Do multi-vitamins really do anything? A lot of research out there shows they do not. And there is a lot of research that they do. Some say the reduce the risk of Cancer and some say the increase the risk of Cancer. Honestly, go Google it yourself. The World is Awash in contradictory studies on this topic.
I used to think that taking one was kind of like an insurance policy: They do not do me any direct harm and could be giving me the vitamins needed. When my girl friend asked me why I was taking them now I said “For my health”, but then she retorted “But do you feel any different when you do not take them?”
Thats when it clicked. No I do not. I have never felt any noticeably different taking a vitamin or not. When taking B vitamins for energy I never felt more energetic. When I took vitamin D to prevent SEDS I still felt just a lousy during the long dark winter months. I guess thats not totally true because sometimes I did feel sick to my stomach if I took one without food.
So my plan now is to cut out any form of vitamin supplement and just focus on getting my daily intake from food instead. Something tells me that in a few months time the only thing that will change is having an additional $30 in my wallet every month.