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SHOPPING SMART

By D Magazine |

REMEMBER WHEN choosy mothers chose Jif? Or the blissfully ignorant days of buying canned goods and frozen foods with nary a thought about sodium or fat content? Today, choosy shoppers probably forgo chunky and creamy altogether for healthier almond butter-but not all are so enlightened.

Leni Reed, a local nutritionist, wants to correct that. On selected evenings, Reed hosts a tour in a local supermarket, sharing her knowledge of nutrition and shopping savvy. Aisle by aisle, Reed points out the good, the bad and the caloric. She’ll tell you what to buy and how to read labels.

Diet food isn’t always dietetic, she says. Look for the number of grams from fat in a product, Multiply that by nine (the number of calories in a gram of fat). Then divide that number by the total calories to get the percentage of calories from fat. Watch out for Weight Watcher’s Italian Cheese Lasagna, for example Almost 40 percent of the calories is from fat. (The percentage of calories from fat should be 30 percent or less in your daily diet, Reed recommenas.)



OTHER MYTHS

Starchy foods such as bread and potatoes make you fat. lb lose weight, eat more high protein foods such as steak and roast beef. Starchy foods are filling but they’re not fattening. Many high-protein foods are high in fat. Fat has more calories than carbohydrates or protein; therefore, fat adds calories faster. (About 13 small baked potatoes or 20 bread slices, for example, equal the calories in one 16-ounce serving of a well-marbled steak.)

The new frozen tofu desserts are healthier than frozen yogurt. Most frozen tofu desserts are made with little tofu and lots of fat-either corn, coconut or palm oil. (Saturated coconut and palm are the two most unhealthy oils.) Some frozen tofu desserts have as much as 51 percent of the calories from fat.

Frozen yogurt is tower in calories than ice cream. True, if it’s com-pared with a high-butter-fat ice cream such as Haagen Dazs. Regular ice cream, however, has about the same number of calories as most frozen yogurts. More calories come from fat in ice cream and more from sugar in frozen yogurt.

A runner should drink Gatorade or other “sports drinks” high in electrolytes after a run. Runners lose far more water than electrolytes, so a runner should drink water before, during and after a run. Water is also absorbed faster “straight” than laced with sugar, salt, colorings and flavorings.

Liver’s good for you. Sorry, mom. While it’s a great source of iron, liver contains a high level of cholesterol. And the liver is the body’s detoxification system, so it’s filled with pollutants and natural toxins.

Sugar’s high in calories A teaspoon of sugar has 16 calories but no fat-as well as no nutrients, vitamins or minerals. But tiny amounts of sugar (or honey) are okay. Just remember to brush your teeth.

Red wine is higher in calories than white urine. Italian food lovers, rejoice. Calories are determined by the percent of alcohol and the amount of sugar, not color.

FOR FAST-FOOD GOURMETS

Those greasy-good McDonald’s french fries are tempting, but one bag can overload your calorie counter. Reed offers several suggestions on eating out on her new tape. Dining Out Without Doing Yourself In. Not all fast food is bad, she says, but some are disasters: Wendy’s triple hamburger with cheese, an order of fries and a Frosty is, what some have called, a coronary bypass special, with a whopping 1,600 calories. This meal, Reed says, is like eating almost a whole stick of butter (in fat) and 10 small bags of potato chips (in sodium).

Instead, she suggests orange juice, a plain (dry) baked potato and half an order of chili. This meal is under 500 calories, with only 11 grams of fat (21 percent) and 600 mg of sodium. It’s high in carbohydrates, iron, fiber and has plenty of protein. (Iron is more easily absorbed in combination with vitamin C.)

At Pizza Hut: the thin and crispy cheese pizza with a salad. Two slices have just 340 calories. But pizza is high in sodium, so you’ll need to cut back at the next meal. Watch the salad dressings: One ladle can add 250 to 350 calories (the reduced, maybe 125 to 175). Cheese, bacon, croutons and prepared salads (potato, pasta) are killers. Load up on carbohydrates and vegetables such as corn or beans.

At Kentucky Fried Chicken: white meat, corn and (yes!) mashed potatoes (but avoid the gravy). Remove the skin and pat the chicken dry. The calorie total is around 485.

At McDonald’s: small burger, orange juice and an ice cream cone. You rack up only 500 calories, with just 27 percent from fat.

About burgers: Always go for the smallest one. Calories and sodium increase with mayonnaise, special sauces, bacon and cheese. Pickles, ketchup and mustard are lower in fat although they’re high in sodium.

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