Frozen Foods

Many people have the preconception that fresh produce is better than their frozen counterparts because they have the most nutrients. This holds true if you are eating vegetables and fruits freshly picked after they have fully ripened. The problem with most produce in grocery stores is that they are picked before fully ripening so that they stay firm during their long trip from the farm to the store. This means that they have fewer vitamins than produce seen at some farmer's markets.

Now let's look at frozen foods. Take one of my favorites for example: frozen green peas. I throw them into my fried rice not only because they are incredibly convenient, but I also know that their nutritional value is not far off from fresh green peas. This is because we have much more sophisticated methods of freezing fruits and vegetables. Frozen vegetables are picked when they are ripest (yum), immediately lightly blanched, and frozen at 0 degrees F or below. This retains most of the nutrients so that when you cook them, they are still very healthy.

So go ahead and buy those frozen peas! Eating frozen fruits and vegetables still gives you plenty of nutrients and are super convenient. Not to mention, they are delicious.

Sometimes you also have to freeze leftovers. What is good to know about freezing your own food in the freezer? Here are some tips:
1. Make sure you freeze the food at 0 degrees F or below to ensure that the microbes are inactivated. The microbes continue to increase in number when the food is stored above 0 degrees F, leading to food spoilage. That's why the freezer prolongs the shelf life of food much longer than the refrigerator does.
2. Food frozen right when they are at their peak will taste better than food frozen when they are starting to decrease in quality. So try freezing them as soon as possible.
3. Use freezer bags to prevent freezer burns. It seals the food tight to prevent air from going in. Freezer burns do not make the food inedible but they make it dry and is caused by contact with air. It usually makes meat look grey and unappetizing.

For more details and tips, check out the USDA's website on Freezing and Food Safety.
So just eat, be happy, and share your thoughts!

Spicy Foods

Some people love spicy foods, and some people like me just aren't very tolerant of them. Luckily, I've been slowly building up my tolerance to enjoy the fiery flavor. Whenever I eat spicy foods, I notice that with each passing bite, my urge to drink milk multiplies. Why do spicy foods taste hotter as we eat them?

Apparently, spiciness comes from a chemical called capsaicin found in chili peppers. Three things happen when we consume this chemical: pain receptors in our mouth are activated, our bodies heat up, and our metabolism increases. Our bodies are tricked into thinking that we are hot, so we start sweating and turning red. The more capsaicin we eat during a meal, the hotter our bodies believe we are. The effects of capsaicin keep increasing as we eat spicy foods. More pain receptors are activated and that leads to wanting a drink.

Why is drinking milk better than other drinks at calming the effects of spiciness? Many people drink water but find that it does not help. This is because spiciness is oil based, and oil and water don't mix. The spicy oil stays in your mouth, repelling the water trying to wash it down your throat. Milk has a protein called casein that pulls the capsaicin away from the pain receptors in your mouth. The milk essentially washes away the pain so you can continue on with your meal. Other dairy products such as yogurt and ice cream also help. Here is a web page with some other ways to Cool Burns from Chili Peppers.

Whether your tolerance is low or high on the range of spiciness, just eat, be happy, and share how you deal with spicy foods.

Why Vitamins Can't Replace Fruits and Veggies

So I have a friend who just doesn't eat fruits and vegetables. It's all meat, eggs, meat, bread...oh yeah and meat! He claims that it's okay because he takes a multivitamin pill every day. However, I'm quite doubtful that this makes up for the loss of nutrients. So I decided to dive into this and find out for myself!

Vitamin supplements are mass-produced and sold in drugstores and supermarkets across the nation. They are so common that several generic brands of vitamins can be seen sitting next to the name brands. The raw ingredients inside each pill are no different in the quality. In fact, there is no difference between synthetically produced vitamins and vitamins derived from natural plant and animal products. Most companies use synthetically produced vitamins because they are cheaper, so why the price differences? What separates them is how the ingredients are put together and delivered into the body. You might be thinking, why does it matter how they are packed together as long as the vitamins enter the body? Two words: stomach acid. Your stomach is so acidic that the vitamins will be destroyed and wasted before they can do any good for you. That's why the most effective nutrient supplements have an outer coating called enteric coating to keep the stomach acids from destroying the nutrients. The nutrients can then enter the intestines before dissolving in the bloodstream with the most effective absorption. So when you see the bottle saying, "Now better absorption!" it is likely that the pills have better coating to bypass the stomach. There are also different coatings that determine if the vitamins are absorbed slowly or all at once. For more detailed information behind how a vitamin pill is made, check out How Vitamin is Made.

So why don't we all just take vitamins with enteric coating? Sorry, but most vitamins don't have it because it's costly and not everyone can afford them. It is difficult to find vitamins with enteric coating, but you'll have an easier time finding this coating on other supplements such as fish oil. You can see such a product on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Enteric-Coated-softgels/dp/B002RL8FDO. 

With the varying levels of vitamin absorption, the safest bet is to still eat fruits and vegetables. Vitamins lack the fiber and antioxidants that fruits and vegetables have. I am not saying that people should only eat these naturals foods, but that they should not leave them out. In fact, many people need to take vitamin supplements because they still don't get the full amount of nutrition from their diet. Vitamin supplements are meant to be exactly what they are, supplements, not replacements for food. So the best option is to eat a balanced diet that includes lots of fruits and veggies and take vitamins to fill in what you may still be lacking.

Now if you come across some one like my friend who relies on vitamin pills, you can feel like an expert and tell them why they're not doing enough for their bodies. So just eat, be happy, and share your thoughts!

Restaurant Week

If you live in a big city, you may just be in luck. This month, Restaurant Week is spreading across the nation from San Diego to New York City. Restaurant Week is a week where participating restaurants offer a fixed-price menu of 3-course meals. It is a great opportunity to go and try out that restaurant that has always been out of your budget. There is no limit on how many participating restaurants you can go to. You also do not need to buy tickets or sign up for anything. All you need to do is make reservations or drop by, although reservations are strongly recommended during this dining event. Don't know if your city has Restaurant Week? Check out the list here to see if you're in luck. Most cities that have Restaurant Week offers lunch for around $20-25 and dinner for around $35. It truly is a great deal just by looking at the individual menu item prices.

However if you happen to be in San Diego like me, go to http://www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com/ and you'll see that participating restaurants offer meals for $20, $30, or $40. If you're looking to try fancy food without throwing away your cash, try Eden for just $20. They have delicious fusion cuisine with great service. I recommend their Porcini Pillows, Banana Cream Pie, and Trio of Pear.

Banana Cream Pie at Eden

So why do cities hold this event every year? The intention is to put a spotlight on the city as a dining destination. It also gives participating restaurants a wonderful opportunity to attract a wider audience. Some cities will partner up with a charity for this event and raise money for a good cause. San Diego Restaurant Week is partnered with the Educational Committee of the San Diego Chapter of the California Restaurant Association to fundraise for educational programs. Meanwhile, Baltimore Restaurant Week is joined with The Journey Home to help the homeless move to permanent homes by placing donation boxes at participating restaurants.

Either way, Restaurant Week is a win-win situation for you and the restaurants. So just eat, be happy, and share your thoughts.

How To Get Over Foods You Hate

We all have tasted something displeasing to our taste buds. Whether you're a picky eater or you have a short list of foods you stay away from, there are a couple ways to eat foods you think you hate.

1. Mask the food with other flavors. I, for one, am nauseated by even the smell of celery. Cooking it amplifies its pungent odor. Yet, somehow I can eat it when it's masked by carrots and onions in a delicious vegetable broth. Try this cream of potato soup recipe and you'll be surprised by how all the flavors come together to create a new aroma. Not to mention, the celery hidden in this soup will give you a healthy dose of vitamin C.

2. Cook it in a different ethnic flavor. If you grew up eating plain old boring steamed broccoli, chances are you don't love it. Fortunately, broccoli doesn't have to taste that way! Try stir frying it with your favorite bottle of teriyaki sauce or oyster sauce with some minced garlic and you will be absolutely amazed. My family has been making broccoli this way all my life and it is always packed with flavor. Just make sure the sauce soaks through the broccoli while you cook it so it gets rid of the bitter taste. If that doesn't impress you, try adding meat to the dish to deepen the flavor.

3. Eat it when you're starving. This will work depending on how much you hate this food, but give it a try! I have definitely moved some foods from my "dislike list" to my "like list" because I was desperate and had nothing else to eat. It's surpising when it works, and sometimes I end up even loving them. Weird, right? You have nothing to lose, so give it a shot.

4. Blend it into a fruit smoothie. I'm not even kidding. If you throw in most vegetables, you will barely detect it. Another method is to blend it into a peanut butter smoothie. The taste of peanut butter will overpower almost anything you throw in there. I suggest adding avocados for a creamier treat without having to actually taste them. They're packed with healthy fats that keep your skin looking young and luminous.

If you decide to be adventurous and try one of these methods, please just eat, be happy, and share your thoughts!

Picky Eater to Eating Everything

As a kid, the list of food I refused to eat far exceeded the list of food I would eat. The list would probably make a chef cry, but we all know little kids can be incredibly picky eaters. I would only eat unhealthy finger foods like chicken nuggets, pot stickers, and french fries. I did not like vegetables other than peas (they're sweet!) and anything black looked like the "food of death". I also hated eggplant. Period. It's mushy and weird, and that purple color! I thought only candy was allowed to be that sort of artificial color. I would try eggplant now and then to see if I would change my mind but it always made me cringe and regret putting it in my mouth. Yet, one day I tried it again and it was delicious! My parents commented that my food palate has grown so much and I must agree that I love to eat almost anything now. You can imagine how happy my mom would've been had she known I would grow up to eat everything she cooked. This made me think, how do people's tastes change as they get older?

Let's look at children. In a study at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, researchers found that most children have a gene for being sensitive to bitterness. This is why they don't like vegetables, as many of them are slightly bitter. You can read about this study here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050211084620.htm  

Research also suggests that people have denser taste buds in certain regions of the tongue that distinguish between tastes: salty, bitter, sweet, and sour. Many children are born with denser areas sensitive to sweetness, but become less dense as they get older. This explains why they especially love sweets compared to the general population of adults. 

What happens to our taste buds as we get older? The average adult has about 10,000 taste buds, but we can lose up to half of them as we age. Unfortunately, this means food will only taste more bland and we'll have to crank up the spices to get the same amount of flavor. We are less sensitive to bitterness, so we eat a lot more vegetables than children do. We can also handle dark chocolate (mmm one of my favorites and healthy too). According to the same study at Monell Chemical Senses Center, our ethnic food influences what we like to eat because our tastes are also heavily acquired. Thus, we prefer to eat foods similar to what we grow up with (hence why my Chinese grandmother will never eat cheese).

Seeing how so many parents worry about their kids being picky eaters, I say fear not. Their tastes will mature and you'll see fewer vegetables left on their plates. But if they just won't eat that spinach, there's no point in blaming them for having sensitive taste buds. So let it go. Just eat, be happy, and share your thoughts.