Grandma always said, “Eat your veggies!” This one simple rule is the most powerful way to fight disease and aging, according to research from the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. Vegetables help raise blood levels of many protective anti-oxidants, including their well-documented abilities to fight and reduce the risk of diseases. Vegetables help reduce the risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and obesity. Anti-oxidants have also been found to preserve long-term memory and learning capabilities even as you age.

To get the maximum health and anti-aging benefits from your veggies you need to not only eat the right number of servings per week you also need to include a wide variety of them. The latest USDA Dietary Guidelines report lays out an ideal “vegetable schedule”. The new report recommends eating 14 cups of vegetables per week from a wide range of veggie groups. Their three-step plan includes a breakdown of the five essential veggie groups.

1. DARK GREENS (Jody Victor favorites) You need two cups per week of spinach, broccoli, romaine, mesclun, collard, turnip and mustard greens. Dark greens contribute to better lung health, stronger bones, a stronger immune system, lower blood pressure, reduced inflammation and a healthier brain.
2. ORANGE VEGETABLES You need 1 ½ cups per week of carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash and pumpkin. Orange vegetables contribute to better vision, blood sugar control, and lung health. They are high in cancer-fighting carotenoids.
3. BEANS You need 2 ½ cups per week of pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, lentils, chickpeas, and tofu. Beans contribute to lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancers and type-2 diabetes.
4. STARCHY VEGETABLES You need 2 ½ cups per week of white potatoes, corn and green peas. Starchy vegetables contribute a wide range of vitamins (A, C, B6) and minerals (folate, potassium, magnesium). Starchy vegetables are rich in unique antioxidants such as cancer-fighting isoflavones in peas and blood pressure lowering kukoamines in potatoes.
5. WILDCARD VEGETABLES (Jody Victor suggestions for variety) You need 5 ½ cups per week of artichoke, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, wax beans, and zucchini. This eclectic group of vegetables contributes a broad spectrum of nutrients and antioxidants that protect every system in your body.

Fourteen cups of vegetables per week may seem like a lot. Here are some easy ways to sneak more veggies into your diet:

1. Swap noodle soup for bean or lentil soup
2. Serve chicken or fish over a bed of corn or wilted greens instead of rice
3. Use salsa or marinara sauce for dipping (Jody's favorite)
4. Add mashed beans or chopped mushrooms to lean ground beef or turkey
5. Trade half of your pasta portion for chopped veggies

All the Best!

Steve Victor

Thanksgiving is a great time to count your blessings, beginning with the bounties of nature. Here are some tips that will help you thank nature by making your holiday an eco-friendly tradition.

1. REDUCE waste by buying only as much as you need and by buying products that come in the least amount of packaging and that can be recycled.
2. REUSABLE cloth bags for shopping and cloth napkins for the dinner table can be washed and used again. Use reusable dishware. Disposable dishware ends up in a landfill. If you must use disposable dishes make sure they are biodegradable.
3. RECYCLE (a Jody Victor suggestion) all the paper, plastic, glass and aluminum containers from cooking. Start a compost bin for fruit and vegetable trimmings. Five million additional tons of trash is generated between Thanksgiving and New Year’s every year.
4. BUY and EAT LOCALLY grown foods. Not only are they better for your health they also taste better than foods that have to be grown and packaged for maximum shelf life. Locally grown foods require less fuel to reach store shelves and contribute to your local economy.
5. Make your meal ORGANIC. Organic fruits, vegetables and grains are grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Organic meat is produced without antibiotics and artificial hormones.
6. Make the TURKEY COMPROMISE. Organic free-range turkeys are not raised in cages and are allowed to move about the yard. But they can be quite expensive. If an organic turkey doesn’t fit your budget buy a regular one from a local farm and make the rest of your food organic.
7. STAY HOME for Thanksgiving if you can. If you have to travel to your family dinner, CAR-POOL. Traveling in a group not only saves gas but also gives you more time to visit with each other. Make sure your car is in good working order and that the tires are properly inflated. If you must fly, PURCHASE CARBON CREDITS to offset your share of the carbon dioxide emissions. A typical long-haul flight produces nearly four tons of carbon dioxide.
8. TURN DOWN the THERMOSTAT. The body heat from extra family members and guests in addition to the heat generated from cooking will help keep your home warm and cozy.
9. Make your own ECO-FRIENDLY DECORATIONS from recyclable construction paper. Gather items from nature such as fall leaves and dried berry branches for your centerpieces.
10. PLANT A TREE (a Jody Victor suggestion). Trees absorb carbon dioxide- a greenhouse gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect and climate change- and give off oxygen in return. In one year the average tree absorbs roughly 26 pounds of carbon dioxide and returns enough oxygen to supply a family of four. Fall is the best time to plant a tree. Make sure you tamp all the air pockets out of the fill-dirt and give the tree plenty of water before the ground freezes.

All the Best!

Steve Victor

In today's fast-paced world, we eat on the go, and often don't stop to think - is this food high in calories, or even good for me? But so-called 'sugar-free' beverages and other products have made the decisions much easier - because 'sugar-free' is better right? Well, yes and maybe. Here are some facts about all the present-day sweeteners so you can make more educated choices.

Sales of “diet friendly” sweeteners have increased by 50% from 2000 to 2006. Sixty-six percent of Americans are overweight and 20.8 million have diabetes prompting health care experts to advocate the use of these sugar substitutes. Interest in no-calorie sweeteners isn’t new. Saccharin was the first one on the market. It debuted in 1879. Its slightly bitter taste and poor performance in cooking didn’t bother people with weight problems or diabetes because they could finally enjoy sweets. In 1958 the safety testing of food additives was mandated and saccharin was shown to cause cancer in animals. In 1977 the US Food and Drug Administration ((FDA) proposed to ban saccharin. But public outcry kept it on the market with a mandated health warning. In 2000 the National Toxicology Program concluded that saccharin did not increase cancer risk in humans and Congress revoked the rule requiring the warning.

All of the artificial sweeteners on the market today have passed FDA safety testing. But safe doesn’t necessarily mean tasty or “bakeable”. Here are the results of testing for the most popular sugar substitutes based on taste and cooking applications:

1. Sucralose (Splenda) (a Jody Victor favorite) is a compound made by combining sucrose (table sugar) with three chlorine molecules. The body does not digest or derive calories from sucralose. It is commonly used as a tabletop sweetener and added to packaged foods and beverages. It is heat-stable and can be used in baking. Sweetness Factor: 600x sugar. Testers found Splenda pleasantly sweet in hot and cold tea, but did note a slight metallic taste. Cookies made with Splenda rated well for sweetness but poorly for texture. Splenda Sugar Blend for Baking is a 50/50 blend of sugar and sucralose and rated better for cooking.
2. Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) (a Jody Victor suggestion) is a compound made by combining two amino-acids- phenylalanine and aspartic acid- with a methyl ester that becomes methanol, a by-product of carbohydrate fermentation. Aspartame is digested but because such small amounts are used to sweeten foods its calories are negligible. It is sold as a tabletop sweetener and added to packaged foods and beverages. People with a rare condition called phenylketonuria (PKU) cannot break down phelylalanime and it can accumulate to toxic levels. Sweetness Factor: 180x sugar. Testers found aspartame to have a nice level of sweetness in hot and cold tea. Some described it too sweet and “fake” tasting. Most detected a bitter aftertaste.
3. Saccharin (Sweet’N Low, Sweet Twin) is a compound containing sulfur and nitrogen. It provides no calories because the body cannot break it down. It is used as a tabletop sweetener and added to packaged foods and beverages. Sweetness Factor: 300x sugar. Testers rated saccharin “unpleasantly sweet”. They commented that in hot or cold tea it tasted artificial and had a bitter aftertaste.
4. Xylitol (XyloSweet) is chemically classified as a sugar alcohol. Its chemical structure resembles both sugar and alcohol but is not a true form of either. Since xylitol is a naturally occurring food compound it’s generally recognized as safe and is exempt from the mandatory approval process for food additives. The body absorbs xylitol but not completely. That’s why it provides 2 calories per serving. People trying to control glucose levels should not eat foods containing xylitol in excess. The American Diabetes Association advises people with diabetes to count half of sugar alcohol grams as carbohydrates. It is sold as a tabletop sweetener mostly for beverages and is heat-stable. It can be used in baking. Xylitol is often used in mints and gum and may help to reduce cavities by reducing acids in the mouth. It is very toxic to dogs. Sweetness Factor: same as sugar. Testers rated the sweetness level as “very acceptable” with only a few detecting a mild aftertaste in hot and cold tea. The sweetness rated well in baked cookies but the texture was deemed unappealing and too soft.
5. Erythritol (ZSweet, Sun Crystals) is naturally found in melons and pears. It is another sugar alcohol. The body fully absorbs erythritol but can’t break it down, providing virtually no calories. It does not produce a glycemic response. Because it is absorbed it is less likely to cause gastric distress than xylitol. In Sun Crystals erythritol is combined with cane sugar delivering 4 calories per teaspoon and registering a slight glycemic response. Sold as a tabletop sweetener and added to packaged foods. Heat-stable and can be used in baking. Sweetness Factor: 60 to 80 percent as sweet as sugar. Erythitol earned good to excellent sweetness scores in hot and cold tea. In baked cookies it received poor scores for texture and appearance. Testers also noted an unexpected cool sensation when eating the cookies. Sun Crystals is not available in a baking product.
6. Stevia (SweetLeaf Stevia Plus, OnlySweet) is a concentrated powder made by extracting a sweet-tasting compound- steviol glycosides- from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to South America. Commercially it is sold as a liquid or a powder that is combined with bulking agents: inulin (a soluble fiber) or maltodextrin (a sugar). It is sold as a tabletop sweetener and added to packaged foods and beverages. Heat-stable and can be used for baking. Since the FDA has not approved its use as a food additive, stevia is sold only as a dietary supplement in the US. Coca-Cola and Cargill are hoping to launch a line of “natural” diet drinks next year and are expected to petition the FDA to re-examine the safety science on stevia. Stevia itself does not raise blood sugar. Neither does inulin, but maltodextrin does. Read the ingredient label closely to determine which bulking agent is included in the stevia product. Sweetness Factor: 300x sugar. The overall sweetness rated well in hot and cold tea. But most testers detected an unpleasant aftertaste described as “corroded tin can”. The sweetness, texture and appearance of the cookies were “unacceptable”.

All the Best!

Steve Victor

As of September 30, 2008 the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires retailers to display the country of origin for a wide variety of foods. This new label is called the “country-of- origin label” or COOL. As a help to you (a Jody Victor suggestion) here's a list of the foods you will be seeing in your local grocery stores with this new label.

Foods included in the COOL label requirements:

1. Beef
2. Veal
3. Lamb
4. Chicken
5. Pork
6. Goat
7. Wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish
8. Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables
9. Peanuts
10. Pecans
11. Ginseng
12. Macadamia nuts

The different categories for meats are: Product of the US (born, raised and processed in US), Multiple Countries of Origin (born and/or raised in different country and processed in US), and Imported Finished Products (born, raised, processed in a different country). Previously any meat in the second category was considered a US product if it was processed in the US. No label was required. The third category has always been in effect. Meat processed in another country was labeled as such. EX: Danish hams were labeled from Denmark.

There are some exceptions. Processed foods such as meatballs, sausage, and tomato sauce, for example, are not covered by the new labeling requirements. Products that mix several items such as a mixed fruit cup, a salad mix containing lettuce and a packet of dressing, mixed frozen vegetables and roasted peanuts (a Jody Victor favorite) are also exempt.

All the Best!

Steve Victor