Watermelon – What we need to know!

Recently the USDA released two reports that looked at watermelon. I’m sure many listeners eat watermelon at least in the summer, so a little information on what studies say could help us get the most out of our watermelon!

The first study looked at the impact that storage had on the nutrient content of watermelon. Watermelon contains lycopene, which is a red carotenoid pigment that has strong antioxidant properties. It’s these antioxidant properties that help us decrease risks of disease and help fight aging. For watermelon, lycopene content can be quite high. In fact, in the below study, we’ll next investigate which types are the highest. But, for now, just know that for a 180 gram serving, which is about 1 cup, will provide 8-20 mg of lycopene. To give you an idea of how that compares, there is about 22.9mg in a 1 cup serving of tomato juice, which is known for it’s high lycopene content. Although there is no recommended amount of lycopene that we should eat, health experts do believe that the higher the diet is in fresh fruits and vegetables, the higher the antioxidant intake in general and the more favorable results we can see in our health.

Researchers stored three different types of watermelons at three different temperatures for 14 days and compared amount of lycopene and carotenoid levels, flesh color, composition and compared them to similar melons that were just picked. They found that the melons stored at the temperatures comparable to room temperature, for 14 days, actually had higher levels of lycopene and carotenoid content than freshly picked watermelons! They found that the increase was 40% higher in lycopene and 50-139% higher in beta-carotene, which the body naturally converts to vitamin A.

The second study compared 50 different varieties of seeded and seedless red watermelons. The bottom line was that although there was a wide variety in lycopene content, ranging from 33 to 100 mg/kg of melon, it was found that most of the seeded varieties had average content and that 16, or 48%, of the seedless varieties tested in the high and very high ranges of content.

So what can we learn from all of this? First, it sounds like the better choice is to find a seedless watermelon that you like. Then don’t be afraid to let it sit on the counter for a few days before cutting it open. Then store it on the counter instead of putting it in the refrigerator. Researchers found that at refrigerated temperatures, watermelon starts to decay and develop lesions after a week.

So, enjoy your watermelon room temperature and get more benefit from the higher content of antioxidants!

To read the abstract, or full study, on the effects of storage on watermelon, click here.

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Eat your Grains for Weight loss

At any given time, millions of Americans are dieting or have been told to diet, in order to lose weight. Many of these attempts are unsuccessful, but also many of the diets people go on to lose weight are inadequate in nutritional quality. One nutrient that people still try to avoid, since the low carb phase, is carbohydrates, which means many people are still afraid of starches, such as breads, cereals, rices and pastas.

However, breakfast cereals have actually been associated with higher intakes of fiber, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, some B vitamins, and lower intakes of fat and cholesterol. High fiber, whole grain cereals can also help decrease the risk of many chronic diseases.

In the September, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers wanted to investigate whether increasing fiber-rich whole grain cereals in a weight loss program would improve diet quality. Researchers split 134 people into three groups and followed them for 2, 12 week periods. They wanted to see if the program they were assigned to could be followed for the second 12 week period: One group only exercised and followed no specific diet, the second group ate a low calorie diet and exercised, and the third group ate a low calorie diet with high fiber, whole grain cereals plus exercise.

The results showed that both the low calorie group and the low calorie, high fiber cereal group lost similar amounts of weight, which was greater than the exercise only group. However, the low calorie, high fiber cereal group sustained their program longer than the low calorie group did. Magnesium and B-6 intakes were greater in the high fiber cereal group. It was also found that fat intake decreased by week 24 in the high fiber cereal group. Listen to the podcast to determine what we can learn from this study.

If you don’t eat breakfast, I suggest you start taking little steps to build breakfast into your daily food intake. It can be as simple as a bowl of cereal. Experiment with whole grain varieties and add some non-fat milk to it. Or allow yourself a little extra time and cook up some slow-cook oatmeal for breakfast. My favorite breakfast is oatmeal, edemame (baby soy beans) and home-made fruit salad. I cut up all the fruit ahead of time, so each morning I can just spoon out how much I want. The oatmeal cooks while I’m spooning out my fruit and the water is boiling for the edemame. Breakfast probably takes about 10 minutes to prepare each morning, but since this is my base for the day, it’s important that it be a quality meal. My small meal is in the evening. You may have heard the saying, ‘eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper’. That means the largest meal in the morning and smallest in the evening.

To read the full text of a NWCR study on the effects of breakfast in maintaining weight loss, click here: http://www.obesityresearch.org/cgi/content/full/10/2/78

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Eating to increase your Antioxidants

Today’s podcast looks at two studies published in the September, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The first study looked at 9,406 pre- and post-menopausal women and 8,282 men of the same age, taken from the NHANES III data. They wanted to find out if there was actually a relationship between intakes of salad, raw vegetables and salad dressings and blood levels of folic acid, vitamins C and E, lycopene, and alpha- and beta- carotene. Each serving of salad was associated with a 165% higher likelihood to meet the Dietary Allowance for vitamin C in women and 119% higher for men.

What they found was the intake of a consistent diet high in salads resulted in more favorable blood levels of vitamins C and E, folic acid, and carotinoids. What is important about this is these are antioxidants that have been shown to help fight diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Listen to previous podcasts to hear how adding high bulk foods can help with weight loss, also.

In the other study, researchers looked at the percentage of the US population that actually ate the recommended 5 fruits and vegetables per day by the newest food pyramid, MyPyramid. What researchers learned is that between 1999 and 2000 only 40% of Americans ate an average of 5 or more ½ cup servings of fruits or vegetables per day. But the most startling information is what is happening to our children.

Be sure to listen to the podcast for the statistics on how many kids eat enough fruits and vegetables, along with suggestions on how to add more of these foods to your diet on a daily basis.

To read about the NHANES III study, click here.

To read my article on the new MyPyramid, click here.

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Use Smaller Plates to Lose Weight

Are you still trying to figure out how to lose weight? And still struggling? Just a few weeks ago I shared the research that Dr. Barbara Rolls has been doing out of Penn State. See “Load up on Salad to Lose Weight” below.

Researchers out of Cornell University wanted to see just what role the size of bowls and serving utensils would play in food intake, so they used 85 nutrition experts at an ice cream social to test their theory.

They randomly gave each subject a 17 ounce or a 34 ounce bowl and then either a 2 ounce or 3 ounce ice cream scoop. After each person served themselves, they completed a brief survey as their ice cream was weighed. What they found that even nutrition experts served themselves more when given a larger bowl and a larger serving spoon. And most weren’t even aware that they had done so! So, if experts in nutrition and food intake do this, imagine what happens to you!

This does point out that most people will eat all that they put on their plate. I’m not sure about you, but I was raised to eat all my food on my plate. My mother would tell me that I had to because there were people starving in other countries. However, it does those people no good at all if I continually stuff myself silly, which then would lead me to suffering from obesity and health problems.

Listen as Margie talks about strategies you can use at home and in both sit-down and buffet restaurants to help you decrease your serving sizes and food intake.

Serving size is the key and listening to your body when you are full can make all the difference in weight control. A general rule is that when you no longer feel hungry, that’s a good time to stop. Don’t eat until you feel stuffed. That’s how people gain weight or prevent losing weight.

To read the abstract of this study, click here.
For some tips on how to pay attention to what goes into your mouth, enjoy this handout:
http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftmar03.htm

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