Foodtrainers Five Favorite Finds

This past Saturday I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon. I could tell you that it was the first nice day we’ve had in NYC in what felt like weeks. I could tell you about spotting Marc a few times during the run and the fun finish on the Coney Island boardwalk near the beach. It was a memorable day but I’m not dwelling on the scenery or the soreness (now gone). Instead, I’ve been thinking more about the delicious breakfast I had a 5am Saturday morning and that’s what I want to tell you about. I’ll throw in 4 other “fantastic finds.”

The morning of the race, after pouring a cup of Le Pain Quotidien coffee, I prepared a bowl of fruit. I had blackberries, blueberries and strawberries and cut in some banana as well. I sprinkled granola over the fruit. This was not just any granola this was Purely Elizabeth’s “ancient grain” gluten free granola. This granola is outstanding. It’s made with gluten free oats, chia seeds, coconut oil and other carefully chosen ingredients. I had the original but there’s cranberry pecan and pumpkin fig.  My only concern is that this granola is too good, measure out the 1/3-cup serving and put it away. Purely Elizabeth will send one of our readers a 3-pack sampler of their 3 granola flavors. Be sure to comment to be in the running.

As we left the apartment Saturday, I filled a water bottle with my new favorite pre-race drink. It’s made by a company called Vega that was started by a vegan triathlete. These are not your run of the mill sports nutrition products.  I use the lemon-lime Sport Performance Optimizer. It comes in single serve envelopes if you want to try it out. It has ginger and turmeric, yerba mate and kombucha. It’s 70 calories per serving and I’ve never had a bad run after drinking it. One note, no dyes are used and it will appear you are drinking sludge. It’s good sludge I promise. 

Over the winter, I tweeted about not wanting to show my “post pregnancy abs” when I inverted in yoga. I received a number of responses. Some people commiserated with me. Others asked when I had my baby (7 years ago, not recently) and then there was one reply offering up a solution (a non-surgical solution ha). The owner of Nuttzo nut butters said, “you have to try Yummie Tummie it will change your life.”  Yummie Tummie was kind enough to send me their appropriately named Skinny Tank.  This tank did in fact make my tummy look yummy (or flat). The problem? My tummy was initially a little too “yummy” for the XS I received.  While temporarily scarred that I wasn’t skinny enough for my "Skinny Tank",  I sized up and it was great. Order a size larger and save a therapy session.

My next “find” is something I should have used more during ski season this year. I am not someone who weighs or measures every morsel of food I eat nor do suggest my clients do so.  We all need check-ups from time to time. When that handful of almonds becomes two or you’re bowl of cereal (or Purely Elizabeth granola) is growing- I found the perfect gadget. It’s the EatSmart Nutrition Pro Scale. It doesn’t do much for me to know I am eating 30 grams of nuts (servings in grams are a whole other topic/pet peeve). With this scale, you plug in the code for almonds and the calories (145 the first time I tried) are displayed. There are over 1,000 foods in their database. We had my brother in law and his girlfriend over, not for the purpose of testing the scale I promise, and had fun with this contraption. Small glass of wine? 62 calories. Apple from fruit bowl 75 calories.  This is an incredibly useful weight loss tool. I have it permanently on my counter and use it for cooking but much more often for fun.

EatSmart is offering a 20% discount to Foodtrainers’ blog readers who us the code FOODTR20 when ordering on their website.  You can also follow EatSmart on Twitter @Eatsmartscales,

For my fifth find, I have to tell you about my current favorite snack. They’re from a company called Kaia foods. Although I refer to myself as a nutritionist, I could be more aptly called a professional food tester. We try a lot of products or order to find some keepers. Kaia’s sweet curry sunflower seeds are a keeper. Kaia makes kale chips and sunflower seeds in a number of delicious flavors. You can purchase all their products on the kaia website and amazon. You can also find them at Whole Foods Markets. Kaia’s philosophy is also noteworthy “kaia foods was founded with the belief that our health is best supported by eating an abundance of minimally processed whole foods. We sprout, mix and dehydrate our organic foods at low temperatures so that they remain 'raw.' No baking, frying, bleaching, or weird processing steps!” I’m not religious but I’m feeling an “amen”.

Which of these “finds” would you want to try? What are your new favorite foods or gadgets? Isn’t it nice that some great companies avoid “weird processing steps”? 

Oh-no-no Granola

I recently posted 10 Allegedly Healthy Foods. The day after posting,  I was in a session with a new-ish client. On her food journal I saw she was eating granola. When I inquired about her granola usage she asked “isn’t granola healthy” and I realized I had left a good one off my list. Instead of going into Blogger and editing the post I decided to ask Market Melissa, our grocery store obsessed Foodtrainer, to dish about granola.

When I hear granola, I think Birkenstocks and patchouli. Why the hippie reputation? What's the history here?

The genesis of granola dates back to the late nineteenth century. A posh health spa in New York served what was called “granula,” which was really just graham flour. A fellow by the name of John Harvey Kellogg (ahem, Mr. Fruit Loop) came along, and to avoid legal action, renamed his own version “granola.” In 60s, hippies revived granola and (after a “plant-based” first course) added in dried fruit and nuts. In the 70s Quaker and General Mills hopped on the granola bandwagon, creating their own varieties. The popularity of granola increased becoming all the rage with hikers and backpackers due to its light weight, caloric density and lack of perishability.

“Calorically dense” those are terrifying words to any dieter, what ingredients make it so caloric?

It is the double whammy of sugar and fat that bump up the calorie count in granola. When reading ingredient lists you may find sugar listed in various forms 4 or 5 times (honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, evaporated cane juice, molasses are all code for sugar) Additionally, there’s dried fruit, also loaded with sugar, and you see how granola can have 24 grams of sugar in 1 cup. In terms of fat, most of the fat in granola comes from healthy, unsaturated sources such as nuts, seeds, and canola oil. “Good” fat is still fat and adds up. Certain varieties of granola contain up to 28 grams of fat per cup. This is a food for which portion control is key. Granola should be a condiment and not a main course.

Other than sugar and fat what else is in granola? Any exciting flavors out there?

Most granola brands contain whole grain oats, oat bran and brown rice. Others, such as Kashi and Feed, contain more of a whole grain blend containing oats, barley, rye, triticale and brown rice. For you gluten free readers, Trader Joe’s offers a gluten free fruit and nut option.

You will also find more processed varieties (containing ingredients such as soy lecithin, glycerin and natural flavor) as well as more natural ones. Feed granola wins my least processed award, containing all “real food” ingredients. As for the flavors, the possibilities are indeed endless. Some that peeked my interest were Bear Naked Heavenly Chocolate and Feed Sweet Mango.

So if someone can’t live without granola, which one do you recommend?

Comparing brands can become tricky since they all have different portion sizes listed on their nutrition label (1/4cup, 1/2cup, 2/3cup, 3/4cup).

• Lowest sugar: Nature’s Path Hemp Plus and Flax Plus wins for the lowest sugar content with 3g per ¼ cup. Bear Naked Fit granola comes in second with 4g.
• Lowest Calorie: Trader Joe’s Low Fat Mixed Berry Granola and Cascadian Farms Cinnamon Raisin granola snag lowest calorie (70 and 80 calories for ¼ cup portion, respectively).
• Highest Fiber Kashi and Feed get highest fiber honors each has 4.5g per ¼ cup (you can thank their whole grain blend for that). 

*Whichever you choose remember granola is higher in calories, sugar and fat than most cereals, so keep portion to ¼ cup max.

In case you wish to bypass the mathematical challenge of granola labels, try making your own. This allows you to control ingredients and quantities. Here is recipe from Ellie Krieger that is easy to make and low in sugar. We doctored this a little adding cardamom and unsweetened coconut but it’s a good starting point.

Or try this cool site where you can make your own granola. Pick your base (a gluten free option is available), add in your favorite ingredients and they will even calculate the nutrient content of your creation. 

Are you a granola gal/guy? Do you have a favorite brand or recipe you love? And name that tune “It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world…”