Are You "Full" or "No Longer Hungry"?

When do you stop eating? Is it when you feel full? Unfortunately, by then you've probably eaten too much.

In leaner cultures, people stop eating when they're no longer hungry.

It's not just semantics. There's a real difference. Pay attention to how you feel while you're eating. "No longer hungry" feels comfortable. You should still feel energetic. You've probably eaten just the right amount.

"Full" feels heavy or stuffed. Maybe even uncomfortable.

There's a big difference in calories between eating until you're "full" and eating until you're "no longer hungry". Enough calories to make the difference between a healthy weight and weighing too much.

Here's what the Rambam had to say about eating too much:

"One should not eat until his stomach is full. Rather he should stop when he has eaten close to three quarters of full satisfaction." (Hilchot De'ot 4:2)

Most people can eat between 20 and 25% less than they think they really want without really noticing it. And if you eat that much less than you do now, you're likely to lose weight. Painlessly!

Try this: When you're filling your plate, take ¼ less than you think you might want. You probably won't even miss the extra calories.

Holland - Bicycles and Herring

Frits, Mary and Dirk (who Joan and Christiana adopted as an orphan after the war) each planned a day for us to see Holland.

They took us to a concert on a canal in The Hague and we visited the Mauritshuis Royal Gallery (Rembrandt – Portrait of an Elderly Man, Vermeer – Girl with a Pearl Earring, among other gems).

We drove east to see the polder – a huge area of land reclaimed from the sea and now used for agriculture. We also visited Urk, a traditional, but still thriving, fishing village.

In Amsterdam we visited the Portuguese Synagogue and the Jewish Historical Museum before getting a personal canal tour from Dirk, an urban planner by profession.

Although I won't make generalizations about health and nutrition in Holland, here are some of my impressions.

It seems like they're growing most of their produce. (Country of origin is listed with the price of every fresh item in the produce department.) Not surprising given the abundance of farmland. Family farming seems to be alive and well, and organically-grown produce is gaining in popularity.

What do people eat? Cheese, bread, butter and milk were abundant. To my surprise, buttermilk was served in tall glasses along with orange juice, apple juice and water at the Yad Vashem reception. The white bread sandwiches (at least the kosher ones) were filled with either cheese or egg salad.

Why aren't more of the Dutch obese? What about cholesterol?

Well, a lot of people are on bicycles rather than in cars. And they seem to be sitting down to three meals a day. I didn't notice much in the way of between-meal snacking. Portion sizes are reasonable.

And they eat a lot of heart-healthy fatty fish. The new crop of herring had just arrived. It's eaten raw, with chopped onions. Marie-Ann Kalff introduced us to her fish monger, who was happy to say that he sold Israeli pond-raised fish in addition to many local varieties.

Then there's life style. Our Dutch family is fairly laid-back. They retired early, but are busier than ever in choral groups, church and civic activities. They spend time with their extended family and friends. They enjoy walking and gardening. (Their huge wooded yard was impeccably tended by just the two of them.) At the age of 75, Frits Kalff plays tennis weekly. One of his partners is in his 90's.

I know that genetics plays a role in good health too. But there's always something to learn from other people's diet and exercise habits.

Pass the herring please!

בשביל החסד העולם מתקים

The world exists because of loving kindness. (Rashi)

My husband and I were in Holland last week as guests of the Kalff family. Our hosts were the children and grandchildren of Mr. Joan and Mrs. Christiana Kalff, the couple who hid my (late) first husband in their home during the Shoah.

The Kalffs, along with eleven other Dutch families, were honored with Yad Vashem's "Righteous Among the Nations" award. The very moving ceremony was hosted by Israel's Ambassador to The Netherlands. who is shown giving the medal and certificate to Frits Kalff and Mary Hoekstra-Kalff in this photograph.

Needless to say, it was a very emotional five days. My first husband and his parents moved to the US after the war and had minimal contact with the Kalffs.

He was four years old when he was brought to them one night in 1942 – just a few years younger than Mary and Frits Kalff. For them, he was one of the family – another sibling who, three years later, after the war, disappeared from their lives. So they had many questions for me. And they shared their own stories of life during the war. They dug out old photographs and we walked through their childhood home.

It was a beginning as well as a closure for all of us. They welcomed us into their family, much as they had welcomed my first husband as a brother.

I remember when Frits Kalff first made contact with me a few years ago – just after the birth of my first granddaughter – the daughter of my son from my first husband! And why didn't my son join us for the occasion? Because he and his wife are expecting their second child any day now!

Eggs for Breakfast

When was the last time you ate an egg for breakfast? We usually save omelets for a more leisurely meal later in the day. But eating an egg for breakfast may be a good idea, especially if you're trying to lose weight.

Protein at breakfast can help you get through the morning without snacking. That's because it blunts your hunger more than carbohydrates do. Protein foods also help make you feel full for a longer time.

A breakfast of eggs and whole-wheat toast may be one of the best ways to get that protein. A large egg contains 6 grams of high quality protein and only 75 calories.

An interesting study showed a weight loss advantage among women who ate eggs, rather than bagels, for breakfast. Even though both groups ate the same number of calories, egg eaters lost a lot more weight and reported higher energy levels than the bagel eaters. There was no difference in their blood cholesterol levels.

In another study, people who had eggs for breakfast ate fewer total calories during the day. Mainly because they just didn't feel so hungry.

A large egg has just over 200 mg of cholesterol. If you're diabetic or know that eating foods high in cholesterol raise your blood cholesterol levels, then eating eggs regularly isn't for you. But if you're healthy, one egg a day should be fine.

No time for cooking eggs? How about preparing a batch of hard-boiled eggs in advance? Keep them peeled in the refrigerator and they'll stay fresh for several days.

For years I wouldn't touch a hard-boiled egg. Hard, dry, rubbery and gray was not what I considered appealing. Then I learned how to cook them properly.

Here's what I do:

Put the eggs in a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a gentle boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat, cover it and let it stand for 6 minutes. Eat them hot or put them into cold water so they'll cool quickly.

My favorite hard-boiled egg accompaniments:

A dab each of low-fat mayonnaise and coarse Dijon mustard

A pinch of flaky sea salt and strong, fruity extra-virgin olive oil

Cereal for Breakfast

Ready-made cereal makes a quick and nutritious breakfast. But only if it doesn't have as many calories as a candy bar or a doughnut. If you would never give your children a doughnut for breakfast, you don't want to buy cereal with the same amount of sugar.

How can you tell? Read nutrition labels carefully. Check that a serving size of cereal contains:

At least 2 or 3 grams of fiber

Less than 10 grams of sugar

200 mg or less of sodium

Among kid-friendly name brands that fit the bill are Cheerios, Kix, Life, Honey Nut and Multi-Grain Cheerios.

Health-food and organic brands may offer good choices as well. But not every cereal they make is good for you. There are plenty of organic cereals that are low in fiber and heavily sweetened with sugar, honey, maple syrup or another sweetener.

That's why it's important to read the label.

The same goes for granola. Many brands are loaded with sugar and fat. Even if it's a good fat, like canola oil, you may be getting more calories than you've bargained for.

Hot cereals are great for breakfast. Oatmeal is a favorite, but other whole-grains are good too. Try leftover brown rice, wheat berries, quinoa and polenta for a change. Add raisins or other fresh or dried fruit.

What should you eat with your cereal? Try low or non-fat milk, soy or rice milk or plain yogurt.

And fruit. Whole fruit is higher in fiber and lower in calories than its juiced counterpart. That makes a cut up banana, berries, melon, apple or orange a better choice than a full glass of fruit juice.

Next … Eggs for Breakfast

Breakfast Anyone?

Not hungry in the morning? No time to eat before getting the children to school and dashing off to work?

You're not alone.

In a study of consumer attitudes towards food and nutrition, 92% of respondents said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But less than half of them actually ate breakfast each morning!

Is breakfast really that important? Was your mother right when she insisted that you eat something before you left for school?

Absolutely. Breakfast is definitely good for you. For lots of reasons.

It gives you the energy boost you need to get through the day

It helps improve your concentration and performance

You'll have more strength and endurance

It can help improve your cholesterol levels

Your overall diet will be higher in important nutrients

And here's more good news:

Breakfast eaters – those who eat a healthy breakfast that is, tend to weigh less than breakfast skippers.

What's a healthy breakfast? One that includes whole grains, low-fat dairy, good quality protein and fruits or vegetables. Like…

Cereal, low-fat milk and fruit

Leftover pizza or pasta

Israeli-style vegetable salad

Whole-wheat toast with cheese

Yogurt and fruit

Half a whole-grain bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon

A hard-boiled egg and a banana

Breakfast bar and yogurt

Oatmeal and raisins

An omelet filled with last night's leftover vegetables

In our house, breakfast is home-made granola (minimally sweetened and full of nuts, seeds and dried fruit), fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt and Japanese green tea. For Shabbat Kiddush it's whole-grain muffins, fruit salad and green tea.

Next … Cereal for Breakfast

Should You be Chewing Gum?

Chewing gum never appealed to me. I don't remember seeing it around our house when I was growing up. Was it something that Jewish girls just didn’t do?

Then, when I got older, my ears started bothering me when the weather changed. I felt like I was driving up a mountain or descending in an airplane. My ears wouldn't pop.

That's when I discovered gum. It helped ease the pressure in my ears. And it was a distraction from the discomfort.

Then I learned that chewing gum can help alleviate GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease) symptoms. It boosts the production of saliva, which neutralizes stomach acid. Try chewing gum before bedtime or when you need to walk or exercise soon after a meal.

Increased saliva also helps keep your mouth healthier. Sugar-free gum can help reduce plaque and cavities. It can help prevent tooth stains and re-mineralize enamel to strengthen teeth.

There's more.

Preliminary studies show that chewing gum can aid in appetite control. And it's a low-calorie substitute for higher calorie snacks. Chewing gum burns 11 calories per hour. Not a huge amount, but every bit helps!

Are you tense or having a hard time concentrating? Try chewing gum to relieve your symptoms. Gum may improve your alertness and help alleviate minor daily stress. It can also help release nervous energy and provide an outlet for small frustrations.

Should gum be allowed back in the classroom and in the office? Research shows that chewing gum seems to improve the ability to learn and retain information. It actually increases blood flow to the brain by 25%.

That's reason enough for me to keep a box in my purse and one in my desk drawer.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Crunchies

More and more people are discovering that they're gluten-intolerant. Including my daughter-in-law. She figured it out last year after Pesach. After a week of not eating much matzah, she polished off a large roll and promptly got sick. Then she started paying attention to what she ate and made the connection.

I don't find it problematic. There's always rice and quinoa in my pantry. I keep a box of gluten-free pasta and rice crackers on hand for her as well.

When the kids come for Shabbat, I make fruit or nut-based desserts. I've also made low-fat flourless chocolate cake and cakes based on polenta or dairy products.

But I had an idea for something else. Something gluten-free that was quick and easy. And crunchy.

I started with a chocolate bar and "Puffed Brown Rice" (פצפוצי אורז מלא) - the Israeli version of whole-grain Rice Krispies. I melted the chocolate, threw in a handful of dried fruit and mixed it all up. That's pretty much it.

Now it's the most frequently requested recipe at family get-togethers.

Chocolate Crunchies (Parve or Dairy, depending on the chocolate)

Melt 1 bar (100 grams/3.5 ounces) of bittersweet chocolate. (Elite and Vered Hagalil make parve bars with 60% chocolate solids that work well.)

The easiest way to do this is in the microwave.

Using your hands, break the chocolate into small pieces and put them into a large bowl. Add about a teaspoon of canola oil. Microwave the chocolate on medium to low power for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until it melts. Stir it until it's smooth.

Mix a handful of raisins (or dried cranberries, blueberries or chopped dried apricots) into the melted chocolate. Add a cup or two (or more) of puffed brown rice cereal to the chocolate. Start with a smaller amount of cereal and mix it in until it's covered with chocolate. The goal is a larger amount of cereal held together with a smaller amount of chocolate.

Use a soup spoon to drop the mixture onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Don't worry. The mixture will not hold together well just yet. Just place the mounds on the sheet, with a little space between each one.

Put the baking sheet into the freezer for about 5 minutes. Or into the refrigerator for a longer time.

Variation: Omit the oil and add a spoonful or two of natural-style peanut butter to the melted chocolate before adding the cereal.

Down With Sunnyside Up

We recently saw this notice posted in the dining room of an upscale Tel Aviv hotel:

"In accordance with Starwood Hotel guidelines, we recommend that if you order your eggs "sunnyside up", they should be flipped over in order to fully cook both sides."

Wow! Food safety advice at the breakfast buffet. I'm impressed.

I've been trying to get people to cook their eggs for years. And not just because I've experienced salmonella poisoning. It's a genuine safety hazard. Wherever you live. The FDA spells it out clearly, as does the Israeli Ministry of Health.

Raw eggs may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria. Salmonella poisoning is miserable and can be deadly for anyone with a weak immune system, like infants, pregnant women and the elderly.

And all it takes to destroy salmonella is thorough cooking.

So next time you're cooking eggs, or considering a recipe that calls for raw eggs, think about Starwood Hotel's advice to its guests.

Downsizing

Before leaving for Tel Aviv, I checked my collection of newspaper clippings. I'm always browsing the papers for anything kosher and unusual in Tel Aviv.

Besides, I had just done really well with a newspaper article find – a reasonably priced child-sized chair designed to look nice among adult furniture. (And it was delivered to my doorstep half an hour after I ordered it!)

Among my clipped articles was a Purim ad from a bakery in the artsy neighborhood of Neveh Tzedek. חטאים מתוקים (Sweet Sins) has a gorgeous selection of cakes, cookies and pastries that do look sinful. With one difference – they're small.

Inspired by the pastry shops he had seen in France, the shop owner decided to replicate the idea here. The shelves were filled with boxes of miniature-sized cookies and pastries, many with an Israeli flair. Miniature filo rolls filled with dates, halvah cookies, and pastries made with pistachios, almonds and figs.

I'm not big on store-bought baked goods. Nor do I advocate eating a lot of sweets.

But a lot of us crave something sweet, at least once in awhile. Rather than cut out sweets altogether, I suggest eating just a "little something" that's really delicious.

Because cutting down on portion sizes really can help you lose weight. And a bite or two of something really delicious can be just as satisfying as a whole plate of something that tastes just "so-so".

Think about it the next time you bake cookies. Make those cookies you really enjoy, but make them smaller. Serve two small cookies to each person on a small-sized plate. (Japanese ceramic serving dishes are perfect for this.)

Here's another idea. When you make (or buy) a large batch of cookies, don't put them into your cookie jar. Portion them right away into small zip-lock bags and freeze them. You now have ready-made portion control.

Small portion sizes can be just as delicious as larger ones. And they really can make a difference when it comes to your own size.

Summertime and the Watermelons are ... Warm?

There's already a feel to the mid-day heat that says "summer".  We're all wearing sandals and the overhead fans in the house are all turned on.

But how do we really know that it's summer?

Just listen for the watermelon man on Friday afternoon. We've never actually seen him. But we hear him from miles away, blasting his sales-pitch via loudspeaker as his truck makes its way through the neighborhoods. "Avatiach, avatiach …"

You were hoping for a pre-Shabbat rest in the heat of the afternoon? Forget it. Not with that racket going on. Besides, doesn't watermelon sound like a pretty good idea for Shabbat?

It's tasty, refreshing, low calorie and good for you. Though it's 92% water, it's high in vitamin C and lycopene. 

Lycopene is what makes watermelon (and other red fruits and vegetables) red. It's a powerful antioxidant that may help reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. The strongest evidence  points to lycopene's role in preventing prostate cancer.

The best source of lycopene is cooked tomato products like tomato sauce and juice. Which brings up an interesting bit of food science.

While heat may destroy certain nutrients in fruits and vegetables, it can actually increase the content of other nutrients. Like lycopene. That's why cooked tomatoes are a lot higher in lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

As for watermelon – researchers found that its lycopene levels were significantly higher when melons were stored at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator.

Unfortunately, the study didn't offer any practical advice for those of us who enjoy eating our watermelon cold, rather than warm. I can only offer the following unscientific but palate-pleasing suggestion: Store your watermelon at room temperature and refrigerate it for an hour or two just before you're ready to eat it.

Enjoy a healthy, happy and delicious summer!

Balancing Act

Broccoli was going to be on the menu tonight. The farm had it as a special. They assured me that it was clean (I've thrown out plenty of bug-infested organic broccoli, so I always ask.), and it did indeed look beautiful.

No ideas came to mind, so I flipped through a few cookbooks.  Cream of Broccoli Soup sounded easy and good, especially since I already had vegetable stock in the freezer. The recipe was from an old vegetarian cookbook. High-fat and high-calorie.  

What do I do when a recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of butter, 3 cups of whole milk and a cup of sour cream?

The answer is:  "It depends."

I thought about the menu. Broccoli soup and home-baked bread made with whole-wheat flour and seven-grain cereal.

With such healthy bread and the good nutrition of broccoli, I thought I could splurge with a few extra fat calories.

Instead of all that butter, I used 2 tablespoons and some canola oil. Rather than whole milk, I used 1/2  cup of (leftover) 10% cream (half & half in the US) plus 1% milk – the standby in our house. I used 9% sour cream, which I happened to have in the refrigerator. 

I think of it as a balancing act.

Lean, crunchy whole-grain bread. Nutrient-dense broccoli. Paired with a higher-than-normal amount of fat, it really wasn't so bad after all. And the extra fat meant that a little went a long way. In other words, everyone felt quite satisfied with a fairly small serving of soup.

You're asking how it turned out.

My audience gave dinner "two thumbs up".