Add tea to your Thanksgiving: Green tea prevents flu in children

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm posting this first thing in the morning so that you can make a slight modification to your Thanksgiving menu. Consider adding green tea alongside your eggnog. If you don't like drinking green tea, there are plenty of recipes, like Green Tea Lime Pie or Green Tea Cake. It might seem a bit much to make a new recipe this late in your feast preparations, but think of all the available family sous chefs you could put to work.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, green tea can help fight the flu. I just came across information on another study: Green Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated with the Incidence of Influenza Infection among Schoolchildren in a Tea Plantation Area of Japan. How's that for a catchy title?

This study explored whether school-age children (6-13 years old) who regularly drank green tea would have fewer cases of influenza. For four months, during flu season, 2,050 children participated in the study. Those who drank green tea approximately five times per week had significantly fewer cases of flu compared to those who drank almost no green tea. Those who drank the most green tea (about one cup per day) also had significantly fewer sick days.

Less time being sick is certainly a good thing, particularly around the holidays. I think I'll see if my son would like to join me in a cup of the decaf mango green tea that I have at home.

Drinking water can help children lose weight

Son with Camelbak (9mo)

I try to make sure that my son always has a source of cold water available, just like I keep my own water supply handy. (He even has a CamelBak 0.4-Liter Kids Bottle, like Mommy's and Daddy's CamelBak 0.75-Liter Better Bottle.) Now I have an additional reason to continue the practice.

According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, Children who drink water demonstrated an increase of up to 25 percent in resting energy expenditure (REE). The study size was small (21 overweight, but otherwise healthy children) but the findings reinforce the concept that the increased water-induced REE could assist overweight children in weight loss or maintenance. The conclusion: adding a water-drinking emphasis to dietary guidelines could help fight the obesity epidemic.

Researchers were inspired by previous studies that "demonstrated that drinking water significantly elevates the resting energy expenditure (REE) in adults, and that low water intake is associated with obesity and lesser success in weight reduction." That's all I need to reinforce the benefits of drinking water in adults. I can use all the help I can get!

Should you drink your fruits and veggies?

This summer, my immersion blender is getting a workout making green smoothies as a breakfast option. My favorite blend includes yogurt, mango, spinach, orange juice, and milk. Ignoring the generous serving of homemade yogurt and splash of milk, would it be just as healthy to pop open a container of a fruit and vegetable drink, like V-Fusion? Should you drink your fruits and vegetables? I went searching for answers.

Pure fruit or vegetable juice (no sugar added) in moderation is a good thing. Real juice is full of vitamins, minerals, and health-protecting phytochemicals, and it's often fortified with calcium and vitamin D, and occasionally eye-, brain-, and heart-healthy DHA. But you do have to watch that you really are getting the twofer that you expect. For an example, I'll keep picking on V-Fushion—mostly because I have V-Fushion Light in my fridge right now. The manufacturer claims that an 8-ounce serving “gives you a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit.” The label states that an 8-oz serving contains ½ cup of vegetables and ½ cup of fruit, which is the equivalent to one serving each, per USDA. (The Light version contains only one combined serving of vegetables and fruit, not two.)

V-Fushion is made of 100 percent fruit and vegetables juices, but there is a difference between reconstituted juices (juice concentrate) and freshly squeezed. The vitamins C and E do allow the manufacturer to put an “antioxidant” label on the packaging. However, peach juice is not a peach and carrot juice is not a carrot. Even high-pulp juices can't make up for all the fiber and nutrients that get discarded with the skin and pulp during juicing. These are the components that help keep your appetite, blood sugar, LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure down.

That said, vegetable-infused juices are better than no vegetables. At least it's a sweet beverage with fewer calories and more nutrients than soda or fruit punch. Drinking fruity, sweet drinks will not help turn my son into the veggie lover of my dreams, but neither will my beloved smoothies. That said, my immersion blender won't get a rest in the near future. We aren't going to turn into Popeye, but at least I know that we are getting good fiber and nutrition in our morning smoothies.

How much protein do you really need?

Protein sources

Protein can be a hot topic, particularly when people learn that I grew up vegetarian. "Do you mean you've never had meat?" they ask with widened eyes. "But how do you get enough protein?" The attitude is: that can't be healthy. Actually, just the opposite, which is why I am passing the lifestyle on to my son.

Far from trying to start a heated debate, I am blogging to share my own research into the science of protein nutrition. You are certainly welcome to differ with me, and I won't be offended if you eat meat in my presence. My husband and a couple of other family members are not vegetarian, so I cook meat on occasion. I have even tasted meat, though I find the texture off-putting. I prefer vegetarian cooking, particularly lacto-ovo vegetarian. It works for me, and my husband doesn't complain. Smart man.

A burger and shake McMeal contains two to three times as much protein as people need per day. According to the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the average American eats about double the amount of protein that their body requires.

Our bodies use protein to repair damaged cells and build new ones. Figures vary, but the amount of protein needed by the average adult is just 10-35 percent of the day's calories, which means 46 grams of protein for women and 56 grams of protein for men. Protein servings of meat, poultry, or fish, should be the size and thickness of the palm of your hand, which is about a 3-ounce portion. Meat eaters should eat no more than two palm-sized servings of meat a day to get enough—but not too much—protein.

What are the best protein sources? Lean animal sources include red meat with less marbling, poultry without skin, nonfat or low-fat dairy products, and fish. Soy foods include tofu, edamame (green soybeans), roasted soy nuts, and meat substitutes like veggie burgers or crumbles.

A few of the many lacto-ovo
vegetarian protein sources

Most people benefit from eating less processed protein (e.g., bacon, hot dogs, and lunch meats) and are better off eating beans and fish a few times a week. Beans and whole grains are some of the healthiest foods on the planet and they're cheap, filling, and easy to make. From black beans and garbanzos to lentils and split peas, plant proteins can be used in soups, chili, spreads, and Mexican dishes. As for whole grains, three protein-rich grains are quinoa, spelt, and amaranth.

Unlike animal protein, most plant-based proteins are "incomplete," meaning they lack some amino acid building blocks. By combining plant proteins, such as rice and beans or hummus on pita bread, they become "complete" with all the essential amino acids found in animal protein. Soy protein is the only plant source that's complete. This means that rice and beans are not only a delicious meal, they are also a complete protein. Recommendations used to be that you needed to combine plant proteins at a given meal, but more recent information reveals that it is not necessary to combine specific protein foods at one sitting to make complete protein. Your body will do the protein combination for you.

Whew! That went on a bit longer than I intended. To think that I didn't like nutrition class when I was in college!

Do I always make the right food choices? Certainly not, but I'm trying. I want my son to continue to be healthy and active, and part of that means modeling good eating behaviors. It can even be fun. My son's very favorite food is yogurt. He goes through so much of it that I've resurrected my yogurt-making skills. Tonight was mommy-son time, so I filled two small bowls with homemade yogurt flavored with honey and fruit puree. As we enjoyed our treat, his enthusiasm made it (almost) as good as ice cream.

For someone who grew up eating meat, vegetarian cooking is an adjustment. It takes a different kind of mindset. If you are interested in at least trying Meatless Monday, I recommend that you start with a book like The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour.