Monthly Archives: October 2009

In my new book Strong Kids Healthy Kids I stated that microwaving foods damages nutrients and thus should be avoided.

Well, the hard, cold fact is ALL cooking methods damage some nutrients and the microwave is not really any better or worse than any other method of cooking when considering how to cook for preserving nutrient content.

I admit that my investigation into the subject was not as thorough as it should have been.  In reading several websites and papers on the subject, I sort of deluded myelf into thinking that the microwave was far worse than other methods of cooking foods and virtually destroyed all of the nutrients within.

I was wrong.

That said, you have got to  try the Sous Vide method of cooking. My co-authors Drs. Michael and MaryDan Eades have developed this home sized version machine. I was invited to a tasting event the other day and the food was just awesome. Moist, perfectly cooked scrambled eggs,  salmon to die for the vegetables….wow.

I’m not wrong about this!

Dr. Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for food policy and obesity wants to place a $0.1 cent per ounce tax on all sugar added beverages to help solve the obesity crisis. In this video he discusses his rational and position on the subject.

Whether you agree with him or not, is a not the issue. The issue is the sugar that’s in the beverage. What’s interesting is that, at 4:02 into the video, he states that “Sugared beverages are not necessary for survival…” (a big duh) but then a second later he says “…they have fruit juices to pull from…” meaning, instead of drinking soda, people should drink fruit juice as an alternative.

Pardon moi?

Take a look at this table. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see that any common fruit juice has just as much sugar as a can of soda – some more so. Isn’t someone like Dr. Brownell supposed to know this? Given the chart, he should be proposing a hefty levy on orange juice too and grape juice should be made downright illegal. But according to Dr. Brownell, fruit juice is A.O.K.

It just goes to show you how little some experts really know or how paralyzed they are when it comes to differentiating between like substances. Or, is some food company depositing some mucho dinero in a secret Swedish bank account for the good doc? Oh I kid, Dr, Brownell but…

And, though I hate to say it, Dr. Brownell is not exactly the picture of health or leanness either. No offense intended of course. But if you’re going to be a leader in the field of obesity, you shouldn’t be obese yourself. That’s my opinion at least.