Day 3, here we come. But first, a few pictures of the “fun”…
Okay, now onto the Q&A 🙂
Jess from Flying on Jess Fuel: Can you suggest some of the best yogurts with highest culture counts?
Prevention RD: Great question, Jess! Activia (3 strains), Oikos (5 strains), and Kefir (12 strains) are some of the most popular and easiest to find yogurts with the highest number of cultures and CFU’s. There’s many more out there, but why talk about products no one can find? There are two things to consider with cultures – the number of bacterial strands and the number of CFU’s (culture forming units). The more of each, the better. Yogurt can be a tricky beast because so many of the flavored varieties include tons of sugar. One serving of flavored yogurt can contain over 20 grams of sugar! My personal pick would be which ever plain variety you enjoy (I love the plain Kefir as a drinkable yogurt that can be added to fruit smoothies), without adding in too much sugar. As a side note, many companies will offer up the number of bacteria strands, but not necessarily CFU’s. As usual, it’s hard to be a consumer…but this is my $0.02!
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Eva of Eva Bakes: What differences, if any, are there between grocery store-bought eggs and ones I’d get at a local farmer’s market or farm? Do organic or natural eggs actually have any added benefits?
Prevention RD: Nutritionally, no difference…unless they are fed a diet rich in omega 3’s, in which case the yolk will contain omega 3’s (this can be regardless of organic vs. inorganic). Organic eggs have to do with the diet the chickens are fed – organic vs. non-organic (potential for pesticide-containing feed). Eggs can be hard to purchase with the considerations of cage free/free range (ethics), organics (pesticides), and diet (grain/organic). With each step in a the earth-friendly, “healthier” direction, the price tag will increase from about $1.20/dozen to $5/dozen. It really boils down to personal choice more than nutrition.
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Lena: Vitamin Water seems to be really popular here in Singapore. But is it worth anything? Or is it just watered down kool aid :)? Does it help provide those extra vitamins?
Prevention RD: It’s not going to harm a healthy adult to take in the added vitamins and minerals, but 120 calories and over 30 grams of sugar might! I am pretty certain there are low-calorie or calorie-free versions, as well…but then I could argue for and against artificial sweeteners 😉 My impression of Vitamin Water is that they are very good advertisers. Will 100% of Vitamin A help me “focus” (yes, they have a flavor called “Focus”) at work? I sure wish, however nearly no one in the US is deficient in Vitamin A…or the B vitamins. Vitamin E is the most “valuable” addition, and it’s only in about half of the flavors. As for antioxidants, those are best coming from whole food sources, like fruits and vegetables. Vitamin waters offer a small leg up on regular soda, but probably not worth the cash.
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Rumana: Hey Nicole, could explain why people say that vegetable oil (including canola) is bad and that you should avoid it like the plague?
Prevention RD: I’m really glad you asked this question! To start, “vegetable oils” would include canola, soybean, sunflower, and safflower oil (I may be missing a few). Hundreds of years ago, we didn’t derive oil from these plants and the process by which it is extracted is where in lies some of its opposition. Nutritionally, canola oil offers up the lowest amount of saturated fat, which we want to limit in the diet. I posted about canola oil back in May of 2010 and I still feel the same way. Here’s the post: Is Canola Oil Good for You?.
Let’s take a look at this graph (which I love and used when teaching college nutrition courses):
You can clearly see fat proportions this way. Ideally, you want less red (saturated) and blue (omega 6) and more orange (omega 3). That said, canola and flaxseed oil clearly win out. Flaxseed oil is the winner here, however, it is quite expensive. I would choose olive oil as a second choice because of its moderate saturated fat content and low omega 6 content. It is also a more “natural” choice. You can see that the other vegetable oils don’t offer up much of any omega 3 and tend to be high in omega 6’s.
You may be wondering about omega 3’s vs. omega 6’s and why we won’t want too many omega 6’s. I mean, they sound healthy…right? In the American diet, we have PLENTIFUL amounts of omega 6’s and we really don’t want any more. Our body prefers to keep a healthy ratio of omega 6’s to omega 3’s and ideally that ratio should be lower to help prevent everything from heart disease to breast cancer to rheumatoid arthritis. Many sources believe that humans started with a 1:1 ratio and we have evolved to intake up to a 1:17 ratio in America (a good goal would be 1:3 to 1:5). In short, we need less vegetable oils, such as corn, sunflower, and soy (sources of omega 6’s) and more flax, walnuts, and fish (sources of omega 3’s) to keep this ratio balanced. Personally, I think canola oil can help people obtain this goal as it is so plentiful in omega 3 fatty acids, but it’s not the only way to get’em in!
Thanks for all the wonderful questions!
Have a question YOU would love answered? Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me at preventionrd at gmail dot com! Thanks for all the wonderful questions…hope you find the answers helpful!
Be well,
Thanks Mrs. Prevention! Your move looks not fun. Thankfully I should only require a half day of packing. Lilly is adorable as always. Best of luck on your week without a bed or kitchen!
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I wish it were only a week…I’m looking at about 2 to 2 1/2…but we’ll get’er done 🙂 Can’t wait to see you back in the states!
This is so , so sad 🙁 I will save this post forever, just to look at your old house. haha, jk, that’s kind of creepy.
This is sort of the format I want to use for my Friday Q&A posts. Like you, I get so many questions from people that I just want to SHARE ! I’m so glad that you like canola oil, because so many “non-professionals” dismiss it as being inferior to other oils (and some say it’s harmful). Then there is other falss information like what Bobby Flay said yesterday on the Today Show; “Canola oil is lo fat”. LOL!
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Poor canola oil. If people ate 2 servings of fatty fish a week and/or enjoyed walnuts/flax on a regular basis, then okay…but they don’t. And canola oil is cheap and great for baking 🙂
If I lived in a house with a double oven I would never move!! 🙂 But congrats on getting it done!
Thanks for answering my question, Nicole! Congrats on the move!
GAH, moving!!!! I hope it all goes smoothly– it makes me tired just looking at your boxes!!
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Hey girl! I know, right. It’s funny to hear from you, I was just thinking about you this morning and wondering how everything is going. I’ll swing by the blog in a bit 🙂
You had a double oven?! I’m so jealous right now. My oven is circa the early 90s so it is not particularly cool. Maybe I can hang on to it for another 30 years until it becomes ‘vintage’ and cool in an ironic way.
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I did! Convection, too. Enjoy your old oven…I’ll bet it doesn’t take 20 minutes to get to 375!!! New “energy efficient” ovens are sloowwwww.
Loved reading these Q&A’s – all good questions. Good luck as the move proceeds and I’m especially thankful to see Lily’s has stepped up her game. (snicker) Ma’s getting excited……………………………….xoxo
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I don’t know how she’s still standing. She was just playing with one of the movers…with the REALLY loud squeaky one..
Another great Q & A! I had a question for you but now I can’t remember it 🙁 When I do I’ll e-mail it to you 🙂
Ahh moving– It’s funny that you mentioned they missed a cabinet. They ALWAYS seems to miss a cabinet when they are packing our stuff, it has happened ever move we have made.
I hope your move is going well and Lily is making the trip okay. Oh and how have I never seen you mention that you have a snake?! (or have you and I just missed it…lol)
Ack! Good luck with the move!!
I’m so glad you answered that vegetable oil question…it’s something I’ve always wondered about as well!
Great answers! I get the oil question quite a bit at work.
Looks like you are about good to go! Can’t wait to hear more about the move!!!! 🙂
haha I love that Lily is surrounded by toys and bones in those pictures. It looks like she was just partying too hard. 🙂
Aw, poor Lily! Couldn’t even make it all the way onto her bed! Great post Nicole! 😀
Oh the joys of moving. I actually hate it with a passion! But I love when everything is unpacked and new!
Can I trade you dogs? I’m pretty sure mine could play with the movers all day and she wouldn’t pass out like that. Lately she’s been trying to make it from her bed into ours in the middle of the night too. Lily is so cute!
Dannnggggggggg….that’s alot of boxes. But my fave picture is LILY. Always brings the biggest smile to my face. And OMG, I didn’t know you had a pet snake as well! You crazy girl!!!
My bulldog Lola does the same thing! They are the funniest dogs! I love them! Thanks for the question and answers I loved all the info about the oils. It is hard to balance what chefs say are the best ingredients to use and what are the healthiest choices! So thank you!
I love Lily’s ” ‘lil bit-o-tongue” look…….although when i’m really,really tired i’m sure i look like that too…….she’s just able to pull it off and make it look cute! Good luck as you approach the (new) home stretch.
I’m so impressed with how organized everything looks!
Good luck with your move, I know how stressful it can be. I didn’t know you were moving, I must have missed that blog? Are you going back to Illini cuntry?
Before I retired I was a moving consultant with an Internaitonal moving company, and I moved families overseas! That was stressful. 🙂
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Hi Dianne! I am actually moving to southwest Michigan – 3 hours from Champaign, 90 minutes from Chicago! Here’s the post: https://preventionrd.com/2012/05/whats-been-up/
Moving is…tough. Hubby was moving back from an ex-pat assignment in Italy when we moved into our first home together. What a mess! 🙂