FitSugar

5 Things About Salt

FitSugar — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:30:00 PST

Since the FDA is considering regulating sodium in processed foods, I have been hearing more and more about the reasons why. Here are five things to ponder about the sodium content in your diet.

Seventy-five percent of the salt we consume comes from processed food and food from restaurants, not from the salt shaker.
Your tongue cannot adequately discern how much salt is in your food. If the salt is on the surface of the food, like a potato chip, it will taste salty. However, when the sodium of a serving of frozen mac-n-cheese is 500 mg chances are your tongue will not register that this portion of food contains 25 percent of your RDI (recommended daily intake) of sodium. You really need to read the nutritional label on processed foods to know.
Processed foods in the US generally contain more sodium than the same product in the UK. McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets is a great example – in the US they contain more than twice as much sodium as the United Kingdom version. Breakfast cereal is not exempt either – Kellogg’s Special K (advertised as "super healthy") has 58 percent more sodium per serving in the US version than the UK cereal.

There are two more reasons so

Not only does sodium content of specific products vary widely country to country, within the same type of product, like different types of canned tuna and corn chips, the sodium content can be drastically different. Once again I remind you to read the label.
Sodium is added to processed food to prevent it from spoiling. The salt draws moisture out of food so bacteria can't grow. It also helps to thicken soup and reduce dryness in crackers and pretzels.

Source

Handy Everyday Gmail Tips and Tricks

GeekSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:01:03 PST

If you've moved to Gmail recently (congratulations!), it's possible that you could get overwhelmed with all of the options, settings, and possibilities at your fingertips. We've got a ton of tips to share, but let's start with a few basic and handy tips that you could use every day. Check them out below!

Make voice calls - You can easily make voice calls in Gmail on the cheap. In the "Chat" section, just click the "Call Phone" button and enter the digits. You'll then be able to make free calls to landlines the US and Canada, and for super cheap you can call cell phones and landlines worldwide.
Search with options - If you haven't discovered the "Show Search Options" link to the right of the Gmail search bar, you're in for a treat. Clicking it reveals a host of helpful options, including the ability to search by sender, date, attachment, subject, and more. It's extremely helpful if you are less than diligent about labeling and filing emails in your inbox.
Use rich text signatures - Tired of those boring text-only signatures or canned responses coming from your Gmail account? Take note: Gmail supports rich text signatures! Add links, colors, images, or formatting to your Gmail account signature, or any other account you've set up to send from Gmail. It's super easy to set up - just head to your settings page, scroll down to the Signature section, and design away!
Use keyboard shortcuts - First, enable keyboard shortcuts in your Settings menu. Then, use these fast and easy keyboard shortcuts to navigate!

See the rest of the list after the break.

A Doctor Dishes: Which "Superfoods" Are Worth the Cost?

LearnVest — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Most people you speak to these days are trying to stretch every dollar as far as possible - even the ones they spend buying apples and oranges.

Food prices are expected to increase yet again this year, and food manufacturers are making portions smaller without reducing prices. Not surprisingly, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 93 percent of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago.

So how can we supercharge our grocery dollars and get them to do overtime for us?

Yes, some foods are obviously a better nutritional deal than others (think apples vs. potato chips), but there’s another class of foods that blows the rest of the field away in terms of nutrients and health-protecting qualities: superfoods.

Superfoods can help prevent diabetes and heart disease, repair damage to your body’s cells, and more. But before you go piling them into your cart, know that some superfoods are better nutritional bargains than others. As a doctor and a mom, I’ve sleuthed out which ones are worth the extra cost in terms of their long-term health benefits. Below is the scoop on which ones may help you age better, ward off cancer, and more.

What to Know Before Buying Superfoods

Before we dive into what to buy, there are a few important things to remember about consuming these foods:

Eating foods fresh and in their natural state, especially fruits and vegetables (rather than in pill or powder supplement form), usually allows us to absorb the greatest amount of their nutrients. The way a superfood is processed or cooked can significantly lower its antioxidant content.
If the superfood can’t be eaten fresh, look for easy and appetizing recipes containing it. No matter how “super” a superfood may be, if you don’t know how to cook it, you’ll probably let it go to waste.

Are Superfoods "Good Buys" If I’m Shopping on a Budget?

Read on to find out.

Adventures in Ingredients: Indian Bitter Melon

Camilla Salem — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:10:57 PST

To me, Berkeley Bowl is a sacred place worthy of a weekly pilgrimage. Perhaps the ultimate food-lover's grocery store, this massive Berkeley, CA, food emporium carries a huge selection of goods from around the world, and at great prices. I consider it a must stop for friends visiting the Bay Area, so why not share my adventures?

The most remarkable part of the store is probably the produce, which is clearly labeled to identify where each item comes from. The international and bulk sections offer never-ending inspiration, the meats and seafoods offer countless options and price points, and I always find myself mesmerized by fruits and vegetables from around the world that I've never seen before.

Case in point: Indian bitter melon. I grabbed five or six of these a week ago in an effort to learn about new exotic foods. Knowing nothing at all, I selected these purely based on the fact that they seemed sort of reptilian and would be fun to photograph. As the days went on (and as the bitter melon sat in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator), I became more hesitant, not sure what I was thinking.

Finally, I braved up, opened my computer, and did a little research. As it turns out, Indian bitter melon, or karela, is a commonly cooked vegetable in Indian cuisine. It's described all over the Internet as an "acquired taste," and apparently soaking it in salt water helps to remove some of the bitterness. I found recipes for stuffing and sautéing with various spices. The health benefits of this strange vegetable are plentiful, particularly in managing diabetes, and typically, I can convince myself to like anything if it's good for me.

To find out what I did with these and what I thought of them, keep reading.

Watch Out For These Top 10 Saltiest Foods

Leta Shy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:46:08 PST

Collectively, we really love our salt. We eat so much more than we should, often because of high levels of sodium hiding in many of our favorite foods. A new report released by the Centers For Disease Control identifies the top 10 saltiest foods, and some may surprise you.

Paying attention to the amount of salt hidden in your food is important because too much sodium in your diet can lead to diseases like hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. The recommended daily intake of salt is 1,500 milligrams to 2,300 milligrams (about a teaspoon), depending on your risk factors. But most Americans (about 90 percent of us) eat more than 3,300 milligrams a day. Want to know which foods are the worst to eat if you're watching your salt intake? Read the list below.

The 10 saltiest foods are:

Snacks like potato chips, popcorn, and pretzels
Meatloaf and other "meat-mixed" dishes
Pasta dishes
Cheese
Cheeseburgers and sandwiches

Read on for the top five saltiest foods.

6 Strategies to Save More This Year

Kiplinger — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:27:21 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Saving doesn't come easily for us young adults. Entry-level salaries don't give you a lot to work with. And, well, we also tend to spend what we make - and then some - on the latest gadgets and flashiest fashions.

But don’t worry. We’re not doomed to frivolity and the wreckage it can make of our finances. Here's how you can start saving smart throughout 2012:

Periodically calculate how much you spend. What better time to review your budget than at the start of a New Year? “It’s really hard to [track your spending] each month, so aim for just once or twice a year,” says Jill Boynton, a certified financial planner in Newington, New Hampshire.

Just be sure when you do it that you track everything. Boynton recommends filling out a spreadsheet with a month’s worth of spending. Or you can try an online budgeting tool such as Mint.com (See our slide show: Which Budgeting Site is Best for You?). But note: Mint works best for those who deal mostly in plastic as opposed to cash. When you make an ATM withdrawal, the site labels the transaction as “Cash & ATM.” Unless you diligently manage your cash transactions (you can manually edit Mint’s labels), you can easily lose track of where the money goes.

The drudgery of tracking spending can pay off when you find surprising expenses you could easily cut. At the end of 2011, I crunched my own numbers and found that I shelled out about $200 a month at Starbucks and other restaurants. I’m sure I could cut that by at least half. That’s like finding a $100 bill every month in my back pocket.

Read on for more strategies.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Yoga Mat

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:36:43 PST

Buying a yoga mat is like buying a new pair of running sneakers. It takes careful consideration and research to find the right fit. Since there are hundreds to ~~confuse you~~ choose from, narrow down your search by asking these important questions.

How Much Do I Want to Spend?
Your budget is a huge factor in the mat you end up with. Do you have the dough to lay down for the priciest one on the market or are you happy buying a cheaper mat? The upside of buying a more expensive mat, like the Manduka PRO Black Magic ($104), is durability, which will actually save you money over time.

How Thick Do I Want It?
If you're new to the mat-buying scene, you might not realize that mats come in different thicknesses. A quarter-inch is the standard mat thickness, probably like the one you've borrowed from your studio. Think about how your body feels on this mat in certain poses where your bones are pressing into the floor. If you've felt discomfort, splurge on a thicker mat, but make sure it's also dense. A thick squishy mat makes balancing postures more difficult.

Keep reading for more things to consider when purchasing a new yoga mat.

Brazilian Blowout Agrees to Up Its Safety Warnings in CA

Jaime Richards — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:43:02 PST

The formulas will be the same, but change is already in progress for manufacturer GIB's controversial Brazilian Blowout and Acai Professional Smoothing Solution. Last November, California brought a lawsuit against the company for making misleading claims about the safety of the products, specifically the levels of formaldehyde contained within, but now the parties have come to an agreement. "This settlement requires the company to disclose any hazard so that Californians can make more informed decisions," California Attorney General Kamala Harris's office said in a statement.

As a part of the deal, the makers of Brazilian Blowout have agreed to label the aforementioned product with hazard warnings (a process which they have already started), and will also provide salons with pamphlets containing safety precaution information. See more of the outcome when you read more.

Best Practices: Extend the Life of Your Workout Wear

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:37:43 PST

You splurged on $70 capris, but since they make such a difference in the way you feel during workouts, you'll never go back to cheapo clothes again. Because you've shelled out a lot of dough for these items, it's best to know how to take care of your workout clothes so they'll last. Always check the label or the brand's website for care instructions, and to answer a few common concerns about washing wicking-wear, we spoke to a few of our fave brands to get the skinny on the matter.

Go With Cold
We spoke with Zobha, Lululemon, and SmartWool, and they all agree: wash your technical and wool workout garments in cold water. No need to hand wash either! Just drop your clothes into the machine. But Lululemon adds "avoid washing with fluffy clothing (i.e. big cotton sweatshirts)" so your favorite leggings don't end up with a bunch of unwanted lint as decoration.

Say No to Bleach and Fabric Softeners
Bleach does not play nice with technical fabrics, so these brands say to avoid it. When it comes to your woolens, SmartWool recommends avoiding fabric softeners "because they coat the merino wool fibers and reduce the fibers' ability to naturally manage moisture and regulate your body temperature."

To Tumble Dry or Not
When it comes to drying your gear, all these brands agree: it's perfectly acceptable to tumble dry your clothes on low. Lululemon does provide the caveat that "hanging to dry will help prolong the life of the garment." I find using the dryer helps lessen the stink factor that affects some of my workout wear. Plus it saves time - I hate when I grab a pair of air-drying capris for my morning workout and they're still damp.

If you have more questions on washing your fave pieces of gear, read up on how to wash workout clothes for more tips.

Is It Really Gluten-Free? Reading Labels 101

Heather Dale — Tue, 03 May 2011 03:47:18 PDT

Unless you're shopping at stores like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods - grocery stores that indicate which products are gluten-free - it can be difficult to figure out what is and isn't free of gluten, not to mention, time consuming! Here are some tips to make gluten-free shopping a bit easier.

Become a label reader! This is the most important tip, which is why it's number one. Before you go to the store, print out this safe gluten-free food list, and this unsafe gluten-free food list, so you know what ingredients to watch out for. If you see the words wheat, barley, rye, oats, or malt listed in the ingredients, steer clear. And double check to make sure the item wasn't made on equipment or in a factory that also processes wheat - cross-contamination can be just as harmful if you are intolerant to gluten.

Keep reading for more tips.