Susan's Nutrition Weblog

Mexican greenery

Today, I ate a lot of guacamole and a burrito the size of my head (my head is larger than average). Yummy.

Thank you.

DC - my new peeps

Well, it has happened. I am living in DC geared to do the good works of PCRM. Life in the Capital City is quite different from the NYC lifestyle that I once knew and was reacquainting myself with when I accepted this job. Firstly, I am lulled to sleep by crickets each night as opposed to trucks, ambulances and thumping car stereos. Admittedly, I am in a suburb of DC as opposed to downtown. And I have to confess you get used to falling asleep to traffic, and you have to acclimate to silence. No really, you do.

When I run in the morning I hop on a trail that winds me through dense woods for miles and miles. There are plenty of other bikers and runners, so it’s not lonely-empty. I have yet to run in Rock Creek Park as the hard-core runners do, but it is a very intimidating park. It’s huge and forested and interns vanish in there (probably because senators kill them, but just the same).

I miss Central Park, but I don’t so much miss running over the Williamsburg Bridge where I was greeted daily with this sidewalk graffiti: “Honkies in Williamsburg blow a big dong.” Huh, now that is interesting. Actually, I thought it was a fairly tame and polite way of expressing one’s concern over gentrification. Yes, perhaps we do, metaphorically speaking, blow a big dong. I really can’t disagree. Anyway, it gave me something to ponder during my Brooklyn runs.

Now, I just think about trees and flowers and such nonsense. Maybe honkies in DC blow a big dong too. I’ll look into it.

Today I discovered that Trader Joe’s, one of my favorite grocery stores, uses eggs from cruelly caged chickens. I went in to buy treats to send to China, and as I was leaving, there were two progressive minded kids holding a sign that said “Trader Joe’s Shoppers: Stop the Abuse.” Uh-oh. I stopped to inquire and offered my disappointment because I love TJ’s. One young advocate said, “Me too. That’s why I’m determined to get them to stop.” Ok, I’m in. I’ll call, I’ll write, I’ll talk to the manager. Might I suggest those reading do the same (www.hsus.org)? A lot of you have no idea what Trader Joe’s is – you’re exempt.

There’s a big march in DC that I think I am required to participate in this Saturday. Required by my own conscience. Plus I’ve been meaning to do a monument tour and give the evil eye to the White House. I can’t be in DC and not get political. I’m about to go upside Bush’s head, in a non-violent sort of way.

As a professional aside: I just got word that I have been certified as a Dietitian-Nutritionist in the state of New York. Three-hundred dollars well spent. That’s $100 per credentialing letter I can add to my name's end; however, now it’s useless. I’m going to still use it because I still have a NY driver’s license. Do those two things relate? No one knows what any of the letters mean anyway, so what the hell.

Susan M Levin, MS RD CDN

Holistic Health

Hi, I found your blog via hello.typepad.com and I think it's awesome and extremely motivating. Thanks for starting it. I was wondering if now that you've decided which job to take (congrats!) would you be able to reveal the name of the holistic health clinic in NY? I'm not looking for a job, just interested in holistic medicine...

Yes, of course I will reveal the name of the clinic: The Hoffman Center. Located on 30th Street near Park Ave. I think they really know what they are doing and seem to have a great reputation in the area. If you go to their website, www.drhoffman.com, you can see what they offer.

Good luck. Even if you did want to get a job there I would say go for it. I'm all set.

Comments from China

Hey, Susan: So glad to see your blog! We're doing fine so far with the new semester. Good luck with your new job, it's so perfect for you! Dilys & Jessie

Hey you two!

fyi: Dilys and Jessie are two of my best students from China. They are smart and toughtful and are good at thinking outside of the box. They have a campus radio show where I was interviewed twice: once about blue grass music and once about being vegan. It sounded very professional as it was blasted on loud speakers placed all over the campus.

Thanks for the kind, supportive words. I hope you are both doing well in your new semester. Work hard but don't forget to have some fun too! My husband is at Nanjing University now, and guess what, his room mate is a Chinese vegetarian! We're taking over the world!

Treat Yourself

What's the best celebratory vegan treat I could find at my local healthy grocery store - the comparable to a pre-1996 pint of Cherry Garcia? :-) Peace.

Posted by: Kelly Saville | September 15, 2005

Kelly! Cherry Garcia was THE last dairy product prior to becoming vegan that I ate, intentionally. Good memory of our times in Key West, chica.

Well, they do make a soy version of this yummy combo: vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips and cherries. It's gooooood. I wouldn't say it's healthy because it's full of sugar and thickeners and what not. However, sometimes I just have to have it. It's the same old problem though - don't eat the whole pint! Hard to restrain.

Maybe a healthier treat is some dark chocolate (real dark chocolate without milk fillers). I once saw a doctor on Oprah say that 3 oz of dark chocolate per day is good for you. In fact, it has anti-oxidants and boosts serotonin in your brain (serotonin prevents anxiety & depression and can help you sleep better). What could be better?

Ok, sure, you could eat some fruit, but . . . pahleeeease.

Got A Life!

I have finally made a decision other than do I want the tofu salad salad or the tofu salad sandwich while I search the web for jobs at Soy Luck Club. I decided to move to Washington, DC and start working for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (pcrm.org). This is obviously an ideal job for a vegan dietitian and I was lucky to get the offer. So here I go. Moving four hours down the coast to see what’s new in the capital city. Scary.

Of course, New York City cannot be compared to any other city in the world, and I will miss it. Most of my friends live here and I won’t be able to count on their good company day to day. But there’s a really fast, cheap, clean bus that runs back and forth between the two cities. It’s run by two Hasidic Jews and costs a reasonable $40 round trip. You don’t even have to go inside Penn Station to catch it (BONUS!) and even better, it doesn’t drop you off at the scary DC Greyhound station.

On a food note: I know a vegan who wasn’t aware that Thai food more often than not comes flavored with fish sauce or fish flakes. You absolutely have to ask if it can be made without in order to ensure you are getting a vegetarian dish. That’s my tip for the day. Enjoy.

Flax Oil

Hey Su! What's the deal with flax seed oil? Thanks, Elizabeth

Well, this is a timely question BECAUSE my sister recently pointed out that the mainstream grocery stores (Safeways, anyway) are now selling flax seed oil. Sweet!

So why would you fork out the dough for this expensive oil and then what would you do with it once you got it home?

Firstly, flax oil should be refrigerated when shipped, stored, and in your house. I wouldn't recommend buying flax seed oil that is just sitting on a shelf. Flax seed oil is VERY VERY sensitive to heat. Therefore, you absolutely cannot cook with it. I suggest using it in dressings, or as a topping on toast and popcorn, or as a supplement in a fruit shake.

But why would I use flax seed oil and not olive oil, Susan?

Excellent question. Use both. Flax seed oil is very high in omega-3 fat, a fat that is seriously deficient in our (not just vegans) diets. Other excellent sources of omega-3s come from fish, so if you are vegan, vegetarian or deathly afraid of toxic seafood, you may be in need of some flax oil. Some think that because flax seed oil is so volatile, you are better off buying the seeds and grinding them at home. Then use the ground seeds as a salad topper or as a supplement in a shake. That's up to you.

Low intake of omega-3s can lead to all sorts of maladies, including depression, dry skin, cardiovascular disease and joint pain. Uh oh.

Other good sources of omega-3 fats include walnuts, tofu and soybeans.

You Complete Me

hi susan. i have heard that rice and beans are the perfect protein. is that true and if so why?

Hi Katy! Welcome to the blog. This is a great question because I actually know the answer off the top of my head.

Well, as you may know, beans have protein. Rice has protein too. Protein is made up of amino acids. You've got your essential and your non-essential amino acids. Non-essential means you don't need to worry about eating them because your body makes them magically (FYI: there's no such thing as biology; it's all magic). Essential means you better eat them because your body can't make them on its own.

There are anywhere from eight to ten ESSENTIAL amino acids (depending on your health and age) -- isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, blah blah blah, you don't care, but trust me, there are potentially ten. If your protein source is "complete" it has all your ESSENTIAL amino acids. If it's "incomplete", then . . . what class? . . . that's right, it does not have all the ESSENTIAL amino acids.

An egg is complete because it has all the essential amino acids. But let's talk vegan. Soybeans are complete because they too have all the EAAs, however, most plant foods do not have all the EAAs. Fortunately our ancestors had the innate knowledge to know they needed to combine these foods, thus beans & rice was born as a staple dish.

Other historic examples:
Cereal with milk
Granola with yogurt
Hummus and pita bread
Nut butter with whole grain bread
Rice with milk, i.e., rice pudding
Corn or wheat tortillas with refried beans

See the pattern in our forefathers’ infinite wisdom? I know! It’s fascinating!

Thanks for the question, Katy! See you . . . well, see you right now, you’re my room mate. Lucky you!!

No protein?!

I was wondering the bestest ways to get protein. I live in a tiny town in rural China and have no real access to beans, yummy cereals, nuts or anything western like sups. Unlike other parts in China there isn’t really a huge Tofu market here, what is here is fried, and you know I gotta watch my hips.

Thanks Shoalin sister, inch of power

Dear Dean - Good to hear from you, sir! Firstly, "sups" is such an Aussie thing to say. Funny. Secondly, if I remember correctly, you are now vegetarian, inching closer toward vegan, thus you are not eating any meat. Is that true? I also know for a fact that you do a lot of cross training: shaolin, rock climbing, running, biking. Lastly, you have always been strangely concerned with the size of your butt. Pahlease, girl, you look good.

Ok, now that we're all caught up, it sounds like you are in a bind. I can't believe the town you are in doesn't have any nuts?! No seeds?! NO TOFU?!! Are you really looking? If you went to a restaurant, could they sell you some of their tofu supply?

If what you say is true, you are screwed on a local level. However, you have plenty of friends in the big Chinese cities who could send/bring you dried beans and raw grains and bags of nuts!! Use them to help you, dude. However, I honestly can't believe this stuff isn't available to you. No small street markets with bags of beans and nuts? What?! Do you eat eggs anymore? No Chinese city is without lots of squawking chickens and eggs for sale. No string beans in the restaurants, sans pork bits?

I am stunned. And, to be honest, I believe you aren't even trying. I'm getting mad at you now. I hope your butt does get fat.

inch of power

Eat the Worm

I have a question for you. I have been taking a supplement called PB 8 Pro-Biotic Acidophilus For Life which was recommended to me when I had a urinary tract infection. I am really liking the way it supports my digestive system which has been a weak area in my body for a while. My question is: can this supplement be taken safely long term?
Thanks for your help in advance and take care. Your blog is awesome, I love it. -Peg

Posted by: Peg | September 03, 2005

Hey Peg - I have consulted a pro-biotic expert who works all day everyday with gastro-intestinal issues.  She's also very worldly and nice and pretty and works at the Tummy Temple in Seattle where she rules the world with her knowledge (a little plug for ya' Jennifer).  She says that there are two things she would recommend one do everyday long-term, and pro-biotics is one of them.  She won't tell me the other because I guess she can't give away all her secrets. 

I think she is right, especially given how good it is making you feel.  Unfortunately, we used to eat a lot more fermented foods, foods with active cultures, etc. but now, not so much.  And we are paying with our health.   Notice how a lot of Asian cuisine is complemented with pickled side dishes.  There is a reason for that which goes beyond just yumminess.  So I say keep swallowing those little active buggers.  They are working hard and apparently doing a good job.

Thanks for the question!