What/Where/When to Eat Or Not Eat

No, we're not covering the totality of the title topic, only a few  interesting  pieces of information that we've found online recently.  We assume readers of Shelf Life Advice are educated about food and already know that raw milk, raw sprouts, and raw oysters are risky foods to consume if you don't relish contracting a foodborne illness. And you also know that diets that regularly contain large quantities of  calories, fat, salt, and sugar have long-term negative health consequences. Having told you what you already know, we're ready to move on to what you might not know, for example, what to eat and what foods to avoid before getting on an airplane and what to eat when you can't sleep at night.

 FLYING:

It's bad enough being stuck in a cramped seat. On top of that, you don't want to  have to endure bloating and cramps.  Therefore, avoid soda (pop), greasy food, onions, cauliflower, cabbage, beans, and lentils.  In addition to discomfort, these foods may cause you embarrassment.  (Need I explain why?)  And, if you don't want those siting near you to hate you, either skip the garlic or bring along mints.

Alcohol may help you avoid anxiety and even enjoy a nice nap.  Still, it should be avoided because, when combined with the very dry air on the plane, dehydration is a risk. If you must have a cocktail before or during the flight, also drink  a lot of water.

What about coffee?  Better skip it  because, unless you have an aisle seat, you may have to ask your row-mates to get out of their seats so you can get out of yours.

Wondering what foods are recommended for consumption before or during a flight? Lean proteins--which you can get, for example, from chicken, fish, or eggs--are good choices.  But don't eat the sausages or patties that usually accompany eggs.  Yogurt and fresh fruit are also highly recommended because the antioxidants therein  help you stave off all the germs in the airport and on the plane.  For more about what's good to eat,  consult  Lovisa Nilsson, in-house nutritionist at the health app Lifesum. For snacks, Nilsson recommends nuts, not salty pretzels or peanuts (which are usually salty and cooked in fat).

If you can't remember all  these suggestions, here's one piece of advice that's easy to recall  but difficult to follow: just don't eat anything at all shortly before and during your flight.  A study published in Science  and discussed on the website IndependentTraveler.com explains that, if your body thinks you're starving, that will keep you  awake and alert until meal time at your destination.  But, for an enjoyable flight, we suggest eating, drinking,  and sleeping. When you're flying, you don't need to be alert unless you happen to be the pilot.  And you don't need to be alert immediately after disembarking either if you allow some time to rest and recoup before meeting the vice-president of the world.

RESTAURANT FOOD:

Fast-food restaurants, large-chain restaurants, and non-chain (local) restaurants are all doing  their part to contribute to the American obesity epidemic.  The Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter supplies the following statistics from a study published in the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

Ÿ 92% of the meals served in 364 large-chain and local (non-chain) restaurants exceeded the calorie recommendation for a single adult meal.

Ÿ In 123 of the restaurants studied, a serving for one meal--excluding beverages, appetizers, and  desserts--sometimes totaled more than an adult's caloric needs for a whole day! 

Ÿ Meals for non-chain restaurants contained an average of 1,205 calories, which was not much different than what the chain restaurants were serving.

Ÿ American, Chinese, and Italian cuisines had the highest calorie counts, averaging 1,495 calories per meal!

But wait.  The story of our excessive eating gets even crazier.   On August 2, 2016, the Chicago Tribune published an articled headlined "THE WORST OF THE WORST."  It told about "Xtreme Eating Awards" given out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest to increase awareness of dining excesses in the U.S..  Keep in mind that the U.S.D.A. recommends that moderately active adults consume at most, 2,000 calories a day. Most of the these  Xtreme award winners serve one meal (or one dessert) that comes close to or even exceeds that daily limit.  Examples: Buffalo Wild Wings' Dessert Nachos has 2l00 calories; Cheesecake Factory's Fried Chicken and Waffles Benedict  (with breakfast potatoes)  contains 2,580 calories.  

No doubt about it: for healthful dining, there's no place like home.

SPICY FOODS:

Spice lengthens life, a recent study concluded.  But other scientists are not so sure. "A Chinese study of almost 500,000 people said that those who  reported consuming spicy foods almost daily were 14% less likely to die during 7.2 years of follow-up than those rarely eating chile-fueled foods," says The Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter. These results were widely publicized in the U.S.  BUT the Tufts article goes on to point out, other factors may account for the longevity of those who consumed more spicy food.  For example, the spice effect was significant only for those participants who didn't drink alcohol.  Also, there was not much difference in the longevity of those who ate spicy food 1-2 times a week compared to those who ate it every day, suggesting that other factors were also at work.  Furthermore, those using more chile may also have used less salt; low salt consumption, rather than high chile use, may have been the reason for the longer life span.  The compound that makes chile "hot" (Capsaicin)  is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial  effects.. Still, no one is concluding that popping pills laced with Capsaicin will enable a person to outlive Methuselah.

FRUIT:

No surprise here. A recent study of 450,00 people across 10 regions of China suggested that eating fruit daily was likely to lead to a longer life. Here were some of the health benefits noted:  lower systolic blood pressure, lower blood sugar levels, lower risk of having a stroke, and lower risk of death caused by a cardiovascular event. This study was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine and discussed in the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter (September, 2016).

GRILLED MEAT:

We've all heard that grilled meat may cause cancer, but, especially in the summer, grilling outdoors seems the ideal alternative to turning on the kitchen oven. Besides, grilling makes meat taste so good!  Instead of feeling scared and guilty as you  enjoy it, follow the excellent advice in the following Huffington Post article: "Does Grilling Cause Cancer?  How to Make Grilling Healthier and Safer." 

Shelf Life Advice also covers this topic. Check out these articles on  grilling to help you achieve both safety and tasty:

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/how-grill-safely

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/getting-taste-thrill-foods-you-grill 

PROCESSED MEATS:

 This definition of the term "processed meats" is provided by the American Institute for Cancer Research: "meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or addition of chemical preservatives." The category includes the following: ham, bacon, sausages, and deli meats.  Even when eaten in small amounts, these foods increase the risk of cancer, says the AICR.  The recommendation: eat these processed meats only occasionally.  No matter how thin you slice processed meats are risky, so they should be a rare treat.

THE SLEEP/ EAT CONNECTION:

Now you might think that if you sleep a lot rather than being awake and burning more calories, you'd gain weight. However, if you're sleeping, you can't be eating--unless you're a sleep-walker.  Maybe you've noticed that, if you're wide awake in the middle of the night, you tend to gravitate toward the kitchen.  This may seem like a good idea; a snack may stimulate seratonin (and then melatonin) and make you feel groggy.  However, the Tufts University magazine reports, "a growing body of research over the past few years has found that lack of sleep is closely associated with weight gain." People who go to bed late or sleep less tend to eat more, especially after 8 p.m. They overeat much more than is necessary to make up for the extra energy used to stay awake.  Moreover, they usually choose more fattening, less healthful foods, for example burgers or doughnuts rather than fruit or salad.

If you're up at 3 a.m. not to catch up on work but just because you woke up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, here's your Shelf Life Advice editor's recipe for slumber: a glass of hot chamomile tea with one (only one) slice of toast with low-sugar jelly or low-fat butter.  

Don't even drink decaffeinated coffee.  Despite the label, it does have some caffeine, as does regular tea and that chocolate bar that's tempting you.  If you have reason to suspect that caffeine is keeping you up at night, discontinue consuming all three for 10-12 hours before your bedtime.  Caffeine can stay in the body that long,

If your eyes still won't close, follow the caffeine-free tea-and-toast regimen with an interesting book (but not a novel that's a gripping page-turner).  In fact, nonfiction--the newspaper or a magazine--may be the best choice. Reading something not too stimulating may help you feel sleepy in a  half hour or so, and it contains fewer calories than food.  

Source(s):

independenttraveler.com  "Five Foods to Avoid Before Flying"

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/air-travel/five-foods-to-avoid-before-flying

www.dailymail.co.uk  "No more  airport fry-ups...The healthy foods you should eat before flying"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-3158930/The-healthy-foods-eat-fly-revealed.html - ixzz4GrIYkNqy

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca  "Molecules That Build Up and Make You Sleep"

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_11/d_11_m/d_11_m_cyc/d_11_m_cyc.html

Chicago Tribune  "The Worst of the Worst," August 2, 2016.

University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter "Wellness Made Easy: To improve your cardiovascular health, eat more fruit." Sept. 2016.

Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter:

"Do Spicy Foods Really Help You Live Longer?"  Nov. 2015.

"Meat Matters," October 2015.

"92% of Restaurant Meals Too High in Calories," June 2016.

Tufts Nutrition magazine "RUDE AWAKENING: Cutting back on sleep can pack on the pounds. The question is, why?"  winter, 2016.