Comments for Elizabeth Somer

Comment on April 1, 2012 by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:41:38 +0000

It is very difficult to keep sodium low in our culture. It requires eating almost no prepackaged foods, but it definitely is a good idea, especially for people with high blood pressure or heart problems. If you follow my menus, you’ll have to tailor them a bit, choosing low-sodium options for things like canned soups. It’s interesting. Campbell’s soup company has tried to make soups low in sodium and they don’t sell, putting the company in a double-bind. Make a product that is healthier, but go out of business! However, once you get used to little sodium and start using other spices, you find you don’t even like the glut of salt in most foods any more.

Comment on April 1, 2012 by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:38:49 +0000

You will have to be more specific about what you want suggestions for.

Comment on It seems like every day someone is telling me something different about how to lose weight. Help! by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:38:10 +0000

Just ask the question and I’ll be glad to answer.

Comment on April 1, 2012 by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:37:38 +0000

The sample menus are just suggestions. You absolutely should tailor them to your own preferences. I like egg substitute because it is almost entirely just egg whites and no cholesterol, but you can use whole eggs or egg whites and toss the yolks if you want. Whole fruit is great (notice I don’t just use juice in my menus!), but it’s nice to mix it up once in a while. Everyone is going to have difference ideas how to tweak the menus. Glad you are enjoying the blogs!

Comment on April 1, 2012 by sharon

sharon — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:44:05 +0000

I enjoy reading your blogs and all the great information you post on your website. I do have a comment about your sample menu.
Why settle for egg substitute? There are so many ingredients you can’t even pronounce in egg substitutes. I really have an aversion to egg substitute. With eggs still being a pretty good bargain I have no problem just using 3 egg whites and sprinkling tumeric or nutrtional yeast on them for a much healthier version of eggs. I also think a half of a grapefruit is a much better option than a cup of grapefruit juice. You loose the benefit of the fiber when you drink your juice not to mention the sugar content that is in juice. Your dinner suggestion also surprises me…2 cups of canned vegetable soup, what about all the sodium? Not to mention vegetable canned soup offers no nutritional value or fiber. One is better off making there own version of vegetable soup. A bag of frozen mixed vegetables, dice an onion saute, then add the frozen veggies with low sodium vegetable broth and your have a healthier version in minutes.

Comment on It seems like every day someone is telling me something different about how to lose weight. Help! by David Haas

David Haas — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:49:26 +0000

Hi,
I have a quick question about your blog, do you think you could email me?
David

Comment on April 1, 2012 by Judith

Judith — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:03:18 +0000

With all the information about how unhealthy canned and prepackaged foods are, I could not follow this diet. Can you suggest alternatives?

Comment on April 1, 2012 by Frances E Watson

Frances E Watson — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:59:28 +0000

I have purchased and given your newsletter as gifts. Now, this is my first email nutrition information and it is great. I will email this to my “group.” However, I seem to get atrial fibrilation from sodium in any sort of quanity. My cardiologist and I have worked on this and even on my medication. This weekend after selecting/eating (about half) what I thought might be a safe choice, it was not, I had a high pulse rate that woke me at midnight and it finally subsided in about 3 hours, 5 hours from eating. I drank some Gaterade 2, leftover from the colonoscopy diet day, which seemed to help. Therefore, I would like to be an advocate for low sodium foods/diet. I keep my intake to 500 mg. or less of sodium per meal and this recent scare is the first problem I have had in about 2 years. Thank you for providing such great, reliable information. Fran Watson

Comment on Why do you use Splenda in some of the recipes in your book, Eat Your Way to Sexy? by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:25:29 +0000

I agree. No one more than me would be happier if Americans ate perfectly. I’ve been promoting and educating people on how to do that for more than 30 years. The reality is people are eating worse today and more Americans are overweight than ever before. Not because they eat fat-free half & half, but because they are loading the plates with processed grains, fast food, and fatty fare, while not exercising. So, I see nothing wrong with using fat-free half & half or even Splenda (there is no solid body of research yet to support the claims that these sweeteners increase sugar cravings) to make healthier versions of peoples’ favorite desserts, while also continuing to educate them on how to incorporate more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, omega-3-rich seafood, and other real foods into their diets.

Comment on Why do you use Splenda in some of the recipes in your book, Eat Your Way to Sexy? by Heather Carey

Heather Carey — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:51:24 +0000

There is no argument that people in the United States consume too much sugar. But there are two points to consider when using artificial sweeteners. People certainly use them to replace white sugar but there is the theory (from the Harvard Health Letter December 2011) that artificial sweeteners “may do just the opposite and actually promote weight gain. How so? Artificial sweeteners are extremely sweet — hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than table sugar. So people who habitually consume them may wind up desensitized to sweetness. Healthful, satiating foods that are less sweet — such as fruits and vegetables — may become unappetizing by comparison. As a result, the overall quality of the diet may decline. The calories removed from the diet by the sugar-for-sweetener swap may sneak back in, in the form of refined carbohydrates and low-quality fats.”
The other concern is for all of us as a country to move away from the processed junk in our diets, and not just sugar. So, I am going to go one step further with this question and ask why, in some of your recipes, besides artificial sweeteners, do you use ingredients, such as “fat free half and half”, and “fat free evaporated milk” in recipes that so easily could be made without these processed ingredients? We have to learn to just enjoy real food in its most unprocessed form. And I am not talking about boring beans and rice. As a chef and nutritionist I tweak recipes everyday that taste absolutely delicious and don’t use anything artificial. I wouldn’t feel right recommending anything processed to my clients. I recommend real food.