Best Teen Diets Nutrition Blog: February 2013

Is it okay to exercise with make-up on?

6:57 PM

Wash up: sweating at the gym can cause breakouts

Sweat doesn't cause breakouts. But leaving it on your face does.

Perspiring in saunas or hot baths has long been used to purify skin.

But breaking a sweat can cause the opposite to happen—irritation and redness, acne flare- ups and clogged pores—when you leave the salty stuff on your face to dry. And by looking around the yoga studio and the gym, most people do.

“Research shows that most gym-goers don’t shower after a workout,” says New York City dermatologist, Debra Jaliman. “So they’re literally sitting in bacteria both on their bodies and on their skin.”

How to make breaking a sweat good for your body and great for your skin? Clean up, people!

Before your workout
A lot people exercise in make-up, says Dr. Jaliman. This is huge skin-care no-no. “You need to wash your face before you hit the gym or yoga class, otherwise the bacteria combined with the dead skin on your face (we all have it) will clog your pores.”

After your workout
Wash your face immediately after your workout—before you leave the yoga studio, the gym, or the Spinning studio, or wherever you break a sweat. It’s one a few skin-care rules that you should never break. You don’t want a cocktail of dirt, oil, and bodily fluids clinging to your skin, affecting its pH, and clogging your pores. No sink is no excuse! Bring cleansing facial wipes with you if there’s no running water (like in the park), or you know you won’t be able to get to a sink promptly.

(No, we don’t think you’re dumb. We just like to be specific. The main thing is to get the dirt, grime, and sweat off your skin. The rest is icing!)

HOW TO WASH YOUR FACE AFTER A WORKOUT

Use a gentle cleanser. Stay away from cleansers that contain sodium laureth sulfate, an ingredient that can overly dry skin. Try an anti-bacterial cleanser with tea tree oil in it, a cooling gel-based face wash, or a gentle milk-based one that contains calming chamomile or lavender extracts.

Try tepid water. And end with a few splashes of cool (not cold) water. The lower temp can cool your skin, of course, but it can help close your pores, which dilate to help release sweat.

Pat, don’t wipe, your skin dry with a towel. Sometimes toweling off can irritate skin, particularly if your face gets really red when you workout.

In fact, don’t dry your skin completely. Get it 90 percent of the way there, then let it air-dry. Somehow this helps curb an otherwise tight and overly dry feeling I often get. (Though a milky cleanser helps.)

Calm your skin down with a face mist or toning spray. I really like these after I workout. It’s like running through a sprinkler. Dr. Jaliman likes Arcona Triad Pads, laced with an antimicrobial cranberry toner.

Treat inflammation. If you have sensitive skin, apply a green tea or resveratrol-based gel, serum, or light moisturizer to soothe inflammation, says Dr. Jaliman. Then apply your sunscreen and make-up.

Save serious treatment products for bedtime. Even normal skin can be more sensitive right after a workout, so you may want to wait until redness dissipates or bedtime to use your super-active acne or anti-aging treatment products.

Related: "Tips for Healthy Skin"

Read the full article, "No sweat: Making sure your skin doesn’t get a workout at the gym" by Well+Good NYC

Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more information visit www.bestteendiets.org

Breakfast

Mandarin Oranges: 7 Ways to Use Them

9:22 PM

A Colorful Splash

Mandarin orange varieties like Clementines and Satsumas are typically eaten out of hand or canned for use in fruit salads. But they're just as welcome in savory sauces, salads, salsas, and even ice cream pies. Open a can and enjoy.

Mandarin-Berry-Almond Floats

A colorful addition to brunches, teas, or pot lucks, this easy make-ahead dessert combines Mandarin oranges, fresh raspberries and cubes of homemade almond gelatin with a simple syrup that's flavored with cardamom seeds and orange juice.

Recipe: Mandarin-Berry-Almond Floats

Crispy Sesame Salad Stack

It may look like an architectural masterpiece, but this Asian salad is easy to pull off. Store-bought wonton skins sprinkled with sesame seeds are oven roasted to form crisp layers. Packaged salad greens, cashews, green onions, and mandarins tossed with an orange-soy vinaigrette make the crispy filling.

Recipe: Crispy Sesame Salad Stack

Best Ever Chinese-Chicken Salad

It's hard to believe, but Chinese-Chicken salad gets even tastier with the addition of asparagus, avocado, and fresh mandarin oranges. If you can't find fresh mandarins, substitute the canned variety. And if time is short, substitute canned chow mein noodles for the pan-fried wontons.

Recipe: Best Ever Chinese-Chicken Salad

Soft Shrimp Tacos With Tropical Salsa

The ingredient list is long, but prep for these shrimp tacos is a snap thanks to mostly canned salsa ingredients (mandarin oranges, pineapple, and chopped green chilies) and a spicy filling made with already peeled and deveined shrimp, shredded Jack cheese and lightly sautéed bell peppers and onions.

Recipe: Soft Shrimp Tacos With Tropical Salsa

Orange Mandarin Chicken

Pan seared chicken is topped with a cooked sauce of mandarins, jalapeño, soy sauce, green onions and cornstarch for a quick weeknight supper that can be served over instant rice or Asian noodles. If you like fiery flavors, add extra chopped jalapeño or chili garlic paste to the sauce.

Recipe: Orange Mandarin Chicken

Mandarin Cream Delight

A simple dessert for pot lucks, this tropical delight is made in three parts. First, a sugar cookie-style crust bakes to form the bottom layer. Top the crisp crust with a fluffy sweet concoction of sour cream, mandarin oranges and instant pudding, then crown with a whipped topping cloud.

Recipe: Mandarin Cream Delight

Orange Cream Pie

Pick your favorite vanilla ice cream and beat in canned mandarin orange sections for a sweet-tart filling housed in a prepared graham cracker crust. If your family prefers sweet pie fillings over tart, stir in a little well-drained crushed pineapple to sweeten things up.

Recipe: Orange Cream Pie

BONUS: Use mandarins in our Quick Kebab or Breakfast Parfait recipes!

Check out the full slideshow, "7 Ways With Mandarin Oranges" from MyRecipes.com

Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables,whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more information visit www.bestteendiets.org

Fruits Veggies

How can I make healthy choices if I don't cook?

9:28 PM

The options in our modern grocery stores allow many healthy choices for those who don't like to cook or who lack cooking skills or equipment. Generally, ready-to-eat foods purchased at the grocery store cost more than if the same ingredients are purchased and prepared at home. However, these ready-to-eat foods do cost less than if purchased in a café or restaurant. Convenience usually comes with a price -- whether it is money, time or quality of the food.

From the produce section:
Choose foods that can easily be eaten raw. Bananas, apples, grapes, oranges and baby carrots are five of the easiest to prepare or carry along in a lunch bag or briefcase or to have as a snack.

Green and red leafy lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers and tomatoes are other good vegetable choices; a low fat salad dressing could be a dip with these.

Baking a small white potato, a sweet potato, a yam or a piece of winter squash in a microwave for 5-10 minutes provides a hot dish with very little effort.

Frozen vegetables such as peas or green beans are also a good investment. Frozen vegetables are also easy and fast to cook in the microwave or on the stove top.

Almost all fruits in season are good choices since they require no cooking and little preparation.

Fruit juices, such as orange juice, or the blended juices like banana-orange-pineapple, are tasty and convenient. Be sure they are labeled 100% juice for the best nutrition.

From the dairy section:
Choose cow's milk or a fortified soy milk beverage with at least one meal every day.

Choose low fat milk, low fat yogurt or cottage cheese

Low fat cheeses, like individually wrapped string cheese.

Low fat soymilk fortified with calcium, or other soy milk products, can also meet the need for calcium and protein.

From the meat section (and protein rich foods)

Choose protein rich foods that are low in fat, or from which the fat can be removed

Make a salad into a meal by adding low fat lunchmeat, hard-boiled egg, cooked shrimp, canned tuna, cooked chicken, garbanzo or kidney beans.

A roasted chicken from the deli is a good choice if the skin is removed before eating.

Fresh fish can be baked quickly: choose thin fillets like sole and bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes for each half-inch of thickness.

Peanut or other nut butter is a convenient protein source if you can afford the extra calories from the peanut or nut oils.

Canned salmon is a healthy protein choices and ready-to-eat.

Pregnant women should avoid deli meats, hot dogs unless they are heated and soft cheeses.

To get your grains:

Whole grain cereal, hot or cold, is a good breakfast when paired with fruit and cow's milk or a fortified soymilk.

Bread can become a sandwich, or be eaten alongside of a salad or soup. Choose a whole grain bread or roll.

Tortillas, fat free refried beans, some chicken and chopped tomato and lettuce are an easy meal, which becomes a treat with some salsa.

Pocket (pita) bread can become a handheld meal when filled with an assortment of foods from salads to meat and cheese.

Ramen noodles can be the basis for quick soup: add frozen vegetables and some cooked meat or seafood to the liquid, or stir in a beaten egg during the last few minutes of cooking.

Deli sections:
Deli counters are a tempting place to shop. Make healthy choices by avoiding salads held together with mayonnaise or sour cream.

Look for salads with a variety of vegetables.

Lean meats like turkey breast are a good choice.

At salad bars, choose dark green leafy lettuces and spinach.

One portion of a main dish like lasagna can be made into a meal with a side of raw vegetables like carrots and celery. Low fat frozen entrees can be served in the same way.

To access the original article: "How can I make healthy choices if I don't cook?" by Seattle & King County

Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables,whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more information visit www.bestteendiets.org

Health

Beverages: What and How Much is Healthy For You?

4:32 PM

-- an excerpt from the Harvard School of Public Health

Healthy beverages choices shown in healthy amounts

Your body would be perfectly content if you drank nothing but water. You would get all the fluid you need, and you would get all of your nutrients from food. But with so many choices available, most people drink a variety of beverages. To give some perspective to choosing beverages, the Beverage Guidance Panel poured its recommendations into a pitcher (see our version above). The exact number of ounces isn’t what’s important—these are given for a typical person taking in 2,200 calories a day. What matters are the proportions. Here’s one way the Panel suggests getting less than 10 percent of daily calories from beverages:

At least half of your daily fluid should come from water. For a person who needs 12 cups of fluid a day, that would mean six cups of water. More is fine—up to 100% of your daily beverage needs.

About one-third (or about three to four cups) can come from unsweetened coffee or tea. If you flavor your coffee or tea with a lot of sugar, cream, or whole milk, then drinking less would help manage weight. If you take a pass on coffee or tea, choose water instead.

Low-fat milk can make up another 20 percent, or about two 8-ounce glasses. Less is fine, just make sure you get your calcium from another source.

A small glass (4 ounces) of 100% fruit juice, and no more than 1 to 2 alcoholic drinks for men or no more than 1 for women.

Ideally, zero “diet” drinks made with artificial sweeteners, but up to 1 to 2 glasses (8 to 16 ounces) a day (this is adapted from the Beverage Guidance Panel’s original recommendation of up to 32 ounces per day).

Ideally, zero drinks sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, but up to a maximum of 8 ounces.

For more detailed information on each level and its benefits, see the original article: "Healthy Beverage Guidelines"

Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables,whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more information visit www.bestteendiets.org

Holiday Eating

Have Your Heart and Eat it Too!

7:00 AM

Exercise

One Size Fits One

11:33 AM

By Michaela Ballmann, MS, RD

New Year’s Resolutions

Going into the new year, I hear the same resolutions being repeated: lose weight, exercise more, eat less carbs, eats less fat, eat less sugar, have self-control, stay motivated, blah, blah, blah.

If this was all there was to health, to feeling good about one’s body, or to happiness, you’d think that we’d find a way to make this happen. The problem is that this focus on restricted eating, keeping your appetite in check, and doing extreme forms of exercise jeopardizes your health, promotes negative body image, and sure isn’t making you happy.

One Size Fits All?

A lot of what we are told or recommended by books, magazines, ads, and even public health initiatives is supposed to be “One Size Fits All”. According to these sources, we would all be better if we lost weight, did 1 hour of moderate-intensity exercise most days of the week, ate a diet consisting of 12 ounces of this and 3 servings of that, and the list goes on. What do you think? Do we all thrive on the same prescription? If not, is the problem not the prescription but rather the noncompliant patients?

I think what’s needed is a “One Size Fits ONE” approach to wellness. We are all different people with unique genes, cultures, families, jobs, food preferences, body structures, energy levels… So, why do we act as if we’re all the same just because we’re all human?

What Fits You?

Instead of arguing about all the ways of eating–Paleo, raw, vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean, and the other endless options–I think we should start paying attention to what we like, how we feel, and what our body seems to thrive on. The same goes for exercise. Some people swear by spinning, others run, swim, kickbox, dance, walk, garden, hike, do Martial Arts, and this list also goes on. When the options are plentiful for food, drink, and exercise, why not feel curious and excited about what would make you and your body feel good? How does it feel to eat no carbs? How about low fat? Or lots of fat? Or few vegetables? Or 3 pieces of fruit a day? How does it feel to go for a 30 minute jog? Or take a pilates class? Or walk your dog? Or take a circuit training class?

Everyone’s answer will vary depending on them. Sure, there are some health recommendations that seem like they would benefit most people. What I am asking is for you to test the advice and see if it promotes your personal wellness and wellbeing.

Related: "Nutrition & Body Image", "5 Tips for Spotting Fad Diets"

Original post "One Size Fits One" by Michaela Ballmann, MS, RD

Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables,whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more information visit www.bestteendiets.org