Quick Bites Nutrition • Issue 7
Welcome to the 7th Issue of Quick Bites, my New Nutrition Newsletter! Today I will give you a couple tools to make healthier food choices. Let’s dig in! - Trilety
1. Your Mind & Milkshakes
2. A Bite of Reality
3. Whatcha Eatin'?! The McDonald's Apple Pie Trick! MUST TRY
1. Your Mind & Milkshakes
Last week, I learned about a protein called ghrelin (GRELL-in) that acts as a hormone; it's popularly referred to as the "hunger hormone."
Ghrelin INCREASES appetite and DECREASES energy expenditure.
In 2011, a study was done that showed the mind can have as much effect on ghrelin as our actual food intake. Two different groups of people were given the exact same 380 calorie milkshake, BUT one group's milkshakes were labeled as 620 calorie "indulgent" shakes, and the other group's milkshakes were labeled as140 calorie "sensible" shakes.
Here are the labels:
And guess what?! Even though ALL the shakes were the exact same calories, the people in the "indulgent" group saw a DECREASE in ghrelin, and the people in the "sensible" group saw an INCREASE in ghrelin!
Think about the mind-body connection here! Eating a food you "believe" to be indulgent will reduce your hunger hormone, but eating a food you "believe" to be low-calorie or sensible will activate your hunger hormone.
Maribel always says, "If you're gonna eat it, then Enjoy it," and at this point science seems to back her up: If you're gonna eat it, then consider it a shameless indulgence! (But indulge in moderation)
If you're interested in the original science, read Mind Over Milkshakes: Mindsets, Not Just Nutrients, Determine Ghrelin Response. I'd love to see this study replicated with more than 46 people!
2. A Bite of Reality:
Many of you know that in my past, I was overweight and at times obese. Since losing weight I have often felt that no matter how sensibly I eat or how much I exercise, I can't maintain weight as easily as I *think* I should. And here's the reality: I can't.
Basically, “Because formerly overweight people are more efficient at storing fat, they do not have the same flexibility in their food and activity habits as their friends who have never been overweight."
Some may consider this piece of knowledge deflating, but I see it as empowering. Weight loss and maintenance isn't an exercise in futility, but it will always be a little more challenging for some of us.
I used to feel like a magic hand was working against me, but knowing that it's Science gives me a self awareness and self compassion that increases my efficacy!
Here's a pic of me from Halloween 1999, about a year before I quit drinking and started to lose weight. Sexy AF, but overweight or not, I wasn't living a healthy lifestyle.
3. Whatcha Eatin'? The McDonald's Apple Pie Trick!
Thanksgiving is less than three weeks away, and while I encourage people to not share meals with those outside their covid pods, I still encourage you to bake pies for yourself and to share at a distance!
While I've never had a McDonald's Apple Pie, I hear they are one in a million. The Secret? DEHYDRATED APPLE POWDER. The thickener used in their apple pies isn't flour or cornstarch or tapioca, it's pulverized dehydrated apples. Talk about amping up the apple!
You can read about it here and then try my apple pie recipe below (GLUTEN FREE because of the dried apples) for your upcoming holidays!
Here's a pic of the pie, and the recipe is below:
The McDonald's Hack Apple Pie
Ingredients:
Frozen pie crust (or fresh if you have skills) – gluten free crusts are available
3+ cups of apples, about 3-5 apples (heavy on granny smith with a couple fuji or others added in for sweetness) – PEELED
1-1/2 cups dried/dehydrated apple chips (about 1-1/2 oz)
2 tsps cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp allspice
3 T melted butter
¼-1/2 cup brown sugar or granulated organic
½ cup flour or GF flour (for crumble)
½ cup oatmeal (for crumble)
½ cup brown sugar (for crumble)
¼-1/2 cup butter (for crumble)
Directions:
Put dried apples and spices in a food processor and process until it’s a powder – add sugar and process to powder (there will be a few chunks).
Peel apples. Slice kind of thin and then halve those slices – so not quite a dice, but not complete slices.
Mix the apple/sugar/spice powder with the apples and let sit for about 10 minutes while you put together the crumble and melt the butter.
Melt 3 T butter and set aside.
Mix together the crumble ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, and butter).
Fill the fresh or frozen crust with the apple filling.
Pour melted butter evenly over the filling.
Top the filling with the crumble.
Put pie plate on sheet pan and bake at 350 for about 45-60 minutes.
NEXT WEEK we'll be talking Vitamins and Cultural Food Knowledge!
Thanks so much for reading, and send in your recipes!
~ Trilety, the Aspiring Nutritionist