© (Getty Images)If you expect a dish like this when you order Rocky Mountain oysters, you're in for a surprise.
Don't be fooled by these misnomers on the menu.
1. Buckwheat
Although it gets
treated like a grain similar to rice, buckwheat is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel. In spite of its name, it doesn't contain any wheat at all, which makes it a perfect swap for those who are
sensitive to wheat or grains that contain gluten. Buckwheat has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels and it's also associated with helping to stabilize blood sugar levels. It's also a good source of magnesium, which may assist in reducing blood pressure.
2. Sweetbreads
Not sweet. Not bread. Rather, sweetbreads are actually either the thymus gland or pancreas of a lamb, cow or pig. This organ meat has a unique smooth, creamy texture and a somewhat bland taste. Whether baked, breaded, fried or braised, if you have a hankering for a chocolate croissant, sweetbreads will not do the trick.
I know from experience. The first (and last) time I tasted them, I was at a party and my sister turned to me with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face. She asked me if I'd like to try sweetbreads. She knew I
loved breads and sweets, so to me, it was a no-brainer (pun intended). After my first bite of the squishy substance, she announced I had just eaten "brains" – a far cry from a pastry!
3. Egg Cream
If you grew up in Brooklyn, New York, as I did, you probably know that a delicious frosty egg cream contains neither egg nor cream. This nostalgic summer thirst-quencher has been around since the 1930s, but you don't need to call your grandmother for the recipe – it's a cinch to prepare. With only three ingredients – namely chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer – you can whip up an egg cream in no time. Use
skim milk instead of whole types and go easy on the syrup to shave calories without compromising taste.
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4. Cream Cheese
Although cream cheese is essentially a cheese, it doesn't compare to the (much better) nutrient profile of hard cheese. One tablespoon of cream cheese contains 0.9 grams of protein and 14.2 milligrams of calcium, whereas a slice of hard cheese provides about 7 grams of protein and 200 milligrams of calcium.
5. Apple butter
One of my patients swore off apple butter because of its cholesterol content. Rest assured, apple butter has
no cholesterol, since it doesn't contain any butter. Apple butter is primarily a concentrated form of applesauce that also has sugar and sometimes cinnamon.
6.Hamburgers
I don't need to tell you this, but
hamburgers are not made with ham. Some say the sandwich was named for the city Hamburg in Germany, but others claim that it first attracted attention via a vendor at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. In either case, the traditional hamburger is typically made using ground meat, such as beef or turkey, along with a medley of other ingredients to enhance its flavor. These days, veggie burgers are popular; however, they range in quality – some are composed of healthy, whole foods like beans and veggies, while others are made with more processed soy blends. Check labels to see what you're really getting.
© (Getty Images)If you expect a dish like this when you order Rocky Mountain oysters, you're in for a surprise.
Plant-based pros dish on what to know before trading steak for fake.Vandana Sheth’s vegetarian lifestyle used to represent a niche market. Now, she’s mainstream. “It used to be just one or two brands [of meat alternatives], but now … there’s aisles and aisles of them,” says the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokeswoman, who is based near Los Angeles. For the most part, that’s a good thing: Plant-based diets are the gold standard of health and environmental responsibility – and Americans are apparently eating them up. But not all meatless meats are created equal. Here’s what to know before going faux:
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Packaged meat alternatives with names like “Chik’n Nuggets,” “Beef (Not!)” and, of course, Tofurky, are great “gateways” to a more plant-based lifestyle, says Sharon Palmer, a.k.a. “The Plant-Powered Dietitian” and a contributor to U.S. News's Eat+Run blog. One survey, she points out, showed that while only 7 percent of consumers consider themselves vegetarian, 31 percent are trying to cut back on meat. “If meat alternatives can help people [do that,] it’s still so much better for the environment” than animal products, she says. Sheth also applauds such products’ convenience. And, unlike old varieties’ rubbery texture, “a lot them are tasty,” she adds.
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But “not meat” leaves a lot of room for what the products actually are. “It’s important to remember that just because something is vegetarian or plant-based doesn’t automatically make it healthy,” Sheth says. Many of these products include preservatives and additives – think tapioca starch, cellulose, xanthan gum and TBHQ, a compound that prevents discoloration – to make them flavorful and shelf-stable, and to imitate a meaty texture. A word to the wise: “Look for ingredients that you would find in your own kitchen,” Palmer suggests. She and other plant-based pros also recommend keeping these five tips in mind:
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If you only swap your Kobe burger for a vegetarian variety on Meatless Monday or at a plant-based pal’s barbecue, you won’t shake your overall nutrient intake much. But if you’re regularly trading meat for “meat,” keep in mind that the latter often packs a fraction of the protein of the former, Palmer says. “People just assume they’re a protein replacement,” she says, “but they could have other ingredients in there like brown rice.” Palmer recommends products with close to 12 grams of protein – still about one-quarter of the protein in an 8-ounce beef patty.
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Today’s plant-based products have come a long way from original meat alternatives sculpted from soy. One manufacturer, Beyond Meat, recently announced a vegan "burger" apparently so meat-like it's said to be sold in refrigerated cases alongside the real thing. Other burgers are so minimally processed that "you can actually see beans in them,” Palmer says. “I like that trend.” She also supports soy products because soy is so nutrient-rich. Beans and lentils are Sheth’s pick for “best base,” while (mostly) vegetarian food blogger Grace Poser’s current favorite is pea protein (the base of Beyond Meat's new burger), which has 15 grams of protein per serving, a “neutral” taste and is “highly digestible,” she says. Finding what works for you, they say, may come down to trial and error.
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It’s not just strange-sounding fillers and protein content to look for on faux meat labels. Also keep an eye out for sugar, sodium, fat and calorie content. “That’s where some of these could be very high because they’re trying to mimic the flavor and mouthfeel that you’re missing,” says Sheth, who recommends limiting your sodium to 500 milligrams and fat to 10 grams. People with allergies to soy, gluten or nuts should label-read with caution, as should vegans, since egg and the milk protein casein are common binders, notes Rachel Morris, a vegan food blogger in Arlington, Virginia.
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More important than what makes up your faux patty is what makes up your overall diet. “The goal is a wide variety,” Sheth says, noting that you don’t want packaged meats – animal or plant-based – to be your main source of protein or any nutrient, for that matter. "Whenever you don't eat the whole food, you do lose some things," such as protein and fiber, Palmer points out. Rather than a premade bean patty, try a scoop of black beans and a side of rice or quinoa, Poser suggests. Just keep in mind: "Nothing is going to taste exactly like meat unless it is meat, so you have to ... appreciate the ingredient for what it is," she says. "Tempeh is its own beautiful thing, and it doesn't have to be a steak."
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If you’re still craving that meaty feel but prefer to steer clear of packages, try whipping up your own plant-based burger – Poser makes one with nothing but tempeh, egg and harissa – or grilling or roasting squash, eggplant or mushroom to fill the void. Seasoning vegetables with spices such as cumin and smoked salt is one of Poser’s secrets for satisfying the meat tooth she developed growing up in a German family but has denied since meeting and cooking with her vegetarian husband. She hasn’t looked back. “You can make a meal taste like nothing’s missing,” she’s found, “when there’s no meat on the plate.”
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7. Fruits de Mer
If you've seen this term on a French menu, don't expect to get a medley of fruit. It actually translates to "fruits of the ocean" – in other words, a melange of seafood.
8. Rocky Mountain Oysters
On the flip side, don't expect any seafood when you order this dish. In reality, it's an appetizer made of deep-fried bull, pig or sheep testicles. Bon appetit!
Copyright 2016 U.S. News & World Report
1 Comments
Is your body making the most of all the protein you’re consuming?
ReplyDeleteLet’s face it: No protein, no growth.
And we’ve all been bombarded with the latest trends in protein powders, weight gainers, lean gainers, combined protein, plant protein, whey, and egg etc……and the list goes on and on.
But one of the harsh realities I’ve learned from peak performance expert Wade Lightheart is this:
Most of the protein individuals consume ends up in one of two places.
One is your toilet bowl.
And the second place is in a nice layer of sludge somewhere in your digestive tract.
And that all adds up to one GIANT-SIZED WASTE OF MONEY AND EFFORT from all the food you’re eating — especially if you’re taking protein supplements.
You’re absorbing and using only a tiny fraction of the nutrients you’re taking in.
Enzymes digest your food, stimulate your brain, provide cellular energy, and repair all the cells, tissues and organs of your body.
Enzymes are the sparks that make everything happen.
AND HERE’S THE BAD NEWS: Our bodies have a LIMITED enzyme-producing capacity, which naturally declines as we age. (In fact, most individuals have only 30 percent of their enzyme potential by the time they are 40 years old!).
Your body naturally produces over 3,000 different types of enzymes, yet our ONLY external source of enzymes comes from THE FOOD WE EAT.
Digestive enzymes are found naturally in ALL food, whether it’s fruits, vegetables, or meats.
However, most of the food we consume in our modern diets is completely devoid of enzymes, because of how we grow, prepare and transport it.
And research demonstrates that ANY FOOD HEATED ABOVE 114 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT LOSES ALL OF ITS ENZYMES.
In other words, all cooked food is deficient in digestive enzymes, leaving very little to break down your food.
This means most of us are UNABLE to effectively digest the protein we eat.
And that’s pretty shocking and scary when you think about it.
But don’t be too alarmed, because some very bright scientist brains have thankfully figured out a solution:
SUPPLEMENT YOUR DIET WITH HIGH QUALITY DIGESTIVE ENZYMES.
You see, it turns out that enzymes are perhaps the most overlooked component of digestive health.
Not only are digestive enzymes required for the breakdown and digestion of food. But their benefits extend well beyond that too…
World-renowned colon expert Dr. Hiromi Shinya suggests in his book “The Enzyme Factor”, that undigested protein — particularly from milk products, fast food and red meat — can become ‘food’ for “bad” bacteria.
And these bad bacteria create all kinds of toxins that leak into the blood stream.
Meanwhile Dr. Edward Howell, author of “Enzyme Nutrition”, has demonstrated conclusively that using digestive enzymes can improve digestion, regulate weight, and ease the symptoms of a variety of health conditions.
BUT QUALITY IS KEY.
If you take a look around, you’ll find a whole bunch of enzyme formulations being sold in the market. But they’re certainly not all created equal — especially when it comes to the enzyme that digests protein: PROTEASE.
And there’s a big reason of this…
Protease is the most expensive of the enzymes to make.
And there are several kinds of protease enzymes.
And while most formulations have high levels of amylase (digests carbohydrates), or lipase (digests fats), the protease (digests protein) tends to be LOW QUALITY and in low amounts with most formulations.
And it’s called MASSZYMES: Masszymes digestive enzymes
P.S. Did you know that taking a protease supplement can actually help reduce strength loss, and boost short-term strength recovery too when you train?
And here’s where to go again to get your hands on Masszymes:
==> Wade’s digestive enzymes formula