In the spirit of giving

December is the time of many a celebration. For us Finns, Christmas is not the only festivity at this time of the year, as we also have our Independence Day on the 6^th, which is a national holiday. Each year the president has a big party for the important and achieved people of the nation, and each year at the same time ordinary people serve the poor free food outside of the president’s “castle” (yes, even socialistic Finland has people in need, unfortunately). Ever since I first learned about the generosity of these “ordinary” people, I felt very impressed and glad that there are people who genuinely care about    others.

After realizing the extent of poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area, I remembered this Finnish Independence Day tradition of helping others, and for some time now a desire to do something similar for the homeless here has been brewing in my mind. This year, as it happens, Finland had her 100^th independence day, which provided me the last remaining push to finally decide to materialize my desire to help. This would be a perfect way to celebrate our centennial!

So, I invited some of my family members to join me in making some 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and help me distribute them out. I chose to give them out here, in San Francisco, where I currently live. The event was a success – the sandwiches were all gone soon! And how good it felt to be able to help others!

In retrospect, I find it interesting to notice some of the thoughts that were arising in my mind when I was planning to execute this project. I seemed to have doubts about whether the homeless people would appreciate my gesture, as a lot of them really only want money. However, out of all the people we met, only one declined the sandwich, and only one requested white bread (I used only whole grain of course). In fact, everyone we met was very appreciative! Especially that one person with a peanut allergy – knowing that peanut is one of the “big eight” allergenic foods, I had made one sandwich with just jelly. Even though everything went well, what would it even matter if the people on the streets didn’t like my idea? At least I was trying to help others and had genuinely good intentions. Sometimes one just has the get over oneself.

Here are some of the people we met:

Even though this was a very small gesture, and will not do much in the grand scheme of things, I can say that it was worth it. If nothing else, I hoped to show others that there are people thinking and caring about them out there. Personally, it also makes me feel glad that after all this time thinking about doing this, I finally had the courage to go for it despite my mind’s unhelpful suggestions. Most importantly, however, going through with this event made me realize that there are many ways to be generous – in every situation there is always an opportunity to smile, to be kind, or to offer others help and friendship.

I wish you a very joyful Christmastime.

Anna-Kaisa

'Tis the season for persimmons

My mother-in-law loves persimmons. I had never even heard of the fruit until I moved to the U.S. and saw them in her fruit bowl! The first time I tried them was only a few years back when I volunteered for a nutrition class during which I prepared a persimmon quinoa salad – I think previously I wasn’t yet very adventurous when it comes to trying new flavors, which is unfortunate, as I have noticed that I like most everything I try these days, including persimmons. Since I still don’t know much about this orange fruit, and since they are now at the peak of their season, I decided to take a look at the nutritional value of persimmons, their health benefits and how to eat them.

There are two types of persimmons available in the US: Hachiya and Fuyu. Hachiya is shaped like a large acorn, and Fuyu like a flattened tomato. There is no difference nutritionally between these two, but Hachiya will taste very tart and sour if not quite ripe (or when still firm), while Fuyu is sweeter (and edible!) when firm. If you bought persimmons that are very firm, place them in a paper bag together with an apple or banana to help the ripening process. (1)

WebMD provides this information about adding persimmons into your daily diet (1):

For Fuyu persimmons, rinse the fruit and remove the leaves and core. Eat with peels. You can add Fuyu persimmons to your salads or breakfast foods. Hachiya persimmons are mushy when ready to eat. Scoop seeds out and enjoy with a spoon, or use the pureed fruit in smoothies.

Here are the nutrition facts for raw persimmons with peels (1 fruit): (2).

118 kcal, 1 g protein, <0.5 g fat, 31 g CHO, 6 g fiber (25% of daily value)

270 mg Potassium, 0 mg Sodium

12.6 mg vit C (20% of daily value), 2733 IU vit A (70% of daily value)

Persimmons are a great source for vitamin A and C, both of which are important for the proper functioning of the body. And I especially love the high fiber content, your gut bacteria will love you (in a good way)! 

Here’s an easy and delicious recipe that I modified from Martha Stewart (5):

Persimmon and Brie Crostini

Ingredients:

Fuyu persimmons (I needed about half of one for four crostinis)

Whole grain bagette/bread slices

Brie cheese

Brown sugar (optional)

Black pepper

Olive oil

Preparation:

Toast bread lightly, and brush with olive oil. Then build crostinis, and broil for 1-2 minutes until cheese begins to melt and bubble. I made them with Anna’s Daughter’s rye bread (I found it at Berkeley Bowl grocery store), and it was great. Of course, this bread is not widely available, so pretty much any bread will work! I prefer whole grain for higher nutrient content.

Interestingly, when searching through PubMed for research done on persimmons, most of the studies actually look at the leaves of persimmons and not the fruit itself. They are for example included in cancer research with encouraging results (3). I did find one article that studied the tannins found in persimmon fruit and its effect on adipogenesis (formation of fat cells). The study found that these tannins may inhibit fat cell generation, which, in turn may reduce fat accumulation in the body (4). However, the full article is paid, and based only on the abstract it’s not possible to say whether this study was conducted on animals or just on living cells. Regardless, it is well known that eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is good for your overall health, and thus persimmons are a great addition to any diet.

How do you like to eat your persimmons?

Thanks for reading, and see you next time,

Anna-Kaisa

References:

1. 5 a day: Fruit of the Month: Persimmons. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/fruit-month-persimmons#2 

2. Persimmon, raw with peels. USDA Nutrient Database. https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/2337?fgcd=&manu=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=50&offset=&sort=default&order=asc&qlookup=persimmon&ds=&qt=&qp=&qa=&qn=&q=&ing=  

3. Park SB, Park GH, Song HM, Son HJ, Um Y, Kim HS, Jeong JB. Anticancer activity of calyx of Diospyros kaki Thunb. through downregulation of cyclin D1 via inducing proteasomal degradation and transcriptional inhibition in human colorectal cancer cells. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Sep 5;17(1):445. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1954-2. 

4. Zou B, Ge Z, Zhu W, Xu Z, Li C. Persimmon tannin represses 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation via up-regulating expression of miR-27 and down-regulating expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ in the early phase of adipogenesis. European Journal of Nutrition. December 2015, Volume 54, Issue 8, pp 1333–1343 

5. Persimmon and Brie Crostini. Martha Stewart, 16 May 2017. www.marthastewart.com/1160671/persimmon-and-brie-crostini.

Avoiding Food Waste

An overripe banana - a sad sight?

I was reading Food and Nutrition magazine (published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) and saw an article about how to salvage pantry foods that have seen their best days. I love these kinds of articles as avoiding food waste is a subject I am passionate about. I find it sad that a lot of food is wasted (30% of all food in the world!) while so many people go hungry (1).

Interestingly, fruit and vegetables have the highest wastage rates (up to 45% (1)). This is also my biggest culprit as I often buy too much produce and am sometimes not able to use all of it before it gets too ripe or moldy. Thankfully, this doesn’t always mean the food is unusable.

Sautéing bananas

For example, if I have a few overripe bananas on my hands, I use them to make a yummy dessert, or put them into my oatmeal to provide some much-needed flavor: 

1. A very easy dessert is to sauté bananas in butter or ghee until the sugar in the banana caramelizes, and… that’s it! This is so delicious and the best part is that you don’t need to add any extra sugar. Butter/ghee can be substituted with mild tasting vegetable oil, if so desired.

2. You can also make truly delicious and healthy vegan ice “cream” with ripe bananas. Here is a recipe that we used for a food demo during my internship (2):

Ingredients

2 large ripe frozen bananas - sliced

2 tablespoons cocoa powder (100% pure cacao)

2 tablespoons creamy natural nut butter (almond, cashew or peanut)

½ teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

pinch salt

Preparation

1.       Place all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender

2.       Slowly pulse, 15 seconds at a time, until mixture is smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as you go.  Note: This process may take a couple minutes so be patient.

3.       Serve immediately or freeze in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

3. When making oatmeal, add the overripe banana into the pot or bowl with the oat flakes before starting to heat the porridge. Heat will again caramelize some of the sugar in the banana providing an amazing flavor to a breakfast that can otherwise taste rather bland. I use one banana for 1-2 portions of oatmeal. For other ideas on how to make oatmeal taste great, check out my very first blog: http://kooking1.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-love-oatmeal.html.

I know here in America people don’t really drink buttermilk like they do in Finland, but it is a common ingredient when making pancakes. I’m sure that often there is left-over buttermilk that ends up spoiling and being thrown away (maybe because people here don't drink it?). Well, because buttermilk is fermented and thus already full of healthy bacteria, bad bacteria are not as able to gain a footing there, thereby slowing spoilage. For buttermilk that is not the freshest anymore, but not truly spoiled, my mom bakes it into a cake or a pie. Here is a recipe that is perfect for the fall:

Maustekakku aka Spice cake

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup (3 dl) buttermilk

7 oz (200 g) melted butter (or non-hydrogenated margarine)

1 tsp baking soda

¾ cup (2 dl) sugar (I used brown sugar)

~ ½ cup (1 dl) maple syrup

2 tsp each: cloves, ground ginger, cardamom

2.5 cups (6 dl) all-purpose flour

Preparation:

1.      Mix dry and wet ingredients separately.

2.      Blend together until flour is barely incorporated.

3.      Bake in a pre-oiled pan for 1 hour, in a 350 F (175 C) oven.

(I like to cheat: I mix the dry ingredients first in the bowl, then add all of the wet ingredients on top of the dry and finally mix together – this is so quick, and produces fewer dirty dishes! I also like to flour the pan with cream of wheat, something my mom always does.)

Spice cake

I made this cake for a potluck recently and it was funny how a person from India chuckled at the name of the cake. They didn't think there was much spice there! Keep in mind that the Finns are not known for using a lot of spices in cooking or baking, so this is a legit a spice cake to us Finns! Feel free to increase the amount of the spices, or even try others, like allspice or nutmeg, in this recipe.

To add some more nutritional value into this cake, one can substitute up to half of the white flour with whole wheat. Some of the sugar can also be substituted with xylitol (though watch out for laxative effects!), or stevia. I also like to use maple syrup or agave syrup if I want ingredients that are less processed. Unfortunately, the flavor does change a bit with each change, which means that some experimentation to find the sweet spot between healthy and tasty may be in order. 

Side note: even though I have aimed to only provide recipes that are healthy in this blog, I am beginning to think that if one wants something sweet, it’s OK if it isn’t the healthiest food – the chances are that if you are eating a sweet that is somewhat healthier, you might feel tempted to eat a lot more of it than what you would if you knew that the sweet item in question had close to no health benefits. Eating more of something that is slightly “more healthy” might just end up giving you the same end result as if you ate less of something less healthy. On top of this, it is likely that the less healthy item is more delicious, and you might even enjoy it more!

Another item that can be salvaged is stale bread (not moldy). It’s amazing how quickly some breads that are so good when they are fresh are not so nice after a day or two! I wrote a blog post about turning these into a sweet breakfast or dessert item: http://kooking1.blogspot.com/2014/09/recycling-food.html.

Finally, a very effective way to reduce and avoid food waste is good planning. Don't buy foods on a whim, and plan your menu and shopping list ahead of time. Sometimes avoiding food waste also means to train your palate to be OK with eating the same food more than once or twice. This one may be tough, but it actually makes you feel like you did a good deed!  

If you have tricks (or treats) to prevent food waste, please share them!

Happy Halloween!

Anna-Kaisa

References:

1.       Key facts on food loss and waste you should know! Retrieved October 30, 2017, from http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/

2.       Chocolate Nutty Butter Banana "Ice Cream". Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center. University of California, San Francisco. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from http://cancer.ucsf.edu/support/crc/recipes/2016/09/12/chocolate-nutty-butter-banana-ice-cream.7876

Finding nutrition... through weight loss

Looking back on all the years of hard work now after reaching my goal of becoming a dietitian reminds me of why I started on this path in the first place. My passion for nutrition sprung from being able to shed quite a few pounds, which gave me the first glimpse of all the good that proper nutrition can do.

When I was a teenager, I was playing volleyball and exercising a lot, which kept me in shape. When I went to college, the “freshman ten” became an unfortunate reality. I had moved out and started eating a lot more, especially sweet things, because now no one was watching. I did continue to play volleyball, but much less than before.

A young exchange student right before starting
to lose weight

One day it hit me: I saw a picture of myself and noticed these rolls around my waist that shocked me and made me decide on that moment to change my habits. I started counting calories and began to understand the differences between different foods. I realized that vegetables had almost no calories at all, and I could fill my stomach with those instead of mashed potatoes or macaroni. Not only did I lose weight, but also started feeling better! All those vegetables made a huge difference and induced a sense of well-being I hadn’t felt before. To this day, I have lost a total of 20 lbs and have successfully maintained my lower weight for years.

This story makes it sound like it was really easy for me to shed those pounds. This is not the case however – I have always had a sweet tooth and I did yo-yo a little bit between eating too little and eating too much. I do know what it takes to make a big lifestyle change, and can relate to anyone who is attempting to do the same.

A few years later after
weight loss - you can see it in
the cheeks!

There were a few key reasons why I think I was successful: firstly, and most importantly, I felt very motivated. I admit that in the beginning I was motivated by wanting to look better, which sounds quite shallow, but I now believe that it doesn’t matter what motivates you when the endpoint is something positive. Secondly, I had a friend who was losing weight, too, and together we were able to help each other out. Together we also pigged out a number of times, which brings me to my third key to successful weight loss: not becoming discouraged when you slip and backtrack, even back to square one. Every time I had too much ice cream and popcorn and candy (this is what we liked to eat the most), I would also feel physically bad afterward. That bad feeling put me right back on track, and in fact, it motivated me to work harder. Fourthly, I have been able to keep my weight stable through making actual lifestyle changes, and not thinking that I could succeed with crash diets or short-term changes. It took me a while to understand this (hence the yo-yo effect early on), but once I realized this, it has become much easier to stay at a certain weight.

Interestingly, a systematic review from 2015 (1) identified motivation as one of the best predictors of successful weight loss. The other two were self-efficacy (believing that you can do it), and self-regulation ability; the former I had, and the latter I developed through motivation.

During my internship I had a chance to work at the weight loss clinic. My preceptor there said that most people that come there do not lose weight, and in fact, more than 85% of these people are not successful. This, I think, is not because we physically can’t lose weight, but because people often don’t have the motivation to make the necessary changes. Yes, it is hard, but not impossible: find a friend to help you and support you, write down what you eat, and if you can, show your food diary to a dietitian, who can also help you develop self-efficacy. Most importantly, find your motivation, and remind yourself of that every day, and every time you are about to give up. This doesn't apply only to weight loss, but to any change you are trying to make in your life. You will succeed!

Joyfully,

Anna-Kaisa

References: 

(1) Teixeira, P. J. et al. Successful behavior change in obesity interventions in adults: a systematic review of self-regulation methods. BMC Med. 2015; 13: 84. Doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0323-6.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408562/

I made it!

UCSF Medical Center Dietetic Intern

It appears to have been quite a while since I wrote a blog post. I can tell you that when you are a dietetic intern working full time with homework on top of that, there isn’t much more one can do other than sleep, eat and perhaps get a workout in every here and there. Although I did somehow have the time to create a video series called "Life of DI" (DI = dietetic intern). These videos shed light on what it is like to be an intern at UCSF Medical Center specifically, but can give you an idea of what a dietetic internship can look like. You can check the video series out at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_eNO0lWAHWdnfJXh7_Mu8A/videos.

 

The internship was very challenging, but it created a solid foundation in clinical dietetics that will help me succeed as an entry level dietitian. And I say dietitian, because I recently passed my registration examination for dietitians and am proud to say that I am now officially a registered dietitian (RD)! It took almost seven years to get to this point and I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to all of those who believed in me and supported me throughout the years. To those who are not familiar with dietetics, you need to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in nutritional sciences, finish a dietetic internship and pass the registration examination for dietitians in order to become a registered dietitian.

I passed!

Reaching a milestone such as this inspired me to renew my blog, too - I hope you enjoy the new name! I aim to continue to provide you with useful nutrition-related information, and in fact, would like to hear your suggestions for topics to write about. Also, if you are considering a career in dietetics, or would like tips on how to land an internship or ace your exam, don’t hesitate to connect! Any questions and comments are always welcome.

Thanks for reading!


Joyfully,

Anna-Kaisa

Protein packed pancrepes

Recently I’ve started paying more attention to how much protein I’m eating and wanted to start adding a little bit more to my diet. My breakfast is still usually oatmeal, but nowadays I add some hempseed to give me some extra protein, omega-3 and iron. I do also like to indulge in crepes every now and then, and decided to make some, but with a protein punch. My creation: protein packed pancrepes!

2 cups of Ripple (or any other milk)

1 egg

½ scoop of protein powder (I used a vegan one)

¼ cup whole grain barley flour

¼ cup oats/oat bran

¼ cup whole grain spelt flour

Dash of salt

The batter is simple to make: I mixed the eggs and the milk and then added the flour, protein powder and salt and stirred until smooth. I used coconut oil to make them in a cast iron pan in the hope of getting a bit more iron into my food. Note to self: make sure the pan is well greased or else the batter will get stuck BAD. I managed to get the fourth crepe actually to look like a crepe and not scrambled eggs!

To be honest, the pancrepes tasted a little bland without any toppings, but with some cream cheese and jam they tasted surprisingly good. This is nice as I’d much rather eat pancakes/crepes with fiber, protein and other nutrients than just calories. Cream cheese you may wonder? I once tried a recipe that used cream cheese and berries for a filling of a wrap and noticed how nice cream cheese can taste with some added sweetening. I recommend trying it as a substitute for whipped cream.

Nutrition facts: one crepe ended up containing about a 100 kcal, 7 g protein, and 1.5 g fiber. A teaspoon of coconut oil for frying adds 50kcal per pancrepe. So one crepe ended up having the same amount of protein as one egg! I did not count in the toppings, so the calories can really add up. Better be mindful about that… or take it easy the rest of the day.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have some cool crepe/pancake topping ideas that pack a nutrition punch!

Anna-Kaisa

Nature for all senses

Hello all!

Wow. It’s been a half a year since my last post! But it's no surprise - the rest of my last semester at Berkeley was very hectic and I worked hard to finish strong, which meant that I had no time for anything extra. It paid off, since I graduated in May with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Sciences, Dietetics. Up next is my dietetic internship at UCSF Medical Center, which I just started a few days ago. It’s going to be a crazy, but a rewarding year.

View from the lake shore toward the lake

Before starting the internship, I had a chance to enjoy a break in my first home, Finland. Even though nutrition is my main emphasis when it comes to promoting well-being, I noticed very tangibly this time how much being in nature can induce happiness. The first thing that I noticed when I arrived in Finland this year, were the amazing smells. Forest and wild flowers are everywhere and they produce such amazing aromas! Additionally, multiple times I woke up to the singing of birds, which is one of the best ways to wake up in the morning in my opinion. The hum of traffic is also almost nonexistent there, which is very nice since it is almost impossible to escape it in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Nature can offer stimulation not only for hearing and smell, but also for sight and touch. For example, one day I decided to take a walk to a nearby lake shore. The lake shore offered breathtaking views of the lake, and sitting on the solid rock, which is very common on most shores here, warmed up by the sun’s rays, felt amazing, too. At that moment nature engaged all of my senses, as the needle trees also smelled wonderful, and the birds singing and waves rippling against the rock provided a lovely soundtrack. It was easy to feel happy and at ease!

Bedrock and needle trees at the lake shore

Even though I do really enjoy living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I sometimes miss the closeness of nature that is available in Finland. Of course, nature is not too far away here either, since one can drive to the mountains and enjoy a hike there as well, but it is not quite the same as having to walk only 30 seconds from your front door to be in the forest. In Finland, Everyman’s Rights guarantee that anyone can walk almost anywhere in nature, as long as he or she doesn’t cause harm to it, or go too close to buildings. In California, one always has to stay on the path and roaming freely is not possible. Still, at the end, it comes down to what a person is used to – I am used to having the forest right there all the time, whereas having a city park nearby is all that some may need.

My first Biology teacher at my community college told the class once that nature is good for one’s health, seen in the drop in their blood pressure. I also – through personal experience – think that being in nature can promote one’s well-being instantly. Similarly, in a study conducted in Stanford, the researchers found that spending time in nature decreases the risk of depression (1). I’d like to see even more scientific research studies done on the subject, as we can both improve people’s health, and increase the general desire to protect nature, when we tangibly understand what healthy nature can offer us (2).

Even though I can’t just walk into the forest from my front door in California, I can still find beautiful nature close-by. I just need to expend a little more energy to get there, which, once I get there, really doesn’t even feel like effort at all! The nature in California is different, but equally good. I encourage everyone to go for a hike at the next chance and invite me to go along!

Tilden Regional Park

  Thanks for reading,

  Anna-Kaisa

References

1)     http://news.stanford.edu/2015/06/30/hiking-mental-health-063015/

2)     https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-moment-youth/201403/does-nature-make-us-happy