Food and Mood

What happens when a 9-year old eats a bowl of cereal, runs around for 2 hours in the snow, and then tries to tackle a science fair project? Sudden negativity. Ready to quit the science fair. Convinced that her hypothesis is stupid. Resistant to looking at the graphs we have just made in EXCEL. Refusing to paste the data into her science fair notebook. Contrary and combative. Angry and nearly in tears.

We slogged on like this for an hour before I said to myself "Blood sugar," and declared it to be lunch time. "It is not lunch time, and I am not hungry," she said, so I boiled her an egg, which, predictably, she complained about. But she ate it, with a little orange marmalade, and was soon all smiles and ready to finish her lunch. Afterwards, she had a good attitude, was able to draw some conclusions about the data, and made much better progress on her project.

No surprise, really. Food for thought, though. We've been in the habit of starting the day with grains. Cold cereal or oatmeal with 8 ounces of milk and perhaps a fruit or 6 ounces of orange juice. But, after running around for two hours in the cold, my daughter had run out of energy.

So this morning, I decided to change the balance a little. Add a boiled egg, reduce the oats a little, don't forget the fruit, lose some sugar. First thing in the morning, though, it seems a child's blood sugar is low. No honey? No marmalade? Contrary, combative, angry, and nearly in tears. Eventually, she ate the experimental breakfast, and had the energy to run errands all the way until lunch time, without even stopping for a snack, though she did say she was hungry. Not the same as running around for two hours in the snow and then tackling a science project, but worth thinking about, all the same. Tonight, She boiled 4 eggs, and intends to have one in the morning. With a little orange marmalade.

Of course, I never get grumpy when my blood sugar runs low. Never.

Oatmeal Breakfast	Oatmeal and Egg Breakfast
1/2 cup Quick oats, prepared with water 1/4 cup raisins 1 cup skim milk	1/4 cup Quick oats, prepared with water 1/4 cup Raisins 1 cup Skim milk 1 hard-boiled egg
Each 435g serving contains: Cals: 329, FatCals: 22, TotFat: 2g SatFat: 1g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g Chol: 5mg, Na: 156mg, K: 856mg TotCarbs: 65g, Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 25g NetCarbs: 60g, Protein: 15g	Each 426g serving contains: Cals: 302, FatCals: 18, TotFat: 2g SatFat: 1g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g Chol: 5mg, Na: 154mg, K: 828mg TotCarbs: 60g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 25g NetCarbs: 56g, Protein: 14g
Food Group Serving(s) DASH: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 1.0: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 1.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0 USDA: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.5: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 1.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0	Food Group Serving(s) DASH: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 1.0: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 0.8: Meat/Fish: 0.3: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0 USDA: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.5: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 0.8: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 1.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0

Nutritional information in this posting calculated using bigoven. Food Group Servings calculated in EXCEL using http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and DASH diet references.

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Of pyramids and potatoes

For the past few years, I have been following the recommendations of the DASH diet developers, which are similar to the USDA recommendations. But I am always interested in other food pyramids. A British dietician, Melanie Thomassian, in her Dietriffic blog, presented the British food pyramid, which turns out to be more of a pie. Considering the popularity of savory pies in the UK, this seems appropriate. The UKFSA food pie groups fruits and vegetables together. The USDA and DASH food pyramids separate them, because they have different nutrient profiles. The UKFSA pie groups the potato with grains, presumably because they are similarly starchy. The USDA groups the potato with vegetables because, well, it is a vegetable, and (starchiness aside) is nutritionally most similar to other vegetables.

By putting the potato with grains, the UK food pie recognizes the potato's role as a staple food. The last time I visited (several years ago now), the potato was a part of "meat and three veg", a standard choice for the evening meal, highly desirable in a breakfast "fry-up", and often eaten at noon. In vast territories of the US, however, the potato fell out of favor during the low-carb craze. Grains are coming back into fashion, but the potato, excellent source of calcium though it is, is presented by the USDA as one of a "vary your veggies" menu. And, because it is not featured in the "eat more dark greens, orange, and dry beans and peas" advice, it is now pretty low in the vegetable rotation. Somewhere down there with kohlrabi and tomatoes, I suppose. But I suspect the potato is more popular than the USDA is letting on. Many restaurants still offer a choice of "potato, pasta, or rice" with the main course. McDonald's still sells a lot of fries. And Waffle House still offers hundreds of variations on the hash brown.

When I was growing up, there were only four food groups in the US. A potato was equivalent to a grain. These days, though, I am much more likely to have a grain (pasta, rice, biscuits, or bread) than a potato with the evening meal. Occasionally, I'll serve a grain AND a potato. It feels a little strange to me, but I do it any way. The DASH diet advises choosing tomatoes and dark green leafy vegetables for half of the weekly vegetable servings, and choosing a variety for the other half. I could still work a potato in there fairly often. Especially if it is a cold potato, which has "better carbs".

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