You may be taking in a lot more calories,
sodium and fat than you bargained for when you choose that can or carton of
soup (or lasagna or cooking spray). That's because product labels for many
foods suggest unrealistically small serving sizes. For instance, most people
eat an entire can of soup in one sitting - double the one cup
"portion". That's 1,975mg of sodium, more than half the recommended
daily allowance. Here, the surprising reality behind four common grocery-store
staples.
Chicken noodle soup
Serving Size on Label: l cup (120 calories,
3g fat)
Typical Serving Size: 1 can (300 calories,
7.5g fat)
Cooking spray
Serving Size on Label: Y-second spritz (0
calories, 0g fat)
Typical Serving Size: 6-second spritz (50
calories, 6g fat)
Ice cream
Serving Size on label: 1/2 cup (270
calories, 18g fat)
Typical Serving Size: 1 cup (540 calories,
36g fat)
Family-size prozen lasagna
Serving Size on label: l cup (290 calories,
9g fat)
Typical Serving Size: 1 package (1,450
calories, 45g fat)
Number crunch
That's the percentage of people who read
labels and look at the info long enough to process it.
Why being tired makes you fat
If you're not getting enough sleep it's
likely you'll snack more throughout the day, says a recent study from the
University Of Chicago Medical Center.
Why
being tired makes you fat
Adults who got five and a half hours of
sleep ate 221 more calories from snack foods than those who managed eight and a
half hours. And more of those calories came from refined carbs. "If you're
exhausted, your body will crave carbs to replenish its energy reserves,"
says nutritionist Stephanie Clark. Keep low-cal snacks on hand to eat on days
you're feeling sleepy. For more tips on a better sleep, see page 80.
Drunken Noodles in Cashew-Shiitake Broth
Skip the delivery - and the high fat and
salt counts - with this quick and satisfying Asian-inspired soup by Chloe
Coscarelli, author of Chloe'sKitchen: 125Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the
Food You Love the Vegan Way.
Drunken
Noodles in Cashew-Shiitake Broth
Serves 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
·
200g dried udon noodles
·
¼ cup cashews
·
2 tablespoons olive oil
·
500g shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
·
3 spring onions, ends trimmed and sliced thin
·
4 garlic cloves, minced
·
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
·
1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded fresh coriander and
finely chopped
·
Pinch ground cayenne pepper
·
5 cups low-salt vegetable stock
·
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
·
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
·
Sea salt 4 teaspoons, chopped fresh coriander
Cook udon noodles according to package
directions; drain and set aside. Toast cashews in a dry pan over medium heat
for 3 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from heat and chop
roughly.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot over
medium-high . Add mushrooms and spring onions; cook for five minutes or until
mushrooms are soft. Mix in garlic, ginger, jalapeno and cayenne pepper and cook
for two minutes.
Add stock to the mushroom mixture and bring
to a boil. Add noodles, reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 10
minutes. Turn off heat and stir in vinegar and sesame oil. Season to taste with
salt. Ladle into four bowls and garnish each with one tablespoon of cashews and
one teaspoon of coriander serve.
Nutrition score per serving (1 bowl): 339 calories, 15g fat (2g saturated), 40g
carbs, l0g protein, 3g fibre, 43mg calcium, 3mg iron, 647mg sodium
Sugar High
File it under "too sweet to be
true". Researchers from the E. Wolfson Medical Center in Israel have found
that starting your day with a taste of dessert can help you shed kilos. Study
participants who added a decadent treat - say, cookies, cake, chocolate or
ice-cream - to their well-balanced breakfast lost 77 percent more weight
overall than those who went without "Your metabolism is at its peak in the
morning," explains lean researcher Dr Daniela Jakubowicz.
If
you eat indulgent foods early on along with some protein you have more time to
work off the extra calories
"If you eat indulgent foods early on
along with some protein you have more time to work off the extra
calories." Plus, having that tempting fare first thing may make ioi l less
likely to crave it later in the day.
