Innova Market Insight’s Top 10 Food Trends for 2019

Enlarge image . . . . .

1. Discovery: the Adventurous Consumer
2. The Plant Kingdom
3. Alternatives to All
4. Green Appeal
5. Snacking: the Definitive Occasion
6. Eating for Me
7. A Fresh look at Fiber
8. I Feel Good
9. Small Player Mindset
10. Connected to the Plate

Read more . . . . .

Japanese Udon Miso Soup with Chicken

Ingredients

8 dried shiitake mushrooms
13 oz fresh udon noodles
4 cups good-quality chicken stock
1-1/4 1b chicken breast fillets, cut into S/8-inch thick strips
10 oz baby bok Choy, halved lengthways
2 oz white miso paste
2 teaspoons dashi granules
1 tablespoon wakame flakes or other seaweed
5 oz silken firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch) cubes
3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

Method

1. Soak the mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water for 20 minutes. Squeeze dry, reserving the soaking liquid. Discard the woody stalks and thinly slice the caps.
2. Bring 8 cups water to the boil in a large saucepan and cook the noodles for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender. Drain immediately and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
3. Pour the stock and 4 cups water into a wok and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer.
4. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until almost cooked through.
5. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add the bok Choy and simmer for a further minute, or until beginning to wilt, then add the miso paste, dashi granules, wakame and reserved mushroom liquid. Stir to dissolve the dashi and miso paste. Do not allow to boil.
7. Gently stir in the tofu.
8. Distribute the noodle among the serving bowls, then ladle the hot soup over them. Sprinkle with the spring onion before serving.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Source: The Essential Wok Cookbook

Salmonella and Eggs

Eggs are one of nature’s most nutritious and economical foods. But it’s important that you take care when handling and preparing fresh eggs and egg products.

The inside of eggs that appear normal can contain a germ called Salmonella that can make you sick, especially if you eat raw or lightly cooked eggs. Eggs are safe when you cook and handle them properly.

How can I reduce my chance of getting a Salmonella infection?

• Consider buying and using pasteurized eggs and egg products, which are widely available.
• Keep eggs refrigerated at 40°F (4°C) or colder at all times. Only buy eggs from stores and suppliers that keep them refrigerated.
• Discard cracked or dirty eggs.

Poultry may carry bacteria such as Salmonella, which can contaminate the inside of eggs before the shells are formed. Egg shells may become contaminated with Salmonella from poultry droppings (poop) or the area where they are laid.

• Cook eggs until both the yolk and white are firm. Egg dishes should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) or hotter.
• Make sure that foods that contain raw or lightly cooked eggs, such as hollandaise sauce, Caesar salad dressing, and tiramisu, are made only with pasteurized eggs.
• Eat or refrigerate eggs and foods containing eggs promptly after cooking. Do not keep eggs or foods made with eggs warm or at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if the temperature is 90°F or hotter.
• Wash hands and items that came into contact with raw eggs—including counter tops, utensils, dishes, and cutting boards—with soap and water.

Illness from Salmonella can be serious and is more dangerous for certain people.

Adults older than 65 years, children younger than 5 years, and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS, diabetes, or an organ transplant, may get a more serious illness that can even be life threatening.

In most cases, illness lasts 4–7 days and people recover without antibiotic treatment. Symptoms include:

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Fever
• Abdominal cramps

Symptoms typically appear 6 to 48 hours after eating a contaminated food, though this period is sometimes much longer. Some people can have diarrhea many times a day for several days and the sick person may need to be hospitalized.

Should I see the doctor?

Call your child’s doctor if your child has:

• Diarrhea that doesn’t improve after 1 day
• Vomiting lasting more than 12 hours for infants, 1 day for children younger than age 2, or 2 days for other children
• Signs of dehydration, including not urinating in 3 or more hours, dry mouth or tongue, or cries without tears
• Fever higher than 102˚F (39˚C)
• Bloody stools

Call your doctor if you have:

• Diarrhea that doesn’t improve after 2 days
• Vomiting lasting more than 2 days
• Signs of dehydration, including little or no urination, excessive thirst, a very dry mouth, dizziness or lightheadedness, or very dark urine
• Fever higher than 102˚F (39˚C)
• Bloody stools

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Forget Low-Fat and Low-Sugar, Concentrate on a Healthy Eating Pattern

Penelope Clark wrote . . . . . . . . .

You want to eat healthfully, but what’s the best way to do it? Some of today’s popular diets say to cut sugar while others restrict fat. With so many diet books and bloggers, it can be easy to become confused. But no matter the fad diet of the moment, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats and lean protein foods will always prevail.

A Healthy Eating Pattern

Rather than eating an exclusively low-fat or low-sugar diet, focus on your overall eating pattern. One meal does not make or break one’s health; rather, it’s what people do most of the time that has a significant impact. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, seafood and nuts. Meanwhile, eat less red and processed meats, sweetened drinks, desserts and refined grains.

Vegetables and fruits should take up the most space when filling your plate (roughly half). Fill the remainder with whole grains and lean protein foods. While not every plate requires each food group, pairing at least two or three different foods will increase your satisfaction and deliver more nutrients. And don’t forget to pay attention to your body’s hunger and fullness signals.

The Skinny on Fat

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasizes oils rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids as part of a healthy eating pattern, and recommends limiting saturated and trans fats. Choosing the right kinds of fats, including those from fatty fish such as salmon, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds is especially important.

5 Tips for Making Good Decisions about Fat

• Try grilled, steamed or baked salmon, trout or mackerel instead of fried or breaded fish.
• Vary your protein choices by eating more seafood and legumes (including soyfoods, beans and lentils).
• Choose lean cuts of meat and remove visible fat. Remove skin and fat from poultry.
• Choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products or calcium-fortified plant-based alternatives.
• Top salads with nuts or seeds instead of croutons. Use oil-based salad dressings instead of cream-based dressings.

The Skinny on Sugar

The average American consumes more than 13 percent of daily calories from added sugars — yet the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting added sugars to less than 10 percent of daily calories. By going above 10 percent, it’s difficult to maintain an overall healthy eating pattern. Added sugars can be found in foods such as sugar-sweetened beverages and refined grain snacks and desserts. Naturally occurring sugars in foods such as fruit and milk are not added sugars.

3 Tips for Reducing Added Sugar

• Re-think sweets: Save sugary desserts for special occasions.
• Instead of a post-dinner dessert, close out a family mealtime with a cup of decaf coffee or herbal tea — but enjoy it without added sweeteners or cream.
• Switch from sweetened yogurt with added fruit to plain low-fat yogurt. Then, add fresh fruit for a nutritious, naturally sweet mid-morning snack. Fruit and low-fat dairy contain natural sugars that provide nutrients that promote health.

Source: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

New Study Finds Test of Protein Levels in the Eye a Potential Predictor of (Future) Alzheimer’s Disease

Low levels of amyloid-β and tau proteins, biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in eye fluid were significantly associated with low cognitive scores, according to a new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Led by researchers at Boston Medical Center, the study is the first to connect these known AD protein biomarkers in the eye to mental status. These findings indicate that proteins in the eye may be a potential source for an accessible, cost-effective test to predict future Alzheimer’s disease.

Diagnosing and starting treatment for AD before symptoms begin is key to managing the disease, because by the time symptoms appear it is often too late for current treatments to have any meaningful effect. Abnormal amounts of amyloid- β and tau proteins are biomarkers of AD, and deposits of amyloid proteins in the brain begin many years prior to symptoms of the disease. Previous research has shown an association between low levels of amyloid-β and tau proteins found in the cerebrospinal fluid obtained by lumbar puncture tests and preclinical AD, when pathological changes of AD present in the brain, but before the onset of clinical symptoms. However, lumbar puncture tests are expensive and inconvenient for many patients to undergo.

In this study, researchers used samples of eye fluid from 80 patients who were previously scheduled for eye surgery. The fluid extracted during these surgeries is typically discarded. Researchers tested the eye fluid to determine the levels of amyloid-β and tau proteins, and correlated those levels to the results of a baseline cognitive test. Low levels of these biomarker proteins were significantly associated with lower cognitive scores among the patients.

“These findings could help us build an accessible, and minimally invasive test to determine Alzheimer’s disease risk, especially among patients with eye disease,” says Lauren Wright, MD, first author on the study and ophthalmology fellow at BMC. “We noted that some of the participants who had low levels of protein biomarkers in their eye fluid already had signs of mild to moderate dementia based on their cognitive scores.”

These results reaffirm previous studies suggesting that patients with eye disease are at-risk for the development of AD, and suggest that further investigation in patients with eye disease may yield results that could be generalizable to larger populations.

“This is a great step in discovering the eye’s potential role in diagnosing preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, and further study is needed comparing protein biomarkers in the eye with more in-depth neurological testing,” adds Manju Subramanian, MD, senior author, principal investigator, and ophthalmologist at BMC.

Source: Boston Medical Center

---

Today’s Comic