the nutrition student chronicles

semester update

2007-02-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

so far so good....the semester is going well, a little boring, but well. i'm doing a food service internship, which is really interesting, and i've been more involved in SDA, which is kind of nice. we are doing some exciting things for national nutrition month and i'm really excited :)

new semester, new challenges

2007-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

well, spring semester has started and things are moving along quite nicely. even though it is only a few weeks into the term, it is obvious that things will be very different this semester. i'm taking food systems management, vitamins, dietary patterns, and medical nutrition therapy. most of the classes (vitamins is the exception) are dpd requirements and undergrad level, so i dont anticipate any of them being too too hard. there are a lot of papers and group projects, though, and i hate group projects! i guess i'll have to make the best of it...

now i'm off to read

semester break!

2006-12-16T23:23:00.000-08:00

YAY! finals are over and i'm on break :D

great pie!

2006-11-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

it's fall, which means thanksgiving and, at least in my book, pies! golden delicious apples were on sale last week, so i bought a bunch and made this pie. most pie recipes call for sturdier, tarter apples, such as granny smith or pippin, but this pie is different. its filling is made with soft goldens, which don't hold their shape so well, resulting in a filling that is gooier and smoother in the mouth.

a couple notes about this pie:

1. don't skimp on the crust--homemade crust is far superior to storebought and makes a delicious pie even better. i beg you, learn to make crust and you will thank me for it later.

2. making caramel can be a difficult task, but it is worth it. this caramel differs from others in that it is not dairy-based, so it is suited for the lactose intolerant or those with dairy allergies, as well as for the average sweet-toothed person.

3. streusel topped pies (particularly apple) are better than 2 crust pies, always.

happy baking and happy thanksgiving!

Deep Dish Caramel Apple Pie
from epicurious.com

For crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, frozen
4 tablespoons (about) ice water

For streusel
3/4 cup all purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For filling
3 pounds Golden Delicious apples (about 8), peeled, cored, cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges
1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Make crust:
Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in enough ice water by tablespoonfuls to form large moist clumps. Transfer dough to work surface. Gather dough into ball. Flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill dough 30 minutes.

Make streusel:
Mix flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt in medium bowl to blend. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture forms pea-size clumps. (Dough and streusel can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate streusel. Keep dough chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Make filling:
Combine apple wedges and 1/4 cup flour in large bowl and toss to coat. Let stand while preparing caramel.

Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil until syrup turns deep amber color, brushing pan sides with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter and remaining 2 tablespoons water (mixture will bubble vigorously). Return to heat and stir until smooth. Pour caramel over apples; toss to coat. Let stand until apples release juices, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out dough on floured work surface to 14-inch round. Transfer to 9 1/2-inch-diameter glass pie dish with 1 3/4-inch-high sides. Crimp edges decoratively. Spoon apple mixture into prepared crust. Sprinkle streusel over pie.

Bake pie until apples are tender and streusel is golden, covering crust edge with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool at least 1 hour. Serve pie warm or at room temperature.

Serves 10.
Bon Appétit
November 1998

my paper...

2006-11-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

i got an a on this paper

in case you care to read it...here you go:

The relationship between breakfast consumption and academic performance in children and adolescents

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature and study the association between breakfast consumption and academic performance in children and adolescents. There are inherent difficulties in studying this topic, one of which is the sketchy definition of breakfast; while a piece of fruit may be considered breakfast in one study (e.g. 16), it is considered non-breakfast in another (1). Another difficulty is in the generalizability of data findings--. Taras (2), in his review of 18 studies on this topic, found that fewer than half were done on students in the US. Additionally, in some cases, findings were subjective, since no measures were taken (16).

Three general types of studies have been performed to test theories surrounding breakfast and schoolchildren; cross-sectional observations mostly by survey via questionnaire and interviews administered at schools, case-control studies in which one group receives breakfast and the other a placebo, and experimental intervention studies done on school campuses or, in some cases, an overnight clinic/research center. Examples of each study design will be presented and reviewed in this article.

The simplest (in terms of findings) of these studies was done by Edward and Evers in 2001 (16). Three low-income communities in Ontario, Canada were selected based on their recent initiation of the Better Beginnings, Better Futures food program and on cultural diversity; one community was primarily francophone (native speakers of the French language) and one had a high concentration of Eastern Indians. Table 1 lists the services available to communities through Better Beginnings, Better Futures. At an undetermined amount of time post-program initiation, four focus groups were held to determine the effectiveness of and barriers to the food programs. Discussions were held for periods of 90 minutes (>60 for children) in English and/or French and/or Punjabi, as necessary to communicate with group members, who included (separately) 21 parents, 17 students, 10 teachers and 21 project staff. Each group was asked questions appropriate to that collection of people (Table 2). Audiotape recordings of each discussion were transcribed by two individuals and compared for inter-rater reliability (value=0.84, where 0.75 is considered acceptable).

Feelings toward the “breakfast club” portion of Better Beginnings, Better Futures were overwhelmingly positive. Parents stated that breakfast not only helped students who did not have access to breakfast at home, but also students who did not have time to eat in the morning. Children noted that the availability of breakfast at school helped them make better food choices, teaching them to pick foods such as milk and fruit over candies and chips. Teachers’ comments were often similar to this quotation: "a child who had breakfast was better inclined to study and he or she listened better..."; "they're able to concentrate... much better focused...they're happier...they're much more talkative." Exact measurements were not taken as part of this study (16).

The school breakfast program was also studied by Kleinman et al in 2002 (17) in six inner-city Boston, Massachusetts public schools. Students in grades four, five and six were eligible for study; and of an initial cohort of 227 students, 97 participated; others were eliminated due to lack of permission from parents (78), unavailability of the parents to be interviewed (50), moving from the area (1), and unavailability during the time of follow-up interviews (1). (Of these 97 participants, only 79 met the criteria for full study participation, as will be explained later.)

After initial interviews and questionnaires regarding the child’s age, family status, parents’ marital status, etc, a 24-hour validated dietary recall was taken from each child, using standardized food models. The method by which each child’s intake was validated is not specified. Foods were analyzed for energy, fat, vitamin and mineral content using nutritional software (Minnesota Nutritional Data System, v 2.3) and converted to a percent RDA for each child based on his age and gender. The same procedure was followed six months after breakfast became available to students in these schools.

To measure academic improvements related to the breakfast program, standardized test scores and attendance rates from pre- and six months post-program initiation were compared. Because this study included students in the sixth grade who had attended a different school at the onset of the study (elementary) than at its end (middle school), and it was not feasible to collect all academic records for each sixth grade student, scores on standardized tests were compared only for students attending the same school for the duration of the study. Among children who were considered nutritionally at risk at baseline (consuming <50% RDA energy and/or any two of the following: vitamins A, B6, B12, C, folate, iron, zinc and calcium), eighteen (19%) showed improvement in their nutritional status; their math and science scores improved by measures of 0.6 and 0.1 respectively (p<0.1), style=""> Other values, including verbal skills and social studies scores, were either unchanged or not statistically significant (17).

In contrast to the findings of Kleinman’s group, Chandler et al (18) found that feeding breakfast to rural Jamaican students increased their verbal skills while leaving their numeric skills the same. Ninety-seven students in the third and fourth grades were selected based on age, class size, mildly undernourished nutritional status, and attendance rates during the term preceding the study. Students were matched with 100 students of the same age etc, who were adequately nourished (criteria for nourishment status is not defined). A battery of four skills-based exams (visual search, digit span, verbal fluency, and information processing) was given to each child, once during the period of time when he/she was receiving breakfast (cheese sandwich and chocolate milk) and once while receiving the placebo (one quarter of an orange). This crossover design allowed each child to be compared to himself, as well as to students of similar status. Breakfast was given at 8:30am; exams were given between 9:00am and 12:00pm.

Among children determined to be adequately nourished at baseline, there was little variation among test scores when eating breakfast versus when not. However, the mildly undernourished students showed significant (p=0.01) improvement on the verbal fluency test; on average they scored 2-3 points higher with breakfast vs. placebo. Mean scores for all other sections of the test were statistically insignificant or unchanged for the two food plans.

A review of the study of breakfast on academic performance would be remiss if it excludes the works of Pollitt and colleagues (19, 20). In the early 1980s, Pollitt conducted a study unlike most others—he had his subjects sleep at a clinic for two nights, one week apart from one another. This highly controlled design ensured that subjects were fasting for at least thirteen hours. Dinner (hamburger, roll, French fries, applesauce, Kool Aid, and vanilla ice cream) was served at the testing center at 5:00pm. Breakfast (waffles, syrup, margarine, orange juice, and milk) was given to half the subjects at 8:00am the following morning; the other half were given breakfast upon their second stay while the first group had none. Blood samples were taken at 9:00pm (postprandial) and again at the time of testing (11:00am) despite breakfast status. Blood samples were measured for β-hydroxybutyrate, glucose, lactate, and free fatty acids. Testing was done by blinded psychologists and consisted of a Matching Familiar Figure Test, a Continuous Performance Task, the Hagen Central-incidental Task, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (a measure of IQ).

Only MFFT and IQ were determined to be correlated; with an IQ greater than the mean (110.4), fewer errors were made on the MFFT. Other scores were too varied for a relationship to be determined (see figure below). However, individual subjects whose glucose levels were lower on the day of non-breakfast than on the day of breakfast treatment tended to make more mistakes on the MFFT.

Figure 1: Average performance on MFFT under breakfast and non-breakfast conditions. The variance in number of correct responses is too varied to establish a clear relationship between breakfast consumption and testing outcome.

These are only a sampling of the types of studies done to date on breakfast and its relationship with test scores. Data from each study has different findings from the next, making it difficult to establish causality and direct associations. However, one thing is clear—further studies utilizing the best of each design should be done, and will hopefully show the link between consuming breakfast and academic achievement to be stronger than current research has shown.

Bibliography

1. Pollitt E. Does breakfast make a difference in school? Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 1995;95(10 (Print)):1134-1139.

2. Taras H. Nutrition and student performance at school. The Journal of School Health. 2005;75(6 (Print)):199-213.

3. Bellisle F. Effects of diet on behaviour and cognition in children. The British Journal of Nutrition. 2004;92 Suppl 2:S227-32.

4. Gassin A. Helping to promote healthy diets and lifestyles: the role of the food industry. Public Health Nutrition. 2001;4(6A (Print)):1445-1450.

5. Murata M. Secular trends in growth and changes in eating patterns of Japanese children. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2000;72(5 Suppl (Print)):1379S-1383s.

6. Rampersaud G, Pereira M, Girard B, Adams J, Metzl J. Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2005;105(5 (Print)):743.

7. Miller G, Forgoc T, Cline T, McBean L. Breakfast benefits children in the US and aboard. Journal of the American College of Nutrition . 1998;17(1 (Print)):4-6.

8. Ruxton C, Kirk T. Breakfast: a review of associations with measures of dietary intake, physiology and biochemistry. The British Journal of Nutrition. 1997;78(2 (Print)):199-213.

9. Keski-Rahkonen A, Kaprio J, Rissanen A, Virkkunen M, Rose R. Breakfast skipping and health-compromising behaviors in adolescents and adults. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2003;57(7 (Print)):842-853.

10. Dickie N, Bender A. Breakfast and performance. Human Nutrition. Applied Nutrition. 1982;36(1 (Print)):46-56.

11. López I, de Andraca I, Perales C, Heresi E, Castillo M, Colombo M. Breakfast omission and cognitive performance of normal, wasted and stunted schoolchildren. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1993;47(8 (Print)):533-542.

12. Gross S, Cinelli B. Coordinated school health program and dietetics professionals: partners in promoting healthful eating. Journal Of The American Dietetic Association. 2004;104(5 (Print)):793-798.

13. Lupton J (chair, Institute of Medicine). Energy. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. 2002/2005: 107-264.

14. Kerver J, Yang E, Obayashi S, Bianchi L, Song W. Meal and snack patterns are associated with dietary intake of energy and nutrients in US adults. Journal Of The American Dietetic Association. 2006;106(1 (Print)):46-53.

15. Chandler A, Walker S, Connolly K, Grantham-McGregor S. School breakfast improves verbal fluency in undernourished Jamaican children. The Journal Of Nutrition. 1995;125(4 (Print)):894-900.

16. Edward H, Evers S. Benefits and barriers associated with participation in food programs in three low-income Ontario communities. Canadian Journal Of Dietetic Practice And Research: A Publication Of Dietitians Of Canada = Revue Canadienne De La Pratique Et De La Recherche En Diététique: Une Publication Des Diététistes Du Canada. 2001;62(2 (Print)):76-81.

17. Kleinman R, Hall S, Green H, et al. Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Annals Of Nutrition & Metabolism. 2002;46 Suppl 1:24-30.

18. Pollitt E, Cueto S, Jacoby E. Fasting and cognition in well- and undernourished schoolchildren: a review of three experimental studies. The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition. 1998;67(4 (Print)):779S-784s.

19. Pollitt E, Lewis N, Garza C, Shulman R. Fasting and cognitive function. Journal Of Psychiatric Research. 1982;17(2 (Print)):169-174.

20. Pollitt E, Leibel R, Greenfield D. Brief fasting, stress, and cognition in children. The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition. 1981;34(8 (Print)):1526-1533.

working on that paper

2006-10-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

its been 6 days with this migrane and i was supposed to have my paper done already...biology can be a real bummer.
but good news: a classmate just told me that i dont need to have as much info as i originally thought, so i may even be able to finish before 3-4 today :)

breakfast for teens

2006-09-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

i'm going to be writing my first "as if for publication" paper this week. the topic needed to be related to energy (that is the basis of the class) so i chose to do a literature review of the relationship between breakfast consumption and academic performance in adolescents. hopefully it will be an interesting paper (maybe i'll even post it, who knows?). i'm going to be presenting the information at a health fair for teens this january. maybe i can get free goods from the government...hmmm, something to think about.

happy birthday to me!

2006-09-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

i celebrated my and p's birthday this weekend with some friends and aquaintences from school. it was tons of fun...bar hopping, talking about grey's, a few drinks, someone got a dancing lesson, DDs, home safely at 3am.

thanks for a great time!

papers, papers

2006-09-12T15:36:00.000-07:00

things are really getting busy, with tons of reading each week, review of academic articles, writing research review and survey articles, then work and excercise on top of it!

i'm trying really hard (and succeeding) to eat healfully and work out several times each week.

the last couple of days i've been really sore from something (not sure) and had a migrane (bad one, but which one isn't bad?). and sleep hasn't been helping.

maybe i'll try drinking some tea tonight while i review some more articles.

:D

a bit of excitement, and dinner

2006-08-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

so by my second day of classes, we've already had a fire alarm (and evacuation) and a cancelled class. this is turning out to be more interesting than i had thought :)

jk; not about the things that happened, but about the interesting part. so far, so good. i'm having some trouble sleeping, but my doc gave me some tips to try.

i'm studying today (since i don't have class) in a gorgeous library that is house in a restored mansion. i'm in the garden room--floor to celing windows, nice and sunny, overlooking the gardens.

last night was my night to make dinner, so i made hearth baked pizza. check out the pictures below. use any recipe you like for the dough, sauce, and any toppings you like, but bake the pizza directly on preheated (for ~1 hour) unglazed terra cotta tiles placed on the lowest rack of your oven. crusts have never been crisper!

nervous...

2006-08-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

classes are starting and i'm so nervous :(

i'm here!

2006-08-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

i got into town a couple days ago, and so far the move is going well. i have a lot of help, so it's not like i'm doing it on my own. i went shopping for stuff yesterday, and i found some great sandwich bread (whole grain, double fiber) made by brownberry that i think i'm going to take for lunches. maybe with some roasted sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, avocado, dijon. hmm, i better go eat breakfast--this is making me hungry.

it's crazy soon

2006-08-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

less than two weeks! it's my last week of work (yea!), then a week of r&r, then i'm off. just purchased the last of my books yesterday--epidemiology for public health, and i've started reading up for food chemistry (love the pictures in that book!).
oh, and i secured my job, which is good for the car payment or rent, maybe both if i can work a few more hours each week.
anyway, i'm getting more and more excited by the day--yipee!

the most beautiful antioxidants on the planet

2006-07-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

my sister took these pictures a few weeks ago:

what beauties - i love blueberries!

almost as great as their vibrant color and velvety texture is their wonderful health benefits. aside from being chock full of fiber and flavor, they pack a punch with free-radical fighting anthocyanins, making them both yummy and cancer-fighting.

read more here: http://http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8

back to basics

2006-07-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

as i mentioned in my profile intro, this blog is to keep track of my progress as a nutrition student. what i did not mention, however, is the second reason for the blog; to practice my food writing and test recipes that hopefully will one day be published in my cookbook. some of the recipes are my own, but many are adapted from those published in various print forms. again, this is a test, so your critique is appreciated.

on to the recipe:

it's summer and really humid (and hot)--perfect weather for baking bread! there is something so homey about baking bread, and it gives the baker a real sense of accomplishment when the product is finished. it seems that these days everyone is into whole grains, and righfully so. whole grains, by definition are chock full of heart-healthy fiber, as well as some minerals and vitamins that are lost in the process of grinding grains to make flour. while whole grain products may contain more calories per serving, their higher fiber content make the digestion of their natural sugars occur at a slower rate, thus making them lower on the glycemic index (consuming foods low on the glycemic index reduces a person's risk of developing diabetes). in short, they are better for you.

after that lengthy introduction, here is my favorite multgrain bread. the recipe is originally for one loaf, made in a bread machine. if i'm making bread, i'd rather make several loaves and store them in the freezer for later use, than make one loaf and have to do the same amount of dishes. i don't have a bread machine, so i have adapted the recipe to be made in a standard mixer. i like to make big batches of bread, so i use the magic mill by electrolux with 7 lb flour capacity. i'd really like to get the 575 watt kitchen aid but that will have to wait until i graduate.

multigrain loaf
adapted from "bread-machine multigrain loaf", good housekeeping, february 1998

4 packets OR 2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast
1 cup honey
5 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
3/4 cups canola oil
8 cups whole wheat flour [i like this one]
4 cups high gluten/bread flour
1 cup bulgur (#1 or 2 like that one -->)
1 cup old fashion oats
1/2 cup wheat bran
2 tablespoons kosher salt

in a large bowl of a mixer, place the yeast, honey and water. turn the mixer on to medium speed and slowly add 4 cups of the flour. when the mixture is uniform in appearance, add the oil and 4 more cups of flour. once the dough begins to come together, add the remaining flour, bulgur, oats, bran, and the salt. knead for at least 10 minutes (you may need to add an additional 1-2 cups of flour, depending on the weather), until all the ingredients are completely combined and the dough is elastic. turn off the mixer, remove the dough, and place in a greased bowl at least double the size of your dough (when using my electrolux, the bowl is large enough). let rise for one hour, or until doubled in size. shape into 4 loaves, or several rolls. preheat the oven to 350 degrees and allow the loaves to rise for about 45 minutes while the oven comes to temperature.[picture] brush with egg wash (1 egg+1 tablespoon water) and bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden on top and the bottom looks like this (see below) and sounds hollow when tapped lightly. remove from pans and cool on a wire baking rack, clean kitchen towel, or wooden cutting board. when the loaves are cool to the touch, they may be double-bagged and frozen for up to 2 months.

getting ready

2006-07-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

four weeks and counting!

i'm leaving for my much awaited first year of graduate school in four weeks from today. after a whole hullabaloo (what a dated word) with my registration and financial aid, i'm finally registered for 3 classes: advanced human nutrition 1, nutritional epidemiology, and my all time favorite, food chemistry with lab. i'm the most psyched about that last one--a cooking class for graduate credit! what could be better? ok, maybe a few things...but, anyway...

books have been purchased, plane tickets booked, jobs arranged, housing and transportation...you get the idea. i'm really excited, but kinda nervous at the same time. this is what i have been waiting for, and for 3 long years. after a year of being out of school (in all fairness, it's only been 7 months, but i haven't been full time for almost a year) i'm ready for this.

look out, here i come!