Tag Archives: nutritional analysis

Can You Tell Me About Nutritics?

I’m thinking about using Nutritics for my nutrient analysis, rather than some of the free options like SparkPeople or FitDay. NutritionData still seems to be very popular, too, but they don’t keep up with new versions of the USDA database (currently on Release 28). The fine print at NutritionData shows they use Release 21. FitDay doesn’t say.

I looked up two cups of broccoli florets at FitDay and NutritionData, and was surprised to see zero grams of fiber. How could that be correct? Nutritics shows 3.3 grams, as does the USDA Nutrient Database. I believe Nutritics and USDA on this one. The free nutrient analysis tools you find on the internet all use some version of the USDA database as far as I know.

Click the link below to see Nutritics’ report.

https://www.nutritics.com/app/rec/4b82cb50b2

In that report you’ll see “%RI”, which I assume is short for  percentage of Dietary Reference Intake. The National Health Institutes defines DRI or Dietary Reference Intake:

DRI is the general term for a set of reference values used to plan and assess nutrient intakes of healthy people. These values, which vary by age and gender, include:

  • Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%-98%) healthy people.

  • Adequate Intake (AI): established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA and is set at a level assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy.

  • Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects.

So what does Nutritics mean by %RI? I don’t know yet.

Any comments on Nutritics, or your source for nutritional analysis?

Steve Parker, M.D.

AMD Recipe: Eggs, Bacon, and Honeydew, and How to Extinguish a Grease Fire

Bacon, eggs, black coffee, and Cholula hot sauce. A caveman wouldn't recognized any of this except for eggs.

Bacon, eggs, black coffee, and Cholula hot sauce. Like my smiley mug?

This is a very basic recipe for a reason. Overweight and obese folks in the long run and better off—i.e., better weight management—if they start preparing their own meals at home. Many young people, however, never learn how to cook. I’ll admit I have to look up how to make a hard-boiled egg because I don’t do it very often.

If you follow nutrition science literature, you’ll see periodic references to “processed meats” like bacon contributing to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or premature death. I think the associations are pretty weak. I don’t want to debate it right now. Health-conscious cautious people aren’t going to go hog-wild on processed meats. I don’t. We may never have a definitive science-based resolution of the issue.

If you want to control the degree of processing in your bacon, make your own. The recipe at the link includes pink salt (sodium nitrite), maple syrup, and dark brown sugar. Many other recipes are available, some of which could be more paleo-compliant. My understanding is that sodium nitrite is a preservative and gives bacon meat that pink color. Does it contribute to flavor? If you’re not storing your bacon for a long time, you may not need the pink salt.

In any case, I thoroughly enjoy three strips of bacon with my eggs. Pictured above  is the Kirkland brand from Costco was $3.80/pound (USD). Two slices provide 80 calories (uncooked) and zero grams of carb although, if I recall correctly, it was honey-cured bacon.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

3 strips of bacon, standard thin slices

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup raw honeydew melon, cubed

Instructions:

Fry the bacon over medium or medium-high heat. If there’s too much grease leftover in the pan after cooking, poor out what you don’t want, for later use or drizzle over your dog’s dry kibble food. Leave a little grease in the pan so your eggs don’t stick. Then fry your eggs over medium heat. Enjoy with raw honeydew, which will cleanse your palate after eating bacon.

You can pay a lot more than $3.80 a pound for bacon
You can pay a lot more than $3.80 a pound for bacon

Servings: One

Nutritional Analysis per Serving: (from FitDay.com)

63 % fat

10 % carbohydrate

26 % protein

319 calories

9 carb grams

1 fiber grams

8 digestible carb grams

845 mg sodium

423 mg potassium

Prominent features: high in B12, riboflavin, selenium, protein, pantothenic acid, and phosphorus. Although this is low in calories, it’s adequately satiating because of the rich protein and fat content. The calorie count will be higher by 50 if you eat all the bacon grease.

By the way, I didn’t start a grease fire when cooking this. But I thought about it. After I poured excess grease out of my pan, some of it dribbled onto the outside of the pan. If I had put that pan back on a gas stove to cook my eggs, would that outside grease have caught fire and crept up into the pan?

How do you put out a grease fire? I knew water wouldn’t do the trick; my first thought was pour salt on it. That’s wrong! About.com says to simply smother it by putting a metal lid on the pan and turn off the heat. If you can’t find the fitted lid, use a cookie sheet. Fire won’t burn without a supply of oxygen. You could pour baking soda on the fire, but it takes a lotWikihow has more info on putting out a grease fire, mentioning a dry chemical fire extinguisher as a last resort if you’re going to handle the fire yourself. Think safety first.

Grease fire? Put a lid on it and turn off heat. If that fails, try a LOT of baking soda. Or fire extinguisher.

Grease fire? Put a lid on it and turn off heat. If that fails, try a LOT of baking soda. Or fire extinguisher.