Nutrition Know-How
First for Women
By: Ann Louise Gittleman
June 13, 2005

“Sprinkle” solution for mindless eating

It’s no mystery why I’m 40 pounds overweight: For some reason, I can never seem to find anything that really hits the spot, so I just keep munching on different foods—usually the fattening ones—until I’m so stuffed I have to stop. What gives?

Your inability to find satisfaction from food sounds like a palate problem. New research reveals that some people have naturally duller taste buds, preferring high-fat and sweet foods because they better stimulate flavor receptors. The result? Mindless munching on calorie-dense foods. “Super-tasters,” however, enjoy food more fully, put down the fork sooner and have an average body mass index that is 2.5 points lower than low-tasters’. To bring on supertaster satiety (and automatically say “when” sooner), spice up low-cal recipes with jalapeños or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

Activating fat-burning genes

For the past three months I’ve really been trying to speed up my metabolism by exercising two or three times a week. I feel better, but so far the scale hasn’t budged. Isn’t there a nutrient or supplement that can help my efforts pay off? I’m not talking steroids here—something safe!

Yes! You can get more metabolism-boosting benefits out of your workouts with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). The reason: CLA switches on the genes that speed both metabolism and muscle cell replication, resulting in more effective fat burn. Beef, milk and cheese from grass-fed livestock contain moderate levels of CLA, but to get the science-backed dose, consider supplementing with 2 grams at breakfast and lunch and 1 gram at dinner. One to try: Uni Key CLA-1000 ($26 for 90 softgels, at unikeyhealth.com).

Slimming carb swap

I dropped 15 pounds after giving birth to my daughter last year. But, I gained a total of 63 during the pregnancy and can’t seem to make a dent in the remaining 48, even though I’ve been on a low-fat diet for months! Plus, I’m hungry all the time. Is there a better way?

If you traded fatty favorites for foods high on the glycemic index (GI)—a measure of how quickly carbohydrates are converted into energy—you may have unwittingly set yourself up for constant hunger. For instance, low-fat white potatoes, cornflakes and watermelon all rank high on the GI, meaning they’re loaded with simple carbs that cause a quick blood sugar spike…followed by a hunger-producing crash. A better bet: lower-glycemic options like sweet potatoes, oatmeal and blueberries. (For a more complete listing, go to diabetesnet.com.) Their complex carbs digest more slowly, keeping blood sugar steady so you stay full longer.

How “16” adds up to endless energy

For months I’ve been eating pretty much the same thing every day: cereal and a banana for breakfast, turkey on rye for lunch. It seems pretty healthy overall. So why am I feeling so run-down these days?

By rotating through the same foods day after day, you may be missing out on nutrients crucial to maintaining high energy and a strong immune system. My advice: Take a tally of the different foods you eat for the next three days. If the total comes to 16 or less, mix it up a bit. USDA research found that subjects who in-creased the variety of foods they ate within each of the four food groups improved their nutrient sufficiency by 73 percent.