Cow's Milk Vs Soy Milk

Have you ever wondered how cow's milk and soy milk compared? 

Let's see what the American Dietetics Association has to say below:

Soy milk has different nutrient content compared to cow's milk. 

Naturally, soy milk (made by pressing ground, cooked soybeans) is significantly lower in calcium. That's why as a substitute for cow's milk, you want to choose soy milk that is fortified with calcium. Right now in the US, we have soymilk that is either fortified with tricalcium phosphate or calcium carbonate. (Look at the ingredient label!)

Next, do you know that our body also absorbs calcium from fortified foods differently?

Take a look at the So Good soymilk below:

 So Good Soymilk is an example of soymilk fortified with tricalcium phosphate.

which contains 30% DV calcium per serving of 1 cup. 

This is the same percentage of calcium as in 1 cup of cow's milk.

( 2% Reduced fat cows milk also contains calcium of 30% DV per 1 cup of serving)

However, since tricalcium phosphate is not absorbed as well in our body, you would need to drink 1 and 1/3 cups of the tricalcium phosphate-fortified soymilk in order to get the same amount of calcium from that one cup of 2% cow's milk.

Another example, 

Silk Soymilk has its calcium fortified with calcium carbonate. The calcium from 1 cup of cow's milk and 1 cup of soy milk fortified with this type of calcium, is about the same. 

So say if you drink 1 cup of Silk soy milk (45%DV Calcium), your body would absorb the same amount of calcium in a cup of cow's milk with same percentage of calcium.

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More about soy milk...

Naturally, soy milk is lower in protein and riboflavin (vitamin B2), and has little vitamin A or D. That's why some soy milk are fortified with vitamin A and D and riboflavin. 

Soy milk or soy beverage is also popular as it contains phytoesterogens, proteins found in soy that may have cardiovascular benefit. Soy beverage is also cholesterol-free, since it is derived from plant. 

The fat content of soy milk is similar to 2% cow's milk. Regular soy milk often contains 5% of total fat, where as 2% cow's milk contains 8% of total fat. Whole milk would have 12% of total fat in it.

Gluten-Free Bacon

On this post I want to tell you what makes sense and what does not. Especially with food companies trying to win you over with their obviously-gluten-free product.

First of all, gluten is a type of protein made out of wheat or barley or rye protein that is mixed with water, and put under mechanical force (say by mixing, whipping, beating). It does not appear on its own, not without mechanical force and water.

People also think that gluten-free products are much healthier than the non gluten-free ones. 

NO, ACTUALLY NOT!

Gluten-free product is designed for people who is born with celiac disease, to whom consumption of gluten can cause immune reaction and discomfort since their body is not capable of digesting and absorbing this protein.

Now think about gluten-free bacon. Do you think bacon or other meat would contain gluten? Are they things that would naturally contain wheat or barley or rye protein in them?

 NO!! When you see gluten-free label on this kind of product, and you're thinking that this bacon is healthier than other bacon, THINK AGAIN!

It might contain gluten if it is served with burger patties, or bread slices as in sandwich.

The label is actually telling people with celiac disease that this product is safe to consume and processed in a facility that is not in contact or produce gluten.

 Labeling "gluten-free" in this product makes sense, because spaghetti or pasta is usually made with wheat flour, mixed with water and kneaded. 

Gluten-free usually contains extra calories compared to non-gluten-free products. WHY? 

Because they have to compensate the loss of texture for not using gluten-containing ingredients. 

For example, in a gluten-free bread, you'll see in the ingredient labels that there are plenty sources of carbohydrates such as xanthan gum, potato starch, and other starches to substitute flour. They have to use those ingredients and other calorie-contributing ingredients to make the bread rise

 when baked.

SO, just saying, gluten-free product does not necessarily means healthier.

Salads How To

Ever wonder what's in your salad?

It could be one of the healthiest meal since it contains lots of vegetables and fruits, but it can also be a diet destroyer if you don't know what you're putting in.

Say you're on a salad bar, and there's a rainbow of vegetables and fruits which are often loaded with vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and fiber, and of course some phytonutrients and potential antioxidant. Now that's good. But do you know that an average of a salad bar plate can go up to 1,000 calories, depending on your choices?

Take a look at this Applebee's Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad. This contains 1,050 calories with 11 g saturated fats! Ouch!

Where does these huge calories come from?

Not from lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and other fresh veggies. 

Instead, (depending on the amount), salad dressings, tortilla shells, cheese, croutons, bacon bits, fried onions and other higher-fat toppings can contribute to excess calories.

Don't want that extra calories in your diet? 

Do know how to choose your salad dressing! Say you have a selection of vinaigrette and ranch dressing. 

Raspberry Vinaigrette can contain 30 calories each tablespoon you give to your salad. Every time you see or hear the word "vinaigrette", understand that the core of this dressing lies in the mixing of olive oil/vegetable oil and lemon juice, or often vinegar as an acidic ingredient. Other ingredients are added to taste, such as raspberry, honey, poppy seeds, salt and pepper.

Compared to vinaigrette, ranch can contain about twice of calories, 73 calories in a spoonful based on Kraft's commercial regular ranch dressing. This type of dressing is made of some combos of buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice or vinegar, garlic, herbs, and then salt and pepper, which altogether create a huge calorie booster.

Does that mean you can only have vinaigrette for your dressings?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Go for the free-fat or lite ones, and or follow the fork dip method.

People usually pour their dressings into the salad, or dip their veggies into the dressing, which contributes to lots of fat and calories due to the large amount consumed.

Fork Dip method is another way to cut down the caloric content in your salad, by cutting down the amount of the salad dressing you eat. You just need to get a good dip of your fork into the salad before "stabbing" your fruits and veggies and whatnots. When you look at the picture above, you can see how the amount of dressing is reduced. It only slightly covers the surface of the fork, yet still giving the flavor you need in every bite. A must try!

I'll also have some other tips from the American Diet Association book for my nutrition class, and it basically tells you the amount, calories and fat content in each options of food offered in the salad bar. 

This will also help you make a good, calorie-controlled homemade salad.

Now that you're getting better at this stuff, let me just guide you to another healthy steps that would make you feel even better.

According to Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, here's how to control salad bar and solids fats:

• Pace yourself. Check out the salad bar from end to end before you fill your plate.

• Use a small salad plate, not a diner plate, if you're tempted to overdo.

• Start with greens. DARK-LEAFY vegetables such as spinach and romaine supply more nutrients and phytonutrients than iceberg lettuce does.

• Spoon of plenty of bright colored vegetables (broccoli, peppers, beets, or carrots, to name a few), beans (such as kidney and garbanzo beans), and fruits.

• Make it a hearty salad with protein-rich ingredients: beans (legumes), lean meat, turkey, crabmeat or surimi, tuna, eggs, and cheese (perhaps low-fat). Cottage cheese, other cheese, and yogurt on the salad bar also add calcium.

• Include fiber-rich mixed dishes not only made with beans. Look for those made with brown rice and other whole grains.

• Take small amounts of higher-fat toppings and mayonnaise-based side salads (macaroni, potato salad).

• Go light on you dressing. Go for low-fat or fat-free dressing.

How to go low-fat on your dressing?

EASY!

When making a homemade ones, subs the fat components like mayonnaise or sour cream for the lite one. For example, use light mayo, reduced fat sour cream, etc.

For vinaigrette, make it three parts vinegar/lemon juice to one part oil (e.g 3/4 cup vinegar to 1/4 cup oil) instead of the other way around, if you'd like it. It it's too acidic, dilute the vinegar with broth or juice. That said, vinaigrette is a way to enjoy healthy oils.

On taco salads, use lots of salsa with tomatoes, chiles, onions, herbs, and lime juice. Use a lighter touch with sour cream by going "50-50" : 50 percent sour cream, 50 percent plain, low-fat yogurt (or perhaps Greek yogurt).

LASTLY,

Reduce your fat intake by replacing some (not all) whole eggs with whites. I said leave some of the yolk because the yolk contains EPA and DHA that is actually good for your brain, and also good cholesterol (HDL) that can pick up cholesterol buildup in your body. 

Good luck experimenting and please do make healthful choices!!!

Strengths

 I like my own qualities about me. When a person gets to know me better and deeper, he or she will likely to sense these.

Acceptance and endurance.

It usually comes from uncomfortable situations and painful feelings you get from people judging or attacking your character.

Some words can be as sharp as blades, that when you hear your close friend speaks that sharp to you, you'll feel hundred times more painful.

And it is likely that you will want to defend yourself by attacking weaknesses you found in his/her personality, but at the same time you know when you do that, it will cost your friendship.

Now you want to weigh out which one you value more on. Do you value your ego than your friendship?

When you let your ego strikes, you're more likely to mention bad details about that close friend that's hurting you at that time. You might have or have not thought the purpose beyond his/her words. What if they are speaking the truth? What if your friend just wants to help you out, and that pointing out your character is the logical way to do so?

Endure it. Hold your breath and count to 3, or ten, or as many as you like.

And give it a thought. Give it an understanding.

Value your friendship, especially if you know how he/she is usually there for you.

This part would be hard because at the time they hurt your feeling, you will highly likely to want to prove them wrong.

It's okay that you hurt at that time.  You hurt in order to grow. You grow to accept yourself for who you are, and that way you have an understanding about others and how to accept them for who they are.

Apart from that, it also helps you challenge your emotional intelligent.

Kindness

Everybody has their type of kindness. And I think kindness is often mistaken by others as a weakness, or an opportunity to manipulate.

Let's say you have a project assignment that is still halfway to finish, and you just realized you need to submit it by midnight on that day. 

You know you have enough time to complete it, but you're just too lazy to do it especially when you know there's this one friend that could not say no to help. 

You called him up and told him about the assignment that is due, and you know exactly that he will not refuse. 

He said yes, and he did helped you out.

 Now, you get what you wanted, project's done, and there you go. You have just taken advantage of his sincerity. 

Why do people do this sort of things? Do they just care about themselves?

In California, with My Toes on the Sand

Santa Monica Beach, CA. A perfect getaway from a chilly West Lafayette to a warm Los Angeles. I was there with 4 of my college friends and we were so excited to explore what LA had to offer!

 The last seagull captured before the flocks flew further.

OK fun facts! Seagulls like to eat seafood, especially clams. However, the shells are too hard for their beaks to break so they carry the clams over rocks and drop them to crack them! Smart.

 It is what it is. The sky was a little blueish gray, but it doesn't stop us from having fun. I recommend visiting the beach at the morning hour for a nice and clear sky.

 My roommate's wearing heart shaped sunglasses.

 Huge crowd at 3PM. I took this pic while riding the Ferris Wheel in the Pacific Park.

$8 to ride one and spins like 5 rotations per ride. Sorry no pic for ferris wheel :)

Another fun ride at the park. The turning chair rotates so fast, you literally get the wind on your face and hair.

Us five.

Santa Monica Beach

Santa Monica

CA, 90401

What Type Are You?

Lately I have been obsessed with this Myers Briggs personality. I took one of their personality test under this website : www.16personalities.com, and I found out my personality category!

First, the test asked me several questions related to my habits and beliefs

and several other questions that probably just took 10 minutes to figure out your personality..

and after I submitted my answers, 

 This showed up as my personality! I'm an ENFP, which stands for Extrovert Intuitive Feeling and Perceiving type. 

Where you get your energy :

Extrovert: people excites you, working for a long time wears you out

Introvert: alone time recharges you, people drains your energy

How you take in information:

Intuitive: taking in and presenting info in a snapshot or a big picture way, interpreting patterns, possibilities and meaning perceived from information

Sensing: Taking in and presenting info in sequential, step-by-step way, focusing on facts within the information

How you decide on things:

Feeling : using your gut feelings, a faster way on deciding things that is quite hard to explain by logic; connects your gut directly through the mind

Thinking: calculating consequences, rational based decision

How you deal with the outside world:

Perceiving: open to new possibilities, flexible, and prefer adaptable lifestyle; often procrastinate work until the due date; likes grey area where it does not have to be set-in-stone yes or no

Judging: prefer a structured lifestyle, prefer "black and white" to grey area where yes and no has nothing in between, finish task way before due date and give some room for errors

 I'm happy that I'm an ENFP, just like Rapunzel!

 Which type are you? If you know what type you are already, please leave in the comment below and tell me what do you think about your type. If you do not know, please do the test! You'll love it!

Greyhouse Coffee & Supply co

I'm back at it. Back at writing you sweet stuffs and what not!

 Today is those kind of days where the snow is melting and everybody's just having that cranky faces over wet pair of shoes, or boots. Yeah, we'll never figure out West Lafayette's weather. It says Spring semester, but in most days students bundle themselves up with bubble jacket, cause temperature is freezing down to -15C. Good thing they have this warm and cozy coffee shop near campus, Greyhouse Coffee & Supply.

I say this is not just a regular coffee shop. It has some savory meals that are mouth watering, creative gelatos like bacon gelato and cereal gelato, entremets, pastries, teas and coffee of course. 

Today, I tried the Idaho Dream. This is one of their signature savory crepes, stuffed with roasted rosemary potatoes, kale chips, sauteed leek, Prairie Breeze bechamel, garnished with creme fraiche. I just love how they serve the crepes on a plate, instead of the triangle paper box. It looks pretty, and pretty stuffed. When you see the picture below, you'll see green stuffs sprinkled on top of the creme fraiche on the crepe. 

Yes, it's the kale chips!

Kale is kind of popular now because of its lowering-cholesterol properties. Thanks to the nutrition class that I took last semester I got to absorb this info. The kale chips that I had in this crepe were really good!! They had this salty taste on the front, and as you chew them down they have this umami seaweed kind of flavor paired with the crunchy texture. I really think the kale chips made a tasty combo with the soft roasted rosemary potatoes and the smooth creamy bechamel sauce.

The crepe costs $7.95 before tax, and you can add smoked garlic sausage for extra 2 bucks. I did not try the added sausage, but it sounds really good. I will definitely go back here. Love the coffee shop atmosphere, love the smell of coffee and love the background sound of people talking. Suits me well! 

Greyhouse Coffee & Supply

100 Northwestern Ave,

West Lafayette,

IN 47906