Good Mood Diet Blog

I was asked in an interview the other day whether there’s more to The Good Mood Diet than the food. It was such a great question that I want to tell you, too.

The answer is absolutely, YES!

I follow The Good Mood Diet. That gives me the mental and physical energy to achieve my high expectations of myself in my work, and to challenge myself in my physical activity. I also have enough energy at the beginning and end of the day to share my time and emotional energy with my husband and children. That feels wonderful. So while the food serves as the foundation, the activities that it supports create a whole separate feeling of good mood.

I have built into The Good Mood Diet a discussion of social consciousness that arises from the choices we make when we purchase food. For instance, when you purchase organic foods you are not only potentially having an effect on your own health, but you are directly impacting the health of the farm workers who definitely suffer from treating the crops with chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides. You are also supporting a more sustainable form of agriculture that is gentler on the Earth, taking care of our planet for future generations.

When you purchase fair trade products like cocoa powder and coffee, you are creating a better living environment for the small farmers and farm workers in Africa and South America who may otherwise live in desperate situations of poverty and slavery.

Supporting small, independent fisheries that catch mercury-free tuna using sustainable fishing methods is good for your health and the health of our oceans.

These actions and choices make us feel good. Doing good work for the world creates our greatest sense of emotional satisfaction.

The Good Mood Diet philosophy of how you approach food, from the nutritional and behavioral standpoint as well as from the economic and political angles, all tie together to create a very potent effect on mood. While your internal chemistry changes from the food plan, your actions and choices build upon those changes to generate an additive effect on mood that is powerful, and often life-changing.

I hope that the conversation will extend well beyond the book into your homes and chats online, with your Good Mood Diet Club, and with your friends. It will definitely make you feel better.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As a fitness expert, I frequently get questions about how to strengthen abdominal muscles and flatten stomachs, particularly after pregnancy and cesarean section. Often people try to flatten their abs by doing lots of sit-ups or crunches. Repetitions (30 or more) of these exercises increase the endurance of the muscles and do burn calories. As I’ve pointed out in previous blogs, exercise does not burn the closest fat cells to the muscles being worked. You can’t target which fat cells to burn - your body determines that.

An interesting note about c-sections: many people think that a c-section cuts through the abdominal muscles. Not so. The surgeon cuts through the skin and connective tissue, but moves the muscles and separates them along their fiber lines – the muscles are intact (very much stretched out from the pregnancy, but intact).

If you want to cause your muscles to flatten your abdominal area, practice exactly that – drawing in your stomach for a long time and repetitively. This is called the “law of specificity of exercise.” You get better at the things you practice.

Doing 80 crunches does burn calories and teaches your abs to bend your spine, but this is not the best use of your time to lower your body fat. Locomotive aerobic exercise (walking, running, skating, etc.) burns more calories per minute and the fat will come off your abdominal area when your body decides it’s that area’s “turn.”

“How long do you think it will be before I see results?” is often the next question I’m asked. My answer: any type of activity that causes you to burn 220 calories more than you ate today will result in a caloric loss equal to about one ounce of body fat. That means it would take 16 of these “negative 220-calorie” workouts to lose one pound of fat. A sound exercise program that increases your metabolism for several hours after the exercise will result in an increased calorie usage in the hours between workouts too. This is probably where you’ll notice the greatest fat loss effect.

So stick with it – eat healthy and work out regularly!

Alice Lockridge,
Physical Activity expert, MS PhysEd, Exercise Physiologist
with
Liz Diether-Martin,
Editor, Good Mood Diet Web site

I just spent some time in The Good Mood Diet Chat Room on Yahoogroups, and the discussion is wonderful. It is exactly what I had hoped would happen: Good Mood dieters online giving each other great support; some emotional, some very practical. I am so pleased and proud of all of you.

One recent question in the chat room is also a very common question when I'm out signing books and lecturing: “What if I hate fish? Do I have to eat it?”

Well, speaking as a scientist, a nutritionist, and a mother, I have to say that you should at least try it. Don’t start out thinking that you have to eat 5 fish meals a week. Start with the idea of one. You don’t have to eat the more flavorful fish like salmon. Shellfish, which can taste much milder to many people, also contain considerable amounts of omega-3 fats. So shrimp and crab may be a good place to start. Experiment with new recipes, and definitely try our new Stuffed Trout recipe in this month’s menu on the GMD recipe page. It is wonderful!

Milder tasting fish are usually lower in total fat content, since so many of the flavor components are fat-soluble. Fish like flounder and tilapia are fairly low in omega-3 fats compared to fish from cold-water oceans like black cod and salmon, but they do still have more omega-3 fats than a hot dog! If you can eat these milder fish, then they are a great place to start for you.

There is also more to fish than just the fats. Fish is a fabulous source of protein. And there is something special about fish that is currently under investigation in laboratories: people who include more fish in their diets lose more weight, even when calories and macronutrients remain the same. Whether it’s the protein or the fats (or both) hasn’t been determined yet. But I know that when I have clients who need to lose weight, especially abdominal weight, the more fish meals they eat per week (up to 5), the easier the weight comes off, especially around their middles.

Finally, if you’re not eating fish, and never will, or you only eat it occasionally, I do recommend supplementing with the marine oils. You want to find a supplement that contains a daily dose of 1000 mg of DHA and EPA. There may be a little more DHA than EPA. It should be purified. If you find that you are “burping up” a fishy taste, then switch brands. Well-purified brands, or enteric-coated supplements, will typically not do that. If you are allergic to fish, you must see your physician before using any fish-based supplement.

Check out March’s new recipes. Then please visit the chat room. Click on the GMD Club link, and then the link to the chat room. It is an inspiration!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan Kleiner

My husband has had type 1 diabetes for over 36 years – he was diagnosed when he was 14. He’s about the fittest looking person with a life-threatening disease that you’ll ever see. He "lettered" as an athlete in high school and college and wrestled at the 115-lb. weight category. As an adult he plays rugby and soccer, water skis, and goes on 7-day bike trips every summer with his siblings. His biceps bulge and his abs show his 6-pack. No one would call him “sickly.”

He learned his lessons well as a child with diabetes in the '60s. He was taught to avoid foods with “sugar” on the label and found his treats in the higher fat foods (meats and butter and creamy items). He kept really good control of his blood sugar level and became an expert at avoiding those potentially embarrassing low blood sugar episodes. When we met, I thought he must have misunderstood the lessons from his childhood doctors and cryptically warned him that if he kept up his eating habits he’d give himself heart disease too! As a young married couple years later, we went to a week-long camp at a local hospital to learn as a family how to live a healthy life with diabetes. Boy, was I happy to learn that the nutrition lessons had advanced since he’d been taught. We made a few adjustments and knew we were going to help him be even healthier.

And now we’ve been married 19 years. Pat still eats a very healthy diet (snacks on a few fun things and drinks a little alcohol) and visits his doctor on schedule. Several years ago that I became concerned about his response to an afternoon badminton game with some friends’ children. I suggested he get an exercise electrocardiogram (EKG) and helped him push his doctor to request it after his resting EKG was normal. (Just imagine how hard it is for a guy to tell the doctor, “my wife thinks I should have an Max Treadmill test.”)

The maximal test EKG showed what I suspected. Pat had some cardiovascular problems and an angiogram was needed to find out the exact problems. The computer heart vessel drawings showed he had a 90% blockage in one vessel and progressing damage in several other places... all from the long years of diabetes. The cardiologist who showed us the charts said that he was really amazed at the contradiction between my husband’s physique and the condition of the inside of his blood vessels. He told us, "I don't know why, with all that blockage, you don't have heart muscle damage or didn't have a heart attack 5 years ago." In the most dramatic way, my often too-quiet husband turned and pointed at me from his hospital bed and said "because I met my own personal trainer 10 years ago. She's the one that taught me to do aerobic exercise to grow new blood vessels in my heart."

It was so romantic! He’d heard me and was now giving me credit for knowing that sprinting wasn’t the healthy way to work out for the rest of your life. Long, slower jogs are what stimulate your heart to grow collateral circulation (extra blood vessels) to double-cover all the parts of your heart’s musculature in case there is a blockage in any major artery.

The blocking of his cardiac arteries continued (because the diabetes didn’t go away) and eventually it was time to get it repaired. He had open-heart surgery to put in 5 bypasses. Again he was the fittest, tannest and youngest person in the cardiac unit. He was strong enough to get up and walk alone the first day and went home in three days with a promise to not start working out too soon – not the usual pledge elicited from patients in that unit). He recovered well and got back to his usual active lifestyle. When we vacation in Mexico, he’s the only person on the beach who has 72 inches of scar from this kind of operation. Most guys at the volleyball court ask if the scars are from a car wreck! But that doesn’t stop him from playing without his shirt with the other much younger men.

The diabetes is ruining the inside of his vessels all over his strong, fit body. The lesson is, no matter what kind of illness or accident you might have to deal with, the more healthy and fit you are, the better. He's living a full, fun life due to regular visits to his health care providers, monitoring his blood sugar levels multiple times a day, using moderation in all things, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, drinking enough water each day and working out aerobically, as well as doing some strength exercises. All these health habits make for the lifestyle of someone many years younger without a life-threatening disease. Do your best with what you’ve been given.

Eat right, and exercise regularly, and be grateful!
Alice

I am often asked whether The Good Mood Diet is good for kids and families. It is a great family nutrition plan. It’s how I feed my family and teach my kids about nutrition. The whole concept that the program is based upon – feeling good – resonates so well with kids. It’s a great teaching tool as well as a wonderful way for them to begin to get in touch with how their minds and bodies feel depending on how they treat them.

I emphasize what they need to eat, rather than what they can't eat. This avoids the negativity, guilt and punishment that are often used to get kids to eat healthfully. Also, talking to children about feeding their brains and their moods does not create or reinforce negative body-image issues.

When I speak to groups of young people from elementary age to high school, they can easily tell me how they’re feeling, and report on the things that make them feel good and feel bad. So teaching them about food relevant to how it will make them feel is natural, and interesting. For instance, my children know first-hand that just eating carbohydrate foods by themselves on a repeated basis will not make them feel nearly as good as when they mix a carbohydrate-rich food with a protein-rich food. They know that while candy and sweets are fun and taste great, they are tuned into the fact that lots of candy makes them feel down after a while. But they also know that they can put their sugar to work for them right after exercise, and that chocolate milk or a milkshake is not only a great treat but also a great recovery drink.

Talking to high school girls about milk and their bones is like talking to the wall. But tell them that it will lift their mood, making them look brighter and prettier, gets their attention. And then add on the fact that they’ll probably think more clearly and handle their stress better if they eat healthy fats, gets them running home to tell their parents to buy natural peanut butter so they can perform better in school!

The Good Mood Diet is such a positive way to create healthy nutrition habits for a lifetime. I encourage you to share the book with your older children, and share the concepts with children of all ages. Why not get your whole family into a good mood?

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The question has come up whether the benefits of cocoa powder are still active when mixed with milk, as in the hot cocoa recommended in the evening. I think that this question might have arisen from the publication in the media of the results of a study that examined the influence of milk on the active components of tea that effect blood flow. In that study, the researchers found that milk inhibits the beneficial effects that components in tea (flavonoids) have on vascular function. That is just one study and is not conclusive. Further study of the combination of black tea and milk has shown that milk does not inhibit the beneficial antioxidant activity in tea. Tea with or without milk enhances the ability of the body to cope with oxidative stress.

There is only one study that I have found that has investigated the antioxidant activity of cocoa powder when mixed into a cocoa beverage. We know that the antioxidant activity of natural cocoa and dark chocolate is very high. In this study, the addition of milk did not alter the antioxidant activity.

Drinking hot cocoa in the evening is actually a three-sided benefit. The tryptophan and carbohydrate from the milk changes your brain chemistry to create a calm and relaxed feeling as you settle down for a good night’s sleep. The cocoa fills your body with health promoting antioxidants. And the ritual itself reduces stress to help you feel better all around.

Enjoy!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Once again research supports that whole-grain cereal for breakfast is a very healthy choice. In a study presented at the American Heart Association’s 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, 10,469 cereal-eating physicians were studied to determine lifestyle factors and health outcomes over time. Those physicians who ate two to six servings of whole-grain breakfast cereals per week reduced their risk of heart failure by 22 percent. Those who ate seven or more servings per week reduced their risk by 28 percent. That is pretty significant stuff.

Eating only one serving per week isn’t irrelevant. It lowered risk of heart failure by 14 percent. According to the lead author, Luc Djoussé from Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, “the significant health benefits of whole-grain cereal are not just for kids, but also for adults. A whole-grain, high-fiber breakfast may lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol and prevent heart attacks.”

What is particularly interesting here is that the physician subjects actually have fairly good health behaviors. Even so, eating whole grains made a significant difference.

According to Djoussé, "The Physicians' Health Study shows that even in a population with overall healthy behavior, it is possible to see less heart failure in those who eat a whole-grain cereal breakfast."

It might not be eating cereal for breakfast that makes the difference, but it might be the whole-grain cereal itself. So whether you eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack, try to include whole-grain cereal in your day. It will do your heart good.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

You snooze; you lose.

The old wisecrack is getting some serious consideration from sleep researchers, who are increasingly finding that people who do not get enough sleep are at risk of being overweight. A new study from Northwestern University — this one focusing on kids — is the latest example.

The Northwestern sleep scientists found that children who do not get enough sleep are more like to carry extra than kids who get enough rest. The study followed more than 2,200 children over five years by employing highly detailed diaries.

Now there’s a Good Mood moment. Make it a point to get more sleep and drop pounds. Certainly fits into the "feel great while you lose weight" philosophy for the Good Mood Diet.

Lead researcher Emily Snell and colleagues Emma Adam and Greg Duncan calculated that an extra hour of sleep reduces the probability of being overweight from 36 percent to 30 percent in kids three to eight years old. For pre-teens between eight and 13, the extra hour of sleep reduces the probability of being overweight from 34 to 30 percent.

The children who got less sleep were more likely to have higher body mass index (BMI) measurements, even when factoring out race, ethnicity, family income and education levels.

If you are wondering, the sleep researchers recommend that ideal sleep times for kids five to 12 years old is 10 to 11 hours but found the typical seven-year-old in the study logged less than 10 hours per night on weekdays.

Snell offered no scientific explanation of why lack of sleep leads to gaining weight, but she was willing to offer some theories:

• Not getting enough sleep may affect hormones that influence appetite.


• Getting less sleep provides more opportunity for late-evening snacking, which are often sugary rather than nutritional. No doubt, Dr. Kleiner can fix that with a Good Mood hot cocoa!


• Lack of sleep causes a child or person to be more lethargic, discouraging exercise.

I get really annoyed when I hear people say that you need to eliminate fast food from your diet to be healthy. Aside from the fast food that I’ve figured out how to prepare at home and take with me, from time to time I definitely depend on certain types of restaurant fast food to survive in our hectic lives.

I’ve mentioned several of my favorite nationwide fast food chains in The Good Mood Diet book. Subway tops my list, along with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. These restaurants all offer options that can fit the Good Mood lifestyle.

Local Asian restaurants are some of our favorite take-out food. From sushi to pho, it’s fast, everyone finds something that they like, and we can always find seafood and vegetables that are incredibly well prepared. In the case of pho, it’s also remarkably inexpensive.

So while I’m writing this blog this evening my kids are enjoying a wonderful bowl of chicken soup pho; one with chicken, one with tofu, and mine with seafood (my husband will have his after his drum lesson this evening).

It’s easy, it’s healthy, and everybody’s happy.

Yours in a Fast Food Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Are you a list writer? I sure am. I would much rather put details on paper than crowd my mind with endless particulars and minutiae. I also know that I will stick to the task at hand if I’ve written myself a list or cheat sheet of what really needs to get done.

One of the most important lists that we have in our house is our grocery list. It’s on a magnetized pad of paper stuck to the refrigerator, and it’s available to the family for additions. In fact, if you’re the one who finishes up a staple food item in the house, it’s your obligation to put it on the list.

The list serves as a reminder of what we need to buy, and keeps our choices on track when we’re at the store. I’ve always believed that if you try to shop from memory, you are more likely to be a mark for the marketing and advertising geniuses that work for the food manufacturers. If you don’t have a mission to fulfill, you linger indecisively, and open a window of opportunity for those who could probably sell you swampland in Florida.

I was overjoyed the other day to read that someone had actually done research to back up my assumption. The question they asked was: "do shopping lists promote or prevent healthy choices?" Published in the Journal of Consumer Research, scientists from Duke, UCLA and the University of Florida found that having to come up with options from memory led to more impulsive decisions when compared to those who shopped with a list.

According to the authors: “The observed results are consistent with the notion that memory-based choices are guided relatively more by feeling-based considerations (say an urge for tasty food), whereas stimulus-based choices are guided relatively more by cognitive or deliberation-based considerations (say, the need to be on a diet).”

So any list that you make, whether it’s your chores or errands for the day or your grocery list, will help you stay on track. You’ll find The Good Mood Diet shopping list in Chapter 4, along with lists for other ways to make your kitchen and your cooking “good mood” friendly.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Even though I blogged on this earlier in the season, colds and the flu just don’t seem to be giving up. Since I received a question about how to adjust diet when suffering and recovering from the flu...

Most people lose their appetite when they have the flu. Staying hydrated is the priority, and when you're not eating, water isn't enough. So drinking a sports beverage, or something with electrolytes, becomes very important. For adults, once your fever is much above 102 degrees (Fahrenheit), it's hard to rehydrate yourself, and you should absolutely go to a physician. Until you feel like you can eat again, calories become somewhat irrelevant.

You’ll feel best when you start slowly again with food, especially if you had any gastro-intestinal (stomach, bowel, diarrhea or constipation) issues with your illness. Start with clear liquids like chicken soup, adding noodles or toast or crackers. After that, add back dairy and fruits, like fresh fruit with yogurt.

Finally, just return to your original Good Mood Diet. Until you get your activity and exercise back to peak levels, you'll need to taper down on calories, so serving numbers and sizes may decrease, especially breads and starches. Fruits and veggies and protein will be very important, along with fatty fish or fish oil supplements.

Everyone I know has had some nasty bug work it’s way through the household this winter. Remember that washing your hands frequently is the best way to avoid passing on a cold. I have limited my hugs and kisses, even handshakes at this point so that I don’t catch someone else’s cold. A smile and warm words work well during this season of sharing more than we’d like.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Are you worried that some exercises don’t really feel very good to do? Maybe you’re doing some of the “outlawed exercises” that professional fitness instructors know are not good for you. It’s common that we remember exercises that felt so bad when our gym teacher made us do them that we think they must be really good for us.

Well, that’s just not so. Exercises should work you out not wear you out. And now you can read about the exercises that are safe and the ones that are not. The Safe Exercise Handbook is a easy to read large-print manual with reference drawings to teach you how to avoid doing the outlawed exercises. For example:

• Toe touches can hurt your back.
• Windmills can compromise the health of your spinal discs.
• Burpees and jumping jacks can really hurt your knees.

Go to exercisexpress.com to order your copy of The Safe Exercise Handbook and monitor your daily workout for safe and effective exercises that protect your joints, improve your heart function, and strengthen your muscles.

Eat Right and Exercise Regularly!
Alice Lockridge

Exercise balls, also known as “stability balls,” are my most essential exercise equipment. You’ve seen them in the magazines, catalogs and on TV – now it’s time you got one and used it every day. What I like about the ball is that it can change an exercise’s intensity – either make it harder or easier, whichever you need. Here are a few examples:

• Ball bounce seated aerobics is my favorite way to get on the ball. All you need is a professional quality, burst-resistant exercise ball that fits you. Put it in front of your TV or at the computer station at your office or in your home and you’ll be more active while you sit! This is one great way to increase your metabolism and make your muscles work more while you do seated activities. I’m sitting on one right now as I write this blog!
• Abdominal exercises are more comfortable and valuable across a ball.
• Push-ups use more muscles when you use a ball.
• As you learn to do arm strengthening exercises, sit on a ball! You’ll add value by increasing the work while balancing on the ball.

Up to 5 feet tall: 45 centimeter ball
5’ to 5'6": 55 centimeter ball
5'7" to 6’ 1”: 65 centimeter ball
6”2” and over: 75 centimeter ball

• If you have a sore knee, use the next larger ball.
• If you have had a hip replacement, use a ball tall enough that your hip is bent only to a 45-degree angle.
• If you are not very good at balance and want to start gradually, don’t pump your ball up very tight. It should stay squishy until you get used to balancing.
• If you want to get really good at balance, pump your ball up until it’s pretty tight and hard. It’ll be harder to balance on and will develop your skills.

The Good Mood Diet tells us that eating well helps us feel well, improves our moods, and increases our energy and ability to deal with stress. This all makes sense and I have absolutely noticed that my brain is less fuzzy when I skip the refined sugar and have plenty of fish, complex carbs, fruits, and vegetables. But I hadn’t noticed the coping with stress thing.

Recently, I proved these mood-elevating and stress-relieving benefits to myself. Only, I proved them by proving the opposite: that if I skip meals and snacks, don’t combine carbohydrates, proteins and fats as well as I should, and if I enjoy too many sugary treats, my mood deteriorates and my ability to cope with stress evaporates.

Here’s what happened: I’d been happily following the GMD guidelines and feeling well. But I had a very busy week in which I ate poorly. Then came a nearly fatal blow: I called technical support.

You know how it goes. I was having problems with a brand new computer. I called technical support, waited on hold for a half an hour, spilled my water glass trying to accomplish something by organizing my desk while I waited, and when I finally got connected, I could barely hear the “customer service representative” because the connection was so bad. We struggled for an hour, trying one unsuccessful tip after another, until the rep finally decided the problem was not with his software – it was the computer manufacturer’s problem. I made two more calls, strikingly similar to that one. Finally, I called the store where I bought the computer. When Friendly Fred told me “I know a technician who can come to your home at a cost of $110/hour,” I lost it. I screamed. I cried. I sobbed.

Okay, the phone calls weren’t fun and the lack of success was frustrating. But my reaction was waaaay out of proportion. I mean, nobody ran over my dog – and there are far worse problems in the world.

After I calmed down, I laughed at myself and went for a walk. I thought about why I became so frustrated. So, it’s back to eating right and exercising regularly. But I think I’ll give myself a little more time before calling technical support again.

Liz Diether-Martin
Editor, The Good Mood Diet Web site

Here’s another very common question: Are flax oil and ground flax seed interchangeable?
Answer: No, not in The Good Mood Diet. I want you to use ground flax seed.

Many people use flax as a supplement for omega-3 fats in their diet. Most of us get plenty of the essential omega-3 fat, ALA, that comes from plant foods, but we don’t get enough of the omega-3 fats that come from fish oils, called EPA and DHA. ALA from plants (and flax) is a poor substitute for the fish oils. On a good day, when you are as well nourished as possible and everything is working at peak capacity, a maximum of 5% of the ALA that you eat can be converted into EPA and DHA. So flax oil is not a good substitute for fish oils.

On the other hand, ground whole flax seeds contain an important fiber, lignin, that isn’t found abundantly in our diets. Flax is a good source of lignins. Lignins are known to contribute to gut health in a similar way as probiotics, the good bacteria found in yogurts. It stimulates the immune system of the gut, along with adding a healthy fiber for general gut health. You won’t get that fiber from flax oil.

I have always promoted whole ground flax, just like I always depend on whole foods in the rest of the diet. It’s a good mood strategy to stick with.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I just returned from speaking at the Federal Way Regional Library near Seattle. As usual, the discussion turned to fish safety, a huge concern among consumers, and rightly so. There are some wonderful resources available to keep you up-to-the-minute on the latest news about fish in the food supply, safety issues, sustainable seafood practices, and who is using sustainable fishing strategies.

Two of my favorite resources:

• Monterey Bay Aquarium. It has a long-established program called Seafood Watch that will inform you about every phase of fishing, from ocean to table. One of my favorite pages is Seafood Resources, which tells me what brands I can buy that are safe for my health and the ocean.


• Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia. My family just enjoyed a day there last weekend. It is a wonderful aquarium showcasing the marine animals of the Pacific Northwest. They have begun their own educational program called Ocean Wise. It is a great step for the conservation of marine life of British Columbia.

Take some time to peruse those Web sites. You’ll find a wealth of information and you will be a far more well-informed fish consumer.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Funny what you remember from a childhood. One night I was watching a television sitcom with my brother Jim. Seems I was glancing back his way about as much as I was looking at the screen. Truth: I was laughing at the show’s jokes only if my brother laughed first.

Jim made a couple of simple, declarative statements that — no drama intended — changed my whole sense of humor.

"You don’t have to wait for me to laugh," said Jim, who doesn’t recall the conversation but denies that he was in any way annoyed with me. "If you think it’s funny, go ahead and laugh. It’s OK."

Well, about a half million laughs later, I’m still "OK" with defining what I think is funny and outright hilarious without too many filters.

Examples: Real life can be funny. Very funny. Necessarily funny. Surprisingly funny. People can be hilarious, and not just comedians but a bright co-worker or old friend. And, honestly, Dr. Kleiner and I have found many thing to guffaw about while working on our book or this Web site. It’s one of the pleasures of working together, sharing our senses of humor.

In some ways, each day’s laughing moments are just as vital to your overall health as every meal and snack on the Good Mood Diet menu. But don’t just trust this blog for that opinion. Research from such academic institutions as the University of Tennessee and University of
Washington have conducted studies showing that laughing has positive physiological effect, such as engaging many muscle groups and the heart similar to a workout while reducing stress hormones. Laughing is found to improve immune system biomarkers and even help relieve breathing problems.

It’s no accident that many hospitals have established "humor wagons" to pick up patients’ emotional levels. And you might know that Laughing Yoga classes are picking up momentum in California and Washington state, based on ancient healing principles.

Here’s the statistic that most gets me to sit up, take notice and roust around for my son’s "World’s Best Jokes" book that we keep in the car. Researchers have found that American kids typically smile or laugh upwards of 300 times per day. The typical U.S. adult smile/laugh
quotient? Less than 30.

We all owe it to ourselves — and our Good Moods — to lighten up whenever possible. It’s a healthy move that can fit into anyone’s day.

Bob Condor

Editor's note: Dr. Kleiner expects her segment on the Sunday Today show will provide some laugh-out-loud moments with person-on-the-street interviews about food and mood. Check your local listings (5am in Seattle area, 8am ET).

The most common life skill I teach these days is standing in the corner! No not with your nose against the wall like a bad child in school - but turned around with your heels and tailbone against an inward-pointing corner or door jam.

1. Back up to the corner until your heels are on both sides.


2. Let your tail bone lightly touch the point of the corner.


3. Now notice just how far forward your head is. The back of your head should be lightly touching the wall too, as far back as the curve of your butt.

If you’re losing height by curving your neck and upper back forward, your head enters the room before the rest of your body and that’s a bad first impression. Stand up tall!

When you’re driving, remind yourself to pull your head back far enough to touch that headrest. Jutting out your chin, as so many of us do, makes your neck tired and your upper backache. Pull your head back and keep it there!

Eat Right and Exercise Regularly!
Alice

One of my favorite research announcements at this year’s American College of Cardiology Meeting in New Orleans was that daily cocoa is good for your heart. Especially the way we make our hot cocoa in The Good Mood Diet.

Researchers from Yale Prevention Research Center conducted a small clinical study that showed that dark chocolate improves the function of blood vessels. They said the findings of the trial were clear. As with all scientific investigation, larger studies will be needed to confirm the results.

Dr. Valentine Yanchou Njike, one of the researchers, explained that, "In this sample of healthy adults, dark chocolate ingestion over a short period of time was shown to significantly improve (blood vessel) function." During the six-week trial, 45 people were given 8 ounces (227 grams) of cocoa without sugar, cocoa with sugar, or a placebo each day. The results:

Accomodation of the the artery in the upper arm to increased blood flow improved:

• 2.4% in the subjects who were given cocoa without sugar


• 1.5% in those who received cocoa with sugar


• dropped by 0.8% in those who received the placebo

Sounds like a good idea to me, with a side effect of improved mood. Now that’s gotta make you feel good!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

1. How many cups of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic fluid, other than water, do you drink every day?

   Your answer:	0	1-3	4-6	7-9	10-12	more than 12
   Add points:	0	2	5	8	11	13

2. How many cups of water do you drink every day?

   Your answer:	0	1	2	3	4	5 or more
   Add points:	0	1	2	3	4	10 (Bonus!)

3. How many cups of caffeinated beverages do you drink every day?

   Your answer:	0-3	4-5	6	more than 6
   Subtract points:	0	2	3	5

4. How many alcoholic beverages do you drink every day?

   Your answer:	0	1-2	3	4	5
   Subtract points:	0	1	3	4	5

5. How many cups of soup do you eat every day?

   Your answer:	0	1 cup	2 cups	more than 2 cups
   Add points:	0	1	2	3

6. How many servings of fruit (1 piece fresh, raw or ½ cup cooked/canned) do you eat every day?

   Your answer:	0-1	2-4	more than 4
   Add points:	0	1	2

7. How many servings of non-starchy vegetables (1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked) do you eat every day?

   Your answer:	0-2	3-5	more than 5
   Add points:	0	1	2

Interpreting your results

My daughter decided to do a nutrition study for her science fair project this year. She decided that she and her classmates needed to learn about how much added sugar was in prepared food. Her hypothesis: that there is more added sugar in more-processed foods versus less-processed foods.

I taught her how to figure out how many teaspoons of added sugar are in foods just by reading ingredient and nutrition facts labels. It takes a little bit of time and mental math, but everyone can do this. I’ve included the instructions in The Good Mood Diet on pages 105-106. Then there’s a chart of “Added Sugar in Processed Food” in Appendix C.

Her results were a surprise to almost everyone: her teacher, her fellow students, parents that viewed the exhibit, and my daughter herself. We did a great visual of the added sugar in foods by displaying the amounts in teaspoons of added sugar for the example foods, so that people could actually see the differences in amount of sugar right in front of them. It was a very powerful effect.

I suggest that you do this activity yourself at home. It will change the way you look at foods forever. Actually seeing the 5 teaspoons of sugar added to a serving of cereal or a cereal bar, or the 6- 8 teaspoons of sugar added to a 6-oz. carton of sugar-sweetened yogurt, or the 10 teaspoons of sugar in a 12-oz. can of soda, makes you step back and have a reality check. Start adding up all the teaspoons of added sugar that you eat in a day, or that your family members eat, and you’ll realize why this activity is so important.

The point is not to make you afraid to ever eat foods with added sugar. But when you do choose to eat them, it will be an informed choice. That’s the point.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The Good Mood Diet has some deep sports roots. Dr. Kleiner has worked with numerous professional sports teams, including the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns football teams, the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team and the University of Washington athletics department. Plus, she has counseled Olympians in a range of events.

As it turns out, I served as sports editor at the Chicago Tribune during the Michael Jordan championship years with the Chicago Bulls. So when this Good Mood blog turns to sports nutrition, we come with experience.

So here’s an item to chew on as the major baseball season starts Sunday April 1: Like other major league ballparks, Seattle’s Safeco field has announced that most of its food will now be trans fat-free. About 80 percent, which is good, but not quite in Good Mood range. Seems that local chains Ivar’s (think fish fry and chowder, lots of both) and Kidd Valley (which serves up famed garlic fries to Seattle Mariners ball fans) can’t quite figure out how to make the 400 to 500 orders they need to fill during sellout games without some partially hydrogenated oils in the deep fryers.

But both Ivar’s and Kidd Valley say they are working on it. The two chains actually don’t use trans fats in their Seattle-area restaurants. The problem at the park is that it is hard to keep changing oil as fans line up for the ballpark, ahem, delicacies. Partially hydrogenated oil contains trans fats that allow the oil to stay hot longer without breaking down or affecting taste.

Meanwhile, all other food concession stands will be trans-fat free. A similar healthy approach is taking place at most major league parks this season.

And true to its roots, the Good Mood Diet does not disappoint by telling fans to skip the ballpark food. The official GMD position: Root for your home team and enjoy the fun. If that means a hot dog is a "necessity," then be sure it is a quality dog with all of your favorite trimmings. Or if your park has a specialty that is practically family tradition for you (Dodger dogs in L.A., knishes at Yankees stadium, Boog’s barbecue sandwiches at Camden Yards in Baltimore), go for it. Just make sure it is a splurge worthy of your palate and taste buds. No fake cheese on the stale nachos allowed.

Remember what Dr. Kleiner proposes at the end of the Good Mood Diet book's introduction: You don't have to be perfect or even close to it. The idea is not to eliminate foods you love, but appreciate them more. One idea is to share your favorite ballpark foods with your companions. That way you get the tastes, flavors and smells but don't feel like taking a nap by the time the game goes into middle innings.

Best of all, the Good Mood Diet endorses one ballpark favorite: Peanuts in the shell. Dr. Kleiner includes them in the regular rotation (there you go, another baseball term) for afternoon snacks. Her GMD approach calls for about 10 rather than the whole bag, so find some friends and neighboring fans to help share. If you really want to be in a good mood — whether your team pulls it out in the ninth inning or not — then bring a fresh apple with you to the ballpark. Or here in Seattle you can also find chocolate-dipped strawberries at concession booths if you happen to forget the fresh fruit.

Here’s hoping your ballclub gives you reasons for a Good Mood this season — along with healthier, but still fun, food.

Bob Condor