Good Mood Diet Blog

It's the new year, and you may have made a resolution to improve your diet, exercise more, or lose weight. And here you are. Now I want you to take a moment to re-think your resolutions.

First, think about how you feel right now. Are you happy, excited, alert, looking forward? Or are you feeling tired or even exhausted from all the holiday celebrations? Are you feeling sluggish or energized? Are you a little depressed from the let-down of the holiday season, or refreshed from a little vacation time? Really stop for a moment and check in with how you are feeling right now.

The goal of the Good Mood Diet is to help you improve how you feel. Whether you’re down in the dumps or on top of the world, when you follow the Good Mood Plan you can feel even better. When you feel better, you keep following the plan. And if you need to lose weight, you will. It’s all about how you feel, not about what you weigh.

So now that you know how you feel, I want you to write it down. When you finish reading this blog, go to the online support page and download the log file. And here’s your new New Year’s Resolution: Start to keep a log of how you feel each day, along with what you eat and your activity. You can even keep a log for different times in the day: when you wake up, the middle of the day, and in the evening before bed. Because this is your bottom line. I want you to start to associate what you do with how you feel. And the best way to do that, and to change old habits into new habits, is to keep a log. Have you made the resolution yet?

At the end of each week, look back at your log. Not to see what you did wrong, but to see what you did right. How do you feel when you eat “feel great foods” and when you eat “feel bad foods?” How does exercise make you feel? What about when you drink enough water throughout the day? Are you eating what you NEED to eat? This log, and the bottom line of how you feel, will be a very important motivator and barometer for your success.

Welcome to the Good Mood Diet. It’s going to be a great New Year!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

I love being part of a group. I sing in a choir, participate in a daily group exercise program, and ski with friends and family. Grocery shopping is best when my husband is along, and I even take piano lessons with my daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I like my alone time too, but sharing music, exercise, and even shopping with someone else makes it more joyful and less of a “job.” Knowing that someone is going to be expecting me is also a great motivator to show up when I’m feeling like other responsibilities are going to hold me back.

The Good Mood Diet Clubs have grown out of that same idea. Changing lifestyle is an effort. It becomes more enjoyable when shared with someone else. When I ran the first diet club in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the 6 members created their own online support group through e-mail. There was nothing like the exchange of ideas, tips, and even struggles, with others going through a similar process.

There are lots of variations of support groups out there. The difference in The Good Mood Diet Clubs is that they are created out of your own life. Create a club with your spouse, daughter or son, your neighbor, the person you walk your dog with, your book club, your card group, your cubicle partner at work, or whoever you eat lunch with. Keep the group small, no larger than 6 to 8 people. If it gets larger, start a new club. The point is that you don’t have to create a new space in your life to go to the Club, you don’t have to pony up any money, and you don’t have to step on a scale. You are there for each other to offer support; maybe for just 12 weeks, or maybe for a lifetime.

You can set weekly in-person meetings, and you can stay in touch all week by joining the online chat or video groups. You don’t need an outside expert to run your club. Pretend that I’m right there with you. Download my 12-week Discussion Guide to start the conversation and create action plans for the next week. You’ve got the book, you’ve got the Web site, download your daily log sheets and the 12-week discussion guide, join an online group and get in on the conversation. The daily support, along with pointers from others all over the world, will make all the difference in your life.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

I’m in New York City for the start of The Good Mood Diet book tour. So as I was scanning the online news, an article about dieters in New York caught my attention. In the January 2nd edition of washingtonpost.com, there was an article titled “MTA: Fainting Dieters Delay NYC Subways.” I had to keep reading.

“Sick subway passengers, most of them dieters who faint from dizziness, are among the top causes of train delays, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.” It seemed hard to believe, but there it was in black and white, with interviews with MTA medical authorities, and everything.

We are really a society out of touch with how we feel, and desperate to lose weight despite the risks. We are driven by misinformation from the media and false images from Hollywood. I hope that you hear this message loud and clear: fasting for a day or more in order to lose weight not only puts your health at risk; it doesn’t work. You will lose weight through water loss, muscle wasting, and some small amount of fat loss. When the fast is over you will, I hope, rehydrate yourself and regain that weight. The muscle wasting will have lowered your metabolic rate so that when you start to eat again you’ll gain fat easier than before you fasted. What a waste!

I want you to stop focusing on your body for right now. I want you to focus on how you feel. Weight loss, when done right, is a long-term outcome. But feeling good can happen in just a few days, and sometimes overnight. Once you start to feel better you’ll find that you not only want to stick to the diet, but you’ll also want to start other things in your life that you haven’t had the energy for, like maybe even exercise.

Let go of the negative self-talk about poor body image and guilt. When your goal is nourishing your brain, you should always be thinking about what you need to eat. So skipping meals and fasting is out of the question. That can’t be good for your brain.
Think about how you feel, not about what you weigh. Resolve right now to start feeding your brain so that you have more mental energy and focus, and a lighter mood. When you feel better you stick to the diet, and if you stick to the diet, if you need to lose weight you will.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

If you read last Thursday’s blog you know that I’m traveling for the launch of The Good Mood Diet. My days are really hectic, running from one presentation to the next, and doing interviews in between. Today I did a presentation from noon to 1:30 (notice that I wasn’t eating lunch at that time), and then had a meeting from 4:00 to 5:15, another presentation from 7-9, and then a radio show from 10-11.

How did I stay in a good mood? Well, there was no way to eat lunch at lunchtime, or dinner at dinnertime. I started out my day by taking Bob’s advice; I slept in to catch up with my jet lag instead of waking early to work out. I had my usual breakfast that you see in the menu plan in the book. Just before going to my talk I popped some almonds and raisins, and had plenty of water. Then I walked.

At 3:00 I had a quick sushi lunch with miso soup and lots more water from a little take-out cafe. Then at 5:30 I barely had time to get back to my hotel to change and drive to my next presentation, so I stopped by a little fresh foods place near the hotel and had a great skim milk, fruit and whey protein smoothie. While it wasn’t ideal, it was an excellent alternative to fast food, or no dinner at all. I felt refreshed and energized. I went off to talk for 2 hours in one place and 1 hour in another, along with more water, and did just fine.

Back at my hotel at 11 PM, I was hungry and thirsty. It’s late, but I know that I won’t sleep when I’m this hungry. So back to my almonds, raisins, and a reward of a little dark chocolate just because I feel like it. I’ll be awake and working (and blogging) for a while, so everything will settle down in my stomach for a good night’s sleep.

So you see, while not exact, I have been able to fit in almost everything that I need to eat even though I’m on the road and very busy. The key is planning. I always plan ahead for these times and bring food with me. It was lucky that the smoothie place was down the street, but if not I would have found something with milk in it to get the protein and carbohydrates that I need to stay upbeat and on an even keel. Or I may have resorted to the meal replacement bars that I brought for an emergency. But I wouldn’t have been at the mercy of whatever food was available.

Before you travel, plan on what food is easy to pack and carry. It will save your mood every time.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

I’m in Cleveland now for the next leg of the Good Mood Diet book tour, and I have to tell you about Lolita. Lolita was at the front desk of my hotel as I checked in on a very soggy Friday night. As we were laughing about the rain, she asked me what I was doing in Cleveland. I told her about the book and the tour. She got very excited, and quickly said that she had lost 70 pounds.

“Wow, that’s great! How did you do it?” I asked. “I’ve been doing a boot camp exercise program,” she said, with a huge smile on her face. “I really hate to diet.”

“How do you like the exercise?” I asked. “It makes me feel great!” she replied, smiling even more broadly.

I told Lolita that I was going to put her story in my blog, because she had found one of the most important keys to health and weight loss maintenance: an exercise strategy that she really likes. Just as important, she’s tuned in to how it makes her feel.

Now that you’ve started the diet plan, you should start to have the “get up and go” to get up and get moving. What you eat and how you move work like a hand in a glove. On a cold day neither is very successful without the other. But just like I want you to eat what you enjoy, you need to find an activity that’s fun, that’s easily accessible and that makes you feel good. That’s why I love those pedometers. You can walk just about anywhere.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

[Editor's note: If you missed Alice Lockridge's articles on the pedometers, check it out now: Good Moves for a Good Mood.]

As I’ve been traveling around the country on the book tour, there are a few questions that are asked quite frequently. One of the most common is how to follow The Good Mood Diet as a vegetarian.

If you still eat fish, dairy and eggs, then The Good Mood Diet is really easy to follow. There is no need to eat meat or poultry. Whenever you see lean or very lean protein servings in the menu plan, just substitute fish or plant proteins like beans. I discuss in the book how a half of a cup of beans is equivalent to 1 very lean protein serving plus one starch serving.

If you’ve eliminated fish, dairy and eggs, then there is a little bit of extra effort involved, but you probably already have been noticing that about your diet. Substitute soy foods for the eggs in the menu. They both contain the important phospholipids that are critical for brain health. Just make sure to eat soy foods that contain all the natural fat, like soybeans, edamame, tofu, tempeh, and soy milk or yogurt with the fat still contained in it.

It’s not quite as easy to substitute for dairy. Soy milk is fortified with calcium and vitamins A and D, all very important for brain and body health. But the amino acid profile of soy milk is not the same as cow’s milk. You will not get the tryptophan boost from soy milk. But the trade off for the feeling of emotional well being by following a lifetime philosophy can be worth it. And if you are allergic to milk protein, there is just no choice. You cannot drink milk or use dairy products.

Unfortunately there is no good substitute for fish. Only 5 percent of the type of omega-3 fat from flaxseed and other vegetable sources is converted into the 2 omega-3 fats found in fish. These are the 2 critical fats for brain health and an uplifted mood. While the protein from fish is excellent, you can substitute other proteins for a similar benefit. But nothing that we currently know of will substitute for marine oils.

There is research currently going on in labs trying to create a sea vegetable source of the marine oils. Researchers are trying to incorporate fish oils into marine algae, so that vegans can gain the same benefits as those who eat fish.

If you don’t eat fish because of taste preferences, then use a fish oil supplement. If you are allergic to fish, then you must consult your physician before using a supplement. And some of my vegan clients have decided to use fish oil supplements because it is such an important health issue, and they feel the difference.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

During the first weeks in January I traveled to New York City, Chicago and Cleveland on the first leg of my book tour and we had balmy spring-like temperatures all the way. I’m back home in Seattle and we’re on our sixth day of below-freezing temperatures and snow day school closures. This weather has come right on the heels of major storms in December that shut down the whole region for a week or more. It’s a topsy-turvy weather cycle, that’s for sure.

One of the joys of living in the Pacific Northwest is that, usually, you can spend time outside year round. By now almost everyone I know is feeling cabin fever, and many of us are a little more stressed-out than usual. When I spoke on the phone this morning to my sister-in-law who lives close by, she told me that she ate sardines for breakfast. We joked that pretty soon we’ll have to start bathing in omega-3 fats to keep our moods high.

It is no joke that the fat in your diet goes a long way in helping you cope with stress. So many of my clients and Good Mood Diet Club members comment on how they deal much better with the stress in their lives now that they are following the plan. The research in the area backs them up.

Not only does the type of fat matter, so does the total amount. Diets with less than 25-30 percent of total calories as fat decrease our coping skills, and increase feelings of anxiety and hostility. And it’s no surprise that when you feed your brain the fats it needs to stay healthy and elevate mood, you just don’t sweat the small stuff. All in all, you can take many more of the bumps in the road of life in stride.

Life will always intervene with your plans. It’s how we cope with the unexpected that can make all the difference in how we get through those times. I know that The Good Mood Diet is a great stress buster. Keep thinking about what you NEED to eat. Those feel-great fats are feeding your brain, and supporting you through the tough times.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

Saturday evening I did a book signing at my favorite bookstore in the world, Island Books. Owner Roger Page makes every customer feel like the store is their home where you can sit and read, schmooze with friends, and eventually find that wonderful gem of a book (or in my case, two or three books) that just fits your mood and needs at the time.

One of the many questions asked during the evening was about caffeine and why it’s in the diet. “Do I need to start to drink coffee to follow the diet?” It’s a great question, and here’s the answer…

If you are not a coffee drinker or do not use caffeinated products in your diet, you certainly do not need to add them to follow the plan or be in a good mood. But for those of you who are caffeine users, there is no need to eliminate it altogether. I am giving you permission to include the equivalent of two caffeinated beverages before noon each day.

In the world of sports nutrition we know that caffeine can enhance performance. It is both a stimulant, picking up your mood and your pace, but it also gives a psychological edge. When taken before exercise, caffeine lessens your sense of how hard you are working. The Rate of Perceived Exertion is a scientifically created scale used to determine how hard we think we are working. On a scale of one to ten, one is barely working; ten is, “I’m going to drop dead if I keep doing this.” Caffeine moves your perception down the scale, so that even though you’re working out at an intensity level of six without caffeine, with caffeine you might call the same intensity a level four. You can workout harder and longer and improve your performance. For someone trying to lose weight, that translates into more calories burned in the same amount of time.

Caffeine in the morning is certainly a pick-me-up. It’s not only the caffeine itself, but often also the ritual that goes along with it. And for many, the taste and smell create a good mood all by itself. There are no risks of disease associated with small amounts of caffeine, so there is no reason to say not to have it. Larger amounts of caffeine, however, can have a rebound effect, making you feel lousy rather than good. If you get your caffeine from soft drinks, make sure they are sugar-free. There are 10 teaspoonfuls of sugar in a can of regular soda. Soda is also acidic. If you are drinking more than 2 cans a day, you may be putting your bone health at risk, especially if you are not consuming the three dairy servings that I recommend each day.

I ask you to consume your caffeine before noon. If, during the afternoon you feel like you need more cups of coffee or diet cola to stay awake and alert, then you need to examine what’s happening in the rest of your life. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you following The Good Mood Diet? Are you getting any exercise? Are you avoiding issues that you should be confronting?

Coffee and colas are acidic, harsh sources of caffeine. Green tea appears to be a gentler source of caffeine that is also rich in antioxidants that are good for your health. Subjects in studies of the weight-loss benefits of green tea often consume the equivalent of 5 cups of tea a day. They do not report the negative side effects often associated with high intakes of coffee.

I do allow for green tea in the afternoon, although you wouldn’t want to drink it close to bedtime. So if you would like something warm and comforting in the afternoon, green teas are a good choice, as are uncaffeinated beverages. Then look forward to your hot cocoa in the evening to help you melt away the cares of the day and sleep well.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

Have you heard of the latest replacement for trans fats? They are called “interesterified fats.”

Trans fats were created in the laboratory to replace naturally occurring saturated fats that were often found in lard. For baked goods, fried foods and snack foods, trans fats offered flakiness, crispiness and longer shelf lives. On ingredient lists, they are called “partially hydrogenated oils.” It was discovered over 2 decades ago that trans fats were more harmful to heart health than naturally occurring saturated fats. At the time however, the amount of trans fats in the American diet was so small that no alarm was set off regarding public health risks.

Fast forward 20 years and trans fats are found in so large a proportion of our food supply that it triggered a public health outcry. The USDA has required all food manufacturers to include the amounts of trans fats in their foods on the nutritional labels. New York City has even banned trans fats from foods prepared in restaurants, and many other cities are looking to follow suit. So food manufacturers must find an appropriate substitute quickly.

Very early studies of interestified fats, found as “fully hydrogenated oils” on food package list of ingredients, showed that when fed for just one meal, no effect on lipid levels was observed. Last week, the results of a 4-week research study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism showed that interesterified fats may be even worse for your health than trans fats. After 4 weeks of a diet containing 12% of total calories as interesterified fat, bad cholesterols levels increased, good cholesterol levels decreased, fasting blood glucose levels rose, and insulin response decreased. The interesterified fats were even worse than the responses to the trans fats, and absolutely worse compared to saturated fats.

What should you do? Nothing. Don’t change a thing. Keep following The Good Mood Diet plan. Keep your focus on all those great natural fats that you need to eat in your diet: avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, olive oil, canola oil, and all the great nut and seed oils that give your diet variety and zing! If you want a little butter every once in awhile, enjoy it. Savor it. Stick with fats from nature, rather than those created in a test tube, and you’ll be sure to stay healthy and in a good mood!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan

So here we are on the threshold of the approval of Alli, the first government-approved, non-prescription diet pill. This new version of Xenical (Orlistat) is a reduced-strength version (60mg) that can be sold over-the-counter. The drug will cost between $1 to $2 per day, and GlaxoSmithKline expect that 5-6 million Americans per year will buy the drug.

This is the basic premise of how Alli works:

When taken with meals, Orlistat blocks the absorption of about one-quarter of any fat consumed. That fat — about 150 to 200 calories worth — is passed out of the body in stool, which can, as a result, be loose. About half of patients in trials experienced gastrointestinal side effects.

Why am I shaking my head? Because your brain and your heart so desperately need the healthy fats to be absorbed into your body to be healthy, to raise mood, and to achieve lifelong weight control. Instead, they’ve invented a pill to help you lose weight and once again, make you feel worse instead of better. On Alli you’ll be sending those great fats down the toilet instead of to your brain.

And the “lose weight” part is pretty debatable. In six-month clinical trials, obese people who took orlistat lost on average 5.3 pounds to 6.2 pounds more than did those who were given dummy pills. When the subjects stopped the pills they regained their weight. The new over-the-counter pill will contain half the dose of the drug used in the diet studies.

So skip the Alli experiment. Eat and enjoy all the healthy fats, and proteins and carbs, that your brain and body need to feel great. You’ll have the energy and the motivation to go out and take a walk or even go dancing. Anything has got to be better than spending your spare time in the bathroom!

Valentine’s Day came a day early for me with the publishing of research about recognizing how active you really are. Here’s the synopsis:

People who think they're getting a good workout obtain more benefits than those who perform the exact same activities, but don't think what they are doing is exercise, according to the findings of a study by Harvard researchers.

These results support the idea that the benefits of exercise may involve a placebo effect.

Hotel cleaners who were told that their work of cleaning roughly 15 rooms each day was enough physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle were more trim and fit four weeks later than their peers who weren't given this message, Dr. Ellen Langer and her student Alia J. Crum report in the February issue of Psychological Science.

To investigate, the researchers recruited at 84 female housekeepers working at seven different hotels. Workers in four of the hotels were told that the exercise they got on the job met or exceeded the Surgeon General's activity recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, while those in the three other hotels were not told anything. Several measures of participants' fitness and health were taken at the beginning of the study and four weeks later.

Before the study started, about two-thirds of all participants said they didn't exercise regularly, while one-third said they didn't exercise at all. After four weeks, 79.7 percent of the women in the informed group said they exercised regularly. They also lost two pounds, on average; lowered their blood pressure by 10 percent; and showed reductions in percentage of body fat, body mass index, and the size of their waists in relation to their hips.

"These results support the hypothesis that exercise affects health in part or in whole via the placebo effect," Crum and Langer write. "Whether the change in physiological health was brought about directly or indirectly, it is clear that health is significantly affected by mind-set."

So all activity counts: cleaning your house, sweeping the driveway or walkway, washing the dishes. In fact, anything other than sitting in a chair is probably activity. While you’re in the house or outside, add some music by turning on the radio or wearing a music player. You’ll pick up your pace and have more fun at the same time. And give yourself a pat on the back for living an active life!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Lots of stories about fish in the news this week. The first one discussed that while we know that fish oils are incredibly important for brain health, the current scientific evidence is not clear on whether or not fish oils alone can decrease depression.

On The Good Mood Diet, you know that we don’t rely on any single food to change who you are or how you feel. Fish is included in the diet for brain health and to promote fat loss. If you use a fish oil supplement instead of eating fish, you might not get quite as much bang for your buck, but those fish oils are still very important for brain health.

Here’s a quote from the article:

Omega-3 fatty acids, especially abundant in oily fish, and also found in nuts, seeds, and leafy green vegetables, "are involved in chemical messaging in the brain, and help regulate blood vessel activity and aspects of the immune system that affect the central nervous system," according to the report in Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a publication of the British Medical Journal Group.

The second article this week was a British-American study about children whose mothers ate at least 3 servings (12 oz.) of fish weekly during pregnancy and had higher scores of mental function during their early years. The new study found that maternal seafood intake during pregnancy of less than 12 oz. a week was associated with increased risk of children being in the bottom 25 percent of verbal IQ at 8 years of age and with sub-optimum performance on tests of social behavior, fine motor activity, communication and social development.

"For the baby's development, at the level of 12 ounces a week during pregnancy, the beneficial effects of the nutrients in fish far outweigh the risk," said Dr. Joseph Hibbeln. He is a clinical investigator at the U.S. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and lead author of a report on the study in the Feb. 17 issue of the journal The Lancet.

Clearly, no matter who you are, fish is great brain food!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I’m often asked whether eating before and after exercise defeats the calorie burn that you get from exercise. The fact is, it’s the exact opposite! Fueling yourself before exercise gives you the energy that you need to work out harder and even longer, helping you burn more calories. It also helps reduce the soreness that you might get after exercise, so you can work out again the next day. And you’ll get a great muscle response by feeding yourself before exercise.

Eating immediately after exercise is critical to maximizing your exercise effort. Once you raise your metabolic rate from exercising, adding food raises it another 10 to 15 percent. Called the “thermic effect of food,” the energy that it takes to chew, digest and absorb foods causes an additional calorie burn that is additive to the hours of elevated metabolic rate you naturally get after exercise. When you feed yourself right after exercise you really put your food to work for you. The calories and the nutrients go right to your muscles to repair, build and refuel your muscles. This is when you gain strength and toning. It’s what allows for greater fat burning, not fat gain. And you’ll have the energy to work out harder and longer day after day. You’ll also avoid that huge energy slump that comes several hours after exercise when you don’t feed yourself well. And of course, make sure to hydrate yourself well before, during and after exercise.

If you exercise mid-morning, then you can follow The Good Mood Diet menu plans and templates in the book exactly. If you exercise at other times, then just move things around to fit your schedule. The mid-morning smoothie is really ideal as your post-exercise snack. If you can’t do the smoothie because you’re out and about, then grab a non-fat latte or a yogurt and a piece of fruit. You’ll need to add in a little more protein at some other point in the day.

Put your food to work for you. You will notice the difference.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Last week Starbuck's Chairman Howard Schultz wrote a memo to his employees. He lamented that the new innovations that have made stores efficient have removed the true Starbuck’s experience; that corporate decisions have resulted in “stores that no longer have the soul of the past.”

There is no question that along with a cup of coffee (or coffee-flavored milk, depending on your order), Starbuck’s found what customers were really willing to pay for: the experience. You could go anywhere for a cup of coffee. But at Starbuck’s you could find a cozy spot to sit, a friend behind the register and a barista who knew your order ahead of time. You found conversation and friendship and a home away from home. What Schultz has recognized is that today the Starbuck’s experience is pretty industrialized. You stand in line, you give your order, you stand in line again, and you probably go somewhere else with your latte since it’s too congested and harried in the store to hear yourself think.

So it’s not just about the food. The experience, and how it makes you feel, is key to sustained success. There’s so much more to The Good Mood Diet than the menus. While following the food plan will definitely make you feel better, one of the keys to sustained success is the full experience.

That’s why I’ve created the opportunity for you to be part of a Good Mood Diet Club. Create one in your life. Get your friends involved. Join the online conversation. Film your story, and your Club’s story, and put it up on our www.youtube.com group site. That would really be an experience that we could all share.

Whenever you eat, try to be “in the moment.” Don’t be pre-occupied and miss the fact that you’re eating. Enjoy your food; savor it. Eating is a mind and body experience. Let it happen.

Have a Good Mood party and try some of the juice drink recipes. Or have the Club over and experiment with some new ones. Put on Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy song while your having fun in the kitchen!

Or not. Just let yourself go and feel the experience!

Yours in a good mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Ever since I lived in North Carolina I have been a fan of greens. While I was on faculty at Duke University Medical Center we created new heart-healthy recipes to replace the traditional recipes that used salt pork as the main seasoning for Southern-style greens. Travels to Greece and Turkey shed light on a completely different cooking style, and greens were one of my favorite dishes to taste as we traveled through the different Mediterranean regions. Moving to Seattle introduced an Asian approach to cooking greens, and I never tire of experimenting with all of these international flavors to see what new recipe I can cook up.

Tonight we arrived home later than usual but still needed to eat a healthy and satisfying dinner. I had purchased a mixture of braising greens at the grocery store on Sunday, so they really needed to be cooked tonight for the freshest flavor. I hadn't really thought out any recipe when I bought the greens, and now I felt like “iron-chef mom” to get dinner on the table quickly. My thrown-together recipe came out so good that I just have to share it with you. Even my kids (ages 10 and 14) tried it!

2 Tbsp olive oil
½ small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
a couple of pinches of salt
several good grinds of fresh black pepper
¼ cup chopped walnuts
4 Kalamata olives, thinly sliced
3 cups of mixed baby red and green kale, baby red and green Swiss chard, rinsed and not dried

Heat oil on medium heat in nonstick skillet. Lightly sauté the onion and garlic with salt and pepper for a couple of minutes. Add walnuts and olives and sauté until mixtures begin to blend and nuts begin to toast. Add greens and mix. Cook uncovered for just a minute or two, and then cover and braise until the greens are soft, but not mushy. Serve immediately.

This recipe made two adult size servings and a little bit extra for the kids to taste.

Remember, I just tried this out. The amounts are not exact; you might need to adjust amounts to work for you at home. If you come up with new or improved versions of this or any other recipe, please let us know. I'd love to hear from you.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

This has been a pretty rough season for colds and flu, and everything else you can catch. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been sick, including myself. For the past few weeks I’ve been getting lots of questions about what and how to eat while you’re sick. While there isn’t a lot of detailed science in this area, there are some good strategies to follow.

When you’re really sick with a fever, your appetite is usually almost non-existent. This is when fluids are most critical. If your fever is above 100 degrees, I suggest switching from water to a sports drink. Water just may not have the oomph to get into your tissues and cells like a sports drink does, especially if you’re not eating any food. Don’t wait too long to do this. Once you’re dehydrated and running a higher fever, you won’t be able to catch up on your own. Most importantly, if you are an adult with a fever over 102 degrees, see your physician immediately. The likelihood of dehydration is very high and you might need medical intervention.

If you have a cold or other virus that has you feeling lousy but you still have an appetite, fluids are still your number-one concern. As long as you are eating, water should be a great hydrator. Drink constantly. Next, eating regularly will help you feel better and avoid heavy weakness and the headaches that sometimes come from these illnesses. Hopefully, a little more fuel will also help you heal more quickly.

Light foods are best. Chicken soup is always wonderful, as are toast or crackers with a little light cheese, cereal with nonfat milk, melon with a little nonfat yogurt, or whatever sounds like it will taste good to you. I’m going to re-emphasize soups, because they are such good fluid sources as well. Fatty foods will not make you feel good while you’re sick. They hang around in your stomach too long and may lead to upset stomach symptoms and heartburn.

If you feel your sweet tooth starting to act up, you’re probably starting to feel better. Begin to feed your brain again with the standard Good Mood Diet strategies: eating a good breakfast, combining protein and carbohydrates each time you eat, and eating every 2½ to 3 hours (even if you’re eating less than the standard menu). Try to add the egg back to your diet and see if an apple with peanut butter does the trick. That’s what worked for me this time.

Once you are in the clear, get right back to exercise, but do it slowly. If you’ve been down for the count, you’ll have to work to get back to your pre-illness fitness level. Take it easy. There’s no point in injuring yourself and having to sit out a week because you thought you were stronger than you are. Returning to exercise slowly will help boost your mood and your immune system, while you get your body back into fat burning mode.

Stay well, and stay happy!

Yours in Good Health,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the key foods in The Good Mood Diet is either an egg yolk or soy every day. While I'm used to being asked whether we should now be tossing the white down the drain and eating the yolk (no way; eat both!), I haven’t been asked about eating raw eggs in a while. But since the question came up, I want to make the answer very clear: DO NOT EAT RAW EGGS!

When I first started research with bodybuilders in the early 1980s, throwing several raw eggs into a protein shake was very common. No one knows how many of the people who participated in that practice got food poisoning from it, but the risks were not well known by the public at the time.

Today we know that raw or undercooked eggs can be vectors for Salmonella bacteria, the most common source of food-borne illness. Once the eggs are cooked thoroughly, the bacteria is destroyed. So please don't add a raw egg to your whey protein shake. This is also a very good reason not to eat raw cookie dough that contains eggs.

Watch our recipes page for some great egg recipes in the months ahead.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If you’re reading The Good Mood Diet, you’ve probably noticed the Isolated Whey Protein supplement that I have you add to your smoothie for a morning snack. What is it? Why is it added? Here are the answers:

Whey protein is one of the two proteins found in dairy products; the other one is casein. Whey protein is high in tryptophan, the amino acid required in the diet for the manufacture of serotonin in the brain. Research has shown that when stress-prone subjects were supplemented with whey protein, they had a decreased stress response and improved coping skills. So whey protein is a great mind supplement.

Whey protein also contains the most ideal composition of essential amino acids for muscle cell recovery, repair and growth after exercise. Because it is quickly digested and absorbed, it is referred to as a “fast protein,” rapidly making it to the muscle cell after consumption. So whey protein is a great body supplement.

Isolated whey protein offers you only the protein, without the carbohydrate and fat that is found in a concentrated whey protein supplement. During the morning and right after exercise, all you need is the extra whey protein added to your milk (with the option of adding a fruit). The extra carbohydrate and fat from a concentrated whey protein supplement adds unnecessary calories if you’re trying to lose weight. And the fat slows down digestion.

Likewise, if you just add more milk to the smoothie, you will get more whey protein, but you’ll also get more carbohydrate. It also becomes a very big drink. To get the additional 14 to 21 grams of whey protein that you get from the supplement, you’d need to add another 2 to 3 cups of milk.

So put your food to work for you. Enjoy the shake either mid-morning, or ideally right after exercise. You’ll feel the difference right away, and again later in the day whey you don’t crash from fatigue because you didn’t feed yourself right after exercise.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

We are in the midst of the Passover week-long holiday and rapidly approaching Easter this Sunday. While so many people are talking about all the foods they shouldn’t be eating during the holidays, I spent time last night thinking about all feel-great foods that are traditional at this time of year.

One of the cornerstone foods for the Passover seder meal is charoset. It symbolizes the mortar used by the Israelite slaves to build the great pyramids of Egypt. While you might think that it should be bitter to create sadness, it is actually quite sweet, to remind the Jews of the sweetness of freedom. The main ingredients are apples, walnuts, sweet concord grape wine and cinnamon, all ground together. Depending on where you are from in the Diaspora, other ingredients like dried fruits are commonly added. It is an incredible Good Mood food, and many families eat it all week long as a side dish or dessert.

Both Passover and Easter emphasize the coming of Spring, and so eggs are very symbolic for both holidays. Any way you eat them, eggs are one of my top feel-great foods.

The Easter lamb is traditional for the holiday meal. Lamb is delicious source of good mood nutrients like protein, vitamin B-12, Niacin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B-6, Iron, Zinc and Magnesium. Lamb roast, chop or legs are considered lean meats, making them a good choice for a heart healthy diet.

Your holiday meals will not only help you celebrate the season, but will also put you and your family in a good mood!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If any of you are smokers out there, you might have noticed a change in your habit now that you're following The Good Mood Diet. Not only is it a little easier to let go of cigarettes once your mood is naturally lifted by the food that you eat, but a study published in this month's issue of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research has found that most of the feel-great foods on The Good Mood Diet make cigarettes taste bad. What a great adjunct to a smoking cessation program.

Here's how to put that news to work for you. The foods that worsened the taste of cigarettes were dairy (milk or cheese), non-caffeinated beverages such as juice or water, fruits and vegetables. All of these foods are high on the list of feel-great foods. It shouldn't be a surprise that the foods on the feel-bad foods list, like alcohol and caffeinated beverages, enhance the taste of cigarettes.

Step back and look at your day. When do you most crave cigarettes? Arrange your diet plan to have a cold glass of milk at that time, or some fruit and cheese. A can of V8 and a handful of almonds might even do the trick. Don't worry about the serving sizes or calories at this point. A few extra calories can't hold a candle to the damage that cigarettes are doing to your health.

While this isn't a proven method of smoking cessation, it might be a good way to take the edge off of your cravings and deter you from smoking even one cigarette. Each step forward is a step in the right direction.

For more information on this research from Duke University see the abstract, titled The effects of foods, beverages, and other factors on cigarette palatability.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As I was surfing the web the other day I came across an article on the best zoos to visit. My daughter loves animals and she loves to visit the zoo. We have a great zoo here in Seattle, the Woodland Park Zoo, but we have visited zoos from Miami to Cleveland to San Diego and aquariums from Baltimore to Vancouver, British Columbia. Her relationship with animals stirs a place deep inside, making her feel wonderful. I smile just thinking about it.

It’s important to take note of all the different things in life that make us feel good. It’s also important not to take something that should make you feel good and turn it into something that actually makes you feel worse. Exercise and diet are two great examples of this, and I sometimes see this in my Type A personality clients.

First let’s deal with the exercise. Exercise is meant to be fun, to get your heart and muscles pumping and your lungs working. It’s supposed to reduce stress, but I know people who make exercise a stress inducer rather than a stress buster. While participating in competitive sports can be a good thing, getting too competitive with your exercise can impede relaxation. Don’t compete with the person next to you on the treadmill; go at your own pace. If you’re not feeling well, maybe take a day off or just go out for a walk, rather than doing that high intensity exercise routine that was planned for the day. Give yourself enough recovery time after an illness, rather than jumping back into it and ending up injured. Remember, fitness is a journey, not a destination.

Next, your diet. The Good Mood Diet is not about perfection. If you can’t do it all, then pick out three or four things, or maybe even just one to do each day, and see what happens. I know many readers who have just tried the hot cocoa at night to start with and done just that for a week or two. Then they recognize that they’re sleeping better and now they can think about eating breakfast in the morning. They do that for a week and then realize that they have enough energy to start to be more active. And on from there.

Each thing builds on the next. So don’t stress out about not doing the plan perfectly, or exercising as hard as your neighbor. As your diet improves and you slowly become more fit, you’ll have the mental energy to do things that you let go of many years ago. Some people pick up old hobbies or start new ones. That makes you feel good. Others notice that they have the desire to interact with their spouses in the evening rather than space out in front of the TV. That makes you feel good.

The Good Mood Diet creates the foundation for you to participate in all the other things in life that make you feel good. Next week we’re going to the zoo to see the brand new baby Sumatran tiger. That will feel great!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

An article from foodnavigator.com, a publication distributed to the food industry, came across my e-mail the other day. The crux of the article is that juices and other foods, distributed worldwide, use the same nutrition label regardless of the source of the ingredients. Since products distributed worldwide usually are NOT produced locally, using local produce and foodstuffs, the nutrient composition of those foods are not standard or controlled.

The story targeted a juice produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Ribena. GSK had to admit that Ribena did not necessarily contain the vitamin C content as claimed on the label. The varying nutritional content of locally sourced blackcurrants in certain countries created a large discrepancy in the accuracy of the label, ranging from accurate in Singapore to almost no vitamin C in Australia.

One huge concern is that nutrition labeling is required on all packaged products, yet there is no guarantee that the values are actually accurate. GSK used an average value for vitamin C on their label, but the nature of an average means that there will be some that are much higher in vitamin C content, and some that are much lower.

What can you do as a consumer? Aside from the science project done by the students in Australia that discovered the label discrepancy, my suggestion is to make sure that you eat a variety of foods that contain an array of nutrients to meet your nutritional needs. In other words, don’t depend on one food as the staple for a specific nutrient.

For example, you might eat an orange every day for your vitamin C. But what if that orange has the low end of vitamin C rather than the high end? Other foods that contain vitamin C are tomatoes, broccoli, berries, cherries, and many others. By including a variety of foods you ensure your vitamin C intake will always be optimal. Use this fundamental strategy for all of your food choices. You will create a diet high in variety, dense in nutrients, and strong in flavors and textures. It will taste delicious and you will feel great!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Have you heard? Now you can buy Diet Coke Plus. The “plus” is for a few added vitamins and minerals: about 15% of your daily needs. I wish you could hear my deep sigh. If you’re a diet coke drinker, I’m certain you don’t choose it for its health benefits. If you’re a diet orange soda drinker, will you switch to diet coke plus for the added nutrients? Unlikely. And if I were you, I certainly wouldn’t bother to do so, either.

When you drink diet soda, choose it because you love it. The small amount of added nutrients are insignificant. Enjoy your drink, and make sure to eat all the rest of the foods that you need to eat to feel great every day. Those will give you the nutrition you need, not the sprinkling of 5 nutrients added to the diet coke.

So when you pass it in the beverage aisle, join me in rolling your eyes. Don’t pay more for it because you think it might be healthier. It isn’t.

Yours in a Good (and skeptical) Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It was Sunday afternoon, and my family was sitting around reading, when everyone looked up almost at once and said, “ I’m hungry.” Of course, they don’t get up and get anything themselves, they all look at mom, right? Well, the complaint in my house from my children, as you can imagine, is, “Why don’t we have any junk to eat in the house? Why do you have to be the food doctor?”

So I decided to make something that was fast, would taste great, and that was really feel good food: whole wheat pita chips, with a twist.

The other day I picked up a small bottle of cold-pressed merlot grapeseed oil flavored with chipotle peppers*. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it, but I thought it would be fun to try. It had just the right zing, even just for dipping.

Grapeseed oil is known for its high flash point, or smoke point. This means it can withstand high heat while cooking and will not burn as readily as other oils. This quality has made grapeseed oil a choice of many gourmet chefs around the world. Grapeseed oil is recognized as a heart-healthy cooking oil. It is high in antioxidants and vitamin E. It has about half the saturated fat of an olive oil and early research has shown that it may help to raise HDL and lower LDL cholesterols.

I had whole wheat pita bread that I had bought the day before, brushed them with the grapeseed oil, sprinkled them with Kosher salt, cut them into triangles and baked them on a cookie sheet at 350o F for 20 minutes, flipping them at 10 minutes.

I barely got them out of the oven before everyone was eating them and loving them. They are crispy and salty with just the right amount of zing, with the plus of whole wheat. Served with hummus, they are great. It was a huge improvement on the plain whole wheat pita that can be a hard sell to kids sometimes, and even adults.

*I found the oil at a store called Oil & Vinegar.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

• Dairy
• Fish
• Whole grains
• Avocadoes
• Olives and olive oil
• Nuts and seeds and nut and seed butters

One of my favorite books for the non-scientist about brain chemistry is “Satistfaction: the science of finding true fulfillment,” by Dr. Gregory Berns. In a nutshell, Dr. Berns explains the history and findings of the research investigating the neuroscience of true satisfaction. The key is taking action, as in a “job well done” giving satisfaction. And that digging a ditch may create more long-term satisfaction than winning the lottery, since winning takes no physical action on the part of the winner.

This gives real insight into why climbing a hill, playing an instrument, helping someone move, gardening, painting, and other physical activities make us both happy and satisfied.

So the next time you’re feeling dissatisfied, get up and move. Do something. Take action. Because without action, you have no satisfaction.

Yours in a Good Mood (because I just completed this blog),
Dr. Susan Kleiner

There’s nothing like meeting great people. Recently, I spent two days in the company of 60 fabulous women at the Microsoft Mid-Atlantic Region Executive Women’s Retreat. What a group of dynamic, powerful and fun women. We were all in a good mood just feeding off of each other’s energy.

There were three women authors speaking at the conference, including myself. The other two were MJ Ryan, author of This Year I Will…. How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True, and Barbara Stanny, author of Prince Charming Isn’t Coming: How Women Get Smart about Money.

They are fabulous women, wonderful speakers, and their books are excellent. If you are looking to change your life, read their books.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

A very big part of The Good Mood Diet is the philosophy, or approach to food. It’s new for the diet world. Because I have worked in the sports world for 25 years, I teach all my clients, and now you, to think like an athlete.

The sports world is built on success. The diet world is built on failure. Even the business model is based on failure. Athletes look at their past performances once, learn from their mistakes, and then move on to their plan for success in the next game or competition. They live in the present and the future. Dieters rewind the film of their past dieting errors hundreds of times, hoping that the next time the story will change; but it never does. The past won’t change. But you can change the present and the future.

Athletes don’t dwell on the past, they focus on what they need to do to be successful. They don’t focus on what doesn’t work, they target what works, and they expect it to work successfully. That’s what I want you to do. Think about what you NEED to eat to feed your brain, to feel successful, and to be a success. Put your food to work for you, and you will think, and feel, like an athlete. Anticipate and visualize your success, and you will be a winner!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If you read the newspapers these days you might think that having a glass of wine is right up there with hiking, eating enough fiber, or getting enough rest in terms of health benefits. NOT! I am here to tell you that alcohol is not a health drink, no matter what form it comes in.

While there is published research that has shown that what is referred to as “moderate drinking” (1 drink per day for women; 1-2 drinks per day for men) may be good for the heart and circulatory system and may protect against Type 2 Diabetes, the same research typically has also shown that more than 6 drinks per week increases the risk of developing the same chronic diseases, especially in women.

And then there’s the research that we haven’t seen. When private industry contracts with private research institutions (for-profit, non-academic institutions) they often retain the rights over the publication of the research. In other words, if the research results are not in their favor, they are never published. So we have no balance in the reporting and the scientific literature, throwing the weight of the cumulative data in favor of one side of the research question.

We have no way of knowing whether this is actually what is happening with the research on alcohol, but it boggles my mind that in an age where alcohol consumption actually leads to so many problems*, the large number of news article about alcohol reflect it in a positive health light. Except for last week...

*In the U.S., alcohol is implicated in about half of fatal traffic accidents. Moderate to heavy drinking can damage the liver and heart, harm an unborn child, increase the chances of developing breast and some other cancers, contribute to depression and violence, and interfere with relationships.

On April 28th a study from the University of Mississippi Medical Center was released with the headline: “Mouse study may explain why alcohol increases breast cancer risk.” The story acknowledges that drinking “even modest amounts of alcohol is an established risk factor for breast cancer in women.” How many of you ladies out there know this?

The article continues, “A recent study showed that 60 percent of breast cancers worldwide were attributable to alcohol consumption.” Doesn’t sound like a health drink to me.

In the research with mice, the researchers found that moderate alcohol consumption significantly increased tumor size and density, without a significant change in body weight. So these changes cannot be blamed on increasing adiposity (“fatness”) of the mice.

So the next time you want to celebrate or have a cocktail party, try our Good Mood Drinks in the recipe section of the book. Then you can really drink to your health!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Nuts are a daily part of the Good Mood Diet plan. I emphasize nuts for their rich vitamin E, antioxidant, unsaturated fat and fiber content. And they taste so good! In the menus I include ballpark peanuts (in the shell) because they take a long time to eat and keep us busy trying to get them open and dispose of the shells.

Pistachios are time-consuming foods to eat too. There may be another good reason to add pistachios to you repertoire of favorite nuts. Researchers reported the results of a study investigating the calming effect of pistachios on an acute stress reaction at the 2007 Experimental Biology meetings in Washington, D.C.

Three groups of subjects followed the American Heart Association’s Step I diet for 4 weeks. One group ate no pistachios, one group ate 1.5 ounces of pistachios and the third group at 3 ounces of pistachios daily. At the end of the four weeks the subjects were put in controlled stress test environments, both physical and mental, and their stress reactions were measured.

The groups eating pistachios showed improvements in blood pressure reactions to stress, whereas the group without pistachios showed no improvements. While the blood pressuring lowering effect was greater in the group receiving 1.5 ounces of pistachios per day, the real benefit came with a decrease in peripheral vascular resistance, or a relaxing of the arteries, which was evident only in the group eating 3 ounces per day. The more relaxed vessels caused the heart to pump more forcefully to maintain adequate blood pressure, but this is a greater benefit than just lowering overall blood pressure. In fact, it reduces the workload on the heart.

The results are not really cut and dry, because by adding the pistachios there were changes to the total fat content of diets that may have also contributed to the observed changes in the stress reaction. But this study is a beneficial addition to the body of evidence that supports my mantra: “You NEED to eat healthy fats!”

Yours in a Good Nutty Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Even though Earth Day was officially April 22nd, in this age of a global climate crisis Earth Day should be every day. Rather than feeling bad and helpless about the environmental disaster occurring in slow motion before my eyes, I choose to feel good by making daily choices that are kinder to the Earth, making every day Earth Day.

One thing that we have made important in our home is to buy locally whenever possible. According to numerous published statistics, most food travels 1,200 miles or more from the farm to your table. When you buy from local farmers it not only helps them survive, but it saves fuel, leading to fewer carbon emissions.

I use these two Web sites, especially when I’m traveling to friends’ homes out of town, to find local farmers markets:

• USDA Farmer Market locator map


• Local Harvest Farmer’s market and family farm locator map

• Home Cookin': Buying local to save the planet

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I am often asked by women approaching menopause what kind of diet would be right to help them through the rougher moments. Honestly, there isn’t much I’d change in The Good Mood Diet. I have many, many peri- and post-menopausal women in my practice, and who participated in the original Good Mood Diet Clubs around Seattle. Their reports have consistently been that the diet really helps balance out the highs and the lows of the mood swings. They sleep better, and their energy levels soar.

Many women use hormone-related supplements such as black cohosh, dong quai, red clover, ginseng and yam to deal with hot flashes and other symptoms. There is no consensus in the research on whether these supplements work or not. My patients report that some products work for them, others don’t. Some products work at first, but then lose their effect over time.

A recent study investigating black cohosh examined how the use of this herb might relate to breast cancer risk. The researchers compared 949 women with breast cancer to 1,524 healthy controls. Women who reported taking black cohosh were at 61 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to those who did not use the herb. In addition, those who used an herbal preparation derived from black cohosh, Remifemin, had a 53 percent reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

There is some understanding of how this may occur at the cellular level. Studies have shown that black cohosh can block cell growth. It is also an antioxidant, important for keeping cells healthy, and it has been shown to have anti-estrogen effects.

There is still much more research to be done to discover whether these observations can truly be supported by cause and effect data. Black cohosh can have serious negative side effects, including progressive inflammation of the liver. So before you begin to use this supplement, talk with your medical professional. Use of this supplement should be done under the supervision of a physician.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

One of the biggest changes for most people who start The Good Mood Diet is the larger protein intake. It won’t take you long to notice the difference, starting with the egg at breakfast. I know that the little extra protein will make you feel more satisfied between meals, lift your mood, and feed your mind and your muscles while helping you burn fat. A new study has also shown us exactly that.

Researchers at Purdue University just published the results of their study that investigated the acute and chronic effects of meals and diets made up of 30% of calories as protein (just like The Good Mood Diet). They measured indicators of energy expenditure, macronutrient use, appetite, and appetite-regulating hormones during weight loss in women over a period of 9 weeks.

They found some great stuff. Not only did the higher protein diets eaten over time influence energy and protein metabolism in a positive way to enhance weight loss, but each individual higher protein meal had a unique influence on appetite suppression and satiety. This was shown through both self-report as well as altered hormone responses.

So you don’t have to wait 9 weeks to feel the difference. Make sure to include something with protein at every meal and snack. One meal is all it takes, so get started today!

You can read more about the study by Heather J. Leidy, Richard D. Mattes and Wayne W. Campbell at Effects of Acute and Chronic Protein Intake on Metabolism, Appetite, and Ghrelin During Weight Loss.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The topic of movement is Alice’s territory, but every once in a while I’ve got a burning desire to talk about it, too. And so, it seems, do the researchers and brainiacs at the Mayo Clinic.

Endocrinologist Dr. James Levine has been struggling with the ever-increasing weight of his patients and its impact on their short- and long-term health. With so many of us sitting all day at our desks doing what is required to put a roof over our heads, maintaining an active lifestyle is a goal very difficult to put into motion for the majority of Americans.

Why not think outside the box, or cubicle, as it may be? Voilà: the vertical workstation. A fully functional workstation attached vertically to a treadmill where you can not only walk to work, but walk AND work at the same time. Dr. Levine’s research has found that most people can function completely normally in their jobs while walking about 1 mile per hour.

According to Dr. Levine, “If obese individuals were to replace time spend sitting at the computer with walking computer time by 2 to 3 hours a day, and if other components of energy balance were constant, a weight loss of 20 to 30 kg a year could occur.” (That’s 44 to 66 pounds for us non-metric folks.)

Note Dr. Levine’s point of “if other components of energy balance were constant.” Translate that science-speak into “as long as you don’t eat more now that you’re getting a little exercise.”

This is such a great idea, being active at work. Now, if you or your company don’t have the $1,600 to shell out for the vertical work station, you can start with what I use while I sit at my computer planning programs to keep other people fit: sit on an exercise ball. I bounce, I stretch, I roll around, and truly, I don’t fall off. It keeps me from slouching because it’s so uncomfortable to sit that way on the ball. I work on my balance and my strengthening my abs, even while writing this blog. And it only costs a few dollars.

So whatever you do, even if it’s standing up and walking around your desk or the room every hour, get some activity at work. It’s a great change of pace.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

You can read more about Dr. Levine's vertical treadmill on CBC News: Standup desk that fits over treadmill lets workers walk while they work.

I am asked over and over about whether we should be choosing organically produced foods. My answers, whenever possible, are based on scientific evidence. An article titled Children Face Exposure to Pesticides in yesterday’s Washington Post again confirmed one of the most scientifically sound reasons for going organic: the contamination of the environments around the homes and schools of children living near orchards and farmland.

Here in Washington State, as well as in California and Oregon, migrant farm workers’ dwellings often abut the orchards and fields where crops are grown. Schools are typically very close by. When chemicals are sprayed on crops and trees there is a wafting of the spray beyond the edges of the fields and orchards into the playgrounds and yards nearby. Studies have shown high levels of pesticide contaminants and metabolites in the blood and urine of children living near these fields, and higher than normal rates of cancer and other illnesses within the surrounding communities.

So even if the science is not there to tell us without a doubt that eating organic foods is better for our health, there appears to be no doubt that eliminating the application of chemicals to our crops and orchards will improve the lives and health of the families who live near and work in the fields.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

• Fluids should be cool.


• For moderate exercise that lasts an hour or less, water is sufficient for replacing lost fluids. If you like flavored drinks better, then use flavored beverages.


• For intense exercise that lasts less than 1 hour and exercise lasting more than an hour, carbohydrate-electrolyte sport drinks are best.


• Drink 2 cups of fluid 2 hours before exercise.


• Drink 4-6 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise.


• After exercise, drink 20-24 ounces (2½-3 cups) of fluid for every pound of body weight lost during exercise.

If you haven’t picked up The Good Mood Diet yet, then you don’t know that I don’t expect you to be perfect, nor do I expect you to follow the diet plan perfectly. While some people may start the program and follow it exactly, others are more comfortable trying a few things, or maybe even one thing for a week or two, and then adding bits and pieces over time.

For instance, one of my favorite foods on the plan is the hot cocoa at night (the microwave recipe is in the book). I know that some people start just with that. Then after a week they might find that they’re sleeping better, and waking well rested. And now they’re hungry in the morning, and have the time to eat breakfast, so that gets added next. In a week or so you might find that you really feel like having some activity, so then you add the smoothie or another snack after exercise. And so on. Before you know it, you’re following the whole plan. Now you have a baseline of how great you can feel.

At some point in the future, life intervenes, and you might find some things dropping out of your daily menu. In short order you will notice that you don’t feel as great as usual, and you won’t like it. But you’ll know exactly what to do it about it: return to The Good Mood Diet.

The good news here is that this is the last diet you’ll ever have to follow. It’s a plan for a lifetime; what you’ll follow and return to during the good times, the easy times, and even more importantly during and after the hard times. Each time you eat what you need to eat you’ll feel better than you did before. What’s more, you really can feel great while you lose weight!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I received a lovely e-mail last week from a woman who has been following The Good Mood Diet. Along with a number of other things, she mentioned that since following the plan she has realized that what she used to think of as a single portion, or serving, of nuts, was really three servings. Now that she’s on the plan she has adjusted her portion sizes, and she is doing well in both mind and body.

The misconception of portion sizes is widespread, and most dietitians report that their patients or clients are eating more than they think they are. If you base your idea of a portion size on what is served to you at a restaurant, then your concept is much larger than what I call a portion size in The Good Mood Diet book.

So in case you’re struggling with what you think is a very large volume of food on the plan, check the serving sizes in Appendix A at the back of the book. And when you are eating away from home, pay attention to the amount of food on your plate. Sharing dishes can be a great way to control how much you eat and spare your wallet at the same time.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The daily hot cocoa is good for your heart in more ways than one.

We’ve been hearing about how the polyphenols in natural cocoa powder may help lower blood pressure for several years, but an article was just published showing that cocoa powder may help lower bad cholesterol and elevate good cholesterol. That’s really good news.

A study conducted in Tokyo, Japan investigated the influence of natural cocoa powder on the blood cholesterol profiles of 160 subjects who had either normal or high cholesterol profiles. The subjects gave baseline blood levels, drank a cocoa beverage for 4 weeks, and then were tested again. All subjects showed improvements in their cholesterol profiles, but those subjects with high cholesterol levels showed marked improvements. This was especially significant in lowering the bad cholesterol (LDL) and raising the good cholesterol (HDL).

Few things will help raise HDL. Here’s the list that we know of today (other than medications):

• Stop smoking


• Do aerobic exercise


• Lose weight


• Cut out trans fats from your diet


• Increase the monounsaturated fats in your diet, those from nuts, seeds, nut and seed butters, olives, olive oil, avocados.


• Add soluble fiber to your diet, those from oats, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Cocoa powder can now be added to this list. Yum!

Yours in a Really Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I don’t know about you, but long holiday weekends at my house often means lots of time to cook fun foods that I don’t otherwise have time to prepare. Sometimes it’s for entertaining others, sometimes it’s just for us. That usually means lots of leftovers. If your food has been served family style, whether inside the house or outside for a picnic, leftover foods run the risk of bacterial contamination.

There has been a general misconception that re-heating foods in a microwave is a guarantee against food-borne illness. But this is not correct. Microwaves do not heat foods from the inside out, as commonly believed. They cook from the outside in. If you don’t rotate foods, stir, or check for internal temperature, then cold spots are left where bacteria can survive.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed leftover roast pork from a picnic that was reheated in a microwave was the culprit of a salmonella outbreak in 10 of 30 people attending the picnic. The same pork reheated in a skillet or conventional oven caused no problems for the other 20 people who were at the picnic. The same kind of data has been shown in other studies of food-borne illness outbreaks, finding that foods reheated in a microwave were not heated thoroughly enough to kill the bacteria.

When reheating foods, make sure they are thoroughly heated evenly regardless of the method that you use to reheat them. If you use a microwave, rotate, stir, or check for internal temperature to ensure food safety.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Let’s get this out of the way right up front. Is the barbecue putting your health in danger? It might be. Does that mean you should trade in your grill for a stew pot? Not yet.

For years nutritionists have been watching the research about the chemical changes that happen in foods when protein and fat are cooked at very high temperatures. Recent reports point to the production of a new class of toxins, advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), which develop during cooking and accelerate aging and serious chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. While it sounds like a barbecued burger could do you in as surely as a smoking habit, the comparison isn’t even close. When it comes to grilling, broiling and even oven frying, moderation and variety are the keys to good food and good health.

AGEs are triggers of reactive oxygen species. A high production of reactive oxygen species plays a significant role in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and diabetes. They also stimulate the inflammatory response and the systemic immune response that has been linked to instigation of arterial plaques in the development of cardiovascular disease, and they are often elevated in diabetic subjects. AGEs may be associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. While AGEs are produced as a normal part of metabolism, they have also been identified in food, especially in foods with significant protein and fat content that have been processed using high heat, such as grilling, roasting and broiling.

If you are already following the recommendations for The Good Mood Diet you are automatically selecting foods that are generally lower in AGEs. A diet low in processed foods and abundant in fruits and vegetables, with several daily servings of dairy, including eggs, fish, poultry and vegetable proteins as your major protein sources is going to be low on the AGE scale.

How you prepare your foods on a regular basis is also important. According to Karen Friedman-Kester, MS, RD, LDN, a faculty member in the Culinary Arts Program at Harrisburg Area Community College and our Good Mood Diet expert chef, poaching fish and braising meats, along with stewing and microwaving, are the cooking techniques that produce the fewest AGEs. Stir-frying would likely follow next on the list. “Braising is a form of poaching for meat,” says Friedman-Kester. “Sear it lightly and then add liquid and simmer to break down the tough connective tissue of the meat.” Meats that work best for braising include sliced turkey, veal, pork and low fat meats that can’t be tenderized with dry heat.

It’s probably clear by now that the key to a diet low in AGEs is to include the great variety of foods naturally low in AGEs, and to include smaller amounts of foods that are high in AGEs, using high heat cooking methods like grilling and broiling on an occasional basis.

It’s what you do day in and day out that matters. So if you live in the sunbelt (or not) and use your grill every day, it’s probably prudent to get out of the sun and use your indoor stovetop and oven more regularly. When you do grill or broil, stick with fish and vegetables most of the time. But when it comes to opening day at the ballpark, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day holidays, a burger or steak on the grill can still be part of the celebration.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Forty years after Twiggy became the first supermodel and the idol for millions of teenage girls of the sixties revolution, the fashion industry has gone retro. And yet, the sylph-like physique of Twiggy looks like the picture of health compared to the emaciated skin and bones bodies of today’s runway models. While the models appear morbidly thin in real life, in fashion photographs their flaws and sick-looking skeletal angularities are hidden or brushed-away through the magic of computer-enhanced technology creating an image of beauty, rather than of illness.

The concern? That today, as in the 1960’s, these models represent an idealized image of beauty. Different than in the 1960’s however, this more extreme yet perverted, air-brushed image of glamour may indeed impact the physical and emotional well-being of a generation of girls and young women worldwide.

While a tiny minority of youth will develop diagnosable eating disorders, it is likely that as many as 20% to 30% of adolescent girls engage in unhealthful dieting behaviors. According to the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Over 59% of female and 29% of male adolescents in grades 9 to 12 were trying to lose weight during the 30 days preceding the survey.


• Over 18% of girls and 8% of boys had gone without eating for 24 hours or more to lose weight.


• Many had also used diet pills, vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight in the past 30 days. *

Though the desire to lose weight to be thin rather than overweight may seem admirable, several studies have observed a strong association with dieting and being overweight. Dieting during adolescence often includes food restriction and denial of hunger cues. These types of behaviors have been associated with overeating in adolescents. Researchers suggest that restriction may give rise to binge eating. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2004 showed that overweight students ate an average of only two meals a day, while normal-weight students ate three or more meals per day. Other researchers have reported that dieting and radical weight-loss efforts predicted greater subsequent weight gain and increase the risk for obesity later in life. *

Even athletes are not immune to the impact of dieting on life-long body weight maintenance. Athletes participating in sports that require weight-related performance classes often are subject to weight cycling behaviors (boxers, weight lifters, wrestlers). Saarni and colleagues in Finland have recently shown that male athletes who participated in repeated cycles of weight loss and regain during their youth had a greater risk of weight gain and predisposition to obesity compared to a matched group of men with no athletic background. The researchers conclude that “Chronic dieting with weight cycling may be harmful for permanent weight control.” **

Sources:
* Spear BA. Does dieting increase the risk for obesity and eating disorders? J Am Dietet Assoc 2006;106(4);523.

** Saarni SE, et al. Weight cycling of athletes and subsequent weight gain in middleage. Internat J Obesity 2006;30:1639.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

We are a nation at war with obesity, so at first glance it seems almost ludicrous to be overly concerned with the image of thinness in our society. As I discussed in my previous blog, titled Calorie reduction diets linked to chronic weight issues, once you look past the surface though, it becomes apparent that an obsession with thinness might actually contribute to a problem with obesity.

Overweight and obesity result from the interaction of a variety of factors, of which socio-cultural and environmental influences play a very strong role. We live in a culture that glorifies thinness. Images in the mass media significantly influence how girls and women view their bodies. Dr. Gayle Bessenoff, a researcher at the University of Connecticut, studied 112 college women (average age: 18) in an introductory psychology course at an unnamed U.S. college. She gave the students packets of ads from women’s fashion magazines such as Glamour and Vogue. Half the students looked at clothing ads showing thin female models. The rest received ads for products other than clothes that showed no female models. Afterward the students answered a series of surveys to rate depression, agitation, self-esteem and urge to lose weight. The answers, published by Psychology of Women Quarterly in September 2006, are quite disturbing.

The women who had viewed the fashion ads with the skinny models scored worse on all the surveys, especially if they had started out with a more negative body image. According to Dr. Bessenoff, “Women who already have low opinions of their physical appearance are at an even greater risk for negative effects from media images.” Her theory is that those women may compare themselves to the models, giving more weight to the bad feelings they already have about their own bodies.

In another study by Alison E. Field and colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, the researchers surveyed 548 5th- through 12th-grade girls in the Northeastern United States. They found that the girls’ discontent with their body shape and size was related to the frequency of reading fashion magazines. The amount of dieting to lose weight was also highly associated with the frequency of reading fashion magazines. According to the conclusions of these researchers, “…it is not prudent to suggest that overweight girls should accept their body shape and not be encouraged to lose weight. However, aspiring to look like underweight models may have deleterious psychological consequences. The results suggest that the print media aimed at young girls could serve a public health role by refraining from relying on models who are severely underweight and printing more articles on the benefits of physical activity…”

There are more images of beauty than skeletal thinness. For the past several years, the picture of beauty was a fit and more muscular image. Models like Cindy Crawford and Elle Macpherson built their images based on their exercise routines and fit bodies. If you need to emulate a media image, this is a good one. Work toward creating a picture of health and beauty for yourself. You will enjoy it for a lifetime.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Oh, I love this news! We’ve been talking a lot about the healthy brain and heart benefits of epicatechins, one of a group of chemicals called flavonols found in foods like blueberries, tea, cocoa and grapes. Well, researchers just published an article in the May 30th issue The Journal of Neuroscience in which they announced their finding that if you combine these foods with exercise, the memories of mice are very enhanced. [Editor's caution: Not suprisingly, the Journal article is quite technical.]

The researchers fed some mice a regular diet and other mice a regular diet supplemented with the epicatechin compound. Half the mice in each group then ran on a wheel for two hours each day. After 30 days the mice were put through a rigorous memory test.

Those mice that were supplemented and ran on the wheel significantly outperformed all the other groups of mice. These mice also had greater blood vessel development in the area of the brain associated with memory. The supplemented group that did not exercise showed some improvement, but not as much as those that exercised.

So think of The Good Mood Diet not as just a food plan, but a mind-body lifestyle plan. While the food is very important, combining and active lifestyle with the food plan is far more powerful.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

• Avoid the sun during the peak hours of UV exposure: between 10 AM and 3 PM.
• Beware of cloudy skies; harmful rays still pass through the clouds.
• Use a sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15 or higher. It should have broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB. Water resistant products stay on the skin longer. Reapply according to directions.
• Wear protective clothing like wide-brimmed hats that shade the neck, ears, eyes and head. Use sunglasses with 99-100% UV protection. Lightweight clothing that covers your arms, shoulders, back, chest and legs will give sun protection, as well as the new high-tech clothing with SPF protection built in.
• Tanning beds are just as harmful as the sun itself. Tanning pills or spray-on tans do not give any sun protection. Be an informed consumer.

• 18 – 50 years: 200 IU


• 51 – 70 years: 400 IU


• 71 years and older: 600 IU

Citations

Holick MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;79:362-71.

Han A and Maibach HI. Management of acute sunburn. Am J Clin Dermatol 2004;5:39-47.

When I was a kid we had a policy of no food in the car. The reason was that my Dad hated a dirty car. Once I became a trained nutritionist, it became very clear that it was also a very healthy rule. It completely avoided the trap of what I call non-attentive eating, or mindless eating. That is, eating out of boredom when you are just practicing that food-to-mouth hand movement and you aren’t really aware that you’re eating.

This rule worked well in those days before we spent so much of our time in a car, and even now I try very hard to limit the amount of food we eat while driving in the car. On a day-to-day basis, food eaten by my children in the car is to replace a meal or snack, not to keep them occupied and quiet. So if it isn’t one of those times, we don’t need food in the car.

Long road trips are a whole different story. I actually think that snacking during road trips is part of the vacation from the rules of life. Part of our packing routine is pulling out the cooler and planning the fun snacks for the car. Summer is the perfect fruit season, so there’s always an abundance of our favorite fruits. I make sure to have napkins and a garbage bag for the drips and the pits. A selection of roasted nuts is a must, and a favorite cheese or two, pre-sliced and wrapped at home is a mainstay. We are such cheese lovers that we don’t bother with the crackers. An array of flat and sparkling waters is always on hand.

Then there are the individual favorites: my husband doesn’t go anywhere without great chocolate. One child loves a commercially available natural mango smoothie and pita chips available at the supermarket. The other child is a pretzel eater.

And as you can imagine, I was trained not to eat in the car. So it’s a habit that I break by drinking my favorite iced latte, knowing that I’m not really “eating” in the car.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

A few blogs ago I talked about the health issues associated with grilling meats. A few days later we got some good news: marinating meats with certain herbs and spices may reduce the amount of carcinogenic compounds, called HCAs, produced as a by-product of grilling.

According to Professor of Food Chemistry J. Scott Smith of Kansas State University, certain herbs and spices contain natural antioxidants that may decrease the production of HCAs. His research shows that by marinating meats and fish with herbs from the mint family such as basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, and thyme, HCAs actually are significantly reduced after grilling.

While the marinade with these herbs showed the greatest effect, two other marinades with different herbs seasonings were tested and found to be almost as effective. The rosemary/thyme marinade also contained pepper, allspice and salt. Another marinade included oregano, thyme, garlic and onion. A third marinade had oregano, garlic, basil, onion and parsley.

Next month our Chef Karen will create some delicious marinades to help you grill safely through the summer and throughout the year. Make sure to tune in for our July recipes.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Kudos to our Good Mood Diet Club chat room members. I’m not sure whether you know that I regularly read your posts, and answer those that are addressed to me. You are an inspiration. I love how you are supporting each other, and giving your best tips and suggestions in a very non-judgmental way.

It is so exciting to hear about your weight-loss successes, from the very large losses to those who are just beginning to lose. Even more thrilling is hearing how The Good Mood Diet makes you feel. How wonderful to feel like you’re finally seeing daylight at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Diet is an extraordinarily powerful influence on the chemistry of the mind and the body.

So keep writing in with your thoughtful tips and suggestions. Don’t hesitate to write to me with a question or a comment. And please continue to post your recipes.

Everyone else out there, please sign on to the online chat room. Even if you’ve created your own Good Mood Diet Club, check in online with us and let us know how you’re doing. There’s plenty of support to go around!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I just returned from The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Fourth Annual Conference and Exhibition. While I was traveling I finished a great summer-read, and just had to share it with you. Eat Cake, by Jeanne Ray (New American Library, 2004), is a book that will put you in a good mood, for sure. I love her philosophy about eating cake, finding a virtual place to go to make yourself feel better, and pursuing dreams. It’s funny, sensitive, and a lesson in listening to your inner self.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I am often asked, “If I am going to make just one change to make myself feel better, what should I do?”

I have a number of answers to this question, based on who is asking me.

If you are an active person, I would tell you that the most important thing you can change is to make sure to eat or drink immediately after exercise. Preferably you’ll have a post-exercise smoothie with milk, whey protein, and if you need a little extra, fruit and maybe even some honey. This is called a recovery drink, and it will help you recover and refuel from exercise. It will keep your metabolic rate high after exercise, and keep you from crashing later on in the day because your muscles are starving. Tomorrow you'll feel like doing it all again because you'll have the fuel stored up.

If you are not an active person, the most important thing you can do is to get moving.

Talking to someone else I might say that adding a whole egg to your diet every day, that includes the yolk, will make all the difference. Ideally you’ll eat your egg at breakfast, feeding your mind and your body. You’ll feel the difference right away, and for the whole rest of the day.

The other 2 top contenders are fish and dairy. If you don’t eat one or the other, or both, you need to add them to your diet. You will notice the difference within a day.

So now you’ve got 5 choices. If you’ve been waiting to make a change, you can choose just one to get started. Any one of these will change your life for the better.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It’s time to give credit where credit is due. When I took health in high school we really didn’t learn anything except how to send a better spitball. Today’s high school health class, called “Image” at my daughter’s high school, is a really great class, with a wonderful teacher. They are truly learning about health, and all the things in life that contribute to health and well-being.

At the end of the semester-long class the students have to choose a topic of interest, interview an expert in the field, write a paper and do a presentation for the class. During the past week I have done 5 interviews with students in the class about nutrition. Their questions have been thoughtful and well-informed. One girl even read The Good Mood Diet and has been following it prior to our interview via email.

I am duly impressed with these students, their interest in their own personal health, and questioning of commonly held nutrition myths and misconceptions. My kudos go out to their teacher, and all the teachers nationwide who are working to educate these students about how to live healthier and happier lives.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

When you read the statistics about weight and health among Americans, you probably don’t include college students in either the “adult” or “child” categories. Most people think of college students as young and healthy. New research is showing us that college students are not in much better shape when it comes to body weight and health than the rest of America.

A study conducted at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) surveyed 800, 18-24 year old undergraduate college students enrolled in a general nutrition course. The results showed that at least one-third of UNH students are overweight or obese, 8 percent of men had metabolic syndrome, 60 percent of men had high blood pressure, and more than two-thirds of women are not meeting their nutritional needs for iron, calcium or folate.

Students completed questionnaires on their lifestyle behaviors and dietary habits, chronicling their smoking, exercise, alcohol consumption, and consumption of fruits and vegetables. Their body mass index (BMI) was calculated from their height and weight, their waist circumference was measured, and they were screened for blood pressure as well as glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and high-density cholesterol. The students also completed a three-day food diary and analyzed their calories, carbohydrates, and nutrient intakes with nutrition software.

The nature of youth is to feel invincible and immortal. When asked whether they worry about their health, most college students will say that is for their parents’ generation. But according to the course lecturer, Jesse Morrell, “When you tell students, ‘this is your data,’ they sit up and pay attention.”

Share this information with a college student you know. Better yet, talk to them about how food makes you think and feel. Have them tested for their risk of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. And give them a copy of The Good Mood Diet to take to college with them. I know students in dorms who have pasted the list of “feel great foods” onto the wall of their dorm room, in the common rooms and cafeterias. If all they do is eat off of that list, they will feel the difference, think more clearly, rest better, and perform better in the classroom and on the field. And they will be healthier for the rest of their lives.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I have just been reading the posts in the Good Mood Diet chat room. Wow, some incredible news. Along with hundreds of fewer pounds and improved moods, there are reports of going off or reducing a number of different medications:

Flexeril for headaches,
Prilosec for heartburn,
And a host of anti-depressants.

You are all incredible!

Everyone out there working with The Good Mood Diet: please join the club or email us and tell us about your experiences. Please tell everyone you know. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get everyone healthier and in a better mood? The world would be such a different place.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I just did a very fun book signing with the theme of “summer beach reads” with several different authors from the Puget Sound area. We had a great time meeting each other, and exchanging books.

One question that I was asked during the signing was, “should we keep drinking the hot cocoa in the summertime?”

My answer, “You certainly can. I do. It’s rarely that hot in the evenings in the Pacific Northwest, and I enjoy my hot cocoa almost year round. But you can drink it cold, too.”

In fact, as we were talking I made up a quick recipe for a fun cool evening drink.

Iced Coca Mocha

1 cup nonfat milk
½ cup decaf coffee, cooled
1 rounded teaspoon non-dutched cocoa powder
1 packet Splenda (or to taste)
Ice cubes

Blend first 4 ingredients in blender and pour over ice.
Alternative: blend ice cubes in blender with other ingredients for more of an icee texture.

Relax and Enjoy!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I’m sitting at the King County Superior Court building today serving my constitutional time for jury duty. The assembly room for the pool of jurors must hold several hundred of us. During the orientation announcements we were told that there was a kitchenette available to us with marginal-tasting coffee, water, a refrigerator and a microwave. Vending machines carry mostly “non-healthy, maybe a few healthy, and mostly comfort food snacks.” We are let out for lunch to go to any of the numerous snack bars and restaurants around the courthouse, and we will be released by 4:30 PM.

I was struck by the comment about “comfort foods”, with the emphasis on the unhealthy rather than the healthier snacks. It made me think about the sack of food that I brought for myself to work through the long day of waiting.

Here’s what I quickly dropped into a brown bag the last minute before leaving the house this morning: a carton of coffee yogurt, a hard boiled egg, some Rye Krisp crackers, some unsalted peanuts, a plum, and a bottle of water. I had a about 3 minutes to think about this in order to make it downtown before the heavy Seattle traffic would slow to a crawl and make me late. And I really chose the foods that I thought would make me feel the best all day long. I guess you could call these my comfort foods.

Why are my choices so different than what is typically thought of as comfort foods? Besides the fact that I really do like all these foods, my explanation is that I really understand what makes me feel good in mind and body, versus what gives me a moment of palate pleasure. I like feeling alert and awake rather than groggy. I like feeling light on my feet rather than sluggish and full.

I make mindful choices about food rather than just going on impulse (most of the time). That may be one of the most important things to learn about putting food to work for you. Rather than just being at the mercy of the vending machines, I put a moment’s worth of thought into choosing food to take with me. I also had the foods available in my kitchen. So when I shop I always make sure to buy quick grab & go foods to have on hand, just in case.

Now I know I will at least be “comfortable” with my food during the long day. If I am called to serve on a jury, at least I’ll be in a good mood.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If you’re anything like many of the women that I talk with who have tried The Good Mood Diet, you might think that there’s too much food to eat to let you lose weight. That’s the fallacy of the commonly accepted belief of how to lose weight. In fact, while I was at The International Society of Sports Nutrition Annual Conference and Exhibition, I talked with a researcher who told me that he had been studying women who had always followed low calorie diets, and couldn’t lose weight. When he got the women on a moderate exercise plan and a diet of 2600 calories; yes, 2600 calories; they started to finally lose weight.

How is this possible? We know that the way that you burn calories is by using energy in the body. Muscles burn energy; fat just hangs around. The amount of energy that you burn is referred to scientifically as your metabolic rate.

First rule of metabolic rate: the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate, the more energy you burn; even just sitting on the couch.

Now, the body is a very efficient machine that is built for survival and adaptation. While in a well-fed state it may take a certain number of calories, or a specific metabolic rate, to run the functions of your body, if you don’t give it enough fuel, it will slow down to meet the available energy.

Second rule of metabolic rate: the less you eat the slower your metabolic rate, the fewer calories you burn; even just sitting on the couch, AND, doing everything else that you do, even exercise.

If you don’t have the calories to sustain your muscles, you’ll lose them. So your metabolic rate has slowed, and now eating less can make you fat. Not to mention feeling lousy. The most sure fire way to reverse this is to start to exercise and eat more. Then you can rebuild your muscle and your metabolic rate. And that’s the foundational premise of the amount of food in The Good Mood Diet.

For those of you not losing on the 1600 calorie plan, it might not be a bad idea to try the 1800 calorie diet plan. Don’t be afraid to experiment a little bit. You already know that too few calories didn’t work. Why not try the alternative?

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It’s hard work, but someone’s got to do it…working in Hawaii, that is.

I just returned from the garden island of Kauai where I spoke to a wonderful group of folks interested in raising their mood and their health. With many thanks to the Wilcox Health Foundation and its director, Lani Yukimura, we spent most of the day learning, exercising, and eating according to The Good Mood Diet plan. It was a wonderful seminar full of sharing among all of us, ending with the creation of what I hope will be several Good Mood Diet clubs that will be active around the island.

We were on Kauai only a few days, but we discovered two delicious places that really blend perfectly with The Good Mood Life.

Bar Acuda is a wonderful new tapas restaurant from chef/owner Jim Moffat that relies on the fresh local ingredients available from the lovely garden isle and its neighboring islands, as well as the absolute best from the mainland. Found in the lovely setting of Hanalei, the inspired combinations of flavors and textures set Bar Acuda high on our list of favorite restaurants worldwide.

Kauai Kunana Dairy, a family-owned goat farm, creates a scrumptious selection of artisan organic goat cheeses that are obviously touched with love. We loved everything from the cheeses to the granola, and even the dark chocolate-covered apple bananas locally grown on Kauai. Yum!

If you are interested in having a Good Mood Diet seminar come to you, please email me at contact@goodmooddiet.com.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

One of the common concerns that I hear about from clients is that they have a problem with eating late at night.

"How late?", I ask.
"Sometimes after midnight," is the common response.
"Why are you awake after midnight?", I ask.
"I don't know. I just am."

If this is a pattern that you have, it's time to take action. If you stay up late and then need to get up early in the morning, you're depriving yourself of sleep. This strategy will likely ruin your health faster than just about anything else you can think of.

When you stay up late you have a greater risk of overeating. Since your body will begin to get hungry 3 hours or so after your last meal, if your last meal was dinner at 6 PM, or even a snack at 9 PM, by midnight you'll be hungry again, even though you don't need the calories. If you were sleeping, you wouldn't be eating.

Think carefully about why you are really staying up so late. Are you avoiding going to bed for some reason? If not, then begin to work on changing your sleep habits. Sleep experts call it "sleep hygiene". Start to keep a log, just like you keep a log for your diet and/or your exercise. Plan to get into bed 15 minutes earlier than usual. Keep that up for a few nights, or a week, and then get into bed 15 minutes earlier again. Keep this up until you find that you're not eating at night, and you're getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

By going to bed earlier you will truly be healthier, maybe wealthier, and you'll feel wiser and in a much better mood.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Everyone has a different stress point, and often different things can work to take the stress away. While reading about things that can be stressful, or listening to your spouse or neighbor talk about what relaxes them, can be very informative, it is very important to look inside yourself and figure out what bugs you and what makes you feel better.

For instance, I live in the Pacific Northwest where we love the outdoors, and cycling is a very popular sport and past time. I live on a very twisty turny single lane road that does not have a bike lane. While so many people that I know think that it's the best urban bike ride in Seattle, you'll never find me cycling along the roadway. Rather than working as a stress reliever, cycling on that stretch of pavement raises my blood pressure. I'm too nervous about being hit by a car to enjoy the ride or the scenery. I prefer to use some of my precious free time to drive in a car with my bike on a rack to a less precarious scenic byway, and then enjoy the physical exertion and the world around me without the overwhelming feeling of risk usurping my stress reduction. It's not the amount of time I spend cycling, it's how I spend my time on the cycle that counts.

As they say, to each her own. You must find your own personal strategies for relieving your stress. Even if they're different than everyone else's ideas, all that matters is that they work for you.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

One of the most frequently asked questions during my presentations is whether organic produce is better for you than conventionally grown produce. While there are many socially conscious reasons to purchase organic, whether organic foods are actually more nutritious is still an open question, but one that scientists are working to answer.

Results from a new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is adding one notch to the column in favor of the nutritional benefits of organically grown tomatoes. Scientists studied the levels of two flavonoid compounds, quercetin and kaempferol aglycones in organically-grown or conventionally-grown dried tomato samples between 1994 and 2004. They found that the organically-grown tomatoes contained on average 79 and 97 percent more quercetin and kaempferol aglycones than conventionally-grown tomatoes.

Why, and what does this mean? First, the researchers explain that "overfertilization" of conventionally-grown plants diminish the plants' requirements for the natural defense mechanisms offered in response to nutrient deficiency. Flavonoids are natural anti-inflammatories and antioxidants that protect cells from damage.

While we cannot claim that all organic produce responds similarly to these tomatoes, and this evidence does not close the book on the question of whether organically-raised produce is more nutritious than conventionally-raised produce, this research offers an interesting direction for future research, and adds to the body of knowledge regarding the response of crops to organic versus conventional methods of farming.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

My family and I are going to the premier showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix tomorrow at 12:01 am. We can't wait. We've actually been having several weeks of a Harry Potter marathon. We've listened to the story in talking book format to refresh our memories since it's been so long since reading the 5th book in the series. We've been watching all the previous movies on video and DVD. And now we're reading the series backwards from the 6th book.

While going to the movies is a favorite past time, eating in the movie theatre is typically not one of my favorite things to do, although it seems like everyone else loves it. I find eating while trying to absorb a film distracting. Not to mention that buying a drink and a candy at the theatre costs more than the entrance ticket.

I like to be very aware of when and what I am eating. I like to enjoy it. Eating at the theatre is mindless, rather than mindful eating. I find that I'm putting my hand to my mouth, chewing and swallowing without any sense of the real experience of eating.

And tonight (or Wednesday morning, if you choose), it's going to be midnight when I'm at the movies. I certainly won't be hungry at that time. If I'm eating, it's just because that's what the popcorn and candy vendors want me to do.

So I've got something I'd like you to try: the next time you go to the movies, hang onto your wallet and pass by the candy and popcorn counter without stopping. Watch the film without eating. You can sneak in or buy a bottle of water, but don't eat. See what you think. Then plan on what you'll do with the extra cash that you've saved, and see what a good mood that will put you in!

Yours in a Magically Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Sorry everyone for the very late post today. My internet connection has been down. But here I am, wide awake after the 12:01 AM showing of Harry Potter this morning. What a great time we all had, and it was really a great movie. If you get a chance to see it at an IMAX theatre, do it! It was fabulous on the big screen.

We went to bed at 3 AM, and then my daughter and I were awake at 7:30 AM. She had tennis camp, and then I went and worked out. Believe it or not I am refreshed and very ready for my day, despite my very brief sleep. There's nothing like good intense exercise to get your brain and body pumped.

It's supposed to be 97 degrees here in Seattle today, and we rarely have heat like this. Remember to stay cool, and stay hydrated!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

There's no question that eating off of the Feel-Great Foods list makes you feel better, but a study just published in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that many of those foods might also keep yours eyes healthier.

According to one of the co-authors of the research, "Men and women who consumed diets with a higher glycemic index than average for their gender and age-group were at greater risk of developing advanced Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The severity of AMD increased with increasing dietary glycemic index."

Foods high on the glycemic index are also on the Feel-Bad Foods list. They are typically refined foods such as refined sugars and starches. So remember to think about what you NEED to eat, and use the Feel-Great Foods list as your guide.

On to another topic...

It's time for a vacation!! Next week we will be taking a family vacation out in the back country of Idaho. No phones, no internet, no TV, no radio...and no blogging. I know that you'll miss my daily blog, but everyone needs some down time. I'll come back full of fun stories of our escapades on the trails.

Enjoy the summertime, and I'll be back blogging and in an even better mood in a week!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I'm back from one of my family's favorite vacations: a week at Red Horse Mountain Guest Ranch in the back country of Idaho. We rode horses, hiked in the forest, rode mountain bikes, shot on a 3-dimensional archery range, beat the challenge course, kayaked on a pristine mountain lake, filled our bellies every day with good food and slept like logs every night. My husband put it best when he said, "Our bodies are pumped and our minds are relaxed; the perfect combination."

If you've never taken an adventure or active vacation, consider it. While lounging around is fine for a few days, challenging your body with only the activity to think about and enjoy, and without the stresses of every day life creeping in, is an exhilarating experience. Few things so beautifully combine to put us in a good mood more quickly than big physical activity followed by a hearty meal and a good night's rest. You wake up ready for more, and you get better at it every day. It feels great!

I'm ending today's blog with a recipe for Lemon Bars, generously shared with me by Chef Jim at Red Horse Lodge. They were just slightly sweet and deliciously crispy, and they were a tasty addition to the good mood feeling during our week at the Ranch.

Lemon Bars from Red Horse Lodge.
Chef Jim's Way

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Mix together and press into ungreased 9"x9"x2" pan. Build dough 1/2 inch up the sides.
Bake 20 minutes.

Filling:
Beat the following ingredients until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp grated fresh lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs

Pour over crust. Bake 25-30 minutes or until ALMOST no indentation remains when lightly touched.
Cool completely.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut and serve.

And ENJOY!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Seattle and surrounding King County has joined the very small ranks of cities that have now banned artificial trans fats from the menus of restaurants and fast food eateries. But in a more daring move that is only the second in the country, the King County Board of Health required nutrition labeling for menu items in chain restaurants.

According to an article in the July 19th issue of The Seattle Times, "The labeling rule, which takes effect Aug. 1, 2008, will require chain restaurants with 10 or more outlets nationally to specify nutrition information for each item that stays on their menu for 60 days. The information must include calories, carbohydrates, fats and sodium. The requirements also will apply to wine, liquor and other beverages listed on the menu."

While the restaurateurs are unhappy with the ruling, the Board of Health is determined to make the ruling into a workable solution for all parties.

I say kudos to the King County Board of Health! Thank you for advocating for the health and safety of the public. At a time when sugary sweet soda pop is camouflaged as an innocent bottle of water, and vitamin-packed candy bars are passed off as health-promoting energy bars, we need to know what's really in our food!

Information is power, but with it comes responsibility. Once the ingredients and nutrition information are listed for foods on menus, it becomes our responsibility to understand what we are reading, and know how to choose wisely. Chapter 5 of The Good Mood Diet is full of information to help guide you to Feel Great choices when you're eating away from home.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

My blog is being posted a little later than usual this morning; I just had to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you struggle with boredom and absent-minded eating, there's nothing like a good book to use as a cure. It works like magic! Really.

I was so engrossed in the story that I forgot to feed myself, and nearly forgot to make dinner for my family. Time passes, and the urge to eat just doesn't arise when your mind is fully absorbed with the story.

So along with planning your meals, your exercise time, and your rest, think about including time to read. Go to the library, search online, or get to your neighborhood bookseller and start to explore the wonderful world of books. Reading creates a fit mind and a healthy mood.

Yours, a little tired, but in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

While I've never promoted diet soda as a feel great beverage, I have often recommended the substitution of diet soda for a regularly-sweetened soda (with 10 teaspoons of sugar) for someone who just can't live without their morning or afternoon carbonated jolt. But a recent study may cause me to rethink that recommendation. If you are a regular or diet soda drinker, you should consider this news, as well.

Researchers at the Boston School of Medicine have studied a cohort of 6,000 middle-aged men and women from Framingham, Massachusetts for 4 years. All the subjects were healthy at the outset.

The initial results showed what has been seen before: that those subjects who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 31 percent greater risk of becoming obese. The subjects had a 30 percent greater risk of increasing their waist circumference, and a 25 percent increased risk of developing high blood triglycerides as well as high blood sugar. They also had a 32 percent higher risk of having low high-density lipoprotein or ”good” cholesterol levels.

If this was all they had found, it would be old news. But when they separated the group into a smaller subgroup of regular and diet soda drinkers, they found that those who drank one or more diet or regular sodas per day had a 50 to 60 percent increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome. Despite controlling statistically for other unhealthy behaviors that may be associated with regular soda-drinking, such as eating more calories, consuming more saturated fat and trans fat, eating less fiber, exercising less and being more sedentary, the results remained the same.

The researchers don't have any real explanations for this association, except for a theory that perhaps soda drinkers, whether regular or diet, may have a sweet tooth that is stimulated by the sweet-tasting beverage. Another theory is that the ingredient that creates the caramel color in soda may inhibit the action of the hormone insulin, which is needed to process carbohydrates.

There is certainly more research needed here, but even this single study will hopefully help a few of you to replace your sodas with water. Drink at least 5-6 cups of wonderful water each day to get a definite "feel great" response.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

You've probably read at least one article or heard one news story by now about how your risk of becoming obese is raised by 171 percent if you have a close friend who is obese. The flip side of that story is that those few people who had thinner friends, lost weight over the 32 years of the study. But there were so few of these relationships that they didn't quite make the headline.

The take-home message for me is exactly the second point; that if you build relationships with people who take care of themselves and stay fit, their good habits may rub off on you. That's what joining a Good Mood Diet Club is all about. So if you've begun The Good Mood Diet, find a friend, or make a new friend, to do it with you. Create your own Good Mood Diet Club. Chances are you'll not only help each other, but everyone else who is close to you, too.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

A very common misconception about exercise is that you'll burn more calories by not eating afterward. WRONG!! You get the biggest bang for your buck for enhancing your fitness and strength AND for calorie burning when you eat immediately after exercise. In fact, you increase calorie burning when you eat right after you exercise.

Liquid recovery drinks are especially beneficial right after exercise. They're easy to get down when you're appetite is suppressed from heavy exercise. The liquid is more quickly digested and absorbed compared to solid food, getting to your muscles more quickly. We can enhance the protein content of a smoothie without adding any fat more easily than with solid food. And a little more protein, along with carbohydrate, is what your muscles are looking for to recover, refuel, and build for the next day's activity.

So make sure to have the Good Mood Diet Smoothie recipe found in the menu pages of the book right after you exercise. If you can't do that, than find a good subsititute to have with you, within 15-30 minutes after exercise. You will feel the difference right away, and certainly later in the day and the next time that you exercise.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Just when I think I have had it
My refrigerator starts to call...
You haven't had your hot cocoa
Better sit down before you fall.

I carefully choose the right cup
the milk heats and starts to steam
Any moment I'll be able to sup
Maybe it's all just a dream.

The chocolate's beginning to soothe
My worries are starting to ooze
right out of my finger and toes
Oh yes, this is how the story goes.

Ahhh....

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Just like many of you, I've been busy every morning this summer packing lunches for my children before they go off to camp. Someone asked me the other day what I pack for my kids, so I thought I'd give you the menu for this week. In my house, food has to be fast, fresh and easy. I plan the menu for lunches for the week so that I can shop on Saturday and be set for the whole week.

Monday: Pannini made with mozzarella cheese, basil pesto, tomato tapenade, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil Italian dressing; sliced cucumbers, dried apple, water.

Tuesday: Laughing Cow lowfat cheese wedges with crackers, broccoli stalks, cherries, water.

Wednesday: PB & J, broccoli stalks, grapes, water.

Thursday: Yogurt, crackers, edamame, cherry tomatoes, dried mango, water.

Friday: Turkey sandwich with pesto and lettuce leaf and tomato slice bagged separately (to avoid a soggy sandwich), cucumber slices, cherries, water.

So there you have it. Feel free to borrow my ideas or create some of your own. Other weeks might include hard boiled eggs, a thermos of soup, or leftovers from dinner the night before.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

One of the recent questions in the GMD Club chat room was whether you should follow the Good Mood Diet Template every day, or just choose from the list of Feel Great foods. I can tell you from working with many different people that depending on who you are, both strategies have worked successfully.

The wonderful replies to the question posted in the chat room were what I would have always thought myself: that you should follow the template, had I not met those people who tell me that they just eat from the Feel-Great Foods list and really do feel great and lose weight. But even so they are not eating randomly. They are still following the basic concepts of always combining proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats at each meal, and eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. They are getting in their 3 dairy servings per day, the variety of fruits and vegetables, the goal of 5 fish meals per week, and so on. So there is a little more to it than just following the list. But it represents a great alternative for those people who would rather feel a little more freedom in their food plan.

And another departure for me...

If you've been following my speaking schedule, you'll see that I'm setting out on a road trip across Washington State today. My days will be very long, so I will take a short hiatus, and return to this blog on Tuesday August 7th.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Hello again! I'm back in the blogging saddle. I had a wonderful few days traveling around the state of Washington talking to folks about The Good Mood Diet. It's always so great to see your faces and hear your stories of success and happiness.

While I was gone the discussion came up in the GMD chat room about going off prescribed medications once you were following The Good Mood Diet. While the diet does have a very powerful impact on the health of your mind and body, please do not change any of your medications without consulting your physician or health care provider. Many of these prescription medications require you to taper off of them, rather than just stopping cold turkey. Without tapering you might experience very negative consequences. Additionally, your physician may have other important reasons for you to maintain your prescriptions.

The Good Mood Diet is a way of creating a very healthy foundation for your brain and your body. It is not meant as a substitute for clinical treatment or therapy. While many people have been able to reduce or stop their medications, this has been done only under medical supervision. Please do not try to manage your medical care without the advice and guidance of a medical expert.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I talk alot about how important dairy foods are around exercise. The proteins in dairy are ideal for helping your muscles recover and grow. Milk and yogurt also contain carbohydrate, so combined with the protein, milk is a natural muscle builder and mood elevator. And it looks like milk is even a great rehydrator.

A study just published in the British Journal of Nutrition compared milk with a sports drink on the impact of rehydration right after dehydrating exercise. Milk significantly outperformed the sports drink in fully rehydrating the subjects after dehydration, compared to the sports drink which did not fully rehydrate the subjects.

So make sure to drink your Good Mood Smoothie right after exercise. I promise that you'll feel the difference immediately, and for the rest of the day.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association have just issued new physical fitness recommendations. Americans should be doing strength training at least twice a week for at least 30 minutes. Yes, you heard it right. In addition to keeping your heart and lungs moving with cardiovascular exercise, it's time to get pumping and make a muscle.

In fact, if on a single day you have to choose between your cardio and strength training workout due to time constraints, I say do your weight workout. Pick up the pace and you'll be training your muscles and working your heart.

The updated recommendations suggest that adults do eight to 12 repetitions of eight to 10 different exercises on the major muscle groups, including the chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, lower legs and arms.

This could be strength training with free weights or machines, or weight-bearing calisthenics such as push-ups. This should be done on two non-consecutive days.

Adults 65 and older are encouraged to do similar amounts of physical activity, based on their fitness ability. They are advised to strength-train two to three times a week, doing a few more repetitions using lighter weights. This helps maintain and increase strength. Flexibility exercises are suggested to preserve the range of motion necessary for daily activities. People at risk of falling should do balance exercises.

And here's just a bit advice on how to strength train in your kitchen from the fitness class that I periodically attend:

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then try 50-lb potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

Now that you're laughing, smile while you're lifting your next weight!!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If you live in the Seattle area, you can be part of the scientific process. A study investigating the impact of high fructose corn syrup on total calorie intake is being conducted at the University of Washington. As a participant in the study you will find out a tremendous amount of metabolic and physiologic information about yourself, and you will be making a wonderful contribution to the body of scientific literature trying to understand the causes of obesity.

To find out more, click here: Sweetened Beverages and Food Intake

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

When I read this study I couldn't help but smile. If you've read The Good Mood Diet you know that one of my maxims is "put your food to work for you." One great way to do this, if you are a coffee or tea drinker, is to have your caffeine before exercise. It can decrease your rate of perceived exertion. In other words, you don't notice how hard you are working, and you can workout harder, longer.

Now we have more great news: when caffeine and exercise were combined in mice, they had a significantly decreased risk of developing skin cancer. Four groups of mice were tested. One group had only exercise, one group only caffeine, the third group had exercise plus caffeine and the fourth group was a control group. All groups were exposed to skin cell damaging ultraviolet-B rays.

Cells with damaged DNA are programmed to self-destruct, a process called apoptosis, but not all do that, and damaged cells can become cancerous. Compared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95% increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120% increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400% increase.

The researchers really don't have an explanation for this occurrence, and they will continue to do research to see whether these results might be the same in humans.

In the meantime, keep using sunscreen, and don't be afraid to put your single serving of a caffeinated beverage to work for you before exercise.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Many people have told me that the life philosophy of The Good Mood Diet is as important as the diet and lifestyle plan. I couldn't agree more. How you approach food often is a reflection of how you approach life.

So just for fun and a little inspiration, I'm including a few of my favorite quotes today. If you have some favorite ones, let us know.

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

-Franklin D. Roosevelt
**************************************
"Follow your Dreams- you never know where they might lead you."

-Anonymous
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"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

-Buddha
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"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey."

-Stephen R. Covey

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The large Hass avocados are in the supermarket! I love avocados, but the very large Hass avocados are my favorite. They were perfectly ripe today. At dinner we enjoyed fresh avocado spread on seasoned Rye Krisp crackers. It is the perfect combination. Yum!

If you've taken avocados out of your diet, add them back. Here are some great nutritional reasons why:

Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats that are critical for the health of your brain, central nervous system and your heart.

Avocados are a good source of lutein, the carotenoid found to be associated with promoting eye health.

Beta-sisterol, also found in avocados, is a natural plant sterol which may help maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including 4% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, 4% vitamin C, 8% folate, 4% fiber, 2% iron, 4% potassium, with 81 micrograms of lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene.

Remember, 2 tablespoons of avocado equals one healthy fat serving, and is a strong member of the Feel Great Foods List.

And oh, does it taste good!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It's the last few weeks of summer. Time for all the Departments of Transportation across the nation to pull out their road repair equipment and put it to use. Here in Seattle the month of August will see the worst traffic jams ever. Our major north-south corridor, Interstate-5, will be virtually closed, yes, CLOSED, for 3 weeks! Oh, there might be a lane or 2 open here and there, but don't count on it. The closure is effecting every other highway and surface road for miles around the city. It's a nightmare.

I know that we're not alone; there are major road repairs and traffic jams all over the nation. Wouldn't it be great to be able to abide by the recommendation to just stay off the roads and stay home? I find that a very practical guideline (LOL).

If staying home isn't an option for keeping you out of traffic and in a calm state of mind, then one other option is to eat enough healthy fats. I know this might sound silly, but people who consume diets that are below 25 -30% fat have a higher risk of feeling anger, frustration and anxiety. They don't cope with stress as well as someone who is feeding their brain the fats it needs to stay structurally healthy and strong.

Add back that avocado that I blogged about yesterday. Enjoy some peanut butter or other wonderful nut or seed butter. If you're allergic to nuts, soy butter is a pretty tasty alternative. Snack on a few olives; dip your crusty baguette in olive oil, put some smoked salmon on a bagel.

Every time you eat, you should have protein, carbohydrate, AND a healthy fat. What a great way to keep your cool while your stuck on the hot pavement of the freeway.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If you're looking for support, you can have it 24/7 in the Good Mood Diet Club online chat room. On The Good Mood Diet website go to the "join the GMD club" page, and then click on the link to the chat room within the text on the page. You'll find a very active, smart, and helpful group of members that are there to support each other.

There is recipe sharing, story telling, lots of Q & A, a few confessions, and tremendous outreach of caring and nurturing. It is such a great way to help yourself change old habits into new ones. I am inspired by everyone in the chat room. I even chime in every once in awhile.

So don't wait. Join the Club! It will make you feel so good.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I have been receiving an incredible number of success stories from Good Mood Dieters. They are an inspiration to read. I am going to begin to share some of the stories with you. Today's blog is from an incredible woman in Tasmania, Australia. This will definitely make you feel good.

"I'll try to keep this short - first of all I wanted to tell you that your diet has been a lifesaver (almost literally) - I bought the book The Good Mood Diet from Amazon. I'm recovering from major spinal surgery after a car accident and have had terrible trouble sleeping (due to thoracic nerve pain) and general depression caused by pain, incapacity and sleeplessness. Within 12 hours on the diet I felt calmer, 2 days later I actually slept a whole night (I usually manage 2 or 3 hours if I'm lucky) and but most amazingly I have seen a marked reduction in pain, and it is definitely the diet because when I go off it, my pain gets worse again."

She continues...

"I am considering starting a diet club here (I studied Health Science in Nutrition at university and think the concept is wonderful) and am looking into it on your website at the moment. I can't thank you enough - 2 weeks ago the idea of doing anything with other people didn't appeal to me at all. I've also ordered the pedometers you recommend and encouraged others to do so. Good luck in spreading the happiness."

The effects of food on the mind and body are incredibly powerful. If you have a good mood story to share, please send it in to contact@goodmooddiet.com with your permission to post it as a blog. It will make us all feel good.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Now that you're feeding your brain, you're probably noticing that you have more energy than usual. You might be sleeping better and even waking up earlier. If you've also added exercise to your life, you've realized that you really do have more time in your day than you thought.

It's time to take the next step. Get involved with something that you care about; take action. Research about the brain makes it clear that in order to feel really satisfied, you need to take an action. Really, a physical action is necessary to create the changes in the brain that allow us to feel true satisfaction. I think that is one of the coolest things that I've learned in my studies of neurobiology.

So, whether it's helping your neighbor bring in the groceries, or planting a garden for your aging parent, or making calls to raise money for a good cause or votes for your favorite candidate, take action, and get some satisfaction!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I received an email the other day asking about whether the vitamin supplement that the emailer was taking was too high a dosage. The whole topic of vitamin supplements is a very good one to discuss.

First, you might already know my position on supplements:

If you are eating a wide variety of foods from within all the food groups, and healthy fats, then you are probably getting a good array of vitamins and minerals, and other factors that can only come from food, not supplements. Vitamin-mineral supplements are merely an insurance policy for those days when we just don't eat what we should. I do recommend a daily multivitamin-mineral supplement as part of The Good Mood Diet.

We only absorb, on average, about 10-15% of any vitamin-mineral supplement that we use, regardless of how wonderful the supplement may be. So in any case, a supplement is just that, a supplement to a good diet. Since we only absorb a small amount, quite a bit will show up in the urine. The dark color and odor that we often experience in the first or second void after taking a supplement is typically from riboflavin, but other water soluble nutrients are also in the mix. It is nothing to be alarmed about. However, if you are taking very high dosages, then you may have more than you need.

How do you know whether a supplement is a high quality product or not? There was just a great article on cnn.com/health that covers this answer in-depth. I highly recommend reading this article as a great resource.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I've written about the importance of sleep several times in the past few months, but we've got news about the impact of sleep on appetite. New research from The University of Chicago has shown that sleep impacts the secretion of leptin and ghrelin, 2 hormones integrally linked with appetite. Leptin is a hormone that suppresses appetite by affecting how full and satisfied we feel after eating. Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates appetite.

The research showed that study participants who slept only four hours a night for two nights had an 18 percent decrease in leptin and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin. When these results are overlayed with the results of the Nurses Healthy Study that showed that participants who slept five hours a night were 32 percent more likely to experience a weight gain of 33 pounds or greater, and 15 percent more likely to become obese, compared with participants who slept seven hours a night, it becomes awfully clear that sleep is a very important part of weight control. Along with an increase in appetite, lack of sleep probably causes the body to burn calories differently, saving more for energy storage (fat) in the body.

So, while you can't really lose weight while you sleep, you can't lose weight if you don't sleep. Sleep hygiene, as the experts call it, is a critical part of health care, along with good nutrition, exercise and stress reduction. So if it's late at night and you're reading this blog, go to sleep instead!!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Congratulations to Trish Zuccotti, the 2007 World Masters Weightlifting Champion! Trish, one of my clients and a dear friend, broke 3 world records at the Games in Hungary this past weekend. She did it with hard work, fortitude, determination, and a positive attitude. She also has a great strength coach, Scott Hughes. You both deserve a high five from all us.

Just so that you all know the details, Trish competes in the female, 60 year old, 75 kg class. She never lifted a weight until about 6 or 7 years ago. There were 46 countries competing at the games, and Trish beat all her own personal records, and now holds the world records in the snatch, clean & jerk and the total of the two lifts.

So never give up on your dreams, and remember that it takes action to make them reality.

Way to go, Trish!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I love to sing. I sing while I'm cooking, I sing while I'm warming up for a workout, I sing while I drive, and I even sing along with the music while I'm shopping in the mall (as long as my teenage daughter isn't there to stop me). I've been singing my whole life, and I know it makes me happy.

Lots of people know that dancing improves their mood. After all, it's a great physical activity choice for keeping your mind and body fit and healthy. But research also shows us that singing makes you happy. And if you're not a singer, the same research study showed that listening to a choir might make you almost as happy as singing in one.

So don't hold back. Sing with your iPod, the radio, or even better, a choir or a band. And if you just can't find your own voice, then listen to someone else's. While you're singing, or listening to someone else sing the blues, you just might start to feel much more in the pink!

Yours in a Good Mood (la la la),
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The kids are heading back to school. Let's face it, you haven't exactly been keeping your mind totally on your work during the sweet days of summer, either. So all of us, kids and...older kids, could use a little brain boost to get us back in serious thinking and learning mode again.

When people ask me what are the top few things that they can do to boost their brain power, I tell them this:

1. Make water a constant presence in your daily life.
2. Eat lots of fish rich in omega-3 fats.
3. Remember breakfast, and you'll remember other stuff.

And stay active!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

One of the wonders of our bodies is that no matter how full we are, there always seems to be room for dessert. One night when I came home from a very filling meal at a friend's house, and then looked for my stash of dark chocolate, I wanted to know why.

Our brain craves variety. We like to change what we're doing throughout the day if we can, rather than repeating the same activity over and over. We like to listen to different songs or pieces of music, rather than listen to the same song repetitively. And we like to have a variety of tastes in our meals. So no matter how filling a savory meal may be, when it comes to adding something sweet, our appetite is peaked again.

There are things other than sweet desserts that can satisfy the craving for variety: fruit is the obvious alternative. But if it's just variety that the brain desires, then why not an herbal tea or great cup of coffee (decaf at night, please). And of course, my perennial evening favorite, a good mood hot cocoa. All of these provide variety to typical mealtime entree fare.

So don't fight it. Indulge your brain and leave some room for variety.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The incidence of asthma is growing rapidly in the U.S. It impacts the lives and health of all who live with it. While you might not think of asthma as a condition affected by nutrition, nutritional factors can markedly effect symptoms.

The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program just issued updated national guidelines for monitoring asthma control and intervention programs for children. The report discusses four key components:
1. Assessment and Monitoring,
2. Patient Education,
3. Control of environmental factors and other conditions that can affect asthma.
4. Medications.

Of these four, the third component includes several factors directly or indirectly affected by nutrition. This is the synopsis of that section:

The guidelines report

expands the section on other common conditions that asthma patients can have and notes that treating chronic problems such as rhinitis and sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux, overweight or obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, stress, and depression may help improve asthma control.

Additionally, dehydation and a dry throat can induce asthmatic symptoms, particularly during exercise.

I have allergy- and virally-induced asthma. As long as I am active, follow the Good Mood Diet guidelines and stay well-hydrated, I rarely struggle with the asthmatic symptoms.

Your nutrition can play a large role in controlling your symptoms. If you suffer from heart burn or gastroesophageal reflux and asthma, you should absolutely see a gastroenterologist. The acid reflux may be at the root of your asthma. Stay well hydrated, especially during exercise. stay active, maintain a healthy body weight and a good mood. These make a pretty good tool kit for helping to control asthma.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As if there wasn't enough good news about flaxseed already, a new research study has even more good news for post-menopausal women: it may reduce the frequency of hot flashes.

The pilot study conducted at the Mayo Clinic, suggests that flaxseed meal may decrease hot flashes in post-menopausal women who are not taking hormone replacement therapy. Researchers gave 40 grams (about 3 Tablespoons) of ground flaxseed to 29 study subjects every day for 6 weeks. Full data were obtained from 21 women who completed all of the study.

The frequency of hot flashes decreased 50% over the 6 weeks, and the overall hot flash score decreased an average of 57%. The subjects also reported improvements in mood, joint or muscle pain, chills and sweating.

The most likely reason for the effectiveness of flaxseed is it's content of lignin, an antioxidant fiber that acts like a weak phytoestrogen. These are exciting results, and confirm the need for a larger clinical trial.

So keep your eyes and ears open for a study giving us more conclusive data.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

In 1977 I traveled on a biological study tour to the Amazon Jungle, near the southern Colombian village of Leticia. I was one of a handful of very fortunate undergraduate students to study with Dr. James Barrow, the late eminent professor of biology at Hiram College.

We spent some time with very primitive tribes, and even had the occasion to share a meal with the leaders of one tribe. At the time, unknowingly, I was studying nutritional anthropology. I so clearly remember my sense of gratitude and connection with the natives when they shared their food, a scarce resource, with us. I've always thought of the act of sharing food as occupying a very primitive place in our brains, connecting us like strands of a web, with others who share our table.

So I am not surprised with the latest research that was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, but that makes it no less noteworthy. Here is the summary:

Eating together as a family during adolescence is associated with lasting positive effects on dietary quality in young adulthood, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota.

More than 1,500 students were surveyed once during high school and again when they were 20 years old to determine the long-term effects of family meals on diet quality, social eating, meal structure and meal frequency. Participants were asked questions such as how often they ate family meals, how much they enjoyed sitting down to a meal with family or friends, if they had a tendency to eat on the run and how often they ate breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The researchers found eating family meals together during adolescence resulted in adults who ate more fruit, dark-green and orange vegetables and key nutrients, and drank less soft drinks. Frequency of family meals predicted females would eat breakfast as adults. For both sexes, frequency of family meals as adolescents predicted eating dinner more frequently as adults, placing a higher priority on structured meals and a higher priority on social eating. For women, eating together as a family more often during adolescence meant significantly higher daily intakes as adults of calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6 and fiber. Among males, eating as a family more during adolescence predicted higher intakes of calcium, magnesium, potassium and fiber as adults.

“Results of this study suggest that having more family meals during adolescence is associated with improved diet quality during young adulthood,” the researchers say. “Food and nutrition professionals should encourage families to share meals as often as practically possible.”

There is other research on family meals that shows that adolescents from families who share meals participate in less "high risk behavior", like drugs, illegal activities, alcohol, etc., compared to those who do not share a regular family meal. These results have been seen despite considerations for socio-economic class, education, parent at home, and so on.

So there seems to be no question that sharing a family meal may make us all healthier and more emotionally stable. That doesn't mean you need to add stress to your life to accomplish it, but it does mean that on a regular basis someone, or some group of family members, must take some responsibility for getting everyone together at the same time with food on the table.

Think of the lifelong effect that this might have. It's definitely worth it.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Quackery is alive and well and operating in the United States. Lipodissolve is one of the latest products on the quack watch scene. It's important to know the details so that if and when you run across it, you are well-informed, and perhaps caution someone you care for about the high-risk, no benefits outcome associated with the product.

Here's what Katherine Zeratsky, RD, LD, the dietitian writing for mayoclinic.com, has to say:

Lipodissolve is a brand name for a new injection that allegedly dissolves fat on your hips, waist, thighs and buttocks. The injected material, which can be injected near the parts of your body where you want to lose fat, is being advertised as a noninvasive alternative to liposuction. However, these injections are not approved for use in the United States, nor have they been proved safe.

Only a few, small scientific studies have been performed to test the safety and efficacy of the fat-dissolving shots. So far, the shots have not worked for everyone who has received them, and there have been serious side effects reported, including:

Bacterial infection
Granulomas — masses of inflamed tissue
Necrosis — death of skin or muscle tissue
Allergic reactions
Skin ulcerations
Scarring
These side effects can be very difficult to treat. Another safety concern to keep in mind is that some of the providers of the shots are not physicians. Although most states consider administering the injections to be a medical procedure and would require a physician to inject them, this is not always the case.

Your best bet to safely melt away the pounds is still diet and exercise. Before starting a new program, talk to your doctor to make sure your weight-loss plan will be safe and effective for you.

You can depend on The Good Mood Diet as a road-tested, healthy and successful strategy to keep you feeling great and losing weight.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

From the East coast to the West coast, Italian plums are ripening. I grew up picking the delicious fruit off the tree in my grandmother's back yard, and now I have my own tree in my front yard. The fruit is abundant in the stores, and should be locally grown in many parts of the country right now.

One serving of plums will give you 20 percent of your daily need for vitamin C, so popping 2 sweet plums is a great early Fall addition to citrus, melons, mangos and berries.

I'll be making roasted turkey this week with a very easy plum chutney. Here's my version of the recipe:

Good Mood Italian Plum Chutney

1 pound plums, pitted and chopped
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
dash of smoked chipotle sauce

1. Combine plums, vinegar, honey, crushed red pepper and chipotle sauce in a medium saucepan.

2. Bring to a simmer over high heat.

3. Cover, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the plums start to break down, 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Transfer to a blender or food processor and pulse several times into a coarse puree.

5. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

And before I end I'd like to say hello to Kara and her family. I met Kara shopping for shoes with my daughter the other day, and she recognized me from my photo on the inside back cover flap of The Good Mood Diet. Great memory, Kara!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Even though the temperatures here in Seattle are still in the high 70's, I know that Fall is just around the corner. With it comes those crisp, cool mornings (we're already having a few of those) and the sooner than expected sunsets that turn the evenings into perfect sleeping weather.

This is the time of year when I switch from iced teas back to hot tea. Along with all the great health benefits that come from the wide variety of different teas, I love the ritual of choosing which tea to drink, setting up my teapot, boiling the water and then waiting for the tea to steep just the right amount of time.

Even though there are so many lovely fruited teas available, I still love to make my own that is full of fresh fruit. It makes the whole kitchen smell fresh, and it helps me recover from a day full of hard work and vigorous exercise. I've been drinking this tea every winter for many years.

Recovery Tea

4 orange sections
¼ tsp grated orange rind
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 whole cloves
1-inch cinnamon stick
1 decaffeinated black tea bag
2 cups boiling water
honey (optional)

Remove fibrous skin from the orange sections and break the sections into small pieces. Put into a tea pot. Add the orange rind, lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon stick and tea bag.

Pour the boiling water into a teapot, cover, and steep for 4-5 minutes. Remove the tea bag. Pour through a strainer. Serve hot or iced with honey, if desired.

Makes 2 servings

ENJOY!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As we were sitting around after a big family dinner this evening, the topic came up of how many of us in the family get cranky if we don't eat regularly. My sister-in-law was teasing my brother, my cousin was teasing her husband, and I certainly am aware of it in myself (although my husband and children were graciously avoiding teasing me about it). We are all so aware of this in each other that when I'm out of sorts in my house, my children often ask me when I last had something to eat, knowing that the root of my disparaging disposition might be hunger. ( The other possible cause is if I haven't exercised that day.)

Are you conscious of your disposition? Most people's mood drops along with their blood sugar. When you eat every 3 hours, you are replenishing your supply of fuel and keeping your blood sugar levels even. Serotonin levels follow along with your blood sugar levels, so you stay feeling uplifted and energized. You're able to cope better with stress, and avoid mood swings.

Pay attention to how you feel during the times between meals. You can even chart how you feel as the hours progress for the end of one meal to the beginning of the next meal or snack. Getting in touch with these signals is a great way to support your good mood. And as my brother-in-law said, "maybe you should try The Good Mood Diet!"

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

This evening my family was invited to a birthday celebration by a wonderful Greek friend, Sophia. Sophia is good at everything she does, and so she is an exceptional cook. You can imagine that whenever I'm at a dinner party, the most common question that I'm asked is "is this food on the Good Mood Diet?" If you've read the book, you should know that my answer is "Yes, of course it is. All food is on the Good Mood Diet."

So let me walk you through the delicious Greek dinner that we ate this evening. This is truly Feel Great Food. We started off with appetizers: dolmades and spanakopita. Dolmades are grape leaves wrapped around seasoned rice, in this case, brown rice. The domades are dipped in tzadziki, which is plain yogurt seasoned with lots of fresh garlic. Grape leaves are bursting with antioxidants, and together with the rice are rich in fiber. The yogurt is a fabulous source of calcium and protein, and probiotics which stimulate the immune system of the gut. Garlic decreases risk of stomach cancer and helps with digestion. Spanakopita is spinach and feta cheese wrapped in phyllo dough. The beneficial iron, folic acid, and antioxidants found in spinach combined with the protein and calcium from the feta cheese more than outweigh the fat that in large amounts might make you feel bad, but makes the phyllo dough so flaky and delicious. And we can't forget the red wine, that in small amounts is certainly a feel great food.

The entree was a succulent roast beef, but it was no more important to the meal than the several vegetable dishes which played a prominent role; hardly what we could call side dishes. There was the delicious mixed green salad full of olives, roasted potatoes and vegetables with olives, and sauteed green beans with other greens and olives. I don't think I've eaten so many different kinds of olives at one meal before. They were all wonderful. The mix of vegetables, starches, healthy fats and protein was a true uplifting combination for mind and body.

Dessert was one of my favorites: baklava. Sophia's baklava is mostly nuts and honey, with a thin sheet of phyllo dough on the top and bottom just to hold the nuts in place. It is outrageously delicious, and it doesn't take much to make you feel satisfied.

I hope I haven't made you too hungry by describing this meal, but the point is that to me, this rich and delicious meal is all on the feel-great foods list. Yes there's some fat (mostly healthy fats) and sugar (in the baklava), but it is overwhelming dense in nutrients and a great combination of healthy fats, carbohydrates and proteins. And it doesn't take much of this food to make you feel tremendously satisfied.

I will sleep well, and wake up tomorrow thinking about what I NEED to eat. And I'll feel great.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

You may have heard the conventional wisdom that everyone gains weight during the holidays. A study published by Dr. Holly Hull and colleagues investigated what happened to the body weight and composition of college students during the six weeks of their winter holidays, from Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Eve. Interestingly, they found that although body weight did not change significantly among the group, levels of body fat increased, especially around the trunk area. So even though at the end of the six weeks their weight on the scale didn’t change, they got fatter. This kind of change is typically due to a change in diet and and a decrease in exercise, with exercise playing a large role. As a whole, the group lost muscle and gained fat.

Now is the time to find an exercise routine that feels good to you, and that you can stick with for the long haul. Exercise is important for your mental and physical well-being. If you start now, you'll already be "in the groove" when the holidays roll around. Activity helps you manage the stress of the holidays, along with balancing out the extra tasty foods that we want to enjoy during these weeks of celebration. And you can get "step credit" for all the walking you'll do in the malls while shopping!

Alice Lockridge, our exercise guru, has written many blogs that will help you find exercises that you will enjoy. Check through the blog archives for her experienced thoughts and guidance. If you haven't tried a pedometer, you can order one from Alice at her website found on The Good Mood Diet shopping page. Scroll down to order the pedometer. It is one of the most motivating little exercise devices ever made. Set small goals for yourself at first, adding 500-1000 steps a day. Then when you consistently make that goal, start to increase it even more, and then add another activity, or pick up your speed when you walk. Each little thing makes a great big difference.

There is nothing like having a good plan, and sticking to it. You'll stay feeling great and looking great throughout the holidays and beyond.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

What could be more environmentally friendly than buying local products? If your local product is grown, harvested, processed, packaged and transported using more carbon emissions than a product from further away but using fewer carbon emissions, then the local product comes up short on the earth-friendly scale. But how could a consumer possibly know the difference?

The Carbon Trust is a private company in the UK, set up by government as a means of developing policies and programs addressing climate change. The Carbon Trust is working with the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and BSI British Standards to develop a carbon labeling standard. The standard will be based on a method for measuring the embodied greenhouse gas emissions from products and services across their lifecycle that will be applicable to a wide range of sectors and product categories.

The development of the standard is being overseen by an independent steering group chaired by Jim Skea, the director of the UK Energy Research Centre, with members from businesses, non-governmental organizations, government and academics.

Currently, Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, Miller Dairy (UK) Ltd., Scottish & Newcastle, and the Co-operative Group, along with four other non-food companies have said they will use the CO2 measuring scheme. The "carbon footprint" scheme is part of a plan to eventually introduce a common label that will allow consumers to compare similar products in relation to their CO2 emissions. Other countries are interested in taking on the Carbon Trust program, with the hope that the scheme would be in use worldwide.

A pilot of the program was launched in March of this year, so it will be awhile before we will actually see the results on our supermarket shelves. Ultimately if the scheme works, consumers will be able to make very informed choices about the sustainable practices of food producers and manufacturers, locally and worldwide.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

One of the things that I hope this blog does is let you know what's going on in the research laboratories right now. Information like that keeps you on the cutting edge of where science is heading.

You can become part of the scientific process by volunteering to be a subject in a research study. Subjects are often paid for their participation both financially as well as by receiving sophisticated medical information about themselves relative to the subject under study. The contribution of a research subject is to be part of the scientific process, which benefits everyone.

Right now the University of Iowa is recruiting subjects to investigate Essential Fatty Acids for Major Depression. This is a research study to determine whether omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, when taken with the antidepressant medication escitalopram (Lexapro), helps to improve depressive symptoms in individuals who have major depressive disorder (MDD).

If you live within a 100 mile radius of the University of Iowa, have a diagnosis of depression and are not currently on antidepressants OR not responding to a stable dose of antidepressants, and you are between the ages of 18 and 55 years, you might be eligible to be a study subject.

Click on the study title above for more information about the research, and for contact information.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I know that exercise is Alice's domain, but I just have to tell you about this remarkable new discovery just published in the September 21 issue of the journal Cell, by researchers from Harvard Medical School, in collaboration with scientists from Cornell Medical School and the National Institutes of Health.

It has been 70 years since scientists determined that following a calorie restricted diet increased longevity, but no one has really understood why. In the past few years researchers have determined that the stress created by the continuous calorie deficit somehow turned on protective machinery in the cell that slowed the aging process. Last year scientists announced that resveratrol, a compound found in red wine and grape juice, turned on a longevity gene in the sirtuin family of genes called SIRT1. (If you haven't read this news, you need to know that it takes ALOT of red wine to get the effects that they saw in the study using a resveratrol supplement dose in animals.)

Now scientists have discovered 2 other sirtuin genes, SIRT3 and SIRT4, that play a vital role in longevity. Mitochondria, organelles inside cells that act as energy powerhouses for the cell and the body, seem to be at the crux of the aging process. As long as mitochondria are running at full tilt, cells stay healthy. When mitochondria activity begins to fade, energy is drained out of the cells and cells die.

According to a report of the study,

"In this paper, Sinclair and his collaborators discovered that SIRT3 and SIRT4 play a vital role in a longevity network that maintains the vitality of mitochondria and keeps cells healthy when they would otherwise die.

When cells undergo caloric restriction, signals sent in through the membrane activate a gene called NAMPT. As levels of NAMPT ramp up, a small molecule called NAD begins to amass in the mitochondria. This, in turn, causes the activity of enzymes created by the SIRT3 and SIRT4 genes--enzymes that live in the mitochondria--to increase as well. As a result, the mitochondria grow stronger, energy-output increases, and the cell's aging process slows down significantly."

Now, you know that the idea of serious calorie restriction is not my idea of health promotion or feeling good. But the great thing about this news is that EXERCISE DOES THE SAME THING!! This same process described above is also activated by exercise. Mitochondrial function has also been targeted recently for cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration medical interventions.

So don't live a life of restriction. Get out and get moving! Here's the new motto of the future: Exercise and eat well to live long and prosper!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

When I wrote my first blogs I was certain that I'd never figure out how to post them myself. I had help from our website editor. But now I do it all myself, and it was silly to think that I couldn't have done it.

Blogging is fun and easy. It's a great way to connect with all kinds of people on the web. If you like to write, and have something to say, think about setting up your own blog. At least start reading some of the blogs that are posted on the internet. I have learned about everything from trademark law to the recent sad death of our elderly giraffe, Sukari, at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Here's an update on The Good Mood Diet website blog:

We will now be posting blogs regularly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

You can find more of my writing in the reader's nutrition question and answer columns in Oxygen magazine and the newly published Clean Eating magazine. I also write features and columns regularly for Fitness Rx Magazine for Women and Fitness Rx Magazine for Men. Pick any of these up at your local news stands.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Eggs are great brain food. Now we have data that says that eggs also help you lose weight, and feel better while you're doing it. I guess they must have read The Good Mood Diet!

Here's the news:

A multi-center pilot study investigated the effects of an egg breakfast on weight loss in overweight and obese participants. One-hundred overweight and obese, but otherwise healthy particpants were randomly selected into one of four treatment groups: egg breakfast; egg breakfast plus low-fat, low-calorie diet; bagel breakfast; bagel breakfast plus low-fat, low-calorie diet.

Participants in both low-fat, low-cal. diet groups lost weight , but the egg breakfast plus diet group lost 65% more weight, on average, than those in the bagel plus diet group. The egg plus diet group also experienced an 83% greater reduction in waist circumference than the bagel breakfast plus diet group. The egg plus diet group also reported feeling more energetic over the course of the study when compeared with the energy level rankings of the bagel plus diet group.

So we've known it all along; now this nice study confirms it. Eating eggs vs. bagels for breakfast enhances weight loss for those on calorie restricted diets. And for those of you who just want feel to better but not lose weight, an egg breakfast will energize you, feeding your brain and your body. A great way to start the day

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Right now I'm in Philadelphia at the American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference and Expo. It's a huge affair, filling the convention center downtown. Dietitians are here from all over the country, and people interested in nutrition are here from all over the world.

Karen Friedman-Kester, our culinary expert on the website, is here with me. While I was presenting research yesterday, Karen took most of the day to walk through the exhibit expo. Here, vendors promote their products, from Welch's newest high fiber grape juice to a pasteurized egg still in its shell.

There is also alot of new information service vendors: publishers, online websites, books and materials, all supporting some area of nutrition and dietetics. One of the more prominent areas this year is gluten-intolerance and celiac disease. There is significantly more information here than in year's past, and more products. Through genetic studies, it has become clear that a significant portion of the population (some say as high as 20%) may have symptoms of gluten intolerance, yet may be unaware of the source of those symptoms.

Symptoms of gluten intolerance and celiac disease do not have to manifest only in the gut with the classic symptom of diarrhea. Many people suffer from headaches, mouth ulcers, weight gain or weight loss, poor immunity to disease, and skin problems like dermatitis and eczema. Also associated are miscarriage and infertility and malabsorption problems like anemia.

If you suffer from any or all of these symptoms, you should see a gastroenterologist. There is currently a blood test that can correctly diagnose gluten intolerance and celiac disease. And I can see from here that there are many, many gluten-free products available so that if you are diagnosed, you can still live a flavor-filled life.

Next blog will tell you more of my finds at the meeting.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

On Monday I blogged that I was in Philadelphia at the American Dietetic Association Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. While the continuing education programming was pretty good, the exhibit hall was really the most fun part of the conference (along with seeing so many colleagues and friends from around the country). I mentioned the gluten-free product explosion on Monday. Today I'll tell you about some of the other cool new products being touted by their purveyors. Some may not be available on retail store shelves yet, so check out their websites.

I think that my favorite brand new product was The Power of Fruit, an all fruit frozen bar made with whole fruit, skins and all, equivalent to 1/2 a fruit serving. It tasted wonderful. I usually take a tiny taste of only the best looking foods as I travel through the exhibits. This time I ate the whole bar!

Keri Glassman, a Registered Dietitian, developed a snack bar for her clients that tastes amazingly good. Called the Keribar, it is made from whole fruits, nuts and seeds, and a little chocolate here and there. I think my favorite flavor was the apple peanut butter flavor.

Another snack bar that's recently been introduced to the retail market but wasn't at the ADA conference is the Think brand. They offer a number of lines within their brand, some organic, some to support breast cancer awareness, some to support weight loss, and so on. My favorite is the Think 5 series, although it's still hard for me to believe that they can actually get the full nutrient value for 3 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit in one bar. The bars look funny because there is no artificial anything added, and they are very pureed, but the taste is amazingly real.

Sambazon is the original Acai Juice company. It is a sustainably farmed organic product that is pretty delicious and jam-packed with serious nutrition. I had a great time talking to their National Food Service Manager who loves his work and believes in the product. The company is steeped in the culture of making the world a better a place for everyone involved, and they really walk the walk.

The other great juices in the hall were POM (pomegranate) and Welch's grape juice. The scientist from POM was gracious with his time and explanations. The owners of POM have single-handedlly funded a good portion of the scientific research available on pomegranates today. When it comes to grape juice I'm still a purist and prefer it as a delicious beverage rather than a functional food with all sorts of stuff added, like fiber, or taken away, like sugars. Go to the websites to learn more.

Italica Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain is a remarkably fruity oil that I am going to start to order online. On the day that I was presenting my research poster (from 9 am to 2 pm), these nice guys saved my hungry stomach and fading brain by letting me every one of their varieties of olives, more than once. They were all good, but the green empeltre, which I had never had before, was incredible.

There were other great products, but these were my favorites. And now I'm glad to be home.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I did an experiment with a few of my clients who I've known for a number of years. They've been following my program, but started to feel like things needed some adjustments. They just weren't keeping their weight where they want to keep it. So the first thing that I asked them was whether they were still following the plan that I had created for them.

"Yes, very much so!" was the answer from them all.

After updating my records with their current data, I asked them to do one thing for me for a few days before we changed anything about their program. I asked them to measure their portions again, just like when we began the program. All of them had since been just "eyeballing" their servings.

Just this one little change was a huge eye opener. Everyone was eating more than they thought. One very common place where servings were almost twice as large as they thought was with grains. Instead of a half of a cup of cereal, they were eating nearly a whole cup. Instead of a 1/2 cup of noodles, they were easily eating a cup or more. The one cup of milk for hot cocoa in the evening had turned into 1 1/2 cups.

By the time we added up all the extra unexpected food eaten during the day, they were eating almost 50 grams of carbohydrate, and 200 calories more than planned. While a little extra protein isn't a problem, and they were pretty aware of their fat servings, the carbs will put the cabosh on your weight loss (or assist with weight gain) faster than you can say "my pants must have shrunk!"

So it's well worth it to check yourself everyone once in awhile. Go back to measuring out your portions. If you want to eyeball, make sure that you always use the same bowls, cups, and glasses that you've done your initial measuring into. And if you're having trouble losing weight, or maintaining your weight loss, return to measuring your portions. Very often, that's at the root of the problem if you can't figure out what else is wrong. And it's such an easy fix.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Everyone now, say it together: breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

We've had several studies show us that epidemiologically, people who eat breakfast control their body weight better than those who don't. A new study was just published in the journal Obesity, that investigated the diets and weight gain of 20,064 U.S men, 46 to 81 years of age, during a 10 year follow-up study. Overall, 5857 men had a weight gain of 11 pounds or more during 10 years of follow-up. Those men who ate breakfast prevented the weight gain. The men who skipped breakfast, gained 11 pounds or more.

Part of the explanation for the prevention of weight gain was the higher amount of fiber and nutrients in the diets of the breakfast eaters, compared to those who skipped breakfast. You can just imagine your brain and your muscles feeling satisfied and well fed after a full breakfast of grains, dairy, egg, healthy fat, fruit and maybe even some vegetable. With so much great nutrition on board, there's no need to crave that doughnut mid-morning, or even a cookie or chips in the mid-afternoon. Starting off well-fed makes all the difference to your appetite and to your waist line.

So eating less will get you more weight, and eating breakfast will get you less!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

This question from a reader was in my email box last week. It's such a common question that I thought I'd share my answer with all of you.

Hi! I'm starting the Good Mood Diet and I notice in your sample menus that the morning snack is frequently a smoothie. I'm out and about a lot and frequently unable to make a smoothie. Is there a good alternative morning snack that's portable? Or I guess I could buy something to keep my smoothie cold! Also, what about soy protein powder. I have a bunch of that left. Should I use it up or go with the whey?

To start with, the nutritional profile of the morning snack of 1 milk and 2 very lean proteins is 22 grams of protein, 12 grams of carbohydrate and 0-1 grams of fat. And of course, a cup of fluid. One cup of fat-free milk contains 8 grams of protein and 12 grams of carbohydrate.

If you are home, you could easily substitute 2 egg whites for the whey protein, and drink the glass of milk. But the big issue, as the reader above asks, is what do you do if you're not home? I can tell you that what I do is usually take my milk in a thermos and shake in the whey protein from a zip lock bag when I'm ready to drink it. You can get it flavored, so choose your favorite.

But what if you're either unable to have that, or are just sick of it already? Here are some suggestions:

Turkey jerky and 1 cup of vegetable juice
1/2 (or open-faced) turkey sandwich
The new Think Thin brand bars are actually pretty good. Have one with a glass of water or a cup of tea.

Dairy, and its prominent protein whey protein, are the best for exercise recovery, weight control and helping you deal better with stress. Soy protein is a very good protein, but has not been shown in research studies to be as effective as whey protein. It's still a good source of protein, especially for those who can't use whey. You can use up your soy protein, or alternate soy with whey until you use it up, and then go with the whey.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

We hear so much about all the foods that are high in antioxidants, and that have anti-inflammatory effects on the body. I want to put in a good word for herbs. Herbs are among the most underrated health-promoting foods.

The USDA has tested culinary herbs and spices for antioxidant content and found that many of them outpace fruits and vegetables in this department. For example, Mexican, Italian, and Greek oregano all outscored vitamin E when measured for antioxidant activity. Bay, dill, coriander, thyme and rosemary scored nearly as well. Keep in mind that because herbs and spices tend to be sprinkled lightly on whatever you happen to be eating, they're not a substitute for the quantities found in fruits and vegetables. But it's an easy way to amp up your overall antioxidant consumption, with the added bonus of making your food tastier.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I frequently talk to teen age girls, and have found that the message to eat to feel great works very well. It works even better when we talk about eating to look great, too. I thought that I'd pass along a few of the basics to you.

1. Good hydration is a must. Water works hard to carry nutrients to your cells and toxins out of your body. Without enough water to do this dirty job, your hair, skin and nails may get dull and dry. You may break out in acne or dermatitis. Your face may become puffy, dried out and red. Water also fill up your cells and allows protein synthesis to occur within. This keeps your cells healthy and intact, less prone to invasion and infection.

2. Think protein AND zinc. Skin, nails and hair are made of protein, so eating enough protein is essential for looking your best. An added bonus is that lean sources of protein like red meats, dark meat poultry, seafood, shellfish, as well as nuts, eggs and fermented soybean paste (miso) also have high levels of the mineral zinc, which is important for hair, skin and nail health. LEAN is the operative word to attach to protein here. High saturated fat foods will clog up your arteries and the small blood vessels that feed your skin, nails, eyes, and hair, leading to a sorry look inside and out.

3. Get your good fats. The skin's natural moisture balance depends on sufficient esential fatty acids from fish oils, nuts, seeds, olives and olive oils, lecithin (from egg yolks and soy) and flaxseed.

4. Hold off aging with fruits and vegetables. The antioxidants in dark and brightly colored fruits and vegetables, vegetable oils, green tea, whole grains and soybeans - are critical for helping to ward off diseases and cancers of the skin and eyes.

5. If you're eating a lot of sugar, nothing else will matter much. When it comes to your appearance, the white stuff is a killer. Sugar is responsible for nearly half of all aging that goes on inside skin cells. It shows up as wrinkles because the collagen, the protein in your skin cells, becomes damaged. Eliminate sugar from your diet and you will shave 10 years off your face in no time!

Sounds just like The Good Mood Diet, doesn't it? It will make you Look Great, too.

Yours in a Good Mood (and looking great),
Dr. Susan Kleiner

For years I have been talking about the benefits to you and the planet of choosing organic, if you can. But in the background I have known that ever since the USDA created the organic certification program, industrial farming has all but hijacked the term, minimizing its meaning to only the avoidance of the use of chemicals in farming. In general, the term organic no longer means what it did when the organic farming movement began: sustainable farming methods and humanely raised animals, along with truly healthier food.

If you haven't read MIchael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemma, then you must make it the next book on your reading list. It will open your eyes to the nation's industrial farming megalopoly. Even though I knew so much of what Pollen discusses, he touched an emotional chord and my intellectual consciousness at the same time, motivating me and my family to move forward with a new adventure in food.

After my husband finished reading the book, we set out on a quest to find farms in our corner of the Pacific Northwest that promote the concept of "beyond organic". A back to the future style of farming that uses cutting edge science to most efficiently and effectively apply the farming methods that are truly sustainable - taking the best of farming from the past and creating a vision of the ideal farm of the future, today.

After searching the terms "beyond organic", "grass fed" and "pasture fed" on the internet, we connected with several local farms. Last Saturday we drove 1 1/2 hours from Seattle to the beautiful Skagit Valley, to Skagit River Ranch. We spent an hour talking with Eiko and her daughter. Eiko and her husband George own and operate the ranch. Betty runs the store.

We bought eggs that were laid that morning by the chickens that were wandering in the pasture. We bought chickens that lived a life freely roaming in the pastures. I also purchased eggs, chicken and beef for 3 other families while I was there, so that we made the most of our carbon emissions for the purchase. The livestock was born, raised, and slaughtered on the farm (a mobile abattoir visits the ranch so that the cattle have no fear, and no stress hormones circulate in the meat before slaughter). There is virtually no risk of infection or contamination in these animals because their environment and lifecycle is closed to any uncontrolled contaminant.

The eggs, clearly more nutritious than standard eggs on the market (see the current issue of Mother Earth News to read more), were some of the most delicious eggs I've ever eaten. The chicken is the cleanest and leanest chicken I've ever seen. It made an outstanding 40-clove chicken recipe.

So if you live in the Seattle area, visit Skagit River Ranch website. Wherever you live, take some time and surf the web for farmers who consider themselves "beyond organic". It's the real deal.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

For several decades there has been an ongoing discussion among nutrition scientists about the role that sugar, fructose and high fructose corn syrup plays in the obesity epidemic. The science behind the discussion got a boost this month with the publication of a review article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examining the "Potential role of sugar (fructose) in the epidemic of hypertension, obesity and the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease."

The research is becoming quite clear that high intakes of fructose induces these health problems in both rodents and humans. The question has been, do humans eat enough in their diets to really induce these problems? Sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are made up of about half glucose and half fructose. HFCS is slightly higher in fructose, at about 55%. While HFCS doesn't contain much more fructose than table sugar (or sucrose), in fact it contributes considerably higher total amounts of fructose to the American diet. Because HFCS is remarkably less expensive than sucrose, it has become ubiquitous in our food supply. Since the inclusion of HFCS as an ingredient in processed foods, total sugar, and total fructose consumption has increased by 25%. Our bodies were just not made to handle this much fructose.

To read what a truly distinguished scientist has to say about all this, click through to the editorial in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Dr. George Bray, "How bad is fructose?"

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Here is a great question about breakfast from a reader:

I am feeling limited by some of the optional foods and I don’t know how to make an exchange for a more favorable option. For example, only two cereals are listed under breads. I am not a fan of either one of those cereals. Can I eat my favorites (Cheerios)? If so, how much do I eat? Where can I find answers to similar questions as they come up. I am really trying. This is day 2 and my schedule is so hectic that I have left the house without eating. Where can I stop and pick up a breakfast that would fit the bill?

Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, it's my favorite meal of the day. I wake up to eat. So when it comes to breakfast options, I've got lots of suggestions. First, here's our editor's great "unofficial" tips for those of us who are on the go:

1. Boil some eggs and grab those when you’re on the go
2. Other cereals work, just be careful of the sugar content and aim for something with as much protein and fiber as the recommended cereals. Takes some work, but only once. I think some of the knock-off/organic brands have less sugar (and other gunk) than the General Mills variety.
3. I guess the very best solution is to slow down life a bit so we’re not on the run so much.

I especially like tip number 3.

Here are my tips, and a few one-minute breakfast ideas:

As far as choosing cereals, the goal is to eat a whole grain cereal with little to no added sugar. A little added sugar translates to no more than 4 grams of sugar (1 teaspoon) per 70-80 calorie serving of cereal. If you've read The Good Mood Diet, you know how to read the Nutrition Facts label and decipher how much sugar the manufacturer has added. If you can't eat unsweetened cereal, and adding fruit doesn't do it for you, then buy an unsweetened cereal but add your own sugar. You'll never add as much as the manufacturer does. You can also opt for a non-caloric sweetener.

One of the fundamental tenets of The Good Mood Diet is to eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and especially to eat breakfast. So start with planning ahead to make sure that you can eat breakfast. If you add yogurt to your cereal you can take it out the door with you and it won't spill. You can toast cheese on whole grain bread and take it with you, too. Leftover pizza even works every once in a while. I often take finger food like cereal in a plastic bag with raisins, a hard-boiled egg, and then grab a latte for my morning milk and coffee combo.

When you're already out the door without breakfast, you can pick up an egg sandwich and eat half the bagel or English muffin, and combine it with a nonfat latte and fruit cup. Yogurt parfaits are often available at coffee stands. Fruit, cheese and whole grain crackers are also great for the road.

I hope this helps. If you have more questions, email us. And let us know which breakfast works best for you.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

On Saturday I gave a presentation at the Northwest National Strength and Conditioning Association Fall Clinic. There were about 75 personal trainers and strength coaches in the audience. One of the questions that I was asked was very practical: Are we supposed to only be eating fatty fish, or does all fish count?

Great question.

Easy answer: all fish counts. My standard line is: "Even flounder has more omega-3 fats than a hot dog!".

Seriously, even though fatty fish are higher in the marine oils that are so good for our brains, most fish still have some of the important omega-3 fats. Shellfish are also good sources. So keep eating catfish, flounder, tilapia, trout, and cod. They all count. The protein is great for you, and so is the fat.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It is that season again. We think about food just about 24/7 from just after Halloween through New Year's Eve. If you're a sports fan, it may run all the way to Superbowl Sunday. You know that I want you to eat feel great foods, and occasionally enjoy the most delicious of the foods that may find themselves on the feel bad foods list if eaten too frequently.

During this season of festive eating, and cooking, I'm more concerned about the potential for food borne illness, or what most people call food poisoning. The incidence of food poisoning is on the rise, and most occurances happen at home. With all the pressures of preparing a large Thanksgiving meal, and all the food that is brought in by helpful guests, it's important to know how to make your meal safe, as well as delcious.

Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, wrote a wonderful article for Web MD this week titled "Top 10 Holiday Food Safety Tips". Here are her top 10 tips:

To make sure your holiday dinner is not only delicious but as safe as possible, WebMD asked the experts for their best holiday food safety tips. Here are their top 10 suggestions:

1. Have a master plan. Chefs do it, and so should you. Consider your refrigerator, freezer and oven space, and how you'll manage to keep hot foods at 140 degrees or higher and cold foods at 40 degrees or below. If you need to use coolers, make sure you have plenty of clean ice and check it frequently to be sure the ice hasn't melted. "Whatever you do, don’t rely on the natural outdoor temperature on the porch to keep foods at proper temperature" says Cody.

2. Cook to proper temperature -- and use a thermometer. There is simply no other way to determine that food has been cooked enough to kill bacteria. "Turkeys, stuffing, side dishes, and all leftovers should be cooked to at least 165 degrees and kept above 140 degrees during serving to be sure that any potential bacteria is destroyed," says Karen Blakeslee, MS, of the Kansas State University Food Science Institute. "Remember the golden rule: Keep hot food hot and cold food cold."

3. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours of preparation. Leaving food out too long is one of the biggest holiday food safety problems. "It is so easy to linger around the table, but when food sits outs for more than two hours in the danger zone -- above 40 degrees and below 140 degrees -- it is prime for bacterial growth," says Blakeslee. Adds Cody: "Store leftovers in 2-inch deep, shallow containers and make sure the refrigerator is not over-packed and there is plenty of air circulating around the food so it can be properly cooled." Blakeslee suggests cutting the meat off the turkey to allow it to quickly cool to proper temperature, as well as make it easy to store.

4. Properly defrost your turkey, or buy a fresh one. "If you choose a frozen turkey, allocate 24 hours per pound to defrost in the refrigerator, and whatever you do, don’t defrost the bird on the kitchen counter," says Blakeslee. In light of drought conditions in certain areas of the country, defrosting the bird using frequently changed cold water seems wasteful. But it is safe (albeit time-consuming), as long as you change the cold water bath every 30 minutes.

5. Wash your hands thoroughly and often -- before, during, and after food preparation. "Simply washing hands is one of the easiest ways to minimize bacterial contamination and keep your food safe," says Blakeslee. Wash with hot water and soap, up to your wrists and between your fingers, for approximately 20 seconds.

6. Wash all fresh produce. Wash even prepackaged greens, to minimize potential bacterial contamination. Make sure kitchen counters, sponges, cutting boards, and knives are all well scrubbed.

7. Reheat leftovers to 165 degrees. Filling a plate of food and popping it into the microwave for a few minutes may seem safe enough. But, says Cody, you really need to use a thermometer to make sure all the food is reheated enough to kill bacteria. "Microwaves heat in an uneven manner, so let the covered food sit for a minute or two to let the heat destroy any bugs, then check the temperature all around the plate." she recommends.

8. Keep guests (and sticky fingers) out of the kitchen. "Holidays occur during cold and flu season, which further compounds the fact that about half of all people have staph aureus bacteria on their fingertips," says Cody. "So it is important to prevent anyone from picking at the food while it is being prepared," She suggests serving simple appetizers to give guest something to nibble on until the meal is ready.

9. Serve only pasteurized apple cider. Most juices, including apple cider, are pasteurized to destroy any harmful bacteria. While you can buy unpasteurized juice, it will contain a warning that it can cause serious illness in vulnerable people. "To be on the safe side, serve pasteurized cider at your holiday gatherings," says Blakeslee.

10. Be egg-stra careful with eggs. Many eggnog recipes call for uncooked eggs, but Marcia Greenblum, RD, MS, of the Egg Nutrition Center says "to be perfectly safe, you need to use pasteurized eggs or cook the eggs yolks lightly with the sugar (recipe below) to be sure you kill any potential salmonella bacteria." She also advises that eggs be kept refrigerated until ready for use and always cook egg products to 160 degrees.

A big thank you to Kathleen for her great collection of advice.

Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

This article was posted in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune. You must be aware of the smoke and mirrors in our labeling laws. What you read is not always what they really mean.

Tyson told to cease 'antibiotics-free' claim
November 20, 2007

ARKANSAS - The Department of Agriculture has told Tyson Foods Inc. to stop labeling chicken as "raised without antibiotics" after the agency said it made a mistake in approving that term.

According to a Nov. 6 letter from the USDA, the agency told Tyson it had mistakenly overlooked a feed additive, called ionophores, used for Tyson's chicken when it approved the no-antibiotics label.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said the company plans to submit for USDA approval a new label that still says "raised without antibiotics."

The USDA has given Tyson a stay of 45 days to respond.

So consumer beware!

Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As part of The Good Mood Diet program I ask you to be active. If you are not regularly active, then I encourage you to begin to use a pedometer and set a step goal of 10,000 steps per day.

In the November 21st issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association a study was published reviewing a set of studies that investigated the effects of using a pedometer and setting a step goal on weight loss, and the presence or absence of obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, or hypertension. Twenty-six studies with a total of 2767 participants were included in the review analysis.

Overall, pedometer users increased their physical activity by 26.9% over baseline. The most important predictor for increasing levels of physical activity through steps was setting a goal, like 10,000 steps per day. Pedometer users significantly lost body weight and fat, and significantly lowered their blood pressure. Keeping a log of steps and setting step goals were highly associated with successful interventions.

So here's your to do list:

1. Purchase a good pedometer. Go to our exercise expert's website: www.alicelockridge.com and click on "pedometers". You'll get the best pedometer for the purpose.

2. Set a step goal. If 10,000 steps sounds like walking to the moon to you, then set a goal that sounds realistic. Once you meet it, then move past it and set a new goal. As long as you're moving forward that's what counts. Don't be afraid to sweat.

3. Go to The Good Mood Diet Club page and download a log to track your nutrition and exercise every day. Remember, the bottom line is how you feel.

Just think of how many steps you'll log while shopping this holiday season!

Get going!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Don't you just love that title? It came right off the Reuters Health Download the other day. New research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown that Body Mass Index (BMI), the commonly-used height-weight index for associating body weight with risk of illness and death is not as accurate as how much muscle men have on their upper body and how much fat they have around their waist.

According to the researchers from the UK, among 4,107 men aged 60 to 79, those with a waist circumference less than 40 inches and above-average muscle mass in their upper arms were the least likely to die over a six-year period. A man's risk of dying during the study dropped as his muscle mass rose, while both BMI and waist circumference alone showed little relationship to mortality.

Combining muscle mass and waist size provided the most accurate gauge of death risk. Men with waist circumferences greater than 40 inches and above-average muscle mass were 36 percent more likely to die than those with smaller waists and bigger-than-average muscles, while those with big bellies and small muscles were at 55 percent greater mortality risk.

So no matter what your age, staying active and fit, and following The Good Mood Diet, pays off.

Be buff, live longer!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I wish I had a nickel for every time that someone at a party or in my exercise class, or someplace during my day, has told me that they've "fallen off their diet wagon and can't get back up". While I appreciate how devastated they are, I see this just as another fact of life.

Life happens to everyone. Just as we've got all our plans made and our lives organized, and we feel that we're on cruise, something hits the fan: a child gets sick, the toilet overflows, we back into a pole with the car, something happens to throw our routine out of whack. And once the routine is gone, often our diet and exercise plans hit the skids. But that doesn't mean that the program is over for good.

As I said, I see these happenings as just part of life. If you take it in stride and take care of what needs to be taken care of, you will ultimately go back to the nutrition and exercise plan that made you feel so good to begin with. You might fall off the wagon, but if the program you were on really made you feel great, then you'll ultimately return to it when you no longer can stand how rotten you feel. You will find or make the time again, believe me. Sometimes even while you're still in the middle of dealing with whatever has hit the fan.

Ideally you won't drop everything that's sacred to you. You will always cope better with stress if you have feel-great foods in your diet and you have some regular activity. Try to keep breakfast in your day, your flaxseed meal, your smoothie, some fish in your diet, and your hot cocoa at night. Pull out your pedometer and start counting your steps again. You'll be surprised at how much better you'll feel once you get back to keeping track of something that you know is good for you.

Every life has bumps in the road. If you've been following The Good Mood Diet, you know how great you feel. When the wagon hits a rut and you fall off, at least you'll know what steps to take to get yourself back up on the wagon. It will work for you again, and again, and again.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

There is no question that having the support of a buddy while you're trying to change lifestyle behavior is a very successful strategy. They support you, encourage you, and sometimes even hold your feet to the fire. There's nothing like having to be accountable to someone who has your best interest at heart.

Buddies can be your walking or exercise partner, your confidant about stress in your life, or the person who you spend your evenings with who says "are you sure you want to eat that?". A recent study has shown that even a computer can be a supportive buddy.

In the CHAT study (Community Health Advice by Telephone), subjects were divided into three groups: one that received no phone calls, one that received calls from trained health educators, and one that received interactive calls from a computer. The groups who received calls were encouraged to continue their exercise regimen, and to increase their exercise time. The goal was to get them out walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes most days, or engage in some other medium-intense activity, for a total of about 150 minutes a week.

While the subjects expected that they'd need human support, both groups who received calls succeeded at topping 150 minutes per week. The group receiving a human call averaged 178 minutes per week and the group that received a computerized call reached 157 minutes per week. The group that didn't receive a call reached only 118 minutes per week.

So don't discount the impact of reminders and supportive interaction. I spend many hours a day sitting at my computer working. I program it to give me reminders every 45 minutes to get up and walk around, stretch, do a few jumping jacks, and clear my head. I feel better and I'm much more productive. I am certain that I gain more in productivity than I lose in time with these breaks. But I'm not sure that I'd take them if not for my computerized buddy reminders.

So enlist a human buddy, call a friend, or program your computer to help you make the changes that you'd like to make in your life, and accomplish your goals.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As we enter the season where even kitchen-phobics try their hand at cooking and baking, I thought I'd blog on this important Good Mood culinary tidbit.

You know I'm a fan of healthy fats for both their brain and body benefits as well as their scrumptious tastes. However, cooking with these fats is a far cry from the old Crisco out of a can. If you are going to pan fry, extra virgin olive may not be a good choice. Extra virgin olive oil smokes at 240 degrees F, not far from butter. Smoking oil not only stinks up your house and tastes bad, the chemical changes that occur above the smoke point in the oil may be unhealthy for you. So make sure to choose the right fat when you want to cook at higher temperatures. Here's a list of healthy oil choices and their smoke points.

Oil Smoke Points
240 degrees F extra virgin olive oil
250 degrees F butter
350 degrees F olive oil
440 degrees F peanut oil
450 degrees F grapeseed oil
550 degrees F avocado oil

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I am a very regular exerciser. I keep my exercise time sacred. It's what keeps me on an even keel emotionally and physically, and it feels really good. Just like many of you out there, I wear lots of hats in my life: I'm a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a niece, and the president of my business. I always exercise on Sunday mornings. There are several great group exercise classes offered at my gym, and I enjoy both the camaraderie of the friends that join me in exercise, as well as the Pilates and aerobic step classes. I know that keeping that time sacred plays a large role in managing and relieving the stresses in my life.

BUT, this morning while I was doing a few business tasks on my computer before I ran out the door to exercise, half my data was magically erased! I mean disappeared from anywhere. Talk about stress. The computer store is open on Sunday morning with technical support available. I made the executive decision to trade my sacred exercise time for immediate technical support.

Sometimes taking care of the source of stress in your life is a better choice than exercising to try to deal with the consequences of the stress. This isn't an excuse, it's true stress management. No guilt allowed. It's the right choice to eliminate the source of stress.

What happened to my data? Nobody seems to know. But I've learned from previous computer problems that I need to back up my data on an external hard drive. That has been one of my greatest stress relievers when it comes to computers.

And tomorrow, I'll wake up and exercise. Then deal with whatever really caused the problem with a clear head, and restored files.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It's Christmas Eve. Even if you don't celebrate the holiday, it's a nice time of year. We take vacations, spend time with friends and family, and if all goes as planned, we nurture those we love with food and time spent together. It's a time to celebrate the abundance of life, and share and take care of those in need. Whether you're giving or receiving, feel good for your good fortune.

Alas, this can also be a time of year when we focus on what we haven't accomplished during the year, what we haven't done right, and what we don't have or can't give others. We negate the joy of the celebration of abundance by feeling guilty about what we eat, or the exercise we haven't done. Which leads, of course, to more eating. and more guilt.

At this time of year there really aren't any feel bad foods. But there can be too much of the foods that celebrate abundance and make us feel good when eaten in small amounts. On these very special occasions, my advise is to eat what you truly enjoy, and then make sure to take some of your time to take care of or share with others. This makes you feel incredibly good, and gets you out of thinking about feeding yourself, and focused on making sure that others who might not have food to eat can also share in the joy of the season.

Take food to a food bank, drop in at a soup kitchen, find out how you can help pack brown bags for those who don't have anywhere to sleep. Call the social services department of your city to see where help is needed. Then carry this activity out throughout the year.

I find that doing for others clears my head and reminds me how incredibly fortunate I am. It also drives me to take care of myself, so that I am fully present to take care of those around me.

So don't be bogged down with guilt this season. Enjoy eating and celebrating. And share your joy with those who might not have it without you. You will find that these truly are days to feel great.

Have a Healthy and Festive Season!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

This year has seen an explosion of new and exotic fruits on the market in the produce aisle and in prepared foods and drinks. Here's a list of some you may already see in your market, and some that may show up sometime during the new year.

Acai: grown in the Amazon rain forest, this unusual berry-like fruit is rich in antioxidants, as well as healthy fats, protein and dietary fiber. It is most commonly found in stores as a beverage ingredient.

Camu camu: a red-purple cherry-like fruit that also comes from the Amazon. It is rich in vitamin C, but has a very acidic taste that requires addition of sugar and often milk to enhance acceptability. It can add a very attractive color to foods and beverages.

Capuacu: also grown in the Amazon rain forest, this fruit comes from a tree in the cocoa family (Theobroma grandiflorum) and has a very high antioxidant content. The fruits are brown and fuzzy - an appearance that has earned them the nickname 'hardy kiwi fruit' . They are about the size of melons. I have not tried this fruit, but according to an article in foodnavigator.com, "the pulp is white and creamy, and can be used as a substitute to cocoa in chocolate food products. "

Goji berry: also known as the wolfberry, this fruit has been available as an ingredient for awhile in the U.S., but because of the recent interest in antioxidants it is finding new found fame. It is not found as a raw fruit. The berry is rich in carbohydrates, healthy fats, protein and fiber, and is an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals.

Guavasteen: as mentioned in gcimagazine.com, "Guavasteen, which is also known as Feijoa, is a fruit that has been promoted for its high antioxidant properties. Native to New Zealand, it could likely be the type of new sensation consumers are looking for."

Lulo: an extremely popular fruit and beverage in Colombia, it is just beginning to sell here in the U.S. According to foodnavigator.com, "It looks like an orange-coloured tomato, apparently, but has light-green jelly-like flesh that tastes similar to pineapple or lemon." Due to easy spoilage, it is typically used as an ingredient in products rather than sold as a fresh fruit in retail markets.

Pomegranate: certainly not new, but the fresh fruit is available much more widely and for a longer season than ever before. Products range from bottled juice, drinks and teas to ice creams. Prized for it's high antioxidant content, the fruit can be enjoyed raw. In some countries the juice is a very popular beverage.

Be adventurous. Buy one fresh and try it. If you find the fruit dried or as a juice, see how it tastes. They are all very different than the fruits we are used to here in North America. It's always fun to experience new tastes and create new recipes to add a little zest to your standard menus. We'll try to see what we can come up with in the Good Mood Diet test kitchen throughout the year, too.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It's hard for me to believe that one year ago I was preparing for the official publication of The Good Mood Diet, and psyching myself up for a multi-city book tour. It has been a very exciting year.

The book tour brought me face to face with all of you who wanted to really understand how your mind and body work, what to eat to nourish yourself, and how to feel your best. The website has continued our conversation through our blogs, emails and recipes. You have shared your stories with me of how The Good Mood Diet has changed your lives. You have been and continue to be an inspiration.

Food is very powerful. When feel-great food is combined with exercise, I call it the "magic bullet" that we are all looking for. The magic is in our dedication, and then the natural drive that comes once we are in the groove of doing all the things that make us feel so good.

During this season of resolutions, resolve to take care of yourself. To use how you feel; how you really feel, as your barometer of how well you are doing. Check in with yourself every morning, mid-day and evening. How do you feel? Remind yourself that there are foods that really can make you feel better, even great. Even during these dark days of winter, you'll feel the sun shining from within.

Here's wishing all of you a HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

It's that time of year. No matter where I go, people have diet and nutrition on their minds, and I am asked all kinds of questions from which is the best milk to drink to whether it's ok to ever eat red meat.

Yesterday in the gym someone stopped me and asked what one important change they could make to their diet that would have a big impact on their health. After asking a few questions about their typical diet, I answered:

"Add one plant protein meal to your weekly menu."

While everyone talks about what you should take out of your diet, I prefer to talk about what you should add. I've seen over the years that as the list of feel-great foods that you should add to your diet grows, the foods that are on the feel-bad foods list ultimately fall out of your diet. There just isn't enough room left for them. Also, the nature of eating feel-great foods leads to a lessening of the cravings for feel-bad foods.

So, why add at least one plant protein-rich meal to your weekly menu? These foods, including beans, tofu, soy and soy butter, nuts and nut butters, are dense packages of protein, fibers, healthy fats, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, vitamins and minerals. They add richness and variety to our diets through the combinations of foods that we mix with them in recipes, along with eating the foods themselves. The spices that are used in foods from Latin America, South American, the MIddle East, Central Asia, the Far East. Asia and Eastern European countries with traditional vegetarian cuisine add an additional level of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents not commonly used in American cooking styles.

Many vegetarian recipes are quick and easy. Soups and stews easily lend themselves to slow-cooking, where you can put it on in the morning and come home to a complete dinner in the late afternoon or evening. Stir frying is very fast and light, working well for a late dinner.

This month's recipes emphasize plant proteins, from enchiladas to soy cookies. The cookies work well for a mid-afternoon treat, especially when children come home from school and want something a little special.

Try them and enjoy!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I received an email today mentioning that my articles are more geared for women than men. So here's a blog especially for men. Ladies, you can keep your men healthy by helping them get the nutrients that they need.

The story of whether the carotenoid phytochemical lycopene can really promote prostate health has been bandied about for a number of years. Epidemiological studies have suggested that tomato-based foods, high in lycopene, can protect men from prostate cancer. One study found that men eating four to five tomato based-dishes per week were 25 per cent less likely to develop prostate cancer compared to men eating tomatoes only rarely.

A new interventional study from Germany has given us better evidence for the positive influence of lycopene. Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) but no signs of cancer were recruited for the study. BPH is a non-cancerous swelling in the prostate gland of older men. The subjects were randomly assigned to receive either daily lycopene supplements (15 mg, LycoVit, BASF) or placebo for six months.

The researchers reported that at the end of the study levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a marker of prostate health, were reduced in the lycopene group showing improvements in health of the tissue. However, no changes were recorded in the placebo group. The lycopene groups also showed no enlargement of the prostate, but growth was observed in the placebo group.

According to the researchers, "Symptoms of the disease, as assessed via the International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaire, were improved in both groups with a significantly greater effect in men taking lycopene supplements." The researchers concluded that "lycopene inhibited progression of BPH."

Population studies have focused on lycopene-rich food consumption, but this study examined the effect of lycopene supplementation. The best and most practical strategy may be a combination of both. I am a great believer in the benefits of whole food. In this case, however, just eating fresh tomatoes won't give you enough lycopene to make a difference. It takes eating concentrated sources of tomatoes: tomato juice, tomato soup, tomato paste and puree, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, even ketchup adds to your lycopene consumption, along with raw and cooked tomatoes. Watermelon is also a significant source of lycopene.

It may be hard to reach the needed amount of lycopene through food alone. The epidemiological studies indicate a need for four or five tomato-based dishes per week to gain the protective edge. Everyone may not be able to accomplish this goal. Using a supplement of lycopene along with eating as many tomato-based dishes as possible each week may be the best strategy.

Try the Bean Enchilada recipe in January's delicious Good Mood Diet recipe page. It will become a lycopene-rich staple in your weekly menu.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I know I'm late on my blog today, and I've got an excuse. A new study was just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showing that the older women who were subjects in the study, and who ate some chocolate every day, had a lower bone density compared to those women who ate chocolate only once a week or less.

Well, I really wanted to know more details before I blogged today, but I don't have them yet. I decided to let you know my questions about the details of the data collected so that you won't all worry that your hot cocoa every evening has been doing in your bones. Which I'm sure it is not.

The researchers believe that the reason the daily chocolate eaters had a lower bone density is because chocolate contains oxalate, a factor that binds to calcium and inhibits absorption. However, several years ago a study was done showing that there was no decrease in calcium absorption from chocolate milk compared to plain milk.

My big questions are: what chocolate were the ladies eating? How much chocolate were they eating? How much oxalate were they consuming each day? How much total calcium was in their diet?

These questions are critical in order to compare The Good Mood Diet suggestions with the relevancy of the research study. The Good Mood Diet is rich in calcium, which is consumed all day long. It is unlikely that one teaspoon of natural cocoa powder with your hot cocoa in the evening would be potent enough to have a significant impact on bone-mineral metabolism and density.

I have written to the author, Dr. Jonathan Hodgon, at The University of Western Australia School of Medicine, for the answers. When I receive them, I'll let you know. Until then, I'll keep drinking my hot cocoa.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Whether you're a Patriots fan or not, this season has been pretty impressive for the Pats. Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about, the New England Patriots, coached by Bill Belichick, have gone undefeated this season, and they're on their way to the Superbowl on February 3rd. That is a remarkable achievement, regardless the outcome of the Superbowl.

I worked for Coach Belichick as the team sports nutritionist for 3 years while he was head coach of the original Cleveland Browns in the early 1990's. If you ever wonder how an athlete becomes a champion, or what kinds of things a coach focuses on when he's trying to develop a championship team, I can tell you what Coach Belichick told me.

He said, "The difference between any great athlete and a champion is attention to details."

It is 18 years since I heard that quote. Coach Belichick has become famous for his championship teams. I continue to subscribe to the philosophy. Pay attention to the details. When you start a nutrition program, you can do well initially just by following the basic outline of the plan. But if you really want to get to the next level of health and fitness, paying attention to the details will give you the big payoff.

So if you've plateaued in your progress, or you think the plan isn't working for you anymore, get down to the details. Measure your portions, record your meals and snacks, make sure to get the variety in your fruits and vegetables. Vary your exercise, and re-focus on your rest. Make a commitment to the details, and you'll create a winning game plan!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

On Monday I blogged about a recent article suggesting that older women who eat chocolate daily may have a lower bone density compared to women who eat chocolate less frequently. I contacted the lead researcher, Dr. Jonathan Hodgson, to ask how his research data may relate to guidelines from The Good Mood Diet. Here's what I found out:

As part of the The Good Mood Diet plan I suggest that you can have a piece of chocolate up to twice each week if you like. In relation to Dr. Hodgson's data, that will have no impact on your bone health at all. It's the daily hot cocoa that I was concerned about.

There's always more than one issue to consider when conducting diet studies and analyzing the outcome of the data. In this case, there are many issues, some that we don't even know to think about yet. But the two obvious ones are how much chocolate each day, and what is the total calcium consumption to begin with? In other words, if the women were consuming marginal amounts of calcium, perhaps the chocolate was interfering with absorption just enough to put them into a deficit state. But if they were consuming adequate or abundant levels of calcium, maybe the chocolate wouldn't make a difference for bone health.

I asked Dr. Hodgson about chocolate beverage consumption, and he did collect data that showed that whether drinking one chocolate beverage daily or eating chocolate candy daily, the outcome was the same. HOWEVER, in this study the women were consuming only 900 mg of calcium daily. That is significantly less than the 1200 mg/day recommended for women 50 and older by the Daily Reference Intakes (DRI) published by the Institute of Medicine (the subjects in this study were ages 70-85). It is also below the DRI for women ages 19-50 (1000 mg/day).

The menu plan from The Good Mood Diet always meets the 1200 mg/day calcium level, and is often a few hundred milligrams higher, depending on your food choices. So it is hard to compare our situation with the data from the study. It is not the same. Additionally, we don't know if the natural cocoa powder that we use has the same effect as the products used by the subjects in the study.

So, since I follow The Good Mood Diet myself, I'll tell you what I plan on doing. I know that my calcium consumption is significantly higher than the women in the study. I have a small piece of chocolate candy 1 or 2 times a week, and sometimes less. I have the hot cocoa 4-7 times a week, probably less in the summer and more in the winter. When I don't make a hot cocoa I often just drink milk or have a plain yogurt. I am going to continue with what I am doing now, confident that my calcium consumption is high enough that I've got a safety factor built in, which in fact, is part of the philosophy of setting the DRI's.

If you know that your bone health is already compromised, or you have risk factors for poor bone health, take the study and my blog to your physician, and ask for advice.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

If you are a sushi-eater, you may have read the articles posted in the New York Times and online in the past week about unsafe levels of mercury in sushi-grade tuna. Most of the people that I know who eat sushi-style fish eat tuna. Many have discounted the concerns about high mercury levels in tuna, figuring that good sushi restaurants would make sure that their fish was not only fresh, but safe. The last week's news has suggested that this assumption might not be true.

According to the report in the New York Times, several excellent sushi restaurants and stores in New York allowed their tuna to be tested by the laboratory selected by The Times. The proprietors and chefs sounded as surprised as the readers and customers that their fish might not be considered safe and healthy.

According to the January 23rd article in the Times, "Recent laboratory tests found so much mercury in tuna sushi from 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants that at most of them, a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency."

The results of the testing pointed the most accusatory finger at bluefin tuna, showing the highest mercury content. "“Mercury levels in bluefin are likely to be very high regardless of location,” said Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist for Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that works to protect the environment and improve human health.", reported in the Times article.

Other species of sushi-grade tuna, such as yellowfin and albacore, are typically much lower in mercury content. I advise that you request these two species of tuna whenever you order fresh tuna, especially if you are a weekly sushi-eater.

For more specific information about the exact levels determined in the lab tests, go to the online article from The New York Times January 23, 2008 edition.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I don't usually promote products in my blog, but when I find a great product, I like to sing its praises. A great tasting food is especially important when you're trying to make your portion sizes smaller. My clients always tell me that when food tastes great, they are satisfied more easily, and they often find that they can eat less. They savor the delicious flavor, and know that they've eaten something really special. I keep that as an important philosophy as a I choose the foods that I will eat.

When it comes to pasta, most of it tastes pretty much the same: bland until you put sauce on it. I have found a wonderful pasta that is so full of different flavors you won't believe it. We are very fortunate here in Seattle that Pappardelle's Pasta has a stand at Pike Place Market. But you can go to their website to see and purchase their flavored pastas. Each pasta also has a recipe that has been created to go with the unique flavor of the pasta.

It is very filling, and I find that a little bit goes a very long way. While it may be more expensive than standard pasta, my family eats half as much as usual, leaving a whole other meal as leftovers. So it seems to balance out my food budget in the end.

Tonight I made the Lime-Cilantro Linguine with their Lime Cilantro Pasta with Chicken in Citrus Cilantro Sauce recipe. It's easier to make than it sounds, and it totally fits into The Good Mood Diet.

Always remember to love what you eat, and think about what you NEED to eat next.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The field of nutrition is full of wonderful professionals and scientifically-based information. But it's also rife with quacks and frauds. If you don't have a nutrition degree, how can you judge the quality of the information that you are receiving?

These are the strategies that I use to quickly evaluate information that I am reading. I frequently share them with my clients, students and audiences. Recent questions have prompted me to share them with you. I call it:

The Quackery Criteria*

Based on unproven theory that usually calls for effortless therapy

Credentials of author/purveyor not recognized in scientific community

No reports in peer reviewed journals, but mass media used for marketing

Purveyors claim the medical establishment against them; play on public’s paranoia about phantom greed of medical establishment

Treatment known only to author/purveyor; drugs and preparations manufactured according to secret formula

Excessive claims that promise a dramatic, miraculous, cure, including prolonging life or preventing disease

Emotional images rather than facts used to support claim

Treatment calls for special nutritional support such as vitamins, minerals, or health food products

Purveyors caution clients or readers against discussing the program so that they don’t get discouraged by those who are negative

Programs based on drugs, treatments, or tests that have not been labeled for such use

* (adapted from Kleiner, SM. Beware of Nutrition Quackery. Phys Sportsmed 1990;18:46, 49)

I hope that you find these helpful.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner