Food Myth No.3 - If It's Deep Fried, It Can Still Be Nutritious

fresh

We all know the evils of french fries - with or without trans fat.  We all know the transformation a common vegetable like the potato goes through once it's subjected to 350 degree oil.  Of couse, we know fries are not really vegetables.  It would not surprise folks to see a small potato go from 57 calories and 0g fat to 230 calories and 11 grams of fat when McDonald's sell them as a small fry.  But the myth is that the common potato is not that much of a vegetable anyway.  It's nutritional value is pretty unimpressive even when eaten boiled or baked.  Let' face it, the potato owes much of its popularity to it's wonderful ability to fill you up and act as an perfect placeholder for your cheese, bacon, sour creme, pulled pork and yes butter.

deep fried

The myth is that other more robust nutritious vegetables can still be deep fried and serve as a healthy alternative to steaming, baking or boiling.  Let's look at the facts shall we (numbers from CalorieKing Food Database and LiveStrong.com):

Okra goes from 18 calories and 0 fat to 300 calories and 16g fat when served as a small order at Church's Chicken.

Onion goes from 32 calories and 0 fat to 180 calories and 9g fat when served as a small order at BurgerKing.

Zucchini goes from 14 calories, 0 fat to 620 calories and 40g fat when served by more gourmet eateries.

This same frightening transformation could be demonstrated for mushrooms, sweet potatoes, broccoli and any other previously fat free source of vitamins, nutrients and fiber.

So don't fall for the myth.  If it's deep fried, it really doesn't matter what comes out of the oil drenched waiting to be salted and served. They should be eaten in limited quantities.

Food Myth No. 2 - It Matters a Lot How Your Chicken is Cooked

It seems like chicken is on most menus no matter where you are in the world.  It's variety of uses and accommodation for less than skillful preparation makes it a stable on the dinner plate.  Also, the abundance of restaurants that offer chicken makes it probably second only to ground beef as the food of choice for lunch.

Myth: Fried chicken is bad, broiled or grilled chicken is good when it comes to nutrition.  This one myth has spawned the growth of rotisserie only chicken restaurants and new entries of grilled chicken at one famous chicken chain.

Understand this: When your wonderful chicken breast is covered by a variety of sauces, creams, cheeses and other assassins of good health nothing else matters.  This is not part of the myth but is part of America's in attention to detail.

Here's why the myth that chicken preparation is the primary factor behind it's nutritional value.  Take the chicken thigh, juicy, tolerant to over cooking, can be prepared in thousands of ways.  You can get it boiled (typically in soup), fried (KFC, Church's, Popeyes to name a few), Roasted (Boston Market), BBQ'd (most BBQ restaurants - see my award winning blog postings for some great ones), now grilled (KFC).  Of course, the cook at home has all these choices available to them too.  It just doesn't matter.  If you don't pull the skin off it just doesn't matter.  Let me repeat: It's the freakin skin that drives the fat, not the prep. 

Here's the data for one chicken thigh taken from a number of websites including CalorieKing (a food database):

Roasted: 9.6 g fat
Flour Coated and Fried:  9.3 g fat
Stewed: 10.0 g fat
KFC Grill: 9.0 g fat

It doesn't matter!!

So the next time you're faced with a choice of chicken, your selection should be based purely on flavor and taste.  If you seek reduced fat pull the skin off and if possible order the breast.  It will be more filling and the meat itself is leaner.

Food Myth No. 1 - The truth about steaks

We all love beef.  In fact, I have a posting that identifies some of the best places in Houston to get a great steak ("Top Steakhouses in Houston", June 1, 2010).  This deliciousness can be so flavorful and satisfying in his "heaviness" that the experience will stay with you for days (in more ways than one).  However, in the spirit of of this blog which attempts to encourage great living through education and hard work, you must realize a steak is not a steak is not a steak.  You hear the term "marbeling" and we instantly know that the most flavorful of beef selections has this coveted quality.  Just understand there is a price to be paid for this wonderful taste..... yes, let's say it all out loud "marbelling" is the code word for fat.

When you go to one of these wonderful establishments that have been granted celebrity status with their names being mentioned on these pages;  Yes, you will get the salad with fat laden dressing.  That issue is for another post.  Yes, you will get your fully loaded baked potato.  Yes, you will probably finish the meal off with some type of dessert (brownie with ice cream, so good).  That's the reality and assume they're common no matter what steak you get.  Now let's also assume you order at least an 8-ounce selection.  The government classifies a serving as 4-ounces.  The only time we get 4-ounces of beef is at McDonald's or Burger King.  Most folks over the age of 4 will select 8, 12, or 16 ounces of grain fed beef when ordering steak.

So with this background, what kind of 8-oz steak will make a big difference in the quality of your inevitable path toward aging:

Sirloin, lean, broiled: 424 calories, 14.8 g fat

T-Bone, broiled: 490 calories, 23.8 g fat

NY Strip, broiled: 392 calories, 26.0 g fat

Prime Rib, broiled: 538 calories, 45.0 g fat
Ribeye, broiled: 600 calories, 46.6 g fat
Porterhouse, broiled: 600 calories, 47.6 g fat

Club, broiled: 730 calories, 53.8 g fat

OMG: Club steaks have 3 times the fat of a sirloin!  T-bones and NY Strips are reasonable compromises.  The rest, particularly if you choose the "Big Boy" 16-oz variety of the artery cloggers should be eaten with caution and only in celebration of your first marathon or reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Bon Appetit!