Hiking, biking, jogging, kayaking, or just strolling in the park, you begin to feel a bit hungry. Not dinner-time-hungry, and not even snack-time-hungry, rather just-one-bite-hungry. You satisfy that one bite, and 10 minutes later, you want another one. And so forth. What do you do?

If you’re looking for a snack that can be consumed slowly over the course of an hour or more, chocolates and bars are not a great option. Things get sticky if you don’t finish them off right away.

But pouring some nuts and raisins from a pack and popping them in your mouth is nice, clean choice. And supposedly a healthy one too, right?

Theoretically Trail Mix is the super snack – all natural ingredients, no additives, and a good balance of protein, carbs, and unsaturated fats. Unfortunately, not all trail mix products are created equal. If you’re looking for a healthy snack, here are a few pointers:

1. There’s no rocket science here. Trail mix is just a mix of nuts and dried fruit. The most basic formula is roasted peanuts and raisins. In fact, you can make your own at home for a much lower price that buying it prepared.

2. Most brands of trail mix boast more than just peanuts and raisins. As long as the ingredient list stays “pure”, you’re good to go. Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and dried fruit such as apricots, pineapples, apples, cranberries, blueberries, etc… are all good.

3. You need to watch out for added “goodies”, such as m&m’s and other candy that really don’t add to the already complex sweet and savory flavor, and just add useless sugar and food colorings.

4. Look out for salted items, and stay away from them. Salted peanuts can contain as much 200mg (close to 10% of your daily maximum) per 1 oz serving.

5. Beware of added sugars used to coat dried fruit. The fruit are so sweet in their natural form that is an absolute crime to add any more sweet.

6. Yogurt coated raisins sound yummy and healthy, but folks, it ain’t really yogurt. Here’s an example of Vanilla Yogurt Coating – Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Nonfat Milk, Nonfat Yogurt Powder (Cultured Nonfat Milk), Whey, Titanium Dioxide, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla. Yes, it contains trans fat, thanks to the partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil.

7. Roasted nuts tend to be prepared with oil and salt. Look for naked nuts, no additions.

8. Dried fruit are often processed with sulfur dioxide (E220) in order to preserve their original color. Apples would appear brown and unappealing otherwise. Some people develop allergic reactions to this preservative, and some can actually feel its chemical aftertaste. But for the most part, it’s not a biggie.

What to do at the supermarket:

Consider buying the raw ingredients and preparing a trail mix at home. Base it on your family’s taste preferences. If buying a ready mix, look at the ingredient list and make sure it doesn’t contain any unnecessary oils, salt, sugars and preservatives.

What’s your favorite Trail Mix? How does it stack up nutritionally?

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It’s a shame that pistachios are being recalled en-mass due to a new salmonella outbreak. These are very healthy nuts!

As we wait for the FDA recall list to fatten up, let’s learn about this delicious nut.
1. The pistachio nut comes from the pistachio tree, native to western Asia – Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, and western Afghanistan.

2. Pistachios reached Europe from Iran at least as early as the 6th century.

3. In the US, pistachios are cultivated mostly in California and New Mexico.

4. Today’s top manufacturers of pistachio are Iran, US, Turkey, Syria, and China.

5. The pistachio nut is actually the seed of the tree fruit. This is what experts call a culinary nut, rather than a botanical nut.

6. The word pistachio originated from a mix of Persian and Latin.

7. If you thought a machine splits the shells open, you’re wrong. They split when the fruit ripens.

8. Each pistachio tree averages 120 lbs. of nuts every two years. That’s around 50,000 nuts.

9. Pistachios are rich in mono-unsaturated fats (the good kind). Research on the health benefits of pistachios has shown that they may help reduce levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower the risk of heart disease.

10. Pistachios are also rich in Thiamin (vitamin B1) and vitamin B6.

11. A 1 oz. serving of pistachios of 40-50 nuts contains over 10% of the FDA’s daily values for fiber, magnesium, copper, and phosphorous. It will set you back 150 calories.

12. Like all food from plants, pistachios are cholesterol free.

13. In these dire times, try walnuts and cashews as alternatives. So far, they are safe….

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From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Food allergies in American children seem to be on the rise, now affecting about 3 million kids, according to the first federal study of the problem. Experts said that might be because parents are more aware and quicker to have their kids checked out by a doctor. About 1 in 26 children had food allergies last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday. That’s up from 1 in 30 kids in 1997. The 18 percent increase is significant enough to be considered more than a statistical blip, said Amy Branum of the CDC, the study’s lead author.
Read Article…

What you need to know:

Although not necessarily the only reason, parent awareness may be attributed to the rise in number of allergies. 30 years ago, a sickly child may not have been diagnosed as allergic to a specific food item. Luckily, many children outgrow their allergies. Until they do, parents and kids need to be on the vigil, including at the supermarket. The FDA requires warnings on food labels that contain one of eight categories of allergens (Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree nuts [almonds, cashews, walnuts], Fish, Shellfish, Soy, Wheat).

Don’t confuse a food allergy, which is a reaction triggered by the immune system, with an intolerance to a certain food.  For example, milk intolerance means the body has a hard time breaking down the milk in the intestines, causing bloating, gas, and pain.

Lastly, there are many online resources for parents and children with allergies. Two good sites are: http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/ and http://www.allergysupport.org/

What to do at the supermarket:

Always fully read a product’s ingredient list. Check online for food recalls as some products get mislabeled.

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