Dr. Joe Galati's Blog

Olive Garden Food Is A Hazard To Your Health

You can eat where every you'd like to. Eat as much as you want. I cannot control that behavior. What I try and do, both with my own patients, and listeners of Your Health First, is to enlighten them to the hazards we all face regarding our health and wellness.

As a country, we eat out far too much. The portions are enormous. The salt (sodium) content is excessive, and the fat and calories of these meals is a leading cause of both adult and childhood obesity. Hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure, and cancer are all complications of obesity. The cost to care for all of these people with make us all go broke. Obesity related care is expensive.

The Olive Garden has their nutritional information posted on their website. My family recently had the opportunity to dine there. They were all impressed with the lack of nutritious meals, and the contributions to the obesity problem this kind of a menu has. Reading it will both raise your blood pressure and make you sick. There is nothing healthy on the menu. As consumers, be aware of the salt, fat, and calorie content of the food you eat. Only then can we begin to put the brakes on obesity which is killing us all.

My podcast commentary from Your Health First is posted below.

Podcast: Olive Garden Commentary-Listen Here

 

Too Much Dietary Sodium: Interview with Jolene Vanderzyl, R.D.

Jolene Vanderzyl, a Registered  Dietitian with Sugar Lakes Family Practice, will join Dr. Galati tonight to discuss the problem of excessive dietary sodium (salt) in the American diet. For the past five years, we have been discussing the salt problem in our food, and while there have been some strides in changing our behavior, educating the general public is still priority number one.

 

Salt is everywhere in the food we eat. A day does not pass where I am instructing my own patients, as well as their family, on how to maintain a low sodium diet.  For patients with advanced liver disease and cirrhosis, we strive for a diet with no more than 2000 mg of sodium daily. In some cases, we need to go even lower. There is always great confusion regarding salt and sodium, and the foods to stay away from. Many times, patients will state "I haven't used salt in years", yet on a quick scan of their diet history, they are well over 2000 mg. How does this happen, you ask? I do not doubt the patient is telling the truth and retired their salt shaker years ago, yet the sodium content of prepared foods is huge, and this is what throws most everyone over the limit. Eating out regularly, or consuming prepared foods that you nuke, are all loaded with sodium. In addition, both of these activities will lead to obesity.

 

Links related to dietary sodium are listed here. Let us know what you think on this subject by commenting below.

 

Dangers of Dietary Sodium

 

More Bad New on Sodium

 

American Heart Association and Salt

Listen to the interview here

Low Salt Diets: More Education Needed

A delightful new patient was seen in the office today with the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease that unfortunately had progressed to cirrhosis.  She was accompanied by her sister. They we both obese, on the borderline of morbid obesity. The cornerstone of treatment is to get her weight under control, and I estimated that she would have to lose approximately 75 pounds to get anywhere near a reasonable, safe body weight.  We discussed several strategies, but the one point that stood out is that she was consuming massive amounts of dietary sodium (salt). Here diet was a parade of processed, nutrient stripped foods, loaded with enough salt for a week. These were the foods she regularly consumed:

   Sodium per serving

Frozen dinners:   800 mg
Commercial vegetable juice:    650 mg
Canned corn: 610 mg
Packaged deli meats:     605 mg
Canned soups:    1025 mg
Chinese food:    3500 mg

Adding it all up, she was consuming well over 7,000 mg of sodium daily. Remember, patients with cirrhosis should shoot for 1800-2000 mg/day. On physical examination, she had well over 30 pounds of fluid hanging on her body.

The lesson once again is to be aware of the foods that are high in sodium.  You must read labels on the food you consume. The public needs to be re-educated on low salt diets. Parents with children equally need to be aware of this fact. It is impossible to maintain a low salt diet if you eat out on a regular basis. If for health reasons (heart failure, liver disease, kidney disease) you must be on a low salt diet, eating out has to be a thing of the past. It will save you money, and the the grief of being scolded by your physician.

Remember: CUT THE SALT!

 

More on First Lady Michelle Obama and Let's Move

Today in the office, it was another hectic day seeing patients. I was struck by how often I had to discuss obesity with patients and their family. The educational need in this area is overwhelming. Basic facts on calorie, salt, sugar, and fat content of foods is lacking.  You can direct patients to web sites all day to seek out information on food, nutrition, and fitness - but in the end my feeling is that they will still fail to really grasp this issue at hand. It is not that these people are not smart-not at all-it is simply the fact they there is a very high level of intensity that is required in getting the real message across. In has to be face to face education.

We have a great staff in our office, Liver Specialists of Texas. I simply don't have the time to allow the staff to spend any more time with the patients. We could spend all day talking about obesity with them.

Enter Michelle Obama. One family brought up her name, and the Let's Move effort she has outlined. They seemed to have the basic facts on the program, and the issues at hand. Michelle Obama did seem to connect with them. The First Lady has limits to her time I would imagine. She would need to be pounding the pavement 12 hours a day for the next three years to even make a minor dent in the problem of obesity. So where do we all stand with this?

We have to reach the youth, their parents, educators, school administrators, and corporate leaders. One clear message needs to be in tune. Obesity is killing us. Obesity is killing our children. Obesity is going to bankrupt the economy. If we can fix this problem of obesity, healthcare reform (aka address obesity), and cost savings, would be a true victory.

Do the following starting tomorrow and everyday thereafter:

1. Reduce your salt (sodium) intake to 2,000 mg per day.
2. If you go out to eat, order one meal and split in two with you partner.
3. Weigh yourself daily and record it.
4. Start a food diary and record everything you put down the trap.
5. Exercise 5 days per week. Remember 3500 calories burned is a pound lost.
6. Don't eat anything out of a can, box, or bag. Fresh fruits and veggies are the only way to go.
7. Look in the mirror at yourself every morning.

Take responsibility for yourself, and your health.

Childhood Obesity: Michelle Obama and the "Let's Move" Program to Tackle Obesity in Kids

Michelle Obama has stepped up to the plate to take on childhood obesity as a cause. I commend her on this effort. It's going to take a massive effort to get it under control. Educating parents is the first step in addressing this massive public health proble. Read the link below. Let me know what you think.

Michelle Obama this past week launced the "Let's Move" program, geared to address childhood obesity. For more information, click here.

Organic Cooking Tip Sheet

One of my favorite (if not all time best) web sites is World's Healthiest Foods (www.whfoods.com). They have an excellent discussion of cooking organic.  It's worth taking the time to review this and sharing it with friends and family.

As always, your comments are welcomed below.

Enjoy.

Dr. Joe Galati

Read more about organic foods and cooking here