Mindful Eats

How Much Protein Do You Need?

Smoked trout from Gramercy Tavern 

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Americans are obsessed with protein. We eat more fresh meat per capita than all other countries, except for China (#1) and Brazil (#2) and yet trendy diets encourage people to eat even more meat to lose weight or be cavemen. Though to be honest, there's only one way to lose weight - create a calorie deficit by eating less and/or exercising more, but that's another post. (For a nifty graphic on food consumption by country, check out this New York Times graphic.)

So how much protein do you need? You can't overdose on it (though there's a very slim possibility of getting kidney stones from eating too much). This handy article from Runner's World details protein requirements for a normal person and an endurance athlete. We broke it down in the below chart. Most people get more than enough protein without thinking, but if you are a vegetarian or an athlete, you may have to focus on it more. 

To figure out how much protein you need, figure out how much you weigh, then decide if you have normal or athletic requirements. If you are wondering whether or not you are an endurance athlete, then use the requirements for a normal person. Look up your requirements, and choose the sample menu or add up protein grams in various foods to get to the right amount. We chose to think in grams since food labels provide protein in grams.

What to do - Mindful Protein

1. Figure out how much protein you need from the chart above. If you aren't vegetarian, you don't need to stress - you are probably getting more than enough protein.
2. Choose your protein sources from the foods in the "Sample Menus." Producing meat takes up the most environmental resources, so consider eating more nonmeat proteins. It's also more expensive then plant proteins. Try Meatless Monday to benefit your health, your wallet, and the environment.
3. If you choose animal proteins, think about choosing non-industrial meat. The animals are allowed to move, eat their natural foods, and are not injected with hormones or antibiotics.
4. If you are vegetarian, make a concerted effort to plan eating protein. No Meat Athlete chronicles an endurance athlete's meatless running.

What I ate: vegetable juice, 1 latte, 8 oz. drinkable yogurt, 1 coffee, Cherry Lane steamed asparagus + shiitake mushrooms, tofu, roasted beets, 3 green beans, quinoa, 3 squares dark chocolate, 1 small slice chocolate cake, stir-fried shiitake mushrooms + asparagus + spinach + tempeh, brown rice, dried mango slices, macadamia nuts, 1 mango, Mindful Mix, hot chocolate, 40 oz. water

Exercise: jogged 4 miles

Conventional vs. Organic Food Debate: Why I Voted Conventional

Q: Can a test tell if this mango and apple are organically grown? Answer below 

What strikes me about this debate is that the tone here is as bitterly partisan as anything that's happening in Washington... And I'm curious about why -- we're talking about food.

Did you know that back in the olden days (say Abe Lincoln's time), people considered political speeches and debates entertainment? Families would pack up a picnic and go watch a speech for hours. They loved it - the longer the better. As a kid, I found that amazing- I could hardly imagine anything more tedious. Then my friend Bill sent me some info on an Intelligence Squared debate on organic food. I'd always avoided debates, but I had to check it out. Tickets were $40 - what the heck? Who would pay $$$ for an old-fashioned debate?! Somehow I got in through a press pass (go Mindful Eats!), and you know what? It was awesome - passionate, funny and informative. I'm going to listen to those intelligence² debates from now on (they're on NPR, Podcasts, pretty much all medium), they totally feed your brain.

The way the debate works is that there's a resolution, and a panel of experts for the resolution and against. The audience votes for, against or neutral at the beginning, then they do it again after the debate. The side that gets the most switchers wins. The resolution of this debate was "Organic food is marketing hype." Naturally, I voted for the organic debaters, but Dear Reader, I voted the opposite side by the end. The debate was entertaining, informative and hateful - each side could not stand the other. Even ABC News Moderator John Donvon said he hadn't moderated such a nasty debate. 

I'd always wanted to know what conventional food people argued since it seems obvious that organic is better if you can do it. The panel of experts was fascinating:

For Conventional Farming: Dennis Avery, Director of Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues; Blake Hurst, soybean farmer and writer; John Krebs, former chair of the UK Food Standards Agency (that released the supercontroversial report that organic food is not more nutritious). All these guys were very well spoken, especially Krebs.

For Organic Farming: Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue food writer and Iron Chef judge; Urvashi Rangan, Consumer Reports Director of Technical Policy; Charles Benbrook, Head Scientist of The Organic Center. Rangan and Benbrook were good - Steingarten seemed drunk.

So what are the benefits of conventional food? In general, the conventional panel was more global in their outlook and the organic panel was more local. Here's what the conventional panel said:

• Conventional farming is more environmental. (Shocking!) Conventional farming increases the yield of land, and as the world population increases and grows more affluent, the only way to feed everyone is to increase the amount of food we grow on farmland - otherwise we will have to cut down all the rainforests and parks for farms (and then some). 
• Conventional food is just as nutritious and less expensive. There have been no definitive studies that show organic food is more nutritious, so growing it that way is a waste of effort.
• The amount of pesticides and chemicals in conventional food is marginal. If you ate conventional food for a year, you would consume less carcinogens than in a cup of coffee.

And the organic side? Organic production is only 3% of America's food, but it's got a big bark.

• Organic farming is more environmental. It's sustainable - the soil is not being bombed with chemicals and worn out.
• Animals aren't abused and are much healthier. They can perform natural activities (like walking) since they aren't penned with thousands of other animals where they are too smushed to move. They also eat natural foods (no poop or ground up animal parts in feed).
• It's better to eat food without any chemicals, even it it's a tiny amount.

One person asked if an apple could be tested to determine whether or not it was organic. 

The answer (from the organic side) was NO. If there isn't any detectible pesticide residue, then you can't tell if food's been grown organically or conventionally. The labels organic and conventional are about production methods, not food. Which is why I switched sides - I'm not convinced that the USFDA is currently able to test and reinforce the organic label. That's why it's best to get to know your local food growers - you can just ask them at the farmer's market.

The conventional side painted organic supporters as elitists that are unconcerned with poverty and feeding the world, and the organic side labeled conventional supporters as big industrial companies that steamroll everything in search of a profit. Moderator Donvon kept mentioning how partisan each side was (and he'd moderated debates on torture and paying for sex). It's pretty clear that we will have both conventional and organic growing methods for as long as you and I are here - why don't they just learn from each other? It's all food, people. Eat it whole (but not too much).

I went to dinner after the debate with a few passionate NY sustainaistas (Frankies 457 - yum). One of them was local farmer Dean Sparks from nymilk, and when I told him about the debate, he nodded wisely at the global issues and said "Look, I can't feed the world. I just want to feed good food to my family and friends and people around me, and help save some farms in upstate." We drank to that.  

Bottom Line - my takeaway from the debate was that the healthiest thing to do is eat whole foods. That is the most important thing, and you are doing great for you and your loved ones by doing that. If you can afford to go organic, do so. If not, it doesn't matter.

What to do - Eat Whole Foods

1. Buy and prepare unprocessed food, whether it's conventional or organic, frozen or fresh. Unprocessed is best. You are doing awesome things for you and your family with this alone.
2. If you can allocate a small amount toward organic food, focus on organic meat and dairy as these have a high concentration of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics.  
3. If your budget allows for more organics and you are concerned about pesticides, focus on purchasing organic versions of the dirty dozen and conventional versions of the clean 15. Organic produce may spoil faster since it isn't pumped full of preservatives so you may want to use it more quickly.
4. If you want to limit the environmental impact of your food, you are awesome. Buy organic or local. Organic and local is best, but it's not always possible, so think about the environmental toll of shipping (scale of volume, distance, etc).  
5. Talk to the growers at your local greenmarket. Just because it's not labeled organic doesn't mean the grower isn't using great farming practices. 
6. Grow some of your own food. Do a little research and find out what's easy in your area. For example, zucchini and tomatoes are easy in the Northeast. Even the Obamas are planting a garden on the White House Lawn! 

For posts on sustainable, organic, local and ethical food, go to Food Renegade.

What I ate: Fage yogurt + ground flax seeds + Sarabeth jam, macadamia nuts, cafe au lait, 5 squares dark chocolate, whole wheat spaghetti + Rao's Siciliana sauce + flax seeds + sauteed swiss chard, 1 apple, 1 avocado, almonds, quinoa, sauteed tofu + shiitake mushrooms + bok choy + yeast , cheddar cheese, hot chocolate, 40 oz. water

Exercise: 75 min yoga + 15 min meditation

Green Household Cleaners

Biokleen Automatic Dish Powder, Mrs. Meyer's Lavender All-Purpose Cleaner refill, white vinegar

Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely. ~PJ O'Rourke

My parents visit me every year during tax season, and their visit throws me into a spring cleaning tizzy. Last year when they were here, I woke up and found my mother cleaning my already-spotless bathroom floor. So this week I spent a few days deep cleaning for their visit -- floor scrubbing, sweater folding, window washing type cleaning. 

Household cleaning is a gazillion dollar industry. Just go to a store and look at the tremendous amount of real estate allotted to cleaning products - they promise to bomb germs and grime to kingdom come. You probably have an extensive selection of cleaners. Do we really need that many? We probably need fewer than we think.

My philosophy of avoiding chemicals in my food and personal products whenever possible is pretty much the same with cleaners. This stuff can be toxic - take one whiff and let your eyes water. Cleaners work their way into your body through multiple channels - you inhale them as you are scrubbing, you absorb them through touch (even if its just walking into your recently Tilexed bathtub), and you eat them when you put food on your recently sprayed counter or just on your plates. You also drink them as cleaners get absorbed into the ground and contaminate our water sources.

Have cleaners been proven to be toxic? Some of them have, but I don't really care. There is a strong dose of unpronounceable chemicals in those bottles, and I'm not going to wait around for a medical study to tell me that a specific cleaner is linked to a chronic condition. This stuff is clearly not good for my health or the environment. 

I started looking for less-toxic, greener alternatives a few years ago. It's hard! You can whip up your own natural cleaners with lemons, vinegar, baking soda and water, which is pretty cool, but I'm too lazy to do that, so I buy commercial items. It's pricier than making my own, but at least the "natural" alternatives leave a fresh, nice smelling house instead of a light head like the conventional stuff. I even look forward to using it - it's the only nice thing about cleaning. 

What to do - Mindfully Green Your Cleaners

Simplify your cleaning needs in zones (in bold below), and begin greening your supplies gradually or all at once. There's an ever-growing world of green cleaners out there - from the granddaddies of green brands like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Biokleen to higher end Caldrea to the widely distributed Method. Check out your household products at this National Institute of Health database. Do you really need all those supplies? See if you can narrow what you need down to an all-purpose cleaner and a few specialists.

1. Read the ingredients lists of your cleaners. Like food, make sure the lists aren't long and/or toxic sounding. If you are motivated to make your own cleaners from household ingredients, you are awesome. Search the internet for recipes or check out these by Real Simple magazine. 
2. Experiment to see what works best. Then share your results with us! I like products that don't require a lot of elbow grease. The easiest way to avoid heavy scrubbing is to clean regularly. When Silda Wall Spitzer was in the governor's mansion, they tried a lot of green cleaners and ended up primarily using Ecover, Seventh Generation and Biokleen.
3. Buy large quantities of cleaner to refill your smaller bottles with. It's easier on your wallet and the environment! Most of the green cleaners make large refill sizes.
4. Glass. Glass cleaner is actually easy and cheap to make. Real Simple says to mix ¼ cup vinegar, 2 cups water, and a squirt of liquid Castile soap in a spray bottle, then spritz windows and wipe with a sheet of newspaper. The now defunct Domino Magazine recommended Biokleen Glass Cleaner in 2008.
5. Floors. I use Mrs. Meyer's All-Purpose Lavender Cleaner for non-wood floors. According to Real Simple, you can mop almost any type of floor with a solution of ¼ cup liquid Castile soap and 2 gallons warm water. If the floors are greasy, add ¼ cup distilled white vinegar to the bucket.
6. Bathrooms. I use Mrs. Meyer's All-Purpose Lavender Cleaner ($7.99 for large 32 oz that can be cut into spray bottles) on everything in the bathroom. Domino Magazine crowned Solay Simple (7.95 for large 32 oz) their 2008 Green winner, and I'm planning on trying it. I have to admit, I don't always clean my bathtub as regularly as I should, and as a result, I had to bomb it with Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover for my parents. That stuff works wonders, but it smells like you need a hazmat. I'm going to stick to using my all-purpose more frequently from now on. 
7. Kitchens. I use the all-purpose cleaner for all surfaces in here as well. Some people want a disinfectant, which used to be hard to find green, but fortunately Seventh Generation has a new line of EPA registered disinfectants. Conventional dishwashing detergents are icky. Mine is from Williams Sonoma (works great on grease - I use it to clean off my stovetop when it's greasy), and I love my Biokleen Automatic Dish Powder. It's effective and concentrated so you don't need that much. One of the most common cleaning mistakes is using too much cleaner in the dishwasher, so be careful!
8. Laundry. Domino Magazine crowned Shaklee "Get Clean Fresh Laundry" their 2008 Green winner. I haven't tried it but it's on my list. This is the other most common cleaning mistake - too much laundry detergent, so go light. It's good for your clothes and the environment.
9. Wood furniture. My furniture store recommended Guardsman Furniture Polish, but I have a feeling it's not too green since it doesn't list the ingredients. Domino Magazine put Timothy Corrigan Home ($12.50 for 12 oz.) on their list.

Resources:

• Debra's List of Green Cleaners - an extensive brand list from Debra Lynn Dadd, who was dubbed the Queen of Green by the New York Times
• Household Products Database - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - check out household cleaners here
• Mindful Gear - you can buy many green cleaners from our Amazon store if you can't find it locally. They can also make a nice present for an eco-minded person that has everything.

What I ate: 1/2 sweet potato, lots of macadamia nuts, 1/2 avocado, 1 c. steel cut oatmeal + milk + ground flaxseeds, scrambled eggs + ground flaxseeds, Mindful Mix, 1 apple, 1 cup steamed broccoli, Mike & Sam's cheese popcorn, cheddar cheese, 1 piece duck, whole wheat spaghetti + Rao's Siciliana sauce + parmesan + ground flaxseeds, dried mango slices, hot chocolate, 50 oz. water

Exercise: 2 mile jog + 4 mile race, 25 minutes weights