Recently the New York Times published an article by the wise and esteemed health, nutrition and science writer Jane Brody.  What You Think You Know but Don’t About Wise Eating

I’ve been reading her by lines for decades.  Even had a copy of her Jane Brody’s Nutrition Book back when I first began running seriously.  In my estimation she has always presented a well-modulated voice when it comes to feeding the human body.

Over the course of the last week Ms. Brody has been taken to task in the sustainable food press and blogs for glossing over and side stepping some of the glaring inconsistencies in her article.  While the core of the article is well intended I’d like to offer a bit of guidance on its intent.   Let’s take a look at these one by one.

Cured Meats –  Here Ms. Brody suggests that steering clear of any cured meat.  It seems like a good idea.  I’m going to disagree for two reasons.  First off I’ll apply the “all things in moderation clause”.  True that cured meats like bacon (a perennial favorite of many), prosciutto, coppa, salume of all kinds carry a load of sodium and fat.  My suggestion is to use these item as a flavor highlighter.  Small amounts in salads, sandwiches, a pasta or risotto for instance can really bump up the flavor.  Remember that it may take only an ounce or less of any of these to give some big flavors on the palate.  When you start to dump the stuff in without thinking its over kill.  Its dumb and a waste of good food.

Her concern about cured meats that use the concentrated celery juice as a replacement for nitrites is a bit unfounded.  The powdered celery and celery juice contain high amounts of nitrites which along with salt, sugar and time are the foundations for good effective curing.

Michael Ruhlman in his blog sums it up pretty well on this one.  http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/the-no-nitrites-added-hoax/

“Please, if someone can tell me what is wrong with nitrites (in green vegetables) and nitrites (in curing salts and in our bodies, a powerful antimicrobial agent in our saliva, for instance), I invite them to do so here.  In the 70’s there were studies finding that at high temps, they could form nitrosamines, cancer causing compounds.  I don’t disagree, but burnt things containing nitrite are bitter and unpleasant so we’re not likely to crave them in harmful qualities.”

Meat Glue–  Whoa, betcha haven’t been running into this one on your shopping trips recently.  On this one I don’t have a any disagreements.  Some restaurants might be using it.  Most often this is going to be in spendy, trendy food joints.  Think molecular gastronomy.

Trans Fats-  They’ve been taken out of nearly all foods.  By Law.  They were never any good to begin with.  Just a cheap way to make cheap food cheap.  Her statements about “naturally occurring” trans fats is accurate.  The point about conjugated linoleic acid should be well taken.  For instance one place you’ll find it is in grass pastured animal meats.

Organics – As I’ve written previously in the the well seasoned athlete / the-sustainable-athlete its wiser for us to think local and seasonal first.  Organics are great but if you shop at Trader Joe’s for your organic red and yellow bell peppers, tomatoes or bags of greens look closely at the label to see where they were grown and harvested.  My research has that stuff coming from far, far away.  Her points on the health benefits of organic over conventional are ok.  As far as genetically modified foods the most important thing is labeling.   They must be labeled.  Vote for it next time.

Farmed Salmon- Sadly,  Ms. Jane Brody should be pilloried for her comments on this.  I’ll be up front and say that aqua cultured fish is the future of fish.  Tilapia, Catfish, Striped Bass, Sturgeons, Steelhead, Char, Trout and some shrimp are raised, successfully on either an all vegetarian diet or a primarily vegetarian diet.

Salmon however is not the future of fish.  Her logic that there is simply not enough of it to justify farming it so we can continue to eat it is just absurd.  The bio mass loss is still too steep, roughly 4 lbs. of fish to create one pound of farmed salmon.  (see End of the Line  and  Four Fish  )  Couple this with the environmental impact of salmon farming and it’s a non-starter.  Sea lice infestations spill over into wild fish populations.  Heavy use of antibiotics are necessary to keep the salmon healthy.  The chemical Malachite_green is used to treat the netting so the abrasions incurred by the densely packed in salmon don’t become infected.  Best to just say no to farmed salmon.  There are other, much better, alternatives out there.  And if you happen to live near a market that sells the real live wild version, buy it when you can.  You’ll be helping out a salmon fisher somewhere.

Nuts-  Again Ms. Brody is right and on the money.  Nuts and nut butters are tremendous sources of protein, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber.  Also, they taste good and can be used in a variety of forms. (whole, chopped, sliced, ground into meal, ground even finer into flour).  They shouldn’t be saved for the occasional small bit on a salad. Think almond flour (or other nut meals) as a substitute for some of the flour in waffle or pancake batters, cookies and the like.  You can make your own nut butters which can be a very tasty way to pull together a hummus (think walnut butter and white bean hummus with ancho chile and lime).

So happy eating.  My hope is that you are following the well seasoned athlete.  If you’re shopping intelligently, cooking smart and eating well then you’re on the right track.