Facing the cold, hard truth about Kung Pao chicken
Written: Mar 19 '00 (Updated Mar 19 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Colorful, easy-to-read articles, name-brand comparisons, easy recipes
Cons: The cold hard truth about your favorite foods may be too much to bear!
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| tanster's Full Review: Nutrition Action Healthletter Magazine |
Let me just preface this review right now by saying that I do not eat healthy. I dine out way too much for that. Come to think of it, I probably don’t exercise as much as I should, either.
Which is why I always keep the Nutrition Action Health Letter on my coffee table. Together with my monthly copy of Shape magazine, I figure that, with all that valuable nutrition and fitness information sitting right in front of me as I watch TV, some of it has got to sink into my brain eventually. Diet through osmosis, I call it. :)
You probably have already heard of the group that publishes NAHL -- the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). This is the group that first publicized the evils of Chinese restaurant food (Sept 93). They bought some of the most popular dishes from Chinese restaurants around the country, sent them to an independent lab for nutritional analysis, and then published the ugly results. How bad was it? How about an order of Kung Pao chicken that had the same amount of fat (76 grams) as four MacDonald’s Quarter Pounders? –- that’s more fat than a person should consume in an entire day.
They really tell it like it is, no holds barred -- the cold, ugly truth about health and nutrition.
What the NAHL is
Created in 1974, the Nutrition Action Health Letter is a full-color 8-page health and nutrition newsletter that is published 10 times a year. Their advisory board includes more than a dozen MDs and PhDs from institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Stanford University, and the National Cancer Institute. The NAHL contains no advertising, which means the newsletter is 100% information.
Here are the three main reasons why I subscribe to the NAHL:
#1: Brand name food comparisons
• This is probably the most important feature of the NAHL. Any publication can tell you to eat less fat and sodium; NAHL rates name-brand products with their exact fat and sodium content. This makes it a virtual no-brainer to pick the right products at the supermarket!
• Example: the March 2000 edition compares the nutritional value of various frozen fishsticks (a favorite meal of the under-12 crowd, or so I’m told). Four ounces of Mrs. Paul’s Healthy Selects Baked Fish Sticks has 3 grams of fat; the same amount of Gorton’s Crunchy Golden Fish Sticks contains 15 grams of fat.
#2: Cheers and Jeers
• The back cover of the NAHL always features the dynamic duo of “Right Stuff” vs. “Food Porn.” As you may guess, “Right Stuff” showcases a food product with high nutritional value, whereas “Food Porn” exposes another product for its lack of nutritional merit.
• Example: In the January 2000 issue, cheers went to Mann’s Broccoli Cole Slaw prepared salad kit (using shredded broccoli instead of cabbage for the slaw results in meeting 150% of a day’s requirement for Vitamin C in a single 1-1/2 cup serving); jeers goes to T.G.I. Friday’s frozen potato skins, which have 510 mg of sodium and 17 grams of fat per serving.
#3: Healthy recipes that are easy to prepare
• Besides comparing name-brand items, the NAHL also provides recipes (from leading healthy cooking cookbooks) that supplement a particular story. It also provides a “Tip of the Month” for a quick and nutritious snack or dessert.
• Example: “Place 4 peeled pears, with bottoms trimmed flat, in a bowl with 1 cup of water. Drizzle with the juice of ¼ lemon and microwave for 8 to 12 minutes. Discard the water and spoon 2 teaspoons of warmed raspberry or other preserves over each pear.” (From the January 2000 edition, and doesn't it sound yummy?)
Other features of the NAHL
The NAHL also contains in-depth articles (“Exploding Exercise Myths,” “Diet and Behavior in Children,” “Phytoestrogens for Menopause”). All articles are written for the average consumer, not the medical professional. Well-illustrated diagrams, colorful tables, and simple quizzes often accompany the articles, making the subject material even more engaging.
NAHL versus the competition
Consumer Reports publishes a competitive newsletter called “On Health.” It is also an 8-page newsletter of current health and nutrition issues, and also backed by a distinguished panel of medical professionals. While it offers the same type of information as the NAHL, it’s only a 2-color newsletter with fewer illustrations and tables. I also didn’t see any recipes in the one issue I received. For the same subscription price, I would recommend the more colorful and user-friendly NAHL.
All in all
If you’re a couch potato and the most exercise you ever get is to walk to the refrigerator, this newsletter might be overkill. But...if you are interested in learning about health and nutrition in small digestible chunks, and are particularly interested in brand-name food comparisons, this is a perfect addition to your coffee table!
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For more info
• Nutrition Action Health Letter website: http://www.cspinet.org/nah/index.htm
• Center for Science in the Public Interest website: http://www.cspinet.org/
Subscription rates for the NAHL
The subscription rate is $24 for one year; $42 for two years. You can also buy single copies for $2.50 each. Because I’ve subscribed to the NAHL for the past two years, I got a special renewal price this year for only $10!
Recommended:
Yes
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tanster
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Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 111
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Happily reviewing cool gadgets and SF Bay Area restaurants since 1999. Pass the gravy, please.
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