Three Not-So-Bad Things on Aging and Longevity

Who said that eating healthfully can’t be delicious? Certainly not nutritionist, best-selling cookbook author and this month’s guest Not-So-Badder Toby Amidor. We were excited to hear Toby’s thoughts on what it means to eat well—especially in an age where science-backed dietary information is sometimes buried under the latest food fads—and thankful for the reminder that eating healthfully is about balance and sensible choices. “Dietitians aren’t the food police,” shared Toby. “I don’t eat the perfect diet … I like to enjoy food.” Toby’s 10th cookbook,?Up Your Veggies , is set to release this fall—and we’re looking forward to experimenting on our chocolate-loving, pizza-obsessed, vegetable-obstructionist teenage son. In the meantime, we have three digestible bites for you from Toby:

1. One food that everyone should have in their diet:

Avocados, says Amidor. They have tons of minerals and vitamins, no cholesterol, and are a healthy saturated fat—one that helps keep you from wanting to eat that extra package of chocolate chip cookies (which we absolutely did not do last night).?Avocados contain several nutrients including carotenoids, monounsaturated fats, potassium, and fiber that?have been associated ?with reduced risk of chronic diseases. The good news is that Americans have caught on to the value of avocados: domestic consumption?has jumped ?from 436 million pounds in 1985 to over 3 billion pounds by 2021. Although pretty impressive, it does pale in comparison to Americans’ consumption of hamburgers and hot dogs. Americans eat about 50 billion hamburgers per year, and here is a fun, not entirely digestible, fact: West Virginians eat on average 481 hot dogs per year.?

Check out some healthy recipe ideas that include avocado?here . And if you want to ingratiate yourself with a West Virginian, here are?47 ways to make a hot dog .

Pop quiz!

Which food group do avocados belong to?

a) Vegetable

b) Berry

c) Nut

The answer is revealed at the bottom of the newsletter—scroll down to see if you know your 'cados!

2. One common food myth that needs to be dispelled:

That cow’s milk is not healthy. Amidor, who is so excited about milk that she is a dairy industry ambassador, tells us that a cup of cow’s milk has 13 essential nutrients under the?current dietary guidelines , and soy milk is the only plant-based milk that comes close to mirroring the nutrient value of cow’s milk. Compared to cow milk’s 8 grams of “complete” proteins per cup (meaning, full profile of essential amino acids), oat milk clocks in with a meager 3 grams, while almond and rice milk only offer just 1 gram of protein per cup. And although a cup of dairy milk has about 12 grams of sugar, that number accounts for high amounts of lactose: a sugar that occurs naturally in dairy and should not be confused with the added sugars often present in plant-based milk alternatives.?

If you don’t want to kick back with a glass of milk, Amidor recommends yogurt, or even cottage cheese, which Amidor assures us?is cool again . She recommends blending cottage cheese into smoothies. Not surprisingly perhaps, when Amidor is too tired to cook, she trots out the cereal box (Cheerios usually), pours on some milk, and tops with berries. And perhaps tosses back a chocolate chip cookie or two for dessert, just because they taste so damn good.?

3. One reason to be skeptical of the latest health fad:

For almost a half century, the US Department of Health and Human Services has issued what are now called the?Dietary Guidelines for Americans , the principal policy statement guiding nutrition. First issued in 1980 (based on a 1977 report from the now defunct Senate Select Committee on Nutrition), the original guidelines urged the consumption of more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and the reduction of saturated fats such as meat and whole dairy.?More than four decades on, Amidor tells us, the Dietary Guidelines haven’t changed much, despite a fair amount of real science and a heck of a lot more junk science in the interim. In her skepticism about much of the recent science, Amidor is not alone, witness?this article from a pair of Harvard researchers ?arguing that much of “nutrition science is poor” and that it is hard to rely on popular claims around coffee, wine, chocolate and more.?For Amidor, that means taking sensible steps to do what we have long known and avoid the latest dietary craze (except for jumping on that cottage cheese bandwagon—that’s all good).

Finally, drum roll please! The answer of the pop quiz is...?berry!?An avocado is technically a single-seeded berry, despite the fact that its nutritional profile is closer to that of vegetables. You learn something new every day!