One of the television sets in my health club is always tuned to the Food Network. As I sweat off the calories from yesterday’s dinner, I marvel at the calories I could be consuming if I were to make some of the selections featured on the program.  The foods look delicious. But as I watch the “calories burned” slot on the treadmill inch up much too slowly, I know I would have to spend the rest of the evening in the gym to justify eating them. Why do even the skinniest cooks on these programs insist on adding so much butter, oil, cheese, cream and eggs to their recipes? Would adding smaller amounts of high-fat ingredients or using alternative lower fat methods of cooking (like steaming rather than frying) destroy the taste the chefs are seeking?

Because of the concern over the increase in obesity in the U.S., federal and local governments are trying to make the public aware of the calories they are consuming through food labels and posting of nutritional information in fast food restaurants. Certain magazines devoted to lower calorie cooking, as well as some cookbooks, list the calorie contents of their recipes and substitute lower calorie ingredients for traditionally higher calorie ones. Should cooking shows do the same? 

One of the problems with sticking to a diet plan is the annoyance of having to choose to eat low calorie foods that are simply not as appealing as higher fat varieties. Obviously fried chicken smothered in a southern style cream sauce or a chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate, eggs and heavy cream (two food show offerings) are more tempting than poached chicken breast or an egg white omelet.  Or are they? Most dieters would like to know how a gourmet chef would prepare chicken breasts so they satisfied the taste buds as well as the rules of the diet program.

There are many carbohydrate foods such as rice, potatoes, and corn meal that are the staple foods of many cultures. In the U.S., however, these fat-free satisfying complex carbohydrates are often relegated to side dishes or ignored because only one or two ways of preparing them are known. Rice, for example, is a culinary chameleon. It may reflect the eating traits of South American, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, European and Asian cultures. Although the starting point is a package of rice, the end results may differ immensely depending on the culture in which it is being prepared.

The tastes of these rice dishes are interesting and different enough from each other so that a week of eating rice recipes could not be monotonous. Yet rice or other complex carbohydrates are not often featured as important side dishes or even main dishes on many cooking shows.    Another problem with television cooking shows and magazine recipes is that the objective of the preparation is to satisfy only the taste buds. Although it is true that people are drawn to cooking and eating many foods because of how they will taste, they are also drawn to eating certain foods because they know how they will feel after consuming them.

A simple meal of a thick vegetable soup and fresh crusty bread on a cold winter’s night has a comfort quotient that the most elaborate dish may lack. So do a bowl of mashed potatoes, a dish of rice with brown sugar and raisins or a plate of pasta drizzled with olive oil and spattered with grated cheese. Simple as they are, these dishes have the power to make you feel centered, calm, and in a good mood.

Our weight-loss program promotes such foods for dinner because we know they will not only calm our stressed and overworked, overcommitted clients but will leave them feeling full and satisfied as well. Indeed during our initial consultation we talk about such foods as part of the diet program and usually are confronted with “I can eat that? Those are my comfort foods. Won’t I gain weight?”

We explain that no, they will not gain weight because these foods take away the desire to eat after dinner. Because carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, bread, and pasta trigger the brain’s production of serotonin, they will be in a good mood and not hungry. Serotonin will make them feel less stressed and also turn off their appetite. And no, they will not gain weight. These foods are naturally fat free, and by keeping added fat ingredients such as butter or oil or cheese to a minimum, they will be eating relatively few calories. When we tell them about the many ways they can prepare rice or potatoes or pasta as a main course, we can almost hear them salivating.

The final question we get from our clients is “ Why didn’t anyone tell me I could eat rice, pasta, and potatoes and lose weight?” One answer is that most diet programs do not focus on how to eat so that the brain turns off appetite. Another is that when cooking shows, restaurants and magazines feature pasta or rice or potatoes, they are part of a high-calorie recipe. Obviously mashed potatoes prepared with cream and butter and then topped with cheese and oil and baked is not a diet food. Nor is rice covered with a sauce made from bacon drippings or pasta layered with four types of cheeses.

But maybe one day soon, when I climb back on the treadmill and glance at the cooking show on the TV perched above me, I will see a program on low-fat carbohydrate comfort food. That would be worth exercising for.

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