QUESTION - After I exercise I like to drink cold liquids, but my mother says they cause cramps. Is that true?
ANSWER - We hate to disagree with your mother, but she's wrong on this one. Cold liquids may actually be beneficial. To rehydrate your body, it's important to get fluid to the small intestine as quickly as possible. Cold liquids lower the temperature of the stomach, stimulating muscles in the stomach wall to move fluids more quickly to the point where they can be absorbed. Also, the body heat used to warm cold liquids speeds up the cooling-down process after exercise.Cramping when you drink after exercise is caused not by the temperature of the liquid but by the amount. Consuming too much at once can be a problem. To restore body fluids after vigorous activity, don't quickly gulp down great quantities. Instead, drink 3 1/2 ounces to 10 ounces at frequent intervals.
QUESTION - I'm trying to cut down on the amount of fat in my diet. One problem is that I don't enjoy the taste of skim milk. I much prefer buttermilk. How does that stack up in terms of fat?
ANSWER - You're in luck. Most buttermilk is now made from skim milk and is practically fat-free. Stick to the plain variety, though, since butter granules have been added to some buttermilk, which means you're getting a bit more fat and calories.
You may wonder how something with almost no fat can taste so creamy. The answer is twofold: Bacterial action on the skim milk produces the creamy texture, and buttermilk is pasteurized longer and at a higher temperature than regular milk.
If you're trying to limit salt as well as fat intake, you should be aware that commercially available buttermilk usually has salt added to it. The sodium content - 250 milligrams per cup - is about twice that of regular milk. For that reason, rather than fat content, you may want to restrict the amount of buttermilk you drink.
QUESTION - Every day I look in the mirror and see my hair getting gradually thinner. I've heard of a nutritionist in town who treats the problem of hair loss but she's quite expensive and I'm wondering whether it's worthwhile.
ANSWER - Many who call themselves "nutritionists" have questionable credentials. Anyone claiming to cure baldness through nutritional means should be viewed with suspicion.
Some baldness, particularly a patchy form of hair loss called alopecia, as well as changes in color and texture of the hair, is associated with nutrient deficiencies in both humans and animals. Loss of body hair has been traced to excessive consumption of vitamin A, and there have been some reports of hair loss linked to extreme weight reduction diets.
None of these situations, however, seems to fit the description of what is happening to you. Heredity, which is beyond your control, is the more frequent culprit. Your best bet is to consult your physician to rule out any medical reason for the problem, and avoid spending your money on expensive tests and advice from the so-called "nutritionist."
QUESTION - What's the nutritional difference between cooked salami and hard salami?
ANSWER - Cooked salami contains much more moisture - accounting for 60 percent of the weight. In hard salami, 35 percent
See MAYER on C12
of the weight is moisture. For this reason, an ounce of cooked salami has about 70 calories, with 75 percent of them (6 grams) coming from fat. It provides 4 grams of protein, which is about 9 percent of the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (USRDA). It has some iron and B vitamins as well. Cooked salami is high in sodium-over 300 milligrams in a single ounce- which is almost 17 times the amount of sodium you'd get in an ounce of unsalted meat.
An ounce of hard salami, by contrast, has nearly 120 calories. As with cooked salami, 75 percent of them (10 grams) comes from fat. An ounce of hard salami would provide 16 percent of the USRDA for protein, and the same B vitamins and iron in cooked salami. It has 525 milligrams of sodium per ounce-even more than cooked salami. On the other hand, hard salami is usually sliced quite thin, and people may tend to eat less of it than of cooked salami.
Keep in mind that whichever kind of salami you use, it's quite high in fat, higher in calories than lean meats, and rich in sodium. That means that for many of us salami is better considered an occasional treat than as a regular feature of our diets.
1992, Washington Post Writers Group