Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
Biography

	What can I use for a salt substitute? I am looking for sugar substitutes and fat substitutes. Any suggestions for fried foods? What are your five top tips for lightening recipes?

The "Recipe Doctor" is in! From smart substitutions that will lighten without losing flavor, to a complete makeover of your fattening family favorite, Elaine Magee of the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic has the answers. She joined us on Jan. 12, 2005, to teach a tasty, lighter style of cooking to get you on the way to a new healthy you.

If you have questions about your health, you should consult your personal physician. This event is meant for informational purposes only.

MODERATOR:
Welcome to WebMD Live, Elaine.

MAGEE:
Always my pleasure to be here.

MODERATOR:
A new year means new resolutions about healthy eating for many of us. What are the things we should look out for in recipes - the red flags that we should watch for if we want to change our eating habits?

MAGEE:
When I look at a recipe, I'm looking to cut the calories by using less fat and less sugar, if possible. The positive thing I can do to a recipe is add in some whole grains or substitute in whole grains. And find ways to add other higher-fiber nutrient-rich ingredients, like beans, fruits and vegetables. So basically I'm attacking a recipe in two directions: I'm looking at what I can take out and looking at what I can add in. The bottom line is trying to create recipes with smart fats and smart carbs but also moderate amounts of fat. Because I've always believed in a diet that isn't low, low in fat, but lower in fat.

"I'm attacking a recipe in two directions: I'm looking at what I can take out and looking at what I can add in."

Research continues to come out supporting that view. The first recent study comes from WebMD from their Weight Loss Clinic. A French doctor/researcher analyzed data from over 28,000 American men and women who answered a 500-question survey with the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic. What they found was a strong correlation between increased fat consumption, both total fat and percent calories from fat, and increased body mass index (BMI). The study found no correlation between daily carbohydrate and protein intakes and being overweight.

Then there was a study from Brown Medical School using data from the National Weight Control Registry and their diets were compared. These are people that have maintained weight loss for a certain period of time. They found that the people who increased their fat intake over a year regained the most weight. So the point is it's a good idea, clearly, to avoid a high-fat diet. It's a good idea to take out excess calories whenever we can. That's what I have in mind when I lighten up recipes. At the same time that I'm increasing fiber and nutrients in a recipe, it has to taste good. So the key is knowing how far to push a recipe and have it still be a product that's enjoyable.

MEMBER QUESTION:
Thank you for providing this event. My question is about sugar substitutes and fat substitutes. I am allergic to every sugar substitute I have tried, including Splenda and my husband is allergic to cellulose gel, found as a fat substitute in most fat-free and light-fat products. I am in desperate need of weight loss for health reasons and am looking for ways to cut the calories and fat from foods with healthy substitutes that do not involve commercial sugar substitutes or cellulose gel. What would you suggest? One example I am aware of is using applesauce in place of oil in a cake mix.

MAGEE:
I wrote an article on smart substitutions that lists all the types of recipes -- what I consider to be the fat threshold. In other words, the minimum amount of fat to carry off the recipe and the ideal types of fat replacements. You can find it by going to the Healthy Cooking Special Needs message board and look at a post from this past Monday that's called the New You, New Year Challenge. January 10th, 2005. That's something you can print out and have.

But to answer your specific need, with the sugar substitutes you can always just use less sugar. That's actually what I've done for years before Splenda came along, and I would never use all Splenda anyway, I would use half sugar, half Splenda. So what you can do is simply use 2/3 of the sugar called for and perhaps even half of the sugar called for in some recipes.

For the fat substitutes, I often use real foods as substitutes -- applesauce is one example -- but you can also use coffee, depending on the recipe, or things like fruit juice or wine. I do tend to use certain products that may have the cellulose gel you're talking about, like fat-free sour cream, fat-free cream cheese. But when I say fat-free sour cream in a recipe, you can also use some type of yogurt; there may be some type of yogurt that doesn't have added cellulose. The trick is finding an ideal fat replacement for that particular recipe.

If you are ever stumped, you can write a post on my Healthy Cooking Special Needs message board and describe the recipe and that you can't use cellulose; I will help you brainstorm possible fat replacements.

MODERATOR:
Elaine, I just saw an ad for an oil blend - canola and soy. It claimed that the body didn't absorb this fat as much as other oils.

MAGEE:
My guess would be that they've added something in addition to the oils, because there's nothing about canola oil in combination with soy oil that makes either of them less absorbed. But I would still encourage people to use olive oil or canola oil as their chief oils.

Soy's not too bad, but it's got more Omega 6s than canola and less Omega 3s than canola. What we're trying to achieve is a higher amount of omega 3s in our diet, fewer Omega 6s and more monounsaturated fats. That's where olive oil reigns supreme. Keep in mind, canola oil also has substantial monounsaturated fats, as well.

MEMBER QUESTION:
Although I do enjoy the flavor of fried foods, I rarely ever fry because I thought it was just bad for your health. I have tried coating with bread crumbs or corn flakes, then baking, but it just never tastes the same. Any suggestions?

MAGEE:
I have a new book out called Fry Light, Fry Right! that's all about how to have your fried foods and eat light, too. So check it out. I think on amazon.com it's like nine dollars, and it's one of those fun cookbooks that has a spiral binding and really cute graphics.

But the whole point is that you can oven fry and pan fry with a lot less oil and still produce fried foods that we crave and love. What you're trying to maintain is the crispy exterior and moist interior and the browning that takes place on the surface, which creates a plethora of wonderful flavors. The browning requires a little bit of carbohydrate, like starch, which is why we use a breading, and it requires a little bit of fat. So the key here is a little and not a lot of fat. I love fried foods myself, and I amazed even myself with some of these recipes in this book. Things I didn't think could be lightened that really could be, using specific techniques. One example is tempura. It actually really worked out well being oven fried. That's just one example. Take a look at the book if you get a chance on amazon.com, and you can probably find a lot of your favorites in this book.

MODERATOR:
I have the book and the recipes are really wonderful. I'm looking forward to trying some of the snack foods for Super Bowl Sunday.

MAGEE:
Let me point out one example of a "before" and "after" on a recipe. One is pork chimichangas, and we're basically oven frying the chimichangas with a little bit of oil instead of a lot; the "before" was 768 calories per chimichangas, and the "after" is 333.

The "before" on grams of fat was 43 grams; the after was 11 grams. Mind you, these are delicious oven fried. The saturated fat went from 18 grams to 2.4 grams. That's just one example.

Thinking ahead to Super Bowl, there is a chapter with finger foods -- greaseless finger foods. There are so many of my favorites in the chapter. Let me just name a few:

• pan fried artichoke hearts in garlic herb batter
• jalapeño chili poppers, which are oven fried
• avocado egg rolls, which are a light rendition of the most popular appetizer at the Cheesecake Factory restaurants
• Better for You Buffalo chicken wings with light bleu cheese dip

The opinions expressed herein are the guests' alone and have not been reviewed by a WebMD physician.