People are focusing more on food quality over calories

Chef Gavin Blair of West & Mill gets just as excited describing the baked eggplant with spicy romesco sauce and green beans livened up with lemon juice as he does the white chocolate souffle with vanilla cream.
The restaurant on Marietta Street features a bistro-style menu with classics from Steak Frites to roast chicken. Georgia shrimp, crabcakes and mac and cheese add a strong Southern accent to the menu, too.

What I like about Blair’s cooking is that entrees are properly plated with a healthy dose of vegetables that shine just as brightly as the protein portion. Braised short rib comes with scalloped potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms. Seared red grouper is served with a vegetable escabeche, the lemon-scented green beans and tomato jam.

Portion play

West & Mill’s menu inspired me to write about a new word in nutrition advice today — portionality. Formerly referred to as balance, the concept of portionality is described in a position paper titled “Total Diet Approach to Healthy Eating” in the current issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Here’s an excerpt: “Proportionality, or balance, is eating more of nutrient-dense foods and beverages (fruits, vegetables whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk products), and less of others (high in saturated or trans fats, added sugars, cholesterol, salt and alcohol).”

Translation: Enjoy a variety of all foods to get the nutrients you need, eat more vegetables and try not to slather them in butter, bacon and cheese. Steak Frites is actually a good example of the total diet approach because the dish provides a moderate portion of lean beef with a mixed green salad and some french fries. Did you know that potatoes — even when fried — are a good source of potassium and fiber?

Wider view of food

Dining at West & Mill, Becca Griesemer, editorial assistant for the website Urban Daddy, shared that she’s not so focused on calorie content alone to decide what and how much to eat.

“It can fool people into thinking they’re getting the nutrients they need when that may not be the case,” she says. “I feel my best when eating at my own pace — not because I’ve had a certain amount of potentially empty calories throughout the day.”

This focus on food quality rather than calorie obsession makes nutrition experts really happy.

“They’re finally getting it,” says registered dietitian Sharon Palmer, author of “The Plant-Powered Diet.” “The light bulb is on with a new way of thinking where rather than a food being considered ‘fattening’ such as nuts, people are focusing on the antioxidants and they’re excited that food has this power.”

Sarah-Jane Bedwell, nutrition blogger for Self magazine, adds, “I tell people that it’s not just about counting calories, it is about making calories count.”

It’s a healthy approach to eating that focuses on what you should be adding to your diet, not taking away. May I suggest Blair’s sugar snap peas with almonds, garlic, sherry and chili flakes?