Paper Palate

One may not believe it by looking at me, but good nutrition is important to me. No, I don’t jog, and I am not vegan-thin, but I am very concerned with knowing the latest research in healthy lifestyles and eating, and for that, I turn to Eating Well.

Eating Well started in the 1990’s but folded in 1999, a demise that was sadly mourned by loyal readers. The magazine was well-known for its beautiful photography, up-to-date nutrition news and recipes that balanced flavor and health beautifully; happily, when it returned to production in June 2002, these fine qualities were kept and updated, rather than being discarded for a new and different editorial style.

In its new incarnation, Eating Well’s editorial team (which is mostly made up of veteran staffers from “the old days,”) have updated the look, featuring gorgeously photographed covers of fresh produce, and a larger format in the primarily ad-free pages. (The magazine just recently began accepting advertising within the past few issues; originally, the staff wanted to keep it ad-free in order to have no editorial constraints upon their subject matter and how they wrote about it. Economic realities, however, seem to have intervened in that praise-worthy attempt.)

While it is stylish and beautiful, looks are not all that the magazine has going for it. The articles are fantasic, too. Recent issues have featured reports on how moderate consumption of wine and beer can contribute to good health, the virtues of the Mediterranean Diet, and a James Beard Food Journalism Award-winning special report entitled, “Catch of the Day” which unravelled the intricacies of safe and environmentally-healthy seafood.

The February/March 2006 issue contains the special report, “Cholesterol & the Heart Smart Consumer: Foods to Eat, Foods to Avoid.” The article balances the latest research into what foods seem to help in lowering abnormally high cholesterol levels with the fact that some extremely low-fat diets seem to lower not just the harmful LDL cholesterol levels, but also the helpful HDL levels, while raising triglyceride levels drastically.

I think that is one of the things about the magazine that I find most attractive: in its upbeat attitude and can-do philosophy, which helps give readers tools to take control of their nutrition, the writers and editors keep moderation as their mantra and the key to health. They do not suggest shunning all sweets, citing that anything that is taboo is more likely to become the subject of a binge brought on by frustrated cravings. They do not eschew the use of all fats, or even saturated ones; some of their recipes use a tiny pat of butter to boost the flavor of vegetables, and they do not shy from red meat, knowing perhaps, that Americans are not ready to forgo every pleasure of the palate just to feel better about their health.

The recipes reflect this philosophy of moderation as well. The current issue includes a recipe for a pound cake that replaces much of the butter with lower-fat neufchatel cheese and several of the eggs with egg whites, while substituting half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour. The flavor is still rich and delicious, but there are six grams less fat and 90 fewer calories per serving than in traditional pound cake recipes. (Though I have to admit to being fond of their baking recipes, it is their vegetable recipes which most inspire me to get in the kitchen and feed the family some more greens–the editorial team is well known for featuring very flavorful vegetarian recipes that carefully balance nutrition with taste, and are very brilliantly colored and beautifully presented.)

My only objection to the magazine is that I would like to see even more recipes per issue, and perhaps even a few essays that are based upon the writer’s experiences in living a healthier lifestyle. While the fact-based articles and news briefs are a welcome respite from the plethora of tabloid-style pseud-scientific diet articles that are staples of the women’s magazine market, I think that people are more apt to be inspired by stories that have a human face, and speak with the voice of experience than they are by statistics and scientific research.

But these are small quibbles–little niggling imperfections in an otherwise exemplary magazine. As far as I am concerned, these “flaws” only give the energetic writers and editors room to grow and new directions in which to take the magazine.

Rating: 9 for having one of the few food magazines that I read from cover to cover, and from which I always learn at least one useful thing.

Pro: Gorgeous art direction and design, with thought-provoking timely articles on all aspects of diet, health and nutrition.

Con: Not enough recipes, and maybe a little bit more of a human touch would bring the magazine “home” to readers.

Photo courtesy of Eating Well.