Ask the dietitian: Trucker going in right direction with food choices

Q: I am a truck driver who is on the road for one to two weeks at a time. I have been trying to do better with my eating habits and keeping healthier snacks around while I drive. (I have a refrigerator, microwave and convection oven in my cab.)

I have been bringing (and eating) more fruit, vegetables, lean meats and sunflower seeds to snack on instead of chips and sweets (snack cakes and cookies). I go through two to three fruits a day, and every week about a pound of carrots and celery cut up, and a pound of sunflower seeds (the kind you have to remove the shell).

I haven’t lost much weight yet, but I do keep up my gym membership while on the road (they have gyms across the country), so that happens two to three times a week, too. Any suggestions for me?

— D.W., Grand Rapids

A: It sounds like you have made some positive changes in your eating habits so far. You’re even making an effort to keep up your physical activity, which can be a major challenge for some truck drivers.

One thing that jumps out at me: You may want to rethink the sunflower seeds. They are very healthy for you, because they are a good source of protein, healthy fat and fiber. But sunflower seeds are surprisingly high in calories. A pound of sunflower seeds contains about 2,800 calories. If you are eating a pound a week, then after four weeks, you would have eaten enough calories to gain 3 pounds.

That may be undermining all of the other good things you are doing with the fruit, vegetables and exercise. Can you make the pound of sunflower seeds last all month to spread the calories out?

Q: I have a question: Does olive oil turn into a carcinogen when used to brown meat? Or to make an omelet?

— G.P., Grand Rapids

A: There is no evidence that olive oil changes into a carcinogen (cancer-causing food) when it is heated. There are some people who prefer to keep the olive oil cold because they feel it has better olive flavor that way.

Any oil, if overheated to the point of smoking, starts developing “off” flavors and undesirable chemical changes.

At that point you’d change the oil in a deep fryer, or use a different oil meant for high temperature cooking.

E-mail questions to Vicky Ferguson at or