Sodium (salt is back in the news)

++ Doesn't it seem like nutrition recommendations go in cycles?  We've had cycles on fats in general, saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, carbs in general, sugars, fiber, etc.  Now, sodium is on the hot seat again.  You need a little in your diet to help nerves function properly and body fluids get to where they belong.  However, most Americans get more than they need, and so do people in other technological societies.  That leads to fluid retention, which can worsen health problems like high blood pressure, a big contributor to heart disease and strokes.

How much do you need?  The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that, in general, adults get fewer than 2300 mg/day of sodium.  High-risk groups should get under 1500 mg/d.  You should talk to a doctor about this, esp. if you are in a risk group:  family or personal history of hypertension, African-American, and being over age 50 are the most common ones.

How much are we getting?  The average for adults in the USA is 3400 mg/d.  About 15% of this comes from a combination of 2 sources:  what is naturally in food and what comes from your salt-shaker during a meal.  The rest is added in processing - for flavor and longer shelf-life, mostly; and because it is a relatively inexpensive way to meet these manufacturing needs.

Who's responding?  Governments in several countries are working with the food industry to lower the amount of sodium in processed foods; most notably: the UK (since 2003), Canada, Australia, Finland, France, Ireland, and New Zealand.  Several other countries are looking into this, so this list will soon (we hope) be incomplete.  In the USA, the Institute of Medicine is working with the food industry on sodium standards. Nearly 20 large companies have already agreed to work toward targets set by NSRI, a consortium of cities, states, health organizations, and food/restaurant companies committed to lowering our sodium intake.

What else can you do? 
Use the nutrition facts panel on food labels to compare foods before you buy.This information is also available at many restaurants and fast-food chains.
Cook more at home, from scratch (or almost scratch).
Eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods. 
Cut back on ketchup, soy sauce, and other condiments.
Keep on eye on portion size.
(The current video featured on the Kids Eat Right Page offers more ideas.)

Start now:  This could be a good resolution for you in the new year.  Decide on a small step to take right now to lower your sodium intake and add a new little step monthly. 

Happy New Year!

Safe Food Pledge

Are you ready to take the pledge?   

It's holiday baking time. Resisting the urge to sample cookie dough can be almost impossible. Encourage everyone in your kitchen this holiday season to take the Cookie Rookie Pledge before helping with baking, and reward kids for curbing their cookie dough craving with an official Cookie Rookie Certificate of Achievement from ADA/A-N-D's and ConAgra's Home Food Safety program.

Visit www.homefoodsafety.org for other activities for kids as well as tips and downloadable resources to help family and friends keep unwanted guests (like harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning) away from holiday tables.

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ADA

The American Dietetic Association is changing its name to The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  The new name will be a better reflection of the mission of the organization.  The web address will stay the same: .  Requirements for becoming and remaining a registered dietitian will stay the same for now - they will continue to be updated periodically as science and technology advance. Dietitians remain your source for sound nutrition information!

"Just a tiny taste. . ." famous last words!

Food for thought, courtesy of a great web site: "Tiny Tastes can Lead to Big Calories over Winter Holidays" Alice Henneman, MS, RD, UNL Lancaster Co. Extension Educator,  ahenneman1@unl.edu • food.unl.edu The extra calories sometimes sneak up on us over the winter holidays. They don’t always arrive in the form of large portions of calorie-laden food. Rather, they may tiptoe in through many tiny tastes throughout the day.  Let’s look at “Holly Day’s” food diary for one day to view how those “tiny tastes” can add up. Calories are approximate and will vary, depending on brand, recipe, exact serving size, etc. Taste 1: OOPS! I broke that cookie removing it from the baking sheet.  I’ll just eat the half that didn’t get all crumbled up. I deserve it for getting up early to bake these cookies before heading to work. Approximate Calories: 30 calories Taste 2: Someone brought holiday candy to work today! I’ll just have one small piece of the peanut brittle.  Approximate Calories: 80 calories Taste 3: It’s mid-afternoon and I still haven’t eaten lunch. I need to pick up a few things at the grocery store before I swing through a fast food place for a quick bite. The grocery store is offering food samples — I’ll just eat a little cracker with spread to tide me over until I get to lunch. Approximate Calories: 40 calories Taste 4: The fast food place is giving out 1/4 cup samples of its special flavored holiday coffee. I can’t pass that up! Approximate Calories: 20 calories Taste 5: Still a couple of hours to go at work before I head to that holiday dinner tonight. I think I’ll check out the break  room to see if any more goodies have shown up. ... Some chocolate-covered cherries have appeared!  Chocolate is good for you, right? I’ll just have one. Approximately Calories: 60 calories Taste 6: It’s a great dinner party, but maybe I shouldn’t stand near the snack table before the meal starts. I’m now dipping my third chip.  Approximate Calories: 75 calories Taste 7: Who can pass up old-fashioned eggnog? I’ll just have a half-cup. Approximate Calories: 200 calories Taste 8: There are just a couple of tablespoons of candied sweet potatoes left. Someone should enjoy them — it might as well be me! Approximate Calories: 60 calories Taste 9: The nice thing about helping dish up dessert is you can take a little “preview” taste — using a separate tasting spoon, of course! One heaping tablespoon of candy cane ice cream coming right up! Approximate Calories: 70 calories TOTAL TASTING CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 635 If comparable types of “tiny tastes” are continued throughout the holidays, it might be possible to gain as much as a pound a week! On average, an additional 3,500 calories above your body's needs can lead to a weight gain of a pound. Maybe that tiny taste isn’t so small after all ....

Food Safety widget

++ There is a new "page" on this blog.  Check it for food recalls and similar updates from the USDA and FDA. 
For questions on safety as you cook your holiday dinners (or at other times), try the "turkey hotline" at 888-674-6854. 

Halloween Candy . . . there's too much of it

Here's an idea for all that Halloween candy:  After you've gorged on it for one night, use the rest in the kitchen.  It will come handy if you make a ginger-bread house.  Kids love to help with this, and their results are always beautiful.  (More on Kids Eat Right page.)

Fructose. . . Is it as bad as they say?

++  High-fructose corn syrup - a bad guy?  You hear it all the time.  How much of it should you believe?
  Actually, high-fructose corn syrup is higher in fructose than "regular" corn syrup, but not much more than honey, which averages 38% fructose.  Sucrose (plain table sugar) is 50% fructose (chemically attached to glucose).  Fructose is about 1/4 more sweet than sucrose.  This refers to plain fructose, rather than as part of another compound.  This is part of the reason high-fructose corn syrup is used so much in food processing.  Other reasons relate to price, stability when stored, etc. 
 One reason fructose gets such a bad rap is that it is a relative new-comer to our diets.  We've been eating sugar (sucrose) for centuries, and honey since prehistoric times.  Another issue is that our intake of all "caloric sweeteners" is increasing.  These are the ones that add more than a very few calories to a serving of food.  This increased intake of sweets gets much of the blame for our "obesity epidemic" and the health problems that come from that.  Much of the increase is in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.  Besides that, many people over-look the fact the less exercise adds to the problem.  We see lots of ads for artificial non-caloric sweeteners; but, we seldom see an ad for artificial exercise.  We sometimes see ads for devices that supposedly jiggle fat away, but on the whole, exercise is seen as work and artificial sweeteners are seen as handy and easy. Why not go for "easy" when trying to lose weight?!! 
  There is a little research available on health effects from fructose itself, but not much, and not widely known.  For example, it appears that the bodies of a tiny percentage of people don't turn fructose into energy in the usual way.  Symptoms of this syndrome over-lap with symptoms of other digestive system disorders such as a gassy, bloated feeling and diarrhea.  Foods made with high-fructose corn syrup are not the only ones to cause this discomfort.  Others include many fruit juices and most foods high in sugar.   Fructose may also be a contributer to abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome (which is a warning sign that a person is at higher risk for diabetes and heart disease).
  Bottom line:  All foods can fit into a balanced diet, but some are harder to control than others.  Watch out for all of those sweets!

Burn Calories while You Rest (get some afterburn)

++   It sounds too good to be true.  Maybe, it's not.
  A study recently reported by the American College of Sports Medicine looked at "after burn."  David Nieman and his team of investigators worked with a small group of young men and found that energy use after vigorous exercise does not go down as soon as the exercise session is finished.  The subjects' energy use was measured during a day when they were mostly inactive.  The next day was the same for them, except that they rode a stationary bike - hard enough to work up a sweat - for 45 minutes in the morning.  Of course, they burned calories to do this.  During the next 14 hours, during which time they were again mostly inactive, they burned a total of 190 calories more than the day before.  This is about equal to losing 1/3 lb. per week while just sitting, if everything else you do would keep your weight steady.  It's not much, but it can add up.  If they biked less hard or less long, their metabolism was still revved up - just not nearly as much. 
  There are a lot of factors involved in weight control and we don't understand how all of them work.  But, this fills in one piece of the puzzle, and it's encouraging news.  An added benefit is that exercise helps your health in other ways, too.  Of course, the usual precautions apply, like checking with your doctor before starting a vigorous work-out program if you have any hint of health or age issues. 

  So, don't wait - get out there and get active.  (It is okay to finish reading this first!) 

Try this Cake!!

I know someone who lives in a retirement community which holds monthly birthday parties for the residents.  The residents take turns providing the cake and ice cream.  I happened to be visiting during this month's party.  One gentleman was talking about how it seems that there's pineapple upside down cake at every party, so he decided to make his own version of it.  Then, he presented his masterpiece - Veggie Upside Down Cake. 
Literally:  the cake was topped with a solid layer of peas, cut carrots and whole-kernel corn!

Is Your Lunch Safe?

++  Home-made school lunches are poisoning children!  That was the headline recently, just in time for the start of a new school year.  The gist of the article is that "brown-bag" lunches aren't always safe to eat, because of food-borne illness.  The bacteria that cause most of this kind of sickness grow very fast at or near body-temperature.  They grow fairly fast at temperatures of 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit.  Growth is much slower at more extreme temperatures, making the risk of illness also lower.  Most lunches sent to school with children doesn't stay below 40 degrees until lunch time.  

  Ways to avoid illness fall into 2 categories:
1 - Keep cold foods cold, and keep hot foods hot.  If you are using a thermos, chill it before putting cold food in it, or warm it (fill with hot water for a little while) before putting in hot foods.  If you are using an insulated lunch carrier, be sure there is enough ice to last all morning.  Some food items can be frozen and will thaw by lunchtime.  Advise children to try to avoid putting a cold lunch somewhere warm - in the sunshine, near equipment that gets warm when it is turned on, etc.
2 - Pack foods that are less temperature-sensitive.  Fresh or canned fruits and vegetables are usually okay, as are most kinds of bread products.  High-protein foods and their by-products (e g. gravy) are the worst trouble-causers.  Soft cheeses go bad quickly, and most kinds of meat also should be avoided  A few kinds of processed cheeses and lunch meats (cold cuts) are likely to be safe (they are mostly filler), and so are some kinds of hard cheese - read the labels.  Peanut butter is another stand-by. 

  As a rule of thumb, if you would normally store it in the refrigerator at home, if it is found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket, or if the label says to refrigerate after opening, it's not a good thing to pack in your children's lunch. Don't let the lunch you pack poison children!

About the Model (Kids notice how adults react)

++  I've heard stories from my friends who teach Head Start that some of those preschoolers are already aware of weight control - to the extent that some children won't eat foods their mothers avoid because they are "fattening."  As if we don't have enough young people overly preoccupied with appearance, let alone eating disorders!
  I also know a dietitian who reported this conversation (and liked the adult's response).  A girl about 5 or 6 years old saw a model on a magazine cover in a store check-out line and asked the adult friend with her if she thought the model was beautiful.  The adult replied that she doesn't know.  True beauty comes from being kind and compassionate instead of cruel or selfish; and she doesn't know the model, so how can she guess?  Something to think about. . .

Family Time (family meals)

  August is Family Meals Month.   Celebrate it!

  ++There are many studies showing benefits to children of eating meals regularly with everyone in the household.  It's a great bonding time for the family.  Children are also watching adults; and older children can discuss ideas with them, even ones as simple as, "How was your day?"  Or, better yet, "Please share one good thing happened to you today, or you saw happen to someone else."  The sense of belonging fostered by this helps gives kids the resiliency to resist peer pressure regarding things like drug use or slacking off on studying.  They are also absorbing your ideas on what a balanced meal should include, how to practice good manners, etc.  They may appear to resist, but they will always have this to fall back on.

  It is tempting to say that you can't do this because cooking the meal takes too much time, because everyone is heading off in a different direction at a different time, etc.  If you make it an iron-clad rule that everyone eats together (with TV and phones turned off) at 6 pm on Wed. - or whatever works for you - they will learn to accept it, and eventually to look forward to it.  Naturally, it helps to start when they are young.  And, of course, you don't have to stop at just one meal per week. 

  The meal can be simple; even carry-out will do in a pinch.  The kids can help prepare the meal - and learn valuable skills in the process.  Just remember that they won't be experts right away.  Preschoolers can tear lettuce for a salad and set the table.  Grade-schoolers can, with supervision, slice fruit or soft vegetables, microwave vegetables, make macaroni/cheese from a kit, make garlic toast (which an adult takes out of the broiler or off the grill), etc.  Most teens can prepare a whole meal if they've gradually been given the chance to learn how.  I could do it before I started high school - but, I had the advantage of a mom who loved to cook and enjoyed having her kids in the kitchen with her.  Younger children will love doing "grown-up stuff" with you.  Older kids may complain to you, but will enjoy having bragging rights among their friends.

  What are you waiting for?  Celebrate Family Meals Month!

It's Garden Time! (a tasty harvest)

++  This is a great time of year for fresh fruits and vegetables.  Farmers' Markets are in full swing.  Gardeners are reaping the benefits of their labor.  It gives us fresh produce that's really fresh - at the peak of flavor.  This is your invitation to go out and take advantage of it.

 Once you get the goodies home, make them easy to grab - you might be surprised at how much your kids will eat just because it's handy.  The hardier items can be left in a bowl on the table - apples and radishes, for example.  Others can be left out for a day or so for a quick snack: cherry tomatoes come quickly to mind.  Many can be put in a bowl in the refrigerator, lightly covered (and easy to find) - tomatoes, bell peppers, grapes, berries, plums, peaches and nectarines, etc. 

 If you harvest more than you can use, you can preserve it or share it.  Aug. 16 is "sneak out and leave zucchini on your neighbor's porch night" for a reason!  With a little time and the right equipment, most fruits and vegetables can be canned.  Your local Cooperative Extension office can give you tips, processing times, etc., or you can look up the information on-line from the makers of canning jars.  To freeze for a week or two, most can simply be wrapped and frozen.  To save longer, many items need blanching (quick steaming) or other preparation.  You can get details on this from the same sources.

It's great food - try it!
 

Drinking Calories (soda)

++  A mom recently told me that her New Year's resolution was to keep soda pop out of her home so her kids wouldn't drink it so much.  Of course, that meant she was also drinking it a lot less.  Without changing anything else, she lost about 20 lbs. by Memorial Day.  A word to the wise. . .

Carrot Top

A mom brought two children to WIC clinic recently, a boy about 4 and a girl about 2 years old.  The boy had flaming red hair and some of it was sticking straight up.  The girl had brown hair pulled into cute little pigtails.  I asked the boy if anyone ever called him "carrot top."  He said, "That's silly.  The tops of carrots are green."  Mom chimed in and said that on the way to WIC, the boy told the girl, "Your hair is really wild.  Mine is handsome."

Menu Labeling (Restaurant Nutrition)

++Restaurants will soon be required to post nutrition data on their menu items, and so will vending machines.  Several cities and a few states have already passed menu labeling laws, in hopes that a more informed public will become a healthier (and less obese) public.  The idea behind having the federal government regulate the menu labeling is that the uniformity will make it easier for consumers when comparing different vendors, and more efficient for the vendors to implement.  So, the federal law will preempt local mandates.

This is a result of the national health care act passed in March, 2010.  Proposed guidelines were recently published, and final ones are expected by the end of this year.  Although implementation may be as much as a year away, little is expected to change between now and then.  An outline of the guidelines is below.  You can get more detailed information from The Federal Register, referencing HR 3590, Section 4205.

• The law applies to restaurant/food chains with more than 20 locations and to vending machine companies with more than 20 machines.This does not mean one franchise owner in a chain  having more than 20 stores, but 20 for the whole chain. 
• The menu boards (including any in a drive-through), printed menus, and food tags have to include calorie amounts for any standardized foods, except condiments, that are available for at least 60 days/year. 
• Other information must be available in writing upon request, giving amounts of fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, protein, sodium, and fiber. 
• There is a standardized format for presenting this information.
• So far, it is unclear how grouped items will be presented.  For example, many menu boards just say something like "large soda," although different flavors have slightly differing calorie counts. 
• Keep in mind that "standardized" menu items means that if you request a change in preparation, this law will not apply to that modification.

It will be interesting to see how this works when it is implemented, and whether enough people will take advantage of it to made a dent in our "obesity epidemic."   I can easily imagine that people who are eating out for celebratory reasons will not be counting calories.  I hope that people who eat out routinely will take advantage of this information.   Will you?

Cute Vermin (a squirrelly tale)

  Who says animals are "dumb beasts"?  The squirrels in my neighborhood are neither silent nor stupid.  I find some of their antics entertaining.  And sometimes, they reflect just how I feel - like when I'm working in the yard on a hot day and look up into the oak tree to spot a squirrel watching me, with its body draped over a limb as if to catch any cooling breeze.  Our neighborhood has dogs that bark at anything.  Of course, sometimes they are teased beyond endurance - like when a squirrel prances around just beyond the reach of a leash, chittering and waving his tail. 
  These acrobats know where the food is, too; in the bird-feeder, of course.  And, they've figured out that when the kitchen light goes on upon a winter morning, I'm near the food supply.  I used to have a bird-feeder that attached to the outside window sill.  Squirrels have been known to knock on that window to let me know when it was out of sunflower seeds!  Always about 30 seconds after I turn on the kitchen light - they had to be watching for me.  Now, a feeder is near the porch and the squirrels sometimes are on the steps in the mornings, looking expectantly at the door.  They aren't alone, either.  I've seen bird and rabbit footprints in fresh snow there. 
     hardly Dumb Beasts!

Floods (food safety)

++ Here in the Missouri River watershed, we've seen a lot more water lately than we ever wanted.  To get information on keeping your water supply and food safe, contact your state Cooperative Extension or the links below. 

Flood Resources can be found at: UNL Extension - Flood Resources, EDEN (Extension Disaster Education Network), Flooding Resources First Steps to Flood Recovery (Purdue Extension), Talking About Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages - Floods/Flash Floods (Red Cross), Hearing Impaired: Flood Cleanup Information (Texas Department of Public Safety), and Mold - EDEN Topic Page
The Iowa Dept. of Public Health also has fact sheets at www.idph.state.ia.us/EmergencyResponse/Flooding.aspx