(www.usda.gov/cnpp)
Be your own nutritionist—sort of. This interactive tool on the U.S Department of Agriculture's Web site lets you analyze your daily food intake to see how your meals compare with the USDA's food pyramid. It also analyzes nutrient intake and lets you know where you could improve with little frowning faces.
Here's how it works: After registering and telling the site your age and gender, you enter what you ate today by typing in items one at a time and then choosing the closest match from the site's monster database. Amazingly, it has just about everything, from sushi to biscotti. It even lets you choose the exact brand you ate of many foods. Once you've entered everything you ate, choose quantities – here you also have a range of choices. You can specify that you ate – 1 cup of baby carrots, or 25 of the little guys, whatever's easier. Once you've entered your food intake, hit "analyze" and the site calculates your nutrient intake and 'Healthy Eating Index' score and compares you to the Food Guide Pyramid.
On the HEI page, you get a score from one to 10 (and a happy or sad face) in such categories as sodium, cholesterol and variety of foods. The nutrient calculator adds up the nutrients in your diet and compares them to the recommended daily allowance. And the site develops your personal food pyramid, which could look nothing like a pyramid.
The bottom line: A good starting place if you're worried about your diet; helps point out trouble spots like a high-fat or high-cholesterol diet. But entering all the food you ate in a day can take a while.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Message from Nutritionists: Be Careful When Barbecuing
Some nutritionists warn barbecuers not to serve cancer-causing agents and food poisoning with their entrees. Carcinogens form as fat drips off meat onto the coals or heating element. The carcinogenic substances are then picked up by the smoke and deposited on the food.
To prevent this, choose lean meat with less fat or protect the meat from the smoke. Some people don't like to wrap the meat in foil because then it doesn't get that smoked flavor, but you can help the situation by putting foil on the grill and punching holes in it so the fat can drip out but the smoke is less likely to reach the food. You can also try what is called the 'indirect method.' Put your charcoal briquettes to each side. And right under the meat, put a drip pan. 'The fat drips into the pan and doesn't have contact with the charcoal. You can also cut down on the carinogens by not letting flames touch die meat. This causes charring, and the charred material contains cancer-causing substances.
Another health risk with barbecuing is food poisoning. Outdoor barbecues, especially in hot weather, can provide ripe conditions for harmful bacteria to grow. The main place to prevent this is in the kitchen. Wash poultry well. And keep all meat refrigerated until you're
ready to grill. Utensils used with the raw meat, including the platter, should be washed in hot soapy water before they're used again for the cooked meat. This cuts down on the possibility of transferring harmful micro-organisms. Make sure the meat, especially the poultry, is completely cooked before you serve it. Fork beef next to a bone to see if it's done to the level you want For chicken, pull a leg. If chicken bones wiggle easily, then the chicken is probably well done. The poultry meat should be white throughout.
And while you have the coals hot, cook some vegetables to get more fiber in your diet. Slice potatoes, but not all the way through. Put slices of onion in between. Brush with a little parsley butter. Vegetables cook really well on the grill, even squash. If you try the indirect method for your meat, then you can wrap vegetables in foil and put them directly over the coals while the meat is cooking in the middle over the drip pan.
Another safety precaution with a barbecue is keep the fire under control. Here are a few tips for preventing accidents:
— Use only the amount of charcoal you need and no more. For a big piece of meat, you're going to have to add more after the first hour anyway.
— Never barbecue near buildings.
— If rain threatens, don't move the grill inside — not even into the garage. '
— Once you light the fire, don t re-light it Don't toss in any more charcoal lighter because it could flame up on you.
To prevent this, choose lean meat with less fat or protect the meat from the smoke. Some people don't like to wrap the meat in foil because then it doesn't get that smoked flavor, but you can help the situation by putting foil on the grill and punching holes in it so the fat can drip out but the smoke is less likely to reach the food. You can also try what is called the 'indirect method.' Put your charcoal briquettes to each side. And right under the meat, put a drip pan. 'The fat drips into the pan and doesn't have contact with the charcoal. You can also cut down on the carinogens by not letting flames touch die meat. This causes charring, and the charred material contains cancer-causing substances.
Another health risk with barbecuing is food poisoning. Outdoor barbecues, especially in hot weather, can provide ripe conditions for harmful bacteria to grow. The main place to prevent this is in the kitchen. Wash poultry well. And keep all meat refrigerated until you're
ready to grill. Utensils used with the raw meat, including the platter, should be washed in hot soapy water before they're used again for the cooked meat. This cuts down on the possibility of transferring harmful micro-organisms. Make sure the meat, especially the poultry, is completely cooked before you serve it. Fork beef next to a bone to see if it's done to the level you want For chicken, pull a leg. If chicken bones wiggle easily, then the chicken is probably well done. The poultry meat should be white throughout.
And while you have the coals hot, cook some vegetables to get more fiber in your diet. Slice potatoes, but not all the way through. Put slices of onion in between. Brush with a little parsley butter. Vegetables cook really well on the grill, even squash. If you try the indirect method for your meat, then you can wrap vegetables in foil and put them directly over the coals while the meat is cooking in the middle over the drip pan.
Another safety precaution with a barbecue is keep the fire under control. Here are a few tips for preventing accidents:
— Use only the amount of charcoal you need and no more. For a big piece of meat, you're going to have to add more after the first hour anyway.
— Never barbecue near buildings.
— If rain threatens, don't move the grill inside — not even into the garage. '
— Once you light the fire, don t re-light it Don't toss in any more charcoal lighter because it could flame up on you.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Holistic Health
I am a firm believer in a holistic approach to health, meaning that we have to tie both the physical and mental aspects of health together to have the desire result - a healthy, whole child. Children in today's world are experiencing a whole new set of stresses that in the past were not usually thought to be a part of a child's life. No longer is a family made up of two parents with only their children, today, a child's family might consist of grandparents, or a single parent, or divorced parents with stepparents and stepbrothers and sisters. Children seem to be on their own more often and at an earlier age. Choices about the use of drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, becoming sexually active, who to "hang out with," or keeping a curfew can produce stress and uncertainty. There are pressures related to school, such as achieving academically, participating in sports or other after school activities, being part of the "right crowd," or having enough money to maintain the desired social status. All these things can seem to come crashing down on a student, even all at once. The availability of a school psychologist allows the student a place to talk and express him/herself without fear of judgement being given while being confident of confidentiality. Concerns of a student might range from getting a good grade on a test, distress over parents divorcing, not getting along with another person, to, feeling like life is not worth living, with expressed suicidal thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
