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Home Works  March - April 2008 | |
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IT'S A MATTER OF FACT March is National Nutrition Month. The theme for 2008 is Nutrition: It’s a Matter of Fact. Here are some facts about questions I’ve recently had about the use of coconut oil and sea salt. According to Communicating Food for Health, many people are switching from their unsaturated or monounsaturated fats to the saturated coconut oil touted as promoting heart health, improving blood lipid levels and stimulating metabolism and helping with weight loss. The fact is that there are studies that show these claims are unsubstantiated. A vast majority of scientific evidence shows that a diet high in saturated fats raises the LDL levels in blood, promotes arteriosclerosis and coronary artery disease. Folks frequently question the difference between sea salt, flavored salts and other higher priced salts and their nutritional values. Some claims state that these “special salts” do not have the same affect on blood pressure as “regular” table salts. Other suggestions include that added minerals in some of these salts are beneficial to health. The fact is that there is no credible research that shows any unique health benefits attributed to sea salt, kosher salt or any other salt for that matter. The main difference between the different types of salt is the taste and texture. Research shows that the risk for cardiovascular disease is reduced when you consume less salt of any type. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend consuming less than 2300 mg (approximately one teaspoon) of sodium per day. Individuals with hypertension, blacks, and middle aged and older adults need to aim towards 1500 mg sodium daily and to meet the potassium recommendation (4700 mg/day) with food. Other facts from the ADA include the facts that:
PORTION SIZES At our last Health Night Out (HNO) at the Person County Public Library, we discussed eating healthy on the run. A recent article published in “Food Technology” reported that convenience stores are increasingly becoming the point of purchase for foods for many families. During HNO, we passed around a couple of items, a bottle of juice and a pack of cookies, I had just bought at a convenience store. After asking the question how much of this would you eat, participants read the nutrition facts label to see how many servings were in the sizes I purchased. The take home message, you can’t assume that small food packages or individually wrapped items are single servings. Many muffins, bottles of soda and juice, and snack bags contain two or more “servings” and thus you will get more calories than the label states if you eat the whole thing. A bag of nuts, for example, may list a serving as having 170 calories. But that’s for one ounce, the whole bag may contain 2 ounces of nuts and thus 340 calories. Both the juice and the cookies I purchased for Health Night Out, contained two servings so eating the entire package would require me to multiply the calories consumed by 2. One can easily see how the calories you eat can be much more than you realize if you are not careful! We also looked at a large order of French fries from a local fast food restaurant. We counted 96 in that particular order. About 30 French fries were all it took to fill the little bag container that was the original order of fries back when fast food first came to Roxboro (Yes, I do remember) and which currently is only found in a kids meal! The next time you order a large order, I challenge you to count them out to see how many you get! Maybe you could either downsize or share with a friend! ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER USE A recent popular TV show included a segment on the use of artificial sweeteners and their part in the obesity epidemic. The study reported was actually conducted at Purdue University and done in rats. It proposed a biochemical pathway for how artificial sweeteners may interfere with calorie balance by masking our bodies ability to detect calories — or — as Dr. Carolyn Dunn from North Carolina State University, says “more simply said, our body stops thinking that sweet things have calories as the effects of the artificial sweeteners alter that ability.” The conclusion of the study is: These results suggest that consumption of products containing artificial sweeteners may lead to increased body weight and obesity by interfering with fundamental homeostatic, physiological processes. It is important to remember that this study was done with rats, and while it has great promise to examine these effects in humans, this is not yet proven. We do know however that from what has been seen in population studies there is not an association with consumption of artificial sweeteners and lower body weight in humans. As there are more artificial sweeteners in the food supply, the weight of the population has increased. And in the case of beverages, while diet sodas contain no calories, water remains the “gold standard” as the beverage of choice. NORTH CAROLINIAN'S FACING FORECLOSURE HELP Attorney General Roy Cooper recently announced the opening of the “HOPE toll free hotline” at 888-995-HOPE. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, callers can receive free counseling on options to avoid foreclosure. According to information provided by the Attorney General’s Office, counselors will be on hand at the toll free number to provide free assistance to help you avoid foreclosure. There is also a link to “local” counselors which includes a number of them in the Durham area who can assist homeowners with options such as modifying their loan, selling or refinancing their home or setting up a repayment plan with their lender. While North Carolina has not experienced the wave of foreclosures seen in many other states due to strong laws against unfair loans, foreclosures are on the rise in the state. Foreclosure starts were up 9.4% in 2007 and they are expected to increase by 10-20% according to the Commissioner of Bank’s Office. More information about the hotline and the organizations involved is available at their website . GREAT USES FOR YOUR TAX REFUND Each year around this time of year, many people are anticipating an income tax refund. A great way to get the most out of yours is to have and follow a plan. Make a commitment to enjoy part of the money and commit the rest for practical purposes. A suggested allocation is 20% for you to enjoy and 80% spent in a practical manner like paying down debt, jump starting your next year Christmas account, setting up or adding to an emergency savings fund and funding your retirement savings. When paying down debt, you effectively earn 18% interest or whatever interest rate you’re being charged for your money! Credit card debt can be hard to pay off when only making the minimum payment since the majority of the payment goes to interest. Reducing your credit card debt will improve your financial security since credit card companies can and do increase interest rates, even on “fixed interest rate” cards. Reducing this debt will help avoid unpleasant payment increases. Remember that the money you’re being refunded is not free money or a gift from the government. Many people use this as a forced savings, but you may want to think about changing your deductions so you and your family can benefit from the use of this money throughout the year instead of waiting for your tax refund. Dr. Carolyn Bird, FRM Specialist at North Carolina State University, has recently developed two fact sheets: Smart Money: Getting the Most From Your Tax Refund, and Smart Money: Great Uses for Your Tax Refund. For copies of these fact sheets contact our office at 599-1195. SERVSAFE Congratulations to our last ServSafe Class participants. As of this writing we are awaiting exam scores, but we are anticipating 100% passing rate. Look for the ServSafe certificate proudly displayed in your favorite local restaurant. This will tell you that the manager in that establishment knows how to keep food safe for your consumption. FOOD SAFETY EDUCATION PROJECT We are excited to be one of the counties who will be working with third grade classrooms teaching food safety to students and encouraging the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Dr. Jackie McClelland from North Carolina State University, was recently funded a USDA grant to work with students in Title 1 schools across the state. I will be working at North Elementary during the months of March and April and may be looking at some of you to help volunteer for this exciting venture! READ ME A STORY Eat Smart Move More North Carolina recently funded a grant proposal submitted by the Person County FAN Club to support creating an Eat Smart Move More section at the public library. In addition the funding supports the Families Eating Smart Moving More series for Person Memorial’s Health Night Out and the continuation of the Read Me A Story program. Children’s librarian, Christy Bondy, conducts the weekly story time program for pre-school aged children each Tuesday, morning at 10:00. In addition to the traditional fare, she includes a book that contains a healthy eating or moving message. Mark your calendars for a special story time on March 4, where I will be joined by Health Ed Supervisor, LeighAnn Creson; Health Director, Janet Clayton and other FAN club members to read some of the new books added to the Eat Smart Move More in Person County Library section. We will follow the traditional story time with a taste testing for the pre-schoolers. Be sure to spread the word and bring your preschool aged children or grandchildren as we promote literacy and healthy lifestyles together! ECA CORNER Thanks to all our ECA Members who helped with the 2008 Achievement Program and who are planning to travel to Caswell County on March 5, for District Day. A very special thank you to our new council president, Joan Long and to Jean McCorkle for working with the district cultural arts contest. We also thank those who attended Working Arts and submitted items for the Cultural Arts competition! Our ECA Folks are truly the best! ECA NEXT MEETING.. The next ECA Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 1, at 10:00 AM. It will be followed by leader training for the committee on Building Leadership and Community Capacity. The leader training will be followed up with a day trip on April 24, to Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randolph County. Members are reminded that they need to pre-register by the April 1, council meeting date. WORKING ARTS AND GYHAHB If you missed this year’s Working Arts workshops you missed a treat. Each year for the past several years, we have joined forces with neighboring counties to offer this series of instruction on what we consider quality arts and crafts. If you missed this year and would like to be a participant, call and ask to be put on our mailing list. We do this event annually in February. Another annual event we begin in February is Give Your Heart a Healthy Beat! This year we have 16 individuals signed up to participate in the 14 week series. You may also request a direct mailing when we send out registration information for 2009. Just give us a call. | |
