Whole Health Nutrition News
September 2003
In this
issue:
·
Karen’s Class Schedule
·
Back-to-School Lunch Ideas
·
Dark chocolate may lower blood pressure
·
Produce pick of the month
·
Recipe of the month
Karen’s Class schedule for
September
Fast, Fabulous, and Family-Friendly. Learn how to make healthy, delicious meals the whole
family will enjoy--in less than 20 minutes.
Wednesday, September 17th, 7-9PM, Senior Center, Downtown Everett
Registration: 425-257-8300 Cost: $15.00 + $8.00 supply fee due at class. Sweet Treats. Learn about natural alternatives to refined white sugar and flour in cooking and
baking, while sampling delicious desserts and treats that can be included as part of a healthydiet.Monday, September 22nd, 7-9PM, Jennings Park Barn, Marysville
Registration: 360-651-5085. Cost: $18.00 + $2.00 supply fee due at class. Fast, Fabulous, and Family-Friendly. Learn how to make healthy, delicious meals the whole
family will enjoy --in less than 20 minutes.
Tuesday, September 23rd, 6:30-8:30PM, Frances Anderson Center, Edmonds
Registration: 425-771-0230. Cost: $18.00 + $3.00 supply fee due at class. Sweet Treats. Learn about natural alternatives to refined white sugar and flour in cooking and
baking, while sampling delicious desserts and treats that can be included as part of a healthydiet.Wednesday, October 1st, 6:30-8:30PM, Mountlake Terrace High School.
Registration: 425-640-1840. Cost: $25.00 Back-to-School Lunch Ideas
For many parents, back to school means back to routine and the challenge of getting the kids
out the door in the morning without missing the bus or being late for school. Hectic schedules
make it difficult to think about what to make for dinner, let alone packing a nutritious school
lunch day after day. This often leaves parents scrambling to gather the “same old” lunch daily,
or resorting to prepackaged
foods that are not the most healthful options.
With the incidence of childhood obesity and diabetes on the rise, the new school year provides
an opportunity to examine the contents of the school lunchbox. But this is more of a challenge than
it appears; we can fill those
boxes and brown bags with all sorts of wonderful things, but
there’s no telling what the kids – as they jump on the bus and away from our watchful eye- will do
with them. What we parents perceive as a delicious, well-balanced lunchbox full of goodies may
seem boring or weird to kids. The challenge for us is to create lunches that are reasonably healthful
and extremely palatable.
Try sitting down with your kids and brainstorming a list of lunches that you both agree on. Include a
few fun items that your kids can help prepare such as “ants on a log” – spread celery sticks with
peanut or almond butter and top with raisins and sliced almonds for extra crunchiness. Fruit kebabs
are another healthy treat that are easy to prepare but more fun than apple slices. To encourage
consumption of those all-important veggies, include a small container of hummus or ranch dressing
for dipping baby carrots or
cucumber slices.
For the main course, try some alternatives to the old standby of PB&J. A whole-wheat tortilla can
be used as a wrap for a variety of fillings, or spread it with cream cheese and top with shredded
carrots, lettuce and finely diced sweet red pepper. Roll up and slice for pinwheel sandwiches. Or
wrap thinly sliced turkey or nitrate-free deli luncheon meats around cheese sticks, dill pickles or
carrot sticks. Create your own “Lunchables”… cut nitrate-free meat slices and cheese into pieces
that will fit on crackers (avoid those containing partially hydrogenated oils). Heat frozen whole-grain
waffles and make a PB&J sandwich with them, or fill a hollowed-out apple with a mixture of farmers
cheese, granola and raisins. The key is variety – it keeps things interesting and lessens the boredom
factor.
What about beverages? Many juice boxes are full of added sugar, artificial sweeteners and
artificial colorings. Read the labels and only buy those that contain 100% juice. Or better yet,
fill a small thermos with organic milk, or juice diluted with a bit of sparkling water. Fruit smoothies
are also a hit. To prepare, simply blend half a banana, a half cup of any frozen or fresh berries,
and one cup of milk.
As parents we have the opportunity to shape the lifelong eating habits of our children. Preparing
healthy school lunches may not be as easy as packing a “Lunchable”, but the extra effort will pay
off and help your children
get a smart start to the school year.
A small study suggests that eating dark chocolate can lower your blood pressure – a delicious
instance
in which something that tastes good might, for a change, be good for you,
too.
The short study would need to be confirmed in larger, longer-term ones before
doctors could
recommend
treatment with chocolate, researchers say.
Yet if the results can be confirmed, "you can sin with perhaps a little
less bad feeling," said Dr.
Franz
Messerli, a hypertension expert at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans.
Thirteen adults with untreated mild hypertension got to eat 3-ounce chocolate
bars every day for
two weeks. Half of the patients got white chocolate, half got dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate contains plant substances called polyphenols -- ingredients
scientists think are
responsible for the heart-healthy attributes of red wine. Polyphenols also have been shown to
lower
blood pressure in animals.
Blood pressure remained pretty much unchanged in the group that ate white
chocolate, which
does not contain polyphenols. But after two weeks, systolic blood pressure -- the top number --
had dropped an average of five points in the dark-chocolate group. The lower, or diastolic,
reading
fell an average of almost two points.
The participants had an average blood pressure reading of about 153 over 84.
While their blood pressure did not fall enough to be considered in the
desirable range –
below 120 over 80 -- the results show dark chocolate "might serve as a promising approach to
reduce systolic blood pressure," said lead author Dr. Dirk Taubert of
the University of Cologne.
Taubert said participants ate the chocolate bars instead of the sweets they
usually consumed,
and
thus did not gain weight during the study.
The study received no industry funding -- the researchers bought the chocolate
themselves
from the supermarket.
Source: Newsday.com
Sweet corn is abundant and inexpensive this month – check out your local farmer’s market
for the freshest selection.
Corn is one of the very best dietary sources of two antioxidant carotenoids-cousins of Vitamin A-
called lutein and zeaxanthin. Like other carotenoids, they seem to play a role in preventing heart
disease and cancer. In addition, several recent studies have shown that a high intake of lutein and
zeaxanthin (pronounced zee-uh-zanthin) is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of a
chronic eye disease called macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD)
is not some obscure medical
condition--it is the leading cause of legal
According to the National Eye Institute, 25% of the population over 65 years of age show signs of this
progressively debilitating condition, for which there is no cure.
Lutein and zeathanin may also play a role in slowing the development of cataracts. Since lutein and
zeathanin are the only carotenoids detectable in the lens, researchers believe that these powerful
antioxidants may protect the clear proteins in the lens from undergoing the oxidation that causes
them to become cloudy. Lutein’s health benefits extend beyond eye health. According to recent studies,
this carotenoid may help prevent hardening of the arteries that can lead to heart attack and stroke.
On the streets of Mexico, people line up at vendor carts to buy giant ears of roasted corn dunked in
rich crema Mexicana and sprinkled with chili powder and lime juice. Crema mexicana is similar to
crème fraiche or sour cream,
either of which can be substituted.
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground
pepper
6 ears corn
Cooking Spray
¼ cup crema Mexicana
6 lime wedges
Garnish with lime wedges.
Adapted from “Cooking Light”
magazine