‘Tis the Season for a Healthy Mindset

The holidays can be a stressful season of overindulging and overspending. Or they can be an enjoyable time filled with fun, family, and friends.

The difference might just be a healthy mindset.

Our Healthy Mindset poster reminds your students, employees, or clients to focus on the everyday simple habits that add up to a healthier life.

During the holiday season, you can help them tailor their healthy mindsets to account for the challenges they’ll face.

Here’s what a healthy holiday mindset might look like:

  • Drink Water: Make it your policy at holiday parties to ask for water with a twist of lemon or lime.
  • Sugar Be Scarce: Make a plan and stick to it. When will you indulge in a treat? How much will you have?
  • I Can Do It: Make this your mantra throughout the season. If staying healthy over the holidays is your priority, say it out loud every day.
  • Make a Healthy Plate: Keep MyPlate in mind whenever you eat. Fill your plate or bowl accordingly, with lots of fruits and vegetables.
  • Sleep Enough: Sticking to your sleep schedule will help you keep your healthy holiday mindset!
  • Never Quit: If you overindulge (it happens!), get back on track right away.
  • Try New Foods: Balance out special holiday foods with some things you wouldn’t normally choose, like extra salad, more vegetables, or fruit for dessert.
  • Move More: Fit exercise in wherever you can. Take an extra lap around the mall, walk after dinner, do crunches during TV commercials.

By Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

PDF Handout: Healthy Holiday Mindset

MyPlate Coloring Page

Today is your lucky day!

To celebrate the release of the brand-new MyPlate Coloring Book, I want to share a page from that book with you, for free!

You see, coloring isn’t just for kids anymore. Emerging studies indicate that coloring could help reduce stress in adults as well as children. Plus, it’s just plain fun!

Of course, I couldn’t leave things there. As soon as I learned about the possible health benefits of coloring, I began to brainstorm ways to sneak a few lessons about wellness and healthy eating patterns into my coloring pages. Before I knew it, the MyPlate Coloring Book was born. With patterns intricate enough to be fun to color, and an added dash of simple and memorable health lessons on each page, this book is sure to be fun for all ages!

And now, without further ado, here is the free page from the MyPlate coloring book! How will you use your copy?

MyPlate Coloring Page

Remember, there’s always more in the Nutrition Education Store! Check out these fantastic MyPlate resources…

My Plate Coloring Book

MyPlate PowerPoint and Handout Set

My Plate Banner and Stand

Nutrition Basic Pre and Post Test for Classes

Basic nutrition pre/post-test

  1. A healthy, balanced diet includes these three major nutrients (macronutrients):
    a. calories, fat, carbohydrate
    b. carbohydrate, protein, fat
    c. protein, fiber, fat
    d. calories, water, fiber
    e. I don’t know
  2. Which foods provide more of the essential nutrients that we’re often lacking?
    a. fruit, vegetables, and protein shakes
    b. seafood, whole grains, and gluten-free foods
    c. fruit, vegetables, whole grains and seafood
    d. I don’t know
  3. Bread, cereal, fruit and vegetables are the best source of which important nutrient?
    a. protein
    b. fat
    c. carbohydrate
    d. water
    e. I don’t know
  4. Chicken, legumes (dried beans and peas), fish, soy foods and eggs are a good source of which nutrient?
    a. protein
    b. fat
    c. carbohydrate
    d. water
    e. I don’t know
  5. Which foods are part of the dairy group?
    a. milk, eggs and cheese
    b. milk, cheese and yogurt
    c. soy milk, eggs and cheese
    d. I don’t know
  6. Use these plate proportions for healthy meal planning:
    a. ½ protein, ½ vegetables
    b. 1/3 protein, 1/3 vegetables, 1/3 fruit
    c. ½ vegetables and fruit, ¼ protein, ¼ whole grains
    d. I don’t know
  7. Which nutrient has the most calories per gram of weight?
    a. carbohydrate
    b. protein
    c. fiber
    d. fat
    e. I don’t know
  8. Which type of fat helps promote a healthy heart and cardiovascular system?
    a. saturated
    b. trans
    c. mono-unsaturated
    d. partially hydrogenated
    e. I don’t know
  9. Healthier types of fat are typically:
    a. liquid at room temperature
    b. solid at room temperature
    c. I don’t know
  10. Which food components provide little nutritional value and can be harmful when we eat too much?
    a. salt, sugar, saturated fat
    b. sugar, cholesterol, whole grains
    c. salt, cholesterol, fiber
    d. I don’t know
  11. Which of the following are sugar-sweetened beverages that provide little to no nutritional value?
    a. 100% fruit juice
    b. 100% vegetable juice
    c. fruit juice drinks
    d. I don’t know
  12. Which type of grain is the healthiest and contains the most natural nutrients?
    a. enriched grains
    b. refined grains
    c. multi-grains
    d. whole grains
    e. I don’t know
  13. What percentage of our grain intake (bread, cereal, rice, pasta, crackers) should be whole grains to support overall good health?
    a. 25%
    b. 50%
    c. 75%
    d. 100%
    e. I don’t know

Resources:

Dietary Guidelines for Americans. http://www.health.gov/

Choose My Plate. USDA. http://www.choosemyplate.gov

Behind the Scenes: New Cooking and Prediabetes Posters

Hey, do you remember that Chop Test article you saw a while back? How about that Prediabetes Guide?

If you do, then you’re not alone. Lots of people reached out and told me that those were two of their favorite posts. So many, in fact, that I decided to take those posts to the next level and turn them into nutrition education materials.

The Chop Test offers a simple and memorable guide to cooking with vegetables, so I decided that the key points would make a marvelous poster that could be hung in a commercial kitchen, posted in a health fair booth, propped up for a cooking demonstration, or incorporated into a nutrition display.

This guide to properly preparing vegetables is as versatile as it is useful. With a simple test to tell which kind of vegetable is best for which cooking style, this bright and informative poster will help your audience gain kitchen confidence while introducing new vegetables into their eating plans.

Will this poster make your life easier? Learn more about it!

Now let’s change gears and take a closer look at the new Prediabetes poster.

The statistics on prediabetes are astounding. My hope is that we can help our practitioners help people avoid diabetes entirely — heading it off before prediabetes turns into full-blown diabetes. This poster offers an excellent screening tool that is done in an engaging infographic style. With information on what prediabetes is, how it affects the body, what symptoms it displays, and what the average consumer can do to reduce his or her risk of prediabetes (or treat the condition itself), this poster offers a bright and simple way to educate your audience. Throw it in a display, use it to pep up a shared space, add it to a wellness fair booth, or hang it in your office — it will be a great educational resource for whatever you need.

This poster uses colorful graphics, simple sentences, and clear diagrams to appeal to a wide range of learning styles, promoting participant engagement while boosting information retention. It draws its information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), so you know that the research that backs it is supported by the latest peer-reviewed science.

Intrigued by this poster? Get the details today!

And, because I love ya, I want to share the handout that accompanies the Chop Test poster. Here it is, in all it’s glory! Download the free PDF today!

Chop Test Handout

We’re here to help you look your very best, right now! So which resource will make your life easier?

Nutrition Bootcamp: PowerPoint and Handout Set

Chop Test Poster

Elementary Nutrition Workbook

Sodium Sneaks Up On You

I think most of us are aware of sodium in many canned foods and routinely purchase low sodium products. But sometimes it pops up where you least expect it.

I’m talking about commercially prepared salsa.

Salsa is running neck-to-neck with ketchup as the most popular condiment in the United States.  More and more I’m seeing recipes that use salsa as an ingredient in a recipe.  I recently made soup that used an entire jar of salsa to add a bolt of flavor.  The recipe encouraged cooks to purchase their favorite type of salsa—chunky, smooth, hot, mild, with beans or without…..whatever you wanted to add a punch to this soup recipe.

Not only did it add a punch —it added a lot of sodium. I sure was surprised. When was the last time you really read the Nutrition Facts on the label of a bottle of commercially made salsa? Yikes!  I think that it’s interesting to note that the word salsa comes from Latin for salt or salted.

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty—the Nutrition Facts label clearly read contains 210 milligrams of sodium per serving.  The kicker is the serving size.  Just two tablespoons is a serving. There were 24 servings in the bottle.  This is kind of like that old commercial for chips….who can eat just one serving of salsa?  Think about the last time you were at a Mexican restaurant and they put that basket of chips and bowl of salsa in front of you? Did you stop at two tablespoons?

The entire 24-ounce jar of chunky mild salsa contained 5250 milligrams of sodium.  The recipe made 12 one-cup servings—so the sodium provided by the salsa alone was 438 milligrams. This is on par with a serving of soup from a can.

So, what’s good about salsa?  It can be low in calories (10 per serving), low in sugar (1 gram) and contains some fiber (1 gram).

The amount of sodium in the diet has been linked to increased blood pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. The 2015-2020 US Dietary Guidelines tell us that adults and children ages 14 and older should limit sodium to less than 2,300 mg per day. This is about what you get in one teaspoon of salt.   For people with high blood pressure, a further reduction to 1,500 mg per day is recommended.

It sure is easy to grab a jar of salsa from the cupboard and use it as an ingredient. But like most processed food, it can backfire.  When shopping, read nutrition labels and try to find a product with less sodium per serving. Other obvious solutions would be to cut back on serving size. Another idea is to experiment and modify the recipe using low-salt tomatoes or tomato sauce and add your own herbs, peppers, and spices. At a restaurant opt for a fresh Pico de Gallo instead of an unknown (possible sodium bomb.) Trader Joe has a fire-roasted salsa that has no salt added and is especially nice for adding to dishes like soups (tip and favorite of Barbara Rice, RD, LD).

Making your own salsa can give you that flavor boost with limited (or no) sodium, too.  Not only do they provide fresh flavor but also some fresh vegetables to the diet.

Here is a free salsa recipe that is very easy to make and it contains no added salt:

https://foodandhealth.com/recipes.php/recipe/832

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS
Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

 

 

Gotta Get a Healthy Gut

The microbiome is a hot topic and the emerging research is exciting. Our Gut Health poster does a great job of explaining what we know so far – diet impacts your microbiome and your microbiome impacts your health.

Whether you’re counseling a patient with an autoimmune disease or teaching a class on weight control, the microbiome is relevant. Researchers think gut health affects the immune system, mood, body weight, inflammation, food allergies, certain autoimmune diseases, and more.

Here are 6 microbiome basics and lesson talking points to go along with the Gut Health poster:

  1. Your gut is home to trillions of microbes – we call this your microbiome. Some of the microbes are beneficial and some are not.
  2. Researchers think the microbiome influences our health, including the immune system, mood, body weight, inflammation, food allergies, and certain autoimmune diseases.
  3. In a healthy microbiome or a healthy gut, the beneficial microbes keep the bad ones from taking over and causing problems.
  4. What you eat impacts your microbiome, as does adequate sleep and physical activity.
  5. These foods support a healthy microbiome: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein (plant and animal sources).
  6. These foods support an unhealthy microbiome: added sugars, processed foods, alcohol, too much animal protein, and saturated fat.

Make sure everyone knows that a healthy gut is just one more reason to eat a plant-based, high fiber diet. For more information, check out the microbiome glossary on our sister site. You can also purchase our PowerPoint presentation and floor decal.

 

Sprouts or Microgreens?

I like to ask sanitarians and other food safety experts what foods they WON’T eat. One item that’s always on their list is raw sprouts.

Over the past 20 years, sprouted seeds have been associated with at least 55 foodborne illness outbreaks with more than 15,000 people getting sick. All of this came from eating something people thought was good for them!

The damp, warm environments that are traditionally used for sprouting can harbor and incubate pathogens.   You won’t find sprouts on children’s menus, in school cafeterias or in nursing homes or hospitals.

The bottom line…..if you or a family member is someone “at risk” (children, the elderly, pregnant women or the immune suppressed) it’s best to avoid raw sprouts entirely.

If you like sprouts here are some tips (you also might like to view an earlier post on this topic https://news.nutritioneducationstore.com/sprouts-for-health/ ) :

  • Only purchase sprouts that are refrigerated
  • They should look fresh and green. Avoid sprouts that look slimy or are sitting in water.
  • Cooking sprouts thoroughly kills most harmful bacteria—works good with mung beans sprouts but not practical for smaller sprouts like alfalfa.
  • Homegrown sprouts aren’t necessarily safer because the harmful bacteria may be present on or in the seed itself. Sprouting seeds need warmth and moisture to grow, which are the same conditions that are ideal for pathogens.

A similar food,  that’s becoming popular are microgreens. They are “cousins” to sprouts but less risky.  Sprouts are consumed entirely– leaves, stem, roots and possibly seeds, while only the stems and leaves of microgreens are eaten (similar to fresh herbs). One big difference is that you don’t consume the seed portion of a microgreen—seeds tend to be one of the sources of contamination in sprouts.  Another difference is that microgreens are grown in dirt not just water like sprouts.

What exactly is a microgreen?  They are edible baby plants, a little more than a sprout but younger than a “baby green”. They can be grown either indoors or outdoors in one to two weeks. People use them as they would sprouts, to add color, flavor, crunch and nutrition to sandwiches and salads or as garnishes. Microgreens can be grown from just about any seed; popular varieties are radishes, celery, dill, broccoli, green peas, arugula and mustard greens. The flavors tend to be similar but more subtle than the mature version of the same plant.

When growing or harvesting microgreens you need to take care watch for mold growth. Once harvested, they should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten as soon as possible. Microgreens can be purchased in some grocery stores or farmers markets. They tend be expensive because they are labor intensive and their shelf life is only two to five days.

What about nutrition?  Microgreens are full of antioxidants. Researchers reported in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry that the microgreens contain considerably higher concentrations of vitamins and carotenoids than their mature plant counterparts. The amounts were highly varied based upon species.

If sprouts are just little “too risky” for you, you might want to try microgreens.  Of course, like all agricultural products, they are not completely risk-free.  People that are immune-suppressed, pregnant women, children and the elderly should still consider the risks of eating these small greens.

Here are three great ways to use microgreens:

  1. Top salads with microgreens for added color and flavor.
  2. Garnish grilled items and other entrees with them just as you would fresh herbs. No chopping needed!
  3. Use microgreens on veggie burgers, street tacos, grilled items, and sandwiches.  Think of them as a combination of herbs and garnishes!

To keep the microgreens lasting longer, keep them between damp paper towels in a resealable container. You want a little bit of air circulation but you also want them to stay moist and not dry out. Handle them carefully with tweezers or a spoon so you do not smash them with your fingers. The best ones to buy are the ones that look the freshest. Our favorites are beets and radish microgreens. You can find them in farmer’s markets and grocery stores.

 

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS

Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

 

References:

Assessment of Vitamins and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens J. Agric. Food Chem 2012 J. Agric. Food Chem., 2012.

What are Microgreens, Eli Snyder and Lina Lovejoy, Caldwell County Center, NC Cooperative Extension, February 13, 2018, https://caldwell.ces.ncsu.edu/2018/02/what-are-microgreens/

USDA paper on sprouts and food safety

 

 

 

 

New Year Resource Rundown

Lots of people choose the new year as a time to start fresh. Here are some great links to help you offer your clients everything they need to make 2015 the best year yet!

New Year’s Resolutions:

General Health:

Exercise:

Weight Management:

Resources for You:

And, of course, there’s more in the store!

Nuts in Your Gym Bag

I’ve been teaching about healthy eating for a long time. I can remember back when the commonly accepted recommendation was to cut out nuts due to the amount of fats and calories. We’re not saying this anymore.

I probably don’t really need to talk most people into eating nuts. This is a fairly easy sell for most.

Current research shows that nuts can be part of a healthy diet. The most recent version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that we all “choose a variety of protein foods, which includes seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products,  nuts, seeds and soy products.” They also recommend limiting the intake of saturated fats and trans fats and replacing them with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in seafood, nuts, seeds, and oils.

Proponents of the Mediterranean Diet say to aim for at least three-ounces of nuts per week. Now this doesn’t mean to eat nuts on top of what you’re eating now. The key is to have nuts INSTEAD of the other potentially less healthful foods.

Nuts are easy to overdo and do have lots of calories. One ounce of nuts can range from about 160 to 200 calories—depending upon the type of nut. On the other hand, nuts are good sources of fiber, protein, magnesium, copper, potassium, folic acid and vitamin B. One ounce is a small handful or about 1/4 cup.  If it comes down to counting: 14 walnut halves and 24 almonds, 16 cashews, 45 pistachios or 18 pecan halves.

Single serving packs of nuts are also available to purchase ready to go.  I know you’re probably saying it’s cheaper to make your own, but for some people that just doesn’t work https://news.nutritioneducationstore.com/perspective/.

I’ve never really been a snack or protein bar person so putting a little bag of nuts in my gym bag to take to the pool is an easy choice.  They are portable and I don’t need to worry about food safety or a banana getting squished at the bottom of the bag.

I do make my own portion controlled bags from bulk nuts. I like to toast the nuts before I put them into the little bags—I just think the flavor is better.  I dry roast them in a fry pan. Slow heat or they burn easily.  My favorites are pecans, but just pick your favorite or go for a combination of mixed nuts.

Grab and go.

Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS

Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

 

Holiday MyPlate

As a special holiday bonus, I want to offer you the wonderful MyPlate handout that accompanies the Holiday MyPlate poster. If you like what you see, it’s not too late to pick up some last minute-holiday resources in the Nutrition Education Store — now’s the perfect time to prepare for those New Year’s resolutions…

Holiday times are here! This means a lot more activity and disruption to regular meal and exercise patterns. The good news is that you can remember MyPlate’s most important message to lower calories and eat healthier! Make half your plate fruits and veggies.

Here is how to adopt that message during the crazy holiday rush:

#1. Fill appetizer plates halfway with vegetables.

Look at the savings:

Plate 1: 546 calories

  • 4 mini quiche: 240
  • 2 slices cheddar cheese: 226
  • 5 crackers: 80 calories

Plate 2: 145 calories

  • 1 cup carrots and celery 25
  • 2 mini quiche: 120

Visualize a plate before you eat snacks (and bring your snacks!).

Are you zooming through the mall and tempted by large pretzels, cookies, and cinnamon rolls? They smell great and offer holiday spirit except they are really bad news for your waist. We have become oblivious to lare sizes because they are everywhere. Picture that item on a dinner plate. Does a cinnamon roll or pretzel likely take up a whole plate? That is too much! Bring an apple in your bag or choose a healthier item from the food court.

#2. Fill dessert plates halfway with fruit.

Instead of filling up your plate with pie, cake, brownies, and cookies, fill it up with fruit and leave room for a small slice or piece of one favorite treat.

Consider the savings:

Plate 1: 900 calories

  • Pecan pie slice: 500
  • 1 butter cookie: 200
  • Peppermint brownie: 200

Plate 2: 145 calories

  • 1 cup fresh fruit: 90
  • 1 cookie or 1/2 of a pie slice: 200 calories

Hint: bring a beautiful fresh fruit salad or bowl of fruit so you can have this option.

#3. Make a healthy plate for lunch and dinner.

No matter where you eat, using the MyPlate method of portion control can help you lower calories.

  • 1 big bowl of pasta with meatballs: 900 calories
  • MyPlate method: 1/4 pasta, 1/4 meatball, and 1/2 veggies = 400 calories

Make MyPlate at home, when you eat out, and when you are a guest somewhere else. It works in the cafeteria, the food court, the drive through and office parties!

#4. Eat a healthy snack plate with fruits and veggies before going to a party.

Okay so we realize it is not always easy to eat MyPlate at someone else’s house or the office party. So here is one more strategy. Eat your MyPlate fruits and veggies before you go out. Eat a small salad and a piece of fruit — that way when you go somewhere you can have a smaller serving of what they are offering and you won’t arrive starved only to fill up on a whole plate of fried chicken or fatty roast beef and fritters.

Will this be helpful for you or your clients? If so, don’t miss the free PDF handout available below. Normally it’s exclusive for people who buy the Holiday MyPlate poster, but I want to make an exception today…

Holiday MyPlate