| Nutrition and Food Safety |
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| Eat Well to Be Well |
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What we eat is basic to our health. Here are tips that can make it easier to eat well to be well.
Make half your grains whole
- Use whole-wheat bread instead of white bread.
- Try brown rice and whole-wheat pasta.Choose whole-grain snack chips, such as baked tortilla chips.
- Munch on popcorn, with little or no salt and butter, for a quick snack.
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Vary your veggies
- Buy fresh vegetables in season, when they cost less and are at their peak flavor.
- Stock up on frozen vegetables for quick, easy cooking in the microwave.
- Mix a pre-washed bag of greens with grape tomatoes to make a salad in minutes.
- Keep packages of baby carrots or celery sticks visible in the fridge for quick snacks.
Focus on fruit
- Keep a bowl of whole fruit on the table, counter, or in the refrigerator.
- Look for fresh fruits in season for lower cost and more flavor.
- Buy dried, frozen, and canned fruits, too, so you always have a supply on hand.
- Pick up packages of pre-cut fruit for a healthy snack in seconds.
Get your calcium
- Use low-fat or skim milk when cooking and as a beverage at meals.
- Have low- or no-fat yogurt as a snack or a dip for fresh fruit.
- Buy calcium-fortified juice, cereals and breads.
- Try lower-fat cheeses on sandwiches and in cooking.
Go lean with protein
- Choose the leanest cuts of meat:
- Beef: round steak, roast, top loin, top sirloin; at least 90 percent lean ground beef
- Pork: loin, tenderloin, center loin, ham
- Chicken, Turkey: boneless breasts and cutlets
- Sandwich Meat: Turkey, roast beef, ham.
- Choose fish more often for lunch or dinner.
- Broil, grill, roast, poach, or boil instead of frying.
- Use beans as a main dish – try chili, bean soup, or black beans and rice.
Source: USDA’s mypyiramid.gov
Online Resources
Several Web sites offer additional tips, menus and recipes to stimulate your creativity as well as your appetite for eating well.
The State Library offers a searchable online catalog that lets you find cookbooks and other nutrition materials in the Library's holdings -- including the Wellness Library specifically for state employees. State employees can borrow these materials and have them shipped at no cost.
The state’s Healthy Worksites Web site offers nutrition resources and help for health living.
www.mypyramid.gov, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, can help you;
- Make smart choices from every food group
- Find your balance between food and physical activity
- Get the most nutrition out of your calories.
Download a complete cookbook of healthy recipes at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Web site. Get organized using the site’s menu planner.
The American Cancer Society offers a range of food and fitness resources.
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| Eat Your Colors |
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Want your kids to like healthy foods?
Colorful fruits and vegetables provide the wide range of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals our bodies use to stay healthy and energetic.
Fruits and vegetables come in a big range of colors – blue or purple, green, white, yellow or orange, and red. The goal is to eat about one cup from each color group every day. So, keep color in mind – the more color you eat, the greater the benefit.
Visit the Healthy Worksites Initiative Web site for tips on getting color into your diet for better health.
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| Read 'em & reap |
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Reading Food Labels
One of the most important guidelines for wise food shopping is to read food labels carefully. Most food labels provide a list of ingredients, and many also give additional information about the nutritional value of the contents.
When looking at any list of ingredients, remember that they are in order of their relative content weight. The first ingredient is the one that makes up the greatest part of the product. The last ingredient represents the smallest part of the product. Food labels generally provide nutritional information for a typical single serving as well as an entire package or can. Try to gauge how close the serving size is to your own eating habits to calculate how many nutrients you’ll be receiving at each meal.
Labels also list important factors like fat and cholesterol content. No more than 30 percent of your caloric intake should come from fat, so these help you monitor fat percentages. Also, watching cholesterol can reduce the risk of heart disease. Too much sodium can also contribute to heart disease. So remember that the little bit of time spent reading labels can yield tremendous health benefits.
Reprinted with permission from Parlay International
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| Food Safety Tips |
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Here are important safety tips to remember:
Keep Everything Clean:
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Always wash your hands before and after handling food.
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Don’t use the same platter and utensils for raw and cooked meat and poultry.
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If there isn’t safe drinking water available, bring water for preparation and cleaning. Wet, disposable cloths or moist towelettes or paper towels for cleaning hands and surfaces are essential.
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Include lots of clean utensils, not only for eating but also for serving the safely cooked food.
Keep Hot Food Hot and Cold Food Cold: Food should not be left out of the cooler or off the grill more than two hours (one hour when the outside temperature is above 90 °F). Most bacteria do not grow rapidly at temperatures below 40 °F or above 140 °F. The temperature range in between is known as the “Danger Zone.”
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If bringing hot take-out food such as fried chicken, eat it within two hours of purchase. Or plan ahead and chill the food in your refrigerator before packing it into an insulated cooler.
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Carry cold perishable food like hamburger patties, hotdogs, luncheon meats and chicken in an insulated cooler packed with plenty of ice or frozen gel packs.
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Be sure raw meat and poultry are wrapped securely to prevent juices from cross-contaminating ready-to-eat food.
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Perishable cooked foods such as meats, chicken and potato or pasta salads must be kept cold, too.
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Discard any leftovers that have not remained cold.
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