Avoiding the Freshman Fifteen: How To Keep The Pounds Off

canteenby Shereen Jegtvig

We’re still in the first weeks of fall semester at most colleges, which is an interesting, exciting and possibly bewildering time for a lot of college freshmen.  For most, it’s their first home away from home, there’s classes, homework, new social groups – it’s really a stressful time of adjustment.  And along that stress and excitement can be accompanied by the dreaded “freshman fifteen” which is  the extra pounds that young people often gain when they go off to college for the first time.

Why does it happen?  Maybe there are more choices and less supervision.  Without Mom or Dad to provide the healthy snacks, college kids may succumb to the temptation of a junk food diet.  Now it’s easy to keep junk foods in the dorm room as snacks.  Or maybe some students use comfort foods to cope with the added stress of school and living away from home for the first time. Read more

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Snacking on the Rise

snacksby Shereen Jegtvig

According to a new report, Americans are snacking more often and that trend is going to increase.  As it is, snacking isn’t good or bad, really, it depends on how you do it.  Eating snacks can be bad if you choose foods high in calories with lots of sugar and unhealthy fats, or snacking can be good if you choose healthy snacks that can boost your daily nutritional intake.  Of course, even with healthy snacking you’ll have to watch your calories if you need to maintain or lose weight.  Adding a 250 calorie snack every day will also add about one extra pound of fat to your hips or belly every two weeks.  If you snack, be sure to know how much you are eating and reduce the same number of calories from one of your regular meals.

Some people prefer to eat six or seven snacks every day instead of three full meals.  Some people believe this practice helps keep blood sugar level because you avoid the natural rise of blood sugar due to eating carbohydrates and fall of blood sugar due to the increased production of insulin.  Other people just feel it is easier to control their calorie intake if they just nibble snack size meals all day.  The key is to not let small snacks turn into full meals, which will lead to too many calories and weight gain.   Read more

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Warning Labels on Hot Dogs?

hotdogby Shereen Jegtvig

Just recently, a vegan group called the Cancer Project filed a lawsuit asking the state of New Jersey to require cancer-warning labels on hot dogs.  I think most people would find this lawsuit to be frivolous and I doubt New Jersey residents will see warning labels on their hot dogs anytime soon, but it is worth thinking about.

There have been studies suggesting a link between processed meats, like hot dogs, and colon cancer.  They’re usually high in saturated fat and loaded with artificial additives and preservatives, the worst probably being nitrites, which are added to prevent bacterial growth and adds that familiar pink color.  When the nitrites combine with other substances also found in meat to form N-nitroso compounds that are associated with a higher risk of several cancers.  As an aside, many green vegetables naturally contain nitrites, but they don’t convert to the N-nitroso compounds, perhaps due to vitamins or antioxidants also found in the vegetables.

Does this mean that hot dogs should carry warning labels or that you should shriek and run away in horror the next time you see hot dogs at a picnic?  Read more

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Using FoodEssentials as Part of a Healthy Lifestyle

fe_logo_220by Shereen Jegtvig

Studies show how following a healthy lifestyle reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease (the leading cause of death in the United States).  The important lifestyle behaviors include getting exercise, not smoking, light consumption (or less) of alcohol, and of course, eating a healthy diet.

Changing your diet usually means you have to eat more fruits and vegetables and whole grains while reducing fat and sodium.  Sounds easy enough, but some of those food manufacturers sneak extra fat and sodium (along with artificial colors, flavorings and preservatives) where you don’t expect them.  You can spend hours at the grocery store sifting through the information on the food labels to be sure you’re buying healthy foods.  Or you can use the FoodEssentials tool to do the work for you.  Read more

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