How Healthy is Your Breakfast Cereal?

An easy way to find the answer to that question is to ignore the advertising and the appealing messages on the front of the box and look at the nutrition label.

First, how much fiber is in a serving of that cereal? Never purchase a cereal with less than 3 grams of fiber per serving. Five or more grams of fiber is even better. Undigestible fiber helps regulate your blood sugar and your feelings of hunger. Dietary fiber is an important aid to preventing many diseases.

Second, check the calories per serving. Healthy types of breakfast cereals serve up less than 120 calories per serving. (While you are at it, look at the serving size. You may need a smaller bowl at breakfast to limit those calories!)

Finally, look at the added sugar. Your serving of cereal should have less than 13 grams of sugar. Don’t even think of sprinkling on more. In addition to weight gain and tooth decay, excess sugar in your diet increases your risk of heart disease and other health issues.

Things to Do - Healthinfo Island Exhibits and Displays for February 2021

Heart Healthy Month - Keep Your Heart Pink and Healthy!

February is Heart Health Month!

You can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the SLURLs in this notecard. Click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set, and you will get a notecard that contains all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images.

If you click each poster, you will get a message with additional information and live links.

Central Pavilion of Healthinfo Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/128/126/24

Heart Health Awareness Month
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/196/156/23

Alcohol and Your Heart
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/187/181/24

Signs of Heart Disease That You May Not Recognize
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/154/22

Heart Healthy Diet
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/111/81/24

Surprising Heart Facts (a quiz!)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/99/37/26

Things You Didn't Know About Cholesterol
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/51/27/28

How We Damage Our Hearts
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/25/24/30

Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/62/32

Tip - Fighting Weight Gain During This Pandemic

Even our utensils have gotten fat during the pandemic

Many people have noticed they have gained weight during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, leading to the creation of the terms “Quarantine 15” and “COVID-19.” Doctors attribute this weight gain to stress-induced eating. People are more likely to eat high-calorie foods when they are stressed, even if they are not hungry. They also engage in other unhealthy habits such as avoiding exercise and sleeping less.

If you are one of the people who has added extra pounds in the past year, here are some ideas for getting back to your pre-COVID weight.

Since stress seems to be one of the main causative factors for this pandemic of weight gain, one way you can address the problem is to find appropriate ways to manage stress. Try the following:

• Be sure you can recognize the physical and emotional signs of stress in your body. These include muscle tension, irritability, and feelings of anxiety.
  
  
• Before you eat, check in with yourself. Are you feeling stressed and eating when you are not really hungry as a flawed coping strategy?
  
  
• If you want to eat, but aren’t really hungry, try distracting yourself. Call a friend for a chat. Watch a TV show (without snacking).
  
  
• Keep an eating and behavior habit diary. Look for patterns in your eating that may relate to stressful feelings instead of hunger.

You’ve probably seen the rest of these suggestions often enough. They apply in most situations and are just simple (but not necessarily easy) steps to general good health.

• Eat a healthy varied diet emphasizing vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
  
  
• Don’t skip meals to cut calories. Eat smaller amounts at each meal.
  
  
• If your comfort foods are junk foods, get rid of them and do not keep any in your home.
  
  
• Get regular exercise. Include the four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility.
  
  
• Learn and use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, stretching, yoga or meditation.
  
  
• Get adequate good-quality sleep.
  
  
• Learn to accept setbacks to the progress of your improvement plan. Get back on track as soon as possible.
  
  
• Let your family and friends know your weight loss goal. Ask them to encourage and support you.
  
  
• Seek professional advice and assistance if you are not able to lose weight on your own.

For more information on stress:

• Stress and your health: https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/good-mental-health/stress-and-your-health.
  
  
• Stress relief is within reach: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-signs.aspx.
  
  
• Stress and eating behaviors: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214609/.
  
  
• Stress exposure, food intake and emotional state: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843770/.
  
  
• Stress as a common risk factor for obesity and addiction:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23541000.

Tips to Reduce Your Sugar Intake

Man after eating too much sugar

Probably the first thing people think of as a way to limit sugar intake is to exchange sodas sweetened with sugar for “diet” low-calorie or sugar-free sodas. However, drinks with artificial sweeteners are not healthy. “Higher consumption of artificially-sweetened soft drink was associated with an increased risk of both stroke and dementia.” (Read the research here.) A better choice is water, flavored with a slice of fruit.

Here are some other suggestions for reducing sugar in your diet:

• Instead of topping your morning cereal or oatmeal with sugar, add chopped fresh fruit.
• Eat fruit instead of pastries, cake or cookies for dessert or a snack.
• Barbecue sauce and catsup contain significant amounts of sugar. Instead, use lower-sugar condiments such as hot sauce, mustard or salsa. 
• When baking your own goodies, you can usually decrease the amount of sugar up to half. Or try substituting unsweetened applesauce for some or all of the sugar in the recipe.
• Read nutrition labels on packaged foods to help find those with the lowest sugar. You can often get nutrition information on restaurant menus as well. Make wise choices to lower your sugar intake.

TIP - How to Tell if Eggs are Fresh

Fresh chicken egg cracked out of its shell

Your grandmother may have had to check the freshness of farm eggs by dunking them, still in their shells, into water. The belief was that fresh eggs would sink and eggs you would not want to cook or eat would float.

This old wives’ tale is not entirely accurate, however. It is true that the air cell inside the eggshell enlarges as the egg ages. But floating eggs may still be safe to eat. Crack the egg into a bowl and check its appearance and smell before deciding whether to use or discard it. A spoiled egg has a distinctive sulfur-like odor known as “rotten egg smell.” If the egg smells OK, it is likely safe to cook with.

There is a better way to check the freshness of eggs you get from the grocery. Check the egg carton!

Eggs packed at plants that are under US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection have a pack-date number on the carton. These 3-digit numbers (called Julian dates) range from 001 to 365, and indicate the date (from January 1 through December 31) that the eggs were packaged. The American Egg Board states that raw eggs stored in their cartons in the refrigerator are safe to eat for four to five weeks beyond the Julian date.

Egg packing at plants not under USDA inspection comes under state laws for labeling. Most require a Sell-By or EXP date, which is a direction to the store, but is also the consumer’s guarantee of freshness for a couple of weeks past that date.

For a downloadable infographic explaining Julian and Sell-By dates and many other labels found on egg cartons, please see: https://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-types-packaging.

Things to Do - Oct 6-10 Eggstravaganza Virtual Family Week

A very full nest of eggs

It used to be that we felt we could not eat many eggs because the yolks contain cholesterol. Now we know that saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, has a great effect on blood cholesterol and thus the risk of stroke and heart attack.

In fact, research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in April 2020 reviewed the effect of eggs in the diet on 177,000 people in 50 different countries. The researchers found no association between those who ate an average of more than an egg a day compared to those who ate less than one egg per week on measures such as blood lipids, mortality, and major cardiovascular disease events. Moderate egg consumption is safe!

Manitoba (Canada) Egg Farmers is sponsoring a five-day Eggstravaganza! Starting Tuesday, October 6, each day offers a fun family activity. On the 6th, learn to cook classic deviled eggs with dietitian Carla D’Andreamatteo and her daughter. Carla has worked with Virtual Ability in the past on a nutrition education research project. She also did a presentation on Healthinfo Island during the Women in Science celebration.

There is a Twitter Party for adults on the 7th and TWO fun events for kids on the 8th. Learn magic tricks you can do at home on YouTube at 8am SLT with magician Cary Tardi. At 5pm SLT attend a party with Elsa, Spiderman, and your children on Zoom.

Friday, Oct 9, which is World Egg Day, Canadian egg farmers answer your questions about hens, eggs, and egg farming. This special week ends on Saturday with a virtual tour of a working egg farm

If that’s not enough family activities about eggs, your kids can sign up for a free fun egg-tivity kit that contains an activity for each day of the Eggstravaganza week.