****
This
week, we’ll start by sharing a few important reminders:
First,
our staff members and residents will host a free THANKS-FOR-GIVING gathering for
community members, friends and families at the Pathfinder Village Gym on Thursday, November 19, from 6 to
7:30 p.m.
We invite all our regular Pathfinder Produce patrons to join in the fun and
bring a non-perishable food item or gently used/new toy for local distribution
during the holidays.
Secondly,
in as much as next Thursday is Thanksgiving and we want our market staff to be
home with their families, we will hold our weekly Pathfinder Produce market on Tuesday,
November 24, from 1 to 5 p.m. This is a great time to stock up
on your Thanksgiving staples at our friendly and convenient market. The
market will also be open on Tuesdays during the year-end holidays too, as both
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on Thursdays.
***
During
the holidays, we all try to keep from over-eating, although it is challenging
when tables and sideboards are packed with tempting fare, lovingly created by
our moms, spouses, and other talented family members and friends who love to
cook.
So
perhaps it is good timing to share that the Food & Drug Administration has
in the past week come out with guidelines about sugar consumption. Many
health advocates have long said that America eats far too much sugar; our
national sweet tooth has been a chief contributor to our current endemic rates
of diabetes and obesity.
According to a recent Wellness
post at the New York Times by Roni Caryn Rabin, the FDA’s recommended goal
is “for Americans to limit added sugar to no more than 10 percent of daily
calories, according to the proposed guidelines. For someone older than 3, that
means eating no more than 12.5 teaspoons, or 50 grams, of it a day.”
That limit is for total added sugars, not
just the sugar you may add to your coffee or breakfast cereal. This means
consumers need to start tracking how much sugar is added in the manufacturing process
of commercial foods they eat. The FDA is proposing to change food labels
to make this easier to track, but the Food Industries and lobbyists are already
creating a fuss, so it is unknown if or when this additional information will
be added.
So, what’s a health-concerned consumer to
do? An earlier Times’ Wellness
Blog about a study that NIH carried out on obese children offers some helpful
suggestions, but again focuses on knowing added amounts of sugar. So, for
what it’s worth, here are my two cents and five suggestions:
- Adopt a different guideline:
Earlier in 2015, the UN’s World
Health Organization recommended that no more than 10 percent of one’s daily
calorie intake be derived from sugar (added or naturally occurring
sugars). They state that if you can work down towards five percent (25
grams or 6 tsp.) that health benefits increase.
- Stop drinking sugar-laden
beverages, like sodas, sugar-rich teas, energy drinks, and
juices. This is one of the most concentrated forms of sugar in our diets.
(In 5-2-1-0 programs, the 0 means zero sugary drinks.) Likewise, learn to like
lightly or unsweetened cups of hot beverages.
- Learn names the industry uses
to denote sugar: Review this Prevention
slideshow on how sugar is hidden on food labels. If it ends in
“-ose,” it’s sugar. Also names like corn syrup, cane juice, dextrin,
barley malt, carob syrup, malt syrup, etc. mean sugar.
- Reduce sugar content in home
baked items and cooking. I generally trim back the amounts
of sugar in cakes and cookies to 2/3 or ¾ of what the recipe states. It may
taste a bit off at first, but you will get used to it.
- Eat natural, unprocessed foods: Although natural fruits and veggies have sugar, the amounts are known, and fruits and veggies offer other benefits to offset their sugar content. So, instead of reaching for that gooey luscious corporate-baked cookie, grab a crisp, bright apple instead.
Until
next time, savor the sweet things in life, but not the added sweeteners.
Lori
