Mar 11tth 2010 Thursday Meeting's Topic

10 Tips To Healthy Eating   1. Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods. You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods. How much you should eat depends on your calorie needs. Use the Food Guide Pyramid and the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels as handy references.   2. Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Surveys show most Americans don't eat enough of these foods. Do you eat 6-11 servings from the bread, rice, cereal and pasta group, 3 of which should be whole grains? Do you eat 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables? If you don't enjoy some of these at first, give them another chance. Look through cookbooks for tasty ways to prepare unfamiliar foods.   3. Maintain a healthy weight. The weight that's right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height, age and heredity. Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer and other illnesses. But being too thin can increase your risk for osteoporosis, menstrual irregularities and other health problems. If you're constantly losing and regaining weight, a registered dietitian can help you develop sensible eating habits for successful weight management. Regular exercise is also important to maintaining a healthy weight.   4. Eat moderate portions. If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it's easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy. Did you know the recommended serving of cooked meat is 3 ounces, similar in size to a deck of playing cards? A medium piece of fruit is 1 serving and a cup of pasta equals 2 servings. A pint of ice cream contains 4 servings. Refer to the Food Guide Pyramid for information on recommended serving sizes.   5. Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating. When you're very hungry, it's also tempting to forget about good nutrition. Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don't eat so much that your snack becomes an entire meal.   6. Reduce, don't eliminate certain foods. Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderating how much of these foods you eat and how often you eat them. Identify major sources of these ingredients in your diet and make changes, if necessary. Adults who eat high-fat meats or whole-milk dairy products at every meal are probably eating too much fat. Use the Nutrition Facts panel on the food label to help balance your choices. Choosing skim or low-fat dairy products and lean cuts of meat such as flank steak and beef round can reduce fat intake significantly. If you love fried chicken, however, you don't have to give it up. Just eat it less often. When dining out, share it with a friend, ask for a take-home bag or a smaller portion.   7. Balance your food choices over time. Not every food has to be "perfect." When eating a food high in fat, salt or sugar, select other foods that are low in these ingredients. If you miss out on any food group one day, make up for it the next. Your food choices over several days should fit together into a healthy pattern. 8. Know your diet pitfalls. To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what's wrong with them. Write down everything you eat for three days. Then check your list according to the rest of these tips. Do you add a lot of butter, creamy sauces or salad dressings? Rather than eliminating these foods, just cut back your portions. Are you getting enough fruits and vegetables? If not, you may be missing out on vital nutrients.   9. Make changes gradually. Just as there are no "superfoods" or easy answers to a healthy diet, don't expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight. Changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success. Begin to remedy excesses or deficiencies with modest changes that can add up to positive, lifelong eating habits. For instance, if you don't like the taste of skim milk, try low-fat. Eventually you may find you like skim, too.   10. Remember, foods are not good or bad. Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is "good" or "bad." Don't feel guilty if you love foods such as apple pie, potato chips, candy bars or ice cream. Eat them in moderation, and choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.     Student diet 101: Don't eat mold By Madison Park CNN (CNN) -- As college students enter the halls of elite education and higher learning, here is one piece of advice: Learn from the caveman. "How the caveman worked, he'd check stuff out -- the look and smell of it," said Jeff Nelken, a food safety expert, about suspicious foods. "You have a sense of smell and taste, a radar system that tells you that the food is not fresh." A survey of more than 4,000 college students published in 2008 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that "young adults, particularly white men, engage in risky eating behaviors" by consuming undercooked animal products, which carry risks of illness. College students aren't generally known for healthy eating. Busy schedules and tight budgets -- and sometimes a lack of knowledge about food -- can result in not-the-greatest choices. Outside the dining halls, the college student diet may rely heavily on ramen noodles, beer, cereal and leftovers. Today, a few food experts offer advice on ways to balance health and frugality, since many students are new to the kitchen and crunched for cash. Can I cut the mold off the bread/cheese and eat the rest? It's tempting to lop off the fuzzy patch, but the mold could have spread already. "Once you're able to see mold on bread, it means there's quite a lot of mold," said Nelken, a food consultant in Woodland Hills, California. "It's indicative that there's mold on other slices, just not at the level you can see it. Why jeopardize your health on a slice of bread?" Nelken likened mold to jellyfish. "Even though you scrape off the head of the jellyfish, the tentacles are still in the food product." Eating moldy bread could cause an upset stomach. Although most molds are innocuous, it's probably not going to taste good, food experts said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends discarding moldy bread and baked goods, because of their porous texture. Creamy dairy products like yogurt can easily spread mold and should be discarded. Soft cheeses with high moisture content -- including those that are shredded, sliced, or crumbled -- can be contaminated with both mold and bacteria. So throw those away, experts advise. Hard cheeses can be saved, as long as the mold is cut 1 inch around the spot. Because of the cheese's hardness, the mold generally cannot penetrate deep into the product. Complete chart of USDA's guide on moldy food. To save food and money, consider freezing food items to keep them longer, or buy the item in smaller amounts. Do dry packaged foods like ramen or boxed macaroni and cheese last forever? "Forever is a long time, but these products will last for some time," wrote Linda Harris, a researcher who focuses on microbial food safety at the University of California-Davis. "The quality will be affected by long-term storage. The flavors may change over time. The texture of the noodles might not be as good but they won't become unsafe." Most dehydrated products have a "Best If Used By" date, recommended for best flavor or quality. Food experts say it's not dangerous to eat a product after the "Best If Used By" date, but it could taste different or stale. Would a hungry college student searching for a cheap, convenient meal notice? That would be "highly variable depending upon storage conditions, age, product and taste sensitivity of the student," Harris said. The pizza from last night has been sitting out on the counter. Can I eat it for breakfast? The USDA advises no, saying that perishable foods should not be left out for more than two hours. Anything left at room temperature for longer should be discarded. "Fridges were invented for a reason," said Sam Beattie, a food safety extension specialist at Iowa State University. "They work well to keep food cold. It slows the growth of these illness-growing microorganisms." Leaving a box of pizza out overnight and grazing on it the next morning is something that "I think we've all done," Nelken said. "You don't hear people getting ill from leftover pizza." But he said to steer clear of left-overnight pizza with exotic ingredients such as smoked salmon or grilled eggplant because of bacteria. Should I drink milk after its use-by date? What about eggs? Drinking milk a day or two after its use-by date shouldn't be an issue. But if you notice changes in flavor, consistency, smell -- don't take any chances, Nelken said. For eggs, the USDA recommends using within three to five weeks of the date of purchase. The "sell-by" date will usually expire by then, but the eggs are safe to use. Eggs and milk should be stored in the coldest areas of the refrigerator, not on the door, since it's four to five degrees warmer there. Raw chicken always smells funny. How do I know if it's gone bad? It'll smell a lot more gamy, said Beattie, an assistant professor for food safety in Ames, Iowa. This means it'll give off an odor -- stronger than when you first bought it at the grocery store. Store chicken in the freezer or use refrigerated chicken within three days after purchase. Beyond that, spoilage organisms will get into the chicken and it will start emitting an unpleasant smell, Beattie said. Invest in a cooking thermometer to make sure that meat has been cooked thoroughly, rather than relying on visual cues. Wash your hands frequently with warm water and soap to avoid transmitting E.coli and salmonella. Should I drink the water after the expiration date has passed on the bottle? "What happens with water is absolutely nothing," Beattie said. Water is safe to drink even past its expiration date (as long as there's no leakage in the bottle), but the water may taste different. According to the Food and Drug Administration, bottled water is considered to have an indefinite safety shelf life if it is produced and stored properly. While the federal agency does not require an expiration date for bottled water, many manufacturers elect to put expiration dates. "What happens is that people feel more comfortable with bottled water with a code date," Beattie said. "There is no safety factor beyond that. Manufacturers feel that quality of water may deteriorate or become more neutral."     Conversation Questions Food & Eating   1. Are there any foods that you wouldn't eat as a child that you eat now? 2. Are you concerned about your daily calorie intake when choosing something to eat? 3. At what times do you usually eat your meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)? 4. Do you eat breakfast every day? 5. Do you have a favorite bar or cafe? If so, where is it? Why do you like it? 6. Do you like Chinese food? Why or why not? 7. Do you like to eat? Why or why not? 8. Do you like to try new food and drinks? 9. Do you prefer fish or meat? 10. Do you prefer to eat at a restaurant or at home? 11. How often do you eat at a fast-food restaurant? - How often do you eat bread? - How often do you eat fresh fruit? - How often do you eat in a restaurant? (How often do you eat out?) Where do you usually go? Who do you usually go with? About how much do you spend? 12. Do you ever go to an Indian restaurant? 13. If you are living abroad, what is the food that you miss most from home? 14. Is there any food that you really dislike to eat? 15. What country's food do you like the most? 16. What do you eat when you feel sad? 17. What food can you cook the best? 18. What food do you hate? Why do you hate it? 19. What is the cheapest place to eat that you know? - About how much is a meal? - Where is it? - How often do you go there? 20. What is the most unusual thing you've ever eaten. Did it taste good or bad? 21. What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten? 22. What kind of fruit do you like the best? 23. What's your favorite drink in the summer? 24. What's your favorite snack?