Weekly Wellness
Issue 200
Featured Article
Reducing Fat and Sugar in Your Holiday Baking
Fitness Tip
Is Your Commute Contributing to Excess Weight?
A survey of 10,500 Americans found that for every extra 30 minutes commuters spent driving, they had a 3 percent greater chance of becoming obese compared with workers who spent less time driving. In addition, people who lived within walking distance of stores (typically less than one-half mile) were statistically less likely to be obese than those who had to drive to shop. These findings indicate obesity has an environmental component that can be addressed. The bottom line is, the longer you must drive on your way to work, the more likely you are to be obese. Living closer to work and avoiding traffic jams may help not only your your stress levels, but your waistline as well. The study is published in a summer edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Nutrition Tip
A Second Look at Sodium
Aside from watching food labels for sodium content, try the following tips for controlling your sodium intake -- we all could use a cut back!
- If a food has twice the amount of sodium as calories, it is too much sodium.
- Do not trust your taste buds. Many foods with high sodium content do not taste salty.
- Unlearn your taste buds for sodium. Focus on enjoying the other flavors in foods.
- Take a break from the salt shaker. Just one-fourth teaspoon of salt contains a whopping 600 milligrams of sodium.
- Rinse off canned vegetables before eating them. You can cut sodium intake by 40-percent.
- Limit other condiments that are high in sodium, like soy sauce, mustard, ketchup and tartar sauce.
- Some over-the-counter medications contain sodium, such as laxatives, headache pills and alkalizers. Your doctor can better inform you, especially if you have salt-related high blood pressure.
Nutrient of the Week
Garcinia Fruit
Garcinia Fruit contains the active ingredient hydroxyciteic acid (HCA), which promotes weight loss. A placebo-controlled study in 1999 combined guggul extract with Garcinia cambogia extract and tyrosine. Over six weeks, twenty overweight persons experienced a significant decrease in body fat mass and average body weight. The subjects lost body fat, but not lean mass. Fatigue went down, and there were no adverse effects.
Quick Recipe
Baked Ham Heroes
Heat oven to 375-degrees. Split a long, one-pound loaf of Italian bread horizontally. Put top, cut side down, on baking sheet. Arrange eight ounces thinly sliced deli ham on bottom of loaf. Top with store-bought sweet red pepper strips, 3/4 cup thinly sliced red onions, 1-1/2-cup drained deli coleslaw and four ounces of any shredded reduced-fat cheese. Bake eight minutes or until cheese melts. Cover with bread top; cut crosswise into six portions and serve.
Tidbit(s)
Get Fit Fast
Cannot fit an entire strength training routine into your schedule? Do just two exercises every day, so by week's end you have hit all your body parts. It will take less than ten minutes and you will keep those muscles and bones strong.
Food Fixes
Keep buttery doughs chilled while working with them by placing a pizza stone cutter in the freezer for a least 20 minutes before working with your dough; roll your dough on it. This will keep the butter from melting too quickly, giving your more time to work with the dough.
When using granulated sugar, keep in mind that one pound sugar is the equivalent to 2 cups.
Cookies will spread if your dough is too pliable by allowing butter to get too soft. If your cookies are spreading too much, try refrigerating the dough for a couple of hours before baking.
Instead of adding raw garlic to sauces, saute the garlic first for a milder flavor.