Iron is a mineral needed to make hemoglobin, which carries oxygen on red blood cells throughout the body. After picking up oxygen in the lungs, iron and hemoglobin carry it to muscles and other organs. Iron deficiency anemia occurs when there is not enough iron to maintain normal red blood cell activity. In order to prevent fatigue and weakness, it is important to build a diet that has a variety of foods with both heme and non-heme iron.
Heme iron is found in animal products
made from meat, poultry, and seafood. Heme iron is easily absorbed during
digestion and is the best source for iron-deficient individuals. Oysters,
clams, and animal liver provide excellent sources of heme iron, while meat
products like beef, shrimp, turkey, pork, and venison are considered good
sources.
Non-heme iron is mostly found in
plant-based foods, such as beans, lentils, spinach, soybeans, quinoa, broccoli,
and whole grain products. Including foods rich in vitamin C will improve
absorption of non-heme iron from these plant-based foods.
Know your labels:
– Foods that provide at least 20% of the daily
value of Iron for a 2,000 calorie diet are considered to be an “excellent
source” of the important mineral
– A “good source” of iron has 10-19% of the
daily value
– Find out how much iron a product has by looking towards the bottom of the nutrition facts label.
Make sure you have healthy
options available for your family to pack for school! It is important that all
children reach their daily recommended number of servings for all food groups.
An easy way to create a balanced packed lunch is to follow MyPlate. It is
important that packed school lunches offer just as much nutrition as meals
served at home and offering foods from all of the food groups helps your child
develop and learn. Following MyPlate, you can see that packed lunches should
have servings of fruit, vegetables, dairy, whole grains, and a protein source.
Your child can also purchase a serving of milk from their school’s cafeteria.
Finally, offer healthier snacks like pretzels, yogurt-covered raisins, popcorn,
trail mix, and whole grain crackers with peanut butter.
Build your own school lunch by
choosing a 1 item from each food group below!
Fruit – Apple slices, grapes, berries, banana,
applesauce
Vegetables – Cucumber slices,
carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, celery sticks (pair with hummus,
peanut butter, or ranch dip!)
It was a busy weekend for us! We went out to Deadwood on Wednesday for our annual SD Family Physician conference. Sarah was sworn in on Friday night and will now be the president of the SD Academy of Family Physicians! Congratulations Sarah!
She was sworn in on Friday night by the National Academy of Family Physicians President Dr. Gary LeRoy! He came from Ohio to join our conference, and to officially swear her into office. What a great conference!
She and I spent Thursday afternoon teaching other Family Physicians on Diabetes.
It is a great conference where we all can learn new things, and learn from each other as well. That will be one of the job responsibilities of the president; helping with ideas for topics for continuing education for the 350 Family Physicians of the state. She will get to do some traveling as well to national conferences, including Kansas City, Chicago, and Washington DC. I plan on going with her on some of these! We also had fun spending time with friends, classmates from med school, and Carletta Hauck, our Executive Director for the SDAFP!
Carletta’s daughter Carissa also came. It was great getting to see her again! She was helping Carletta with the conference, along with Steve, and Noah. It was a family effort! Each afternoon we had between 1-2 hours out of the whole day to do something else. So, of course, we went running!
Here I go by the sign Moon Mountain! The route by the hotel is up in the mountains. We would go 4 miles, with the first mile up, the second mile down, and then back. Those hills are incredibly tough.
Here Sarah is leading the way on the first mile going up! We just had to keep telling ourselves that once we got done with the first mile, it would be downhill for the next. Then repeat! That 3rd mile, going back up again, was a killer. At least the 4th mile was back down again!
The hills did not seem too bad when you had a least a great view. All of the pine trees, the pine tree smell, and even saw a few deer! It was enough of a break to go back at it again for the evening sessions!
Sarah will do a great job of being President, and will lead by example. She had the audience laughing with her speech! We have been a big part of this academy since medical school! Family Medicine is what we do, and we always need to keep learning. As she said in her speech, it will be just like when I was president over 15 years ago. The academy just got a 2 for 1 deal. You vote in one, and you get the benefit of having both of us. Good job Sarah! Congratulations! You will do great! Keep moving everybody!
All carbohydrates are not created equal. Many foods
containing carbohydrates, such as fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, offer
important sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help support good
health. However, many food manufacturers choose to sell products containing
excessive amounts of granulated sugar and high-fructose corn syrup because they
offer relatively low-cost and shelf-stable ingredient options.
For many years, carbohydrates on food labels were all counted the same and there was no way for consumers to distinguish if the carbohydrates came from a wholesome source or from an added sugar ingredient with all of the calories but very little nutritional value. Starting in January 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require that food manufacturers begin listing the added sugar content on nutrition labels along with the overall carbohydrate content.
This small change to nutrition labels will significantly improve the customer’s ability to make more educated decisions when choosing foods at the grocery store. Clear labeling on food packaging is an important tool to help individuals meet the Dietary Guidelines recommendation to limit added sugar intake to no more than 10% of daily calorie needs. Monitoring consumption is important because research suggests excessive intake of added sugars can increase your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cognitive decline, and certain forms of cancer.
The new requirements for food labeling are an important step towards increasing customers’ ability to better understand the quality of the foods they purchase and how their diet choices will affect their health and weight status.
Man’s best friend. They are always there for us. They want to play, have attention, regardless of how their day has been. Tail always wagging, ready to get going on the new adventure, or just glad to see you. I have had a dog now for over 25 years. It is so incredibly hard when we have to say goodbye to one of them, but all of the times we have had with them more than makes up for the sadness of saying goodbye.
Here is our daughter Megan playing with her dog , Dobby, a lab/pointer mix, 3 years old, and Dakota, our Golden Retriever puppy, now 5 months old. They keep each other company during the day, and then want all of our attention at night. They get along well with each other, and I think they both would feel lost if they did not have the other one around during the day either.
This is a good summary of just what we can, and have learned, from having a dog. Appreciate them. They make great training partners, friends, and family members…They can feel the love that comes from this family as well. And, they know they are a part of this family!
The loyalty they show, and unending love is something you would not understand unless you have, or have had, a dog. They are always ready to go for a walk, or a run. Something to get moving. They are great for helping to get you moving yourself, and to do some exercise. They do not care what the weather is outside. They just want to go! With all of the kids at least grown up and out of the house, it is like taking care of another child. They at least don’t talk back all of the time!
They want your attention, and will be very loyal to you. Take advantage of their unending love!
This one has definitely taken our hearts. She is already a very special dog. I only see this getting even better as she gets bigger. Many adventures, walks, and runs to look forward too!
Here is to you Dakota! She helps keep us moving, and enjoying life. If you have a dog, you know what I mean. If you don’t have a dog, what are you waiting for? Keep moving everybody!
