by kelsey | Dec 5, 2013 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food
I recently came across a really well written, credible, and easy to understand article regarding hormones in beef. There are a lot of mixed messages and concerns about the use of hormones in our meat production. Hormones are found in all multi-cellular organisms, which does include animals, vegetables, etc. Sometimes producers will use hormone implants which cause the meat to have a little bit more hormones than a non-implanted animal. Federal laws prohibit the use of hormones in hogs and chickens, but it is permissible in beef. The reason producers use implants are to increase efficiency, meaning the cow will gain more muscle, from less feed, more quickly. This really helps keeps prices down of the meat and reduces environmental impact. When implanted, the meat will contain a slightly higher amount of estrogen in a 3 oz serving (1.9 nanograms compared to 1.3 nanograms in non implanted meat). Many people are concerned that the extra estrogen is causing a variety of other issues such as early puberty or faster growing children.
Now here’s where you you pay special attention: our own bodies produce hormones naturally, a child will produce around 50,000 nanograms of estrogen/day and an adult female will produce about 480,000 nanograms of estrogen a day. In addition, when hormones are eaten and digested, they are not able to act as hormones anymore….but even if they did, that 1.9 nanograms in a 3 oz serving of meat is pretty small compared to our own natural production. In addition, it’s important to point out that many other foods have much more estrogen in them naturally, such as potatoes have 225 nanograms, peas have 340 nanograms, icecream-520 nanograms,cabbage- 2000 nanograms, and soy milk has 11,250 nanograms (all based on 3 oz servings). Also, one birth control pill has about 35,000 nanograms of estrogen. So here’s the bottom line, the hormones found in implanted beef are miniscule compared to our own production of hormones and various other foods we normally eat. I personally, am not concerned about this practice and feel it is safe to consume and we shouldn’t have any concerns about it. Now if you are still concerned, even after reading this and learning more from other credible resources, then you certainly can choose organic foods or grass fed meat (they may be higher in price and have a bit different taste, but they are an option for you). Lastly, this also brings us to the very important point that I have mentioned many times: moderation! When you prepare your meals, be sure to plan in a variety of other whole foods withe your lean meats, such as fruits and veggies and whole grains to create a well-rounded, balanced healthy plate!
-Kelsey
http://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/beef/2846/15997
by kelsey | Dec 4, 2013 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Family, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving! My family had a great time together eating, laughing, and making fond holiday memories! Since black Friday shopping has turned into Thursday night shopping, we were able to take the little kids (my nieces and nephew) to the Children’s Museum in Brookings on Friday. If you haven’t been there yet and you have little kids (kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbors, etc!) be sure to check it out! It is a great place to spark children’s imaginations and educate them about a variety of things from music, mechanics, art, history, reading, etc. My favorite place in the museum is the grocery store and it was evident my nieces and nephew really loved it too! The picture shows me helping my nieces check out their items they “purchased” in the store. This is a great way to teach young children about healthy eating as involving them in the process of grocery shopping and meal making will help them learn and understand the importance of healthy eating better than just telling them what to do. Teaching our children at a young age about healthy eating will help them achieve a healthy weight and have overall healthy habits throughout their lives. This is much of what we educate on in our Strive Kids wellness program. I feel it’s really important to not only educate, but involve the kids in learning activities to help them apply what they are learning. And most importantly, it’s essential for us adults to practice what we preach…so when you are asking your child to eat fruits and veggies, do it with them! When you prepare your grocery list and go shopping, include your kids in the process, and lastly, let them help you in the kitchen with meal prep!
Our Strive Kids program started in October and it is an on-going wellness program focused on improving the health and wellness for kids of all ages. If you’d like to learn more about our wellness services for kids, please contact me today!
-Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN
strive2survive@brownclinic.org
605-884-4226
by Dan | Dec 3, 2013 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
You have heard many times from me about the importance of having training partners to help keep you on track exercising. It is a great way to help stay motivated, and to keep you moving. Well, these two are both nurses, and they have both worked for me. Chris has been with me since day one, and I am now starting my 20th year here. Susan worked for me for about 6 years, and now is at Glacial Lakes Orthopedics. They have remained close, and good friends. So, they decided to do this event together.
Here they are prior to the start, all smiling and ready to go Finishing time was not going to be of any concern. Chris has been doing a lot of walking, and Susan really took off this year working out and getting fit. Here they are after they are done…
Still all smiles and happy! They did it together. They both know about staying fit, but more importantly, how much friendship means. They remain close. I would like to think that after listening to me day after day, talking to patients of how they need to exercise and keep track of their health, that some of this wore off on them. But they did all the work! Good job to both of you! You did great!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2261
by Dan | Dec 2, 2013 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Holidays, Motivation, Wellness/Health
This week had a lot of things going on, both personally, and community wise. My mom celebrated her 80th Birthday, the 28th of November, Thanksgiving day! We had gotten together a week prior because is was easier for us all to get home to celebrate. Here we all are!
…All of us, except my brother from Sturgis. We all had been out there the week prior, but not for a good reason. His wife of 32 years had unexpectantly passed away. We never know when our time is. We tried to celebrate this day for my mom, but our hearts were still all wondering how he was doing.
The kids and grandkids all had a good time helping her celebrate! Besides having her birthday on Thanksgiving day, Watertown had its annual Turkey Day run/walk. There were almost 400 people there!
As they stated at the start of the race: “Before we go stuff our face, we must first run a race!” It was a good day, and a great turnout! Here we all are at the beginning of the race taking off.
Then, friday night was the annual Lighted Parade through downtown Watertown. This too was a good turnout, will many pretty amazing floats! We walked alongside the float and handed out candy to the kids as we went.
As our float states: Wishing you Health and Happiness this Holiday Season! Take care of yourselves! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2260
by kelsey | Nov 26, 2013 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Happy Thanksgiving to you! The Thanksgiving holiday is always a fun one enjoyed by all as we stuff ourselves and then resort to the couch to watch football or the start of the holiday tv shows. Here are some tips for you to get through the holiday without putting on all those undesired extra pounds.
- Survey the entire table before you take any food. Decide what foods are worth eating and what can be ignored, and then stick to that decision. Why waste calories on foods that don’t bring you pleasure?
- Eat a snack before you leave home. If you arrive at a party starving, you’ll be more likely to overindulge.
- Eat your calories instead of drinking them. Stick to lower calorie or calorie-free drinks (diet sodas, water, light beer, or wine spritzer) instead of punches, eggnogs, and mixed drinks that can have up to 500 calories per cup.
- Sip a large glass of water between every alcoholic drink or non-alcoholic punch or eggnog. This will help keep you hydrated and you’ll drink fewer calories by the end of the night.
- When you are the host or hostess, include nutritious and lower-calorie foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats on the menu. When you are a guest, bring along a lower-calorie dish to share.
- Try not to hang out near the food. Find a comfortable spot across the room and focus on people instead of eating.
- Watch your portion sizes. Don’t cover your plate completely with food. In most cases, especially when it comes to holiday sweets and alcoholic beverages, less is better. Use a smaller plate or bowl and have just a sliver of pie like the picture shows.
- Drop out of the “clean plate club”. Leave a few bites behind every time you eat, especially if you are eating something you don’t really care for.
- Enjoy your favorite holiday treats but take a small portion, eat slowly, and savor the taste and texture of the wonderful foods of the season.
- Skip the pie crust and go for the filling.
- Choose light meat over dark meat.
- Use home-made cranberry sauce over canned cranberries that are jam packed with added sugars.
- In soups, sauces, puddings, and desserts: Replace whole milk or cream with low-fat milk, evaporated fat-free milk, or nonfat dry milk.
Lighten up your recipes:
- To make dips and toppings: Use low-fat or nonfat cottage cheese or sour cream, or non-fat Greek yogurt.
- To make salad dressings: Use nonfat Greek yogurt or low-fat buttermilk.
- In place of 1 whole egg in recipes: Use 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute.
- In place of regular cheese: Use fat-free or reduced-fat cheese.
- In place of full sugar: replace half with Splenda or reduce half completely.
- In place of fats: use unsweetened applesauce or oil (1-1 replacement), or prune puree (1 cup of fat=1/2 cup puree).
More importantly is ENJOY your family and friends and all that have to the THANKful for!
-Kelsey
