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HealthKick: Safe, Healthy, & Delicious Barbecues

Barbecuing is the preferred method of cooking for many families on hot sunny days. Good weather and social events bring dining to the outdoors, making the grill a handy place to cook. But that isn't all: barbecuing is a great way to easily cook healthy meals. Grills are not only easy to clean, but grilling is a great way to cook meats while draining off their fat, and to cook vegetables without adding fat. Grilling adds taste, not unneeded calories. However, the "healthiness" of a grilled meal depends not only on your food choices, but also on proper food (and grill) handling. When grilling, you must first consider safe grilling practices. The most important of these is to adjust the grill flame, and distance from grill to flame, appropriately. If meat or poultry are too close to a high flame, they will burn on the outside and remain uncooked in the inside, which is extremely unsafe. To be safe, cook foods to the following internal temperatures: Ground products (such as hamburgers). 160 degrees F, or until no longer pink and juices run clear. The danger from e. coli poisoning in ground products is scary, so this is a very real recommendation! If you want to have rare red meat, have a steak instead of a hamburger. (The increased risk from hamburger is not only due to the quality of meat used, but also from the fact that the ground meat contains grindings from both the outside of the meat and inside, mixed together, so cooking just the outside of your hamburger isn't actually cooking the entire outside of the meat used.) Steaks. Medium rare 145 degrees, medium 160 degrees, well done 170 degrees. Fish. 145 degrees. Poultry. 170 degrees or until juices run clear. To measure these target temperatures, a meat thermometer is essential. There are even "quick read" ones available now that are particularly good for barbecuing because they give you an instant reading when inserted into the center of the food. (For burgers, insert the thermometer from the side. Be sure to clean the thermometer if it is inserted into an underdone piece of meat, so that you will not contaminate the next item. "Cross-contamination" is the second issue that deserves your close attention. Cross-contamination is when germs are transferred from one food or surface to another. This can be avoided if you follow a few basic precautions.

1. Use a separate cutting boards and utensils for meats and vegetables.

2. Keep foods separate. Don't let the uncooked juices of meats touch other foods, such as cooked meats or any foods that will not be cooked.

3. Wash hands frequently. Your hands can transfer germs from one food to another, or from one surface to another and eventually to your food.

4. Discard or boil excess marinades. After marinating meat, do not baste the meat with the same marinade...it will contain meat juice that will contaminate your cooked meat. Instead, use "fresh" marinade to baste with, from a clean bowl and clean brush. If you wish to use the same marinade, boil it for at least one minute.

5. Clean the grill after each use. A grill brush works well to remove charred food debris. An easy method is to pre-heat the grill, incinerating all food particles, then clean with a grill brush (metal bristles), cook, then allow the grill to continue to burn to again incinerate food particles.

Now you are ready to grill, but what if you are not grilling at home? Then you must be sure to pack your foods appropriately, both before and after your meal.

1. Use an insulated cooler and pack it with 25% of the room used for ice. Surround your perishables with ice. Pack your non-perishables separately. Then store your cooler in the shade.

2. Repack any uneaten food immediately (or throw it out). Only bring out the food that is going to be eaten immediately; you can always bring out more later.

3. Wash everything. Your hands, cooking utensils, even the grill if it isn 't your own.

To make your barbecue even better, try treating your family to some healthy foods, not just hotdogs and potato chips! Try grilled marinated chicken breasts or fish. You can still put them on a roll for easy eating on the go. And for a side, try a mayonnaise-less salad, such as a pasta salad made with vegetables and a bit of oil and vinegar, or a traditional green salad. Try some new recipes, as well as old favorites. Barbecues can be a great opportunity to have a healthy meal, as well as a great time.

HealthKick: The New Food Guide Pyramid
for Young Children

When it comes to nutrition, children's needs are not the same as adults': they have their own requirements, especially those nutrients required for growth. Children also differ as to their eating patterns and preferences. To help parents teach their children the basics of good nutrition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently developed a special version of the Food Guide Pyramid, designed especially for kids ages 2 to 6.

It is extremely important to start your kids off on the right foot with diet and exercise habits. Studies have shown that children's early experiences with food determine their lifelong eating tendencies. The things that are different about this pyramid from the adult version:

The food groups have shorter names so children can more easily remember them; The number of servings is a single number rather than a range; The foods displayed are foods commonly eaten by children; The suggested portion sizes are smaller; And most importantly, the pyramid shows pictures of kids being active. This emphasizes how important physical activity is to good nutrition and health. And keep in mind that this is designed for 2 to 6 year olds, so exercise is important even for the very young!

So how can you use this new and improved food guide pyramid? First, use it to plan your child's meals. For example, plan each of your child's meals around three to four food groups. Try to incorporate at least two food groups in a snack. To reach the desired amount of carbohydrates (six "Grain Group" servings), you will probably need to include at least one in each meal and snack. To meet the three vegetable servings per day, it will probably be easiest to offer one as a snack, such as raw carrots or broccoli spears. Of the two fruit group servings, definitely make at least one of them actual fruit, not fruit juice! The milk and meat groups each require two servings per day. If your child drinks milk and eats meat, these are generally easy to fulfill; but if they don't, some inventiveness is in order. For example, try another "Milk Group" food, such as cheese or yogurt, as a snack. Experiment with adding cheese or meat (or a meal alternative, such as tofu) to your pasta sauce or other accepted entree.

Use the food guide to suggest variety. Try new foods that maybe even you would not have thought of. It might take many offerings before your child warms up to the new food, but don't give up. Show the child how much you enjoy the food. (Keep in mind that if you are choking down the liver you made for dinner, chances are your child isn't going to think it is yummy!)

Finally, be a role model, not just in what you eat, but also in your attitude toward food, meals, meal preparation, weight, and physical activity. This is another instance where you need to do what you say. Children learn what they live, and what they live with.

HealthKick: Safe Food To Go

Whether you pack a lunch for your child at school or for yourself at work, occasions arise that have all of us eating away from home from time to time. These meals are prime targets for food borne pathogens that can make us sick. From the time we pack our food until the time we eat it, microorganisms (we can't see them) can grow in our food. We can prevent this by handling food properly before we pack it, and then packing the meal appropriately. Handling foods properly means keeping them "clean" and at the right temperature. Always wash your hands, counters, utensils, and containers thoroughly before beginning food preparation. Raw fruits and vegetables should also be thoroughly washed prior to packing. Don't contaminate one food with another "dirty food" or a food ready to be eaten raw with a food that still needs to be cooked. Keep foods at the right temperature. Hot foods should be kept hotter than 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). Cold foods should be kept colder than 40 degrees F (5 degrees C). Don't let foods sit out at temperatures in between for more than 2 hours total. What you choose to pack is also important to its safety. Check "use by" dates on processed meats and other foods. If you choose pre-sliced meats, plan to use them within one or two days as they have a limited "life". When you are packing your meal, use insulated bags, thermos containers, or coolers to keep your hot foods hot and your cold foods cold. Be sure your foods are either very hot or very cold before you pack them. If possible, freeze cold food before packing and it will defrost by the time you are ready to eat it. This works especially well with drink boxes, as they can double as ice packs to keep the rest of your meal cold. Next, store you bag or cooler in an appropriate location. In warm weather, keep your container out of direct sunlight. During winter months, for example, your car trunk would be the coolest place to transport your lunch bag. Some foods "travel" better than others. Some require less special handling or no refrigeration at all. If you have no way to keep your meal cold or hot, choose something that doesn't need to be kept warm or hot. Examples would be canned foods, such as canned meats, meat spreads, entrees, poultry products or fish. You can just open these foods, maybe heat them, and enjoy. Other common lunch choices that don't require refrigeration: hard salami, pepperoni, and peanut butter. If you choose to buy a meal to eat at later time, remember that the same rules apply; except that the earlier handling of these foods may have been less than ideal, making proper refrigeration or heating on your part crucial. Keep in mind that old adage: When in doubt, throw it out. If you're not sure if a food will be safe, don't risk it. Your health and well being are more important than the potentially wasted food and money!! Be educated and act wisely.

HealthKick: Herbs & Kids

Doesn't it seem that kids are constantly getting sick these days? And we are constantly hearing how we shouldn't take (or give our kids) antibiotics for every ailment, due to the risk of developing antibiotic resistant infections. So what do we do? Many parents are turning to herbal medicine. Herbal remedies are considered by many to be "all natural" and "perfectly safe". In reality, they are chemically and biological active substances and, as such, should be treated with the same respect and desire for knowledge as are traditional medicines. As with all "medicines", proper use and dosage are critical to safety as well as results. In the December 1999 issue of Parents Magazine, a tragic story was told that depicted the importance of proper dosing of these "all natural," "safe" remedies. An eighteen month old was brought into an emergency room in New York with seizures of unknown origin. The doctors eventually asked the mother if she had given the child any herbal products. His mother, on advice of a health food store employee, had given him a tablespoon of eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus oil is a "folk" remedy for relieving fever in adults, but the recommended dosage is a drop, not a tablespoon. The child suffered severe neurological damage. This brings up two other very important issues. First, from whom should you take advice? A health food store employee, although likely to be reasonably well informed, probably lacks formal training. Only a certified herbalist is trained and qualified to give you accurate information about function and dosage. You want to be "treated" by someone who knows everything about the "prescription" they are recommending. For example, chamomile would seem to be a very gentle remedy. You wouldn't expect to need professional advice about its use. However, chamomile can cause potentially severe allergic reactions in individuals sensitive to ragweed. In general, herbal remedies aren't likely to be risk free in those with allergies. The next important issue is specifically the use of herbs by children. Herbal remedies have not been studied in children, so the proper dosage hasn 't been established. As with any medicine, you cannot assume that just a smaller dosage will be appropriate. Keep in mind that childrens' systems can be much more sensitive than adults, even when you adjust the dosage based on weight or age, etc. In addition, herbs can be contaminated with pesticides or other dangerous substances. Do you really want to give this to your child? "As a conservative in the area, I'd say that herbal remedies should not be administered to babies and children," says botanical expert Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor emeritus at Purdue University, and author of The Honest Herbal (one of the most respected books on herbal medicine), and co-author of Tyler's Honest Herbal (Hayworth Press, 1999). "There are simply no data on the safety and efficacy in children, and there's no reliable information about dosage." And this is coming from someone who is fully knowledgeable about herbal products; a health food store employee certainly wouldn't know all the "ins and outs." As always, you must keep in mind that you are putting your child's health, and life, in the hands of whoever's advice you implement.

HealthKick: Food & Fitness

"Food and Fitness: Health for a Lifetime" is the theme of the Year 2000, according to the American Dietetic Association's (ADA's) National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics. This theme "emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition and physical activity at every stage of life," according to the ADA Courier. The ADA is responsible for organizing the National Nutrition Month campaign. The campaign enables nutritional professionals around the country to coordinate special nutrition awareness programs throughout the month of March, "National Nutrition Month," each year. The theme for the month, "Food and Fitness: Health for a Lifetime," will also be used by nutrition professionals around the country to direct their nutrition education efforts throughout the year. This year's campaign will also incorporate the following "key messages:"

1. "Healthy eating fuels physical activity at every stage of life." It doesn't matter if you are eight or eighty, eating right is key to being physically fit. Nor does it matter what your "physical activity" is, you must fuel it appropriately. Your nutrition and your activity must be in balance to maintain your physical abilities as well as your weight.

2. "Food and physical activity choices are personal." The foods you like and dislike are your own personal choices. The key is to incorporate a balance of all types of foods. Physical activity is also a personal choice: choose activities that you find to be fun and engaging, and that you can stick with.

3. "Food is a source of pleasure and good taste." Good food doesn't have to taste bad. Enjoy your food and enjoy your meal time.

4. "Staying fit improves your chances for a higher quality life." Not only does staying fit increase your chances of longevity (having a long life), but it may also increase the quality of your life, allowing you to enjoy doing all the things you love to do longer. Keeping fit can:

a. "improve your mood, reduce stress, and increase energy;" All of these improve your quality of life. Who doesn't want to be happier, more carefree and more energetic?

b. "reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes;" Exercising and eating right have been scientifically PROVEN to reduce the risk of these debilitating and potentially deadly diseases.

c. "help you look and feel your best;" How we look and feel can play a significant role in our self esteem and confidence, which in-turn effects our overall happiness in life.

d. "give you strength and endurance to do things you want to do." "Work hard! Play hard!" has been the motto of the 1990's. To enjoy life to its fullest you will want to live out your potential! The year 2000 is the time to face the fact that there is no such thing as good health without physical activity. Good nutrition and exercise go hand in hand in creating physical and mental fitness.