EATING FOR THE HEALTH OF IT

EATING FOR THE HEALTH OF IT!

Make Eating for the Health of It! your New Year’s resolution. And, it all starts at the grocery store. How often have you gone into your favorite supermarket to purchase milk and juice and left with a bagful of groceries that you didn’t know you needed. Savvy marketing is one reason why that happens. Another is the sheer variety of foods to choose from, an incredible, 50,000 different items.

Author Marion Nestle, who wrote the expose on the politics of food, in “Food Politics”, takes on the challenge of making us wiser shoppers and healthier people in her new book, “What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating”. She tells us that food companies spend $12 billion a year on direct media advertising, with one company, Kellogg spending $32 million annually just to promote its Cheez-Its snack crackers.

Many years ago I heard the advice, Shop the Perimeters. It has its merits for if you circumvent the aisles you are likely to buy products not bagged, boxed, nor processed, i.e. fruits, vegetables, dairy products, juices, and fresh meats, poultry and fish. In their natural states, they are sources of important nutrients and free of added sugars and fats.

More recent advice on how to shop for healthier products is to Read Nutrition Labels. They provide invaluable nutrition information because they list the amounts of important nutrients that are contained in a product, i.e fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, protein, fiber, and specific vitamins and minerals, including sodium, iron, and calcium.

A third piece of helpful information is to Buy Nutrient Dense Foods. This means, purchase foods that are high in vitamins and minerals, as in fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products.

These are Marion Nestle’s “Rules for Center Aisle Survival”

** Don’t buy any produce with more than 5 ingredients.

** If you can’t pronounce the ingredient listed on the package, don’t buy it.

** Don’t buy anything advertised with a cartoon (unhealthy kid food)

** Don’t buy junk food if you don’t want your kids to eat it.

** Don’t buy artificial anything.

SPRING CLASS: “O Taste and See”: Nutrition for Body, Mind, and Spirit

Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m. March 13,20,27, April 17,24

Program fee: $55. Early Registration Fee $45, until 2/27. Register online at www.moravianseminary.edu/continuingEd/

Questions? Call Office of Continuing Education: 610.861.1519

Reverend Steve Simmons, of Moravian Theological Seminary provides biblical and theological reflections on food and Janice reviews nutrition basics and demonstrates the practice of mindfully planning and cooking foods that foster wellness for the body, mind, and spirit.

APPETIZER: Shitake Niblet: Thinly slice shitake mushroom caps. Spread them on a lightly oiled baking tray, sprinkle with garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Bake at 400˚, until they start to brown (15 minutes).