A good start, a great day
Kathy Waters, Special to The Gazette
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Kathy Waters
Age: 53
Occupation: Registered dietitian, working as an inpatient clinical dietitian at Newman Regional Health
My Sack Lunch: Black beans, salsa, shredded cheese blend and leaf lettuce in a whole wheat tortilla; cubed fresh pineapple and the makings of my favorite hot beverage — a pumpkin spice latte. (2-4 tablespoons canned pumpkin, sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice, 1-2 tablespoons fat-free French vanilla creamer, and a cup of skim or 1 percent milk, heat and serve.) It makes me happy just to think of it.
School’s back in session. Are your kids getting a good start every morning?
Research shows students who eat breakfast are more successful in school than those who don’t. Do kids also need to include a daily multivitamin daily for optimal health?
Before answering that, let’s do a review of vitamins, where they come from, and what they do.
Vitamin A
Is found in — Dark green leafy vegetables, deep orange-yellow fruits and vegetables and fortified dairy
Does this — Helps with vision including night vision, strong immune system and healthy skin
B Vitamins (8 in all)
Is found in — Whole or enriched grains, meat, fish and poultry
Does this — Many of the B vitamins help us make good use of carbohydrates, fats, and protein for energy, as well as growth and maintenance.
Spotlight on two B vitamins
Folate is found in leafy green veggies, oranges, fortified grains and dried beans. Vitamin B-12 is in meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and enriched cereals. Both are essential for growth.
Vitamin C
Is found in — Citrus fruits, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew, many berries, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, potatoes
Does this — We use vitamin C to build collagen, a protein our bodies use when growing new tissue or repairing a wound or injury. Vitamin C hasn’t been shown to decrease the length or frequency of colds, but does help us maintain a strong immune system and works as an antioxidant—which is a substance that protects our cells from being damaged.
Vitamin D
Is found in — Fortified milk including skim, 1 percent, 2 percent as well as whole (also sunlight on our skin produces Vitamin D)
Does this — Helps our bodies build calcium into bones.
Vitamin E
Is found in — Nuts, seeds, vegetable oils, salad dressings
Does this — Like Vitamin C, Vitamin E works as an antioxidant.
Vitamin K
Is found in — Leafy green vegetables, milk
Does this — Helps our blood clot and helps build strong bones.
If your children eat at least some foods from each of those vitamin’s sources most days, then — no, he or she probably doesn’t need a daily multivitamin.
But it is important for them to get a good start with breakfast, to refuel with a great lunch and to have a healthy snack once school is over. Here are some vitamin-packed possibilities from each of the food groups that would fit into one or more of those time slots.
• Fruits — Banana, cantaloupe or honeydew, peaches, mandarin oranges, mangos, fresh or dried apricots, grapes, pineapple, fresh or frozen blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, kiwi, boxed 100 percent juice, single-serving packed fruits in juice or light syrup, raisins, craisins or other dried fruit.
• Veggies — Baby carrots, broccoli spears, or raw green beans, tomato juice or V-8, dark salad greens such as spinach, leaf lettuce, or romaine as a salad or to slip into a sandwich when ready to eat.
• Dairy — Milk (skim or 1 percent recommended) packed in a thermos or purchased at school. String or other lowfat cheese, yogurt (choose low sugar).
• Grains — Whole or enriched grain bread, tortilla or pita for a sandwich; All-Bran bars, Nutri-grain bars, whole-grain Fig Newtons, Kashi TLC’s, popcorn, whole-grain crackers or dry cereal (low sugar). Cereal could be mixed in with dried fruit, seeds or nuts for a healthy trail mix.
• Meat or other high-protein foods — Tuna, peanut butter, all varieties of nuts, sunflower seeds, roasted soy beans, a hard-boiled egg sliced, deviled or as egg salad, deli meat, chicken salad, a thermos of bean or lentil soup.
• “Good” fats — Peanut butter, all varieties of nuts, sunflower seeds, soft-spread margarine with one of the following oils listed first — canola, flaxseed, soybean, olive, safflower, sunflower or corn. Avocado slices for a sandwich or salad, mayonnaise or salad dressings made with one of those same oils on a sandwich or packed in a small container to pour onto a salad or for veggie dipping.
As a bonus, if your child regularly chooses a variety from these options, he or she will not only be getting a great array of vitamins, but meeting needs for all of the other nutrients a body needs as well. Chips and desserts are not required! But if chosen, the better choices are baked chips and small or only occasional (how about once a week treat?) desserts.
Five different lunches could be:
• 1/2 -1 cup of trail mix (Cheerios, peanuts, raisins), 1/4-1/2 cup of baby carrots, 1-2 tablespoons of ranch dressing, 1-2 pieces of string cheese
• 1 cup of bean soup in a thermos, an orange, whole grain crackers, 6 ounces yogurt.
• Whole wheat pita sandwich with leaf lettuce, deli roast beef, sliced tomatoes; an apple, 8 ounces 1-percent milk.
• Egg salad sandwich on whole wheat or enriched bread, tossed salad with small container of favorite dressing, grapes, low fat chocolate milk.
• Chicken salad wrapped with fresh spinach in a whole wheat tortilla, 2 plums, and 1/2 cup pudding.
A Web site with more great ideas is http://nutrition.about.com/od/schoollunches/qt/lunchbox.htm
To keep foods safe, be sure to pack lunches in containers that will keep cold foods cold, and hot foods hot. Best wishes for a wonderfully, deliciously healthy school year!