Health Spending Related to Obesity Doubles in Decade

By Anthony Sepe

http://www.medicalnutritiontherapyservices.com

http://fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com

 

Lauran Neergaard of the Associated Press revealed that obesity’s not just dangerous, it’s expensive.

New research shows medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for an obese person than for someone who’s normal weight.  Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, and this average American Today is 23 pounds overweight, said Dr. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Obesity, and with it diabetes, are  major health problems that certainly appear to be getting worse in this country, and they ‘re getting worse rapidly.  It seems that this is a societal problem—not an individual problem, any longer; however, as individuals, it is my opinion, we must take responsibility for ourselves because we make the decision what to consume on a daily basis. Ask yourself the next time you take a bite of something:  Do I want this?, or do I want something that might be even healthier for me.  Either way—you are the captain of your ship!

Follower Sunday: “Thank You Readership!” Guest-Chef Amy Campbell of Joslin, Delivers Goodies

By Anthony J Sepe

http://www.medicalnutritiontherapyservices.com

http://www.fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com

 

As one of the 2009 Egg Ambassadors, Amy was invited to share a recipe from the American Egg Board.  She has grown-up making these meringue cookies.  They’re light an airy, and not high in fat.

These are called:  the Forgotten Cookies (or Meringue Kisses.)

These delicate clouds of meringue are drop cookies, the easiest type of cookie you can make. Once you’ve beaten egg whites with sugar and folded in ground nuts, simply drop the batter from a spoon or push it through a pastry bag or a food-storage bag onto cookie sheets. Then, bake the Meringue Kisses in a very low oven, turn off the heat and “forget” the cookies while they finish drying in the cooling oven. If possible, make Forgotten Cookies on a dry day so they don’t absorb moisture from the air, flatten out and lose their crispness. For this versatile cookie, you can use any ground nut you like, from pistachio to macadamia, or no nuts at all, as in some of the variations.

©  Forgotten Cookies (or Meringue Kisses)

Recipe reprinted with permission by Amy P. Campbell

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar OR 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups (8 oz.) ground almonds

Preparation

In large mixing bowl at high speed, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until whites are glossy and stand in stiff peaks. (If using granulated sugar, rub just a bit of meringue between thumb and forefinger to feel if sugar has dissolved.) Gently fold in almonds.

Drop by tablespoonfuls' or pipe through pastry tube or food-storage bag onto lightly greased or lined (foil or waxed, brown or parchment paper) baking sheets.

Bake in preheated 225° F oven until firm, about 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let stand in oven with door closed until cool, dry and crisp, at least 1 additional hour.

Store in tightly sealed container with waxed paper between layers. (If stored cookies lose crispness, bake in preheated 200° F oven about 15 to 20 minutes.)

Variations:

Use amounts listed for 1 batch of cookies. To make 2 variations at a time, divide meringue mixture equally between 2 bowls. Beat or fold 1/2 the ingredient amounts listed for each variation into 1 of the bowls. For all variations, omit ground almonds.

Brandy Alexander – Beat in 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon brandy extract.

Cherry/Almond – Fold in 1 cup chopped, drained maraschino cherries and 1 cup chopped almonds.

Chocolate – Beat in 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Citrus – Beat in 2 tablespoons grated orange peel, 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract and a few drops yellow food coloring.

Mint/Chocolate Chip – Beat in 1/2 teaspoon mint extract and a few drops green food coloring. Fold in 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels.

Rocky Road – Beat in 2 teaspoons vanilla.  Fold in 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels and 1 cup chopped nuts.

Thank you,

Amy Campbell

Amy P. Campbell, MS, RD, LDN, CDE

Manager, Clinical Education Programs

Healthcare Services

Joslin Diabetes Center

One Joslin Place

Boston, MA 02215

Phone: 617-226-5824

Fax: 617-226-5805

Eating, Living, Health and Aging

How should we eat as we age?  Which foods are likely to keep us most healthy, and which ones should we limit?  Is it possible to eat well and stay within a healthy weight?  These and other questions are addressed in “Eating Well as You Get Older,” a topic added to NIH SeniorHealth, the health and wellness website developed by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), both part of the National Institutes of Health.

“Eating well is vital at any age, but as we become older,the daily food choices can make an important difference in our health.  Good nutrition is one component of an overall strategy to stay healthy,” says Richard J. Hodes, MD, director of the NIA, which developed the content for the topic on NIHSenior Health.

Eating a well-planned, balanced mix of healthful foods every day may help prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, bone loss, some kinds of cancer, and anemia.  Eating healthfully may not always be easy for us as we age.  Changing appetites, slower metabolism, eating alone, buying ready-to-eat meals, and living on a fixed income can affect the quality of one’s food choices. Yet our need for nutritious foods does not diminish with age.  In fact, as we age, our bodies require essential nutrients to help us maintain function, and most of those nutrients are found in foods.  “It is important for older adults to select foods that provide them with the nutrients and energy they need for healthy, active living,” says Hodes.

In addition to learning how to make wise food choices, older adults will find information  about food labels, food safety, meal planning and food shopping, and ways to enhance the enjoyment of eating at http://nihseniorhealth.gov/eatingwellasyougetolder/toc.html.

Older Americans (one of the fastest-growing groups using the Internet) increasingly turn to the web for health information.  In fact, 68% of online seniors surf for health and medical information when they visit the web.  NIHSeniorhealth, which is based on the latest research on cognition and aging, features short, easy-to-read segments of information that can be accessed in a variety of formats, including large print, open-captioned videos, and audio.  Additional topics coming soon to the site include Parkinson’s Disease, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Leukemia.

Source: The National Institutes of Health