I switched my beverage of choice from pop to bottled flavored water. I’m enjoying trying a lot of different brands and flavors. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for when choosing which one to try next?
Water is a great alternative to sugary soft drinks. But as you reach for your next flavored bottled water, be sure to take a close look at the label to make sure you’re consuming what you think you are. Some bottled flavored water is actually just that — water with flavorings. In fact, a range of flavors of unsweetened carbonated water is now widely available. But some products labeled “water” contain a lot of sugar and calories, caffeine, artificial sweeteners or other additives that you may prefer to avoid.
First, read the Nutrition Facts label...
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Growing herbs can add spice to the garden and the kitchen, said Pam Bennett, Ohio State University Extension horticulture educator and director in Clark County.
Bennett, who is also the statewide Master Gardener Volunteer Program coordinator and co-author of Garden-pedia: An A-to-Z Guide to Gardening Terms, offers these top 10 herb-growing tips:
Choose the right location for planting. “Herbs need full sun and well-drained soils,” Bennett said. “That’s the most important thing.”
If space is limited, choose herbs you will actually use in the kitchen or for other uses. “A lot of people like lavender — it looks nice and it smells beautiful — but it takes a lot of space and a lot of people end up not actually...
I was surprised when I heard that the botulism that recently killed someone likely came from home-canned potatoes. I just started canning last year. What can I do to make sure I’m doing so as safely as possible?
A lot of people were surprised. Foodborne botulism is rare: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are only about 20 cases per year in the U.S. But when it does strike, the culprit is usually home-canned foods.
Botulism is caused by a nerve toxin produced by bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. These bacteria are found in the soil but grow best in conditions with very low oxygen. The bacteria form spores which keep the bacteria dormant until they find themselves in an environment that allows them to grow. If untreated, someone with...
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — As gardeners and homeowners throughout Ohio rev up their lawnmowers and get out their spades for the 2015 season, probably the last thing on their minds is the toxic algae bloom that shut down Toledo’s water supply last September.
But they are interconnected, said Pam Bennett, Ohio State University Extension horticulture educator and director in Clark County and statewide Master Gardener Volunteer Program coordinator.
“The algae issues in Lake Erie and Grand Lake St. Marys that people have been hearing about are related to nutrients that aren’t used by plants and end up washing into the watershed,” Bennett said. “Homeowners can do their part by knowing inputs and outputs — knowing what fertilizer to put into their soil to get...
I’ve seen a lot of different versions of “detox” diets. Which type might work best to help me shed a few pounds this spring?
“Detox” and similar diets have been around for ages. As early as the 1930s, the grapefruit diet promised quick weight loss because of some sort of fat-burning enzymes, which simply don’t exist.
Today, many detox diets focus on juicing or eliminating entire food groups and promise to help you burn fat, boost metabolism, improve digestion and (almost always) lose weight. However, there seems to be no consensus about what a detox diet really consists of, or what it is that you need to detoxify out of your body that your liver, kidney and colon don’t already eliminate.
That said, spring is always a good time to recharge your...
I am about to graduate from college and, so far, I don’t have a job. I’m worried about paying back my student loans when the time comes. What happens if I can’t afford the payment?
With any type of debt, it’s important to understand the terms of payment and what to do as soon as you fear you can’t keep up.
It’s a good sign that you’re thinking of this now. Too many people avoid the issue. If they don’t have the money, they just miss payments and become delinquent, costing them not only financially in late fees, additional interest and penalties, but in increased stress and anxiety.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently issued “Student Loan Borrowing and Repayment Trends, 2015,” which reported that only 37 percent of...
Are there foods you can eat to reduce chronic inflammation?
Health issues related to chronic inflammation have been getting quite a bit of attention in recent years. Ironically, inflammation is an important part of the immune system — in young people, bouts of inflammation actually help fight off disease and help repair damage from injury or exposure to harmful substances.
But according to the National Institutes of Health (more precisely, the National institute on Aging), as people grow older, chronic inflammation often sets in, and it tends to be associated with a whole host of diseases and conditions, including heart disease, arthritis, frailty, type 2 diabetes, physical disability and dementia.
The challenge is that the science to help us understand this link is still...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For the first time in more than three decades, Ohio 4-H members going to the Ohio State Fair who would normally compete for blue ribbons in the Rhodes Center will find themselves going to a different location.
The Ohio Expo Center and State Fair is making improvements at the fairgrounds, demolishing some buildings this year and building a new multipurpose conference center to open in 2016, said Allen Auck, program manager for 4-H events and activities.
As a result, the state fair needs the Rhodes Center for other purposes, and Ohio 4-H is adjusting when and where non-livestock project competitions will meet.
“We just want to be certain that 4-H members and their families check the schedule and know when and where the events they are selected by their counties to...
I’m hearing more about antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Should I start cleaning fresh produce with a commercial fruit and vegetable wash?
Antibiotic-resistant microbes, including bacteria, viruses and other bugs, are indeed a serious public health issue in the areas of both food safety and healthcare. But if you carefully follow standard guidelines to reduce the risk of foodborne illness from fresh produce, food safety experts say any added benefit you might get from commercial washes available today would be minimal at best.
You may be hearing more about antibiotic resistance because of a series of outbreaks that recently made news. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a strain of Shigella bacteria that is resistant to ciprofloxacin, or Cipro, a commonly...
Editor: April is National Volunteer Month.
LOWELL, Ohio -- Like thousands of other Ohio children, Charlotte Wagner joined a local 4-H club when she was 9 years old.
Today, 75 years later, 4-H remains part and parcel of Wagner’s life, as she recently celebrated 69 years as a 4-H volunteer.
“I always enjoyed 4-H so much,” Wagner said. “It’s a valuable program, and I’m glad to have had a part in seeing it continue. I still enjoy being around the kids and meeting their parents. It’s a great thing.”
Wagner’s service is remarkable among volunteers for Ohio 4-H Youth Development, said Tom Archer, assistant director of Ohio State University Extension in charge of 4-H programs. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University...
I’m dating a guy who loves to cook, which is great, but he seems to rely on a lot of processed foods. Would it be worthwhile, health-wise, to try to shift him more toward fresh, whole foods?
Probably, yes. But it depends on what you mean by “processed foods.”
Although foods that are minimally processed — frozen fruits and vegetables without sauces or seasonings, for example — fare comparably to their fresh counterparts, highly processed foods often are loaded with sodium, fat, added sugar and calories or are otherwise compromised, such as whole grains being processed into refined grains.
A recent study presented at the American Society for Nutrition annual meeting indicates that processed foods may have larger health implications in the U.S. than...
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Heirloom plant or hybrid? Soil structure, texture or tilth?
A new reference guide offers fertile ground for gardeners to boost their understanding of terms they may encounter at the garden center or in their favorite gardening catalogs, and puts those terms into a context that makes sense.
Garden-pedia: An A-to-Z Guide to Gardening Terms (St. Lynn’s Press, 2015) is co-authored by Pam Bennett, Ohio State University Extension horticulture educator and director in Clark County and statewide Master Gardener Volunteer Program coordinator.
OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
When approached by longtime Ohio gardening industry colleague Maria Zampini to help compile a go...
What is sugar alcohol? I gave up sugar when I found out it will go into your fat cells if you don’t use it for energy. Does the same thing happen with sugar alcohols? And, is there a difference between different types of sugar alcohol?
Sugar alcohols aren’t really sugar and aren’t really alcohol.
Without getting steeped in a chemistry lesson, the chemical structure of sugar alcohols resembles both sugar and alcohol (hence the name) but is different than both. That’s why you won’t get drunk on sugar alcohol, and why you might see it listed as an ingredient in gum, candy and other foods labeled as “sugar-free.”
Although they’re not sugar, sugar alcohols do contain calories — up to 3 calories per gram, compared with 4...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It’s not just plants that grow in a school garden. Students can thrive as well, say school garden enthusiasts, especially when the garden offers them the opportunity to experience the landscape in a special and unique way.
School garden organizers can learn how to provide such an experience at Ohio State University Extension’s “Growing a Sense of Place: 2015 School Garden Conference,” April 24, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
“School gardens and project-based learning in general seem to have increased in popularity in school systems in recent years, and OSU Extension has spearheaded this type of learning for over 100 years,” said conference organizer Sue Hogan. Hogan is Franklin County’s 4-H educator for OSU Extension, the outreach arm of the...
If steaks are safe when cooked to 145 degrees F, why do hamburgers need to be cooked to 160 degrees? All the meat comes from the same cow, right?
All beef comes from cattle, yes, but when it comes to food safety, ground beef is a whole different animal.
The reason is simple. Bacteria and other types of foodborne illness-causing contaminants that commonly feast on raw meat are surface creatures. As long as those steaks, roasts or chops aren’t messed with, pathogens remain close to the surface where the heat from cooking gets hottest and, given the proper time and temperature, sears them out of existence.
But as soon as raw meat is ground up, anything on the surface becomes mixed throughout. The internal temperature at the very center of the patty must get hot enough for...
A friend has become a big believer in the power of mindfulness. Recently she said she thinks it has helped improve her marriage. I thought mindfulness was really just a new word for meditation. How can it help with relationships with other people?
While meditation can help a person develop mindfulness, the practice of being mindful is more than meditation. And some studies do suggest that mindfulness can help strengthen relationships.
Jon Kabat-Zinn is known as the “Father of Western Mindfulness” for his work with chronic pain patients at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, as well as for developing the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program and being the founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness at UMass. He describes mindfulness as the...
A friend started a new diet, and he said he was surprised to learn milk and other dairy products can actually cause, not prevent, osteoporosis. Can you explain?
This notion pops up from time to time, but rest assured that there’s broad consensus among nutrition researchers and registered dietitians that getting enough calcium, along with vitamin D, is an important part of a healthful diet, and dairy products remain a good source of these critical nutrients.
But the factors affecting calcium absorption and how the body uses calcium are complicated, and researchers are still discovering information about it. So, be prepared to continue to hear occasional back-and-forth about the best guidance.
One of the studies often cited by those who warn people off dairy products is from 1997...
I’ve heard for a long time that eating nuts can be beneficial to your health. But nuts are also really high in calories. How much is enough? How much is too much?
The news about nuts keeps getting better and better. A recent study examining diets of more than 200,000 people from both the U.S. and China indicates that regular consumption of nuts — including peanut butter and peanuts, which are technically legumes, not true nuts — may reduce the risk of early death from heart disease and other causes by about 20 percent.
Another recent study looked at data from 2,000 teens in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Preliminary results indicate that young people who eat a modest amount of nuts — at least three small handfuls per week...
Editor: Ohio 4-H Week is March 8-14, 2015.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — One of the proudest moments of his tenure with Ohio 4-H was when Tom Archer opened a note from a 4-H alumna. He remembered her as a teen 4-H camp counselor who became president of both the 4-H Junior Leadership Club and the County Junior Fair Board in Shelby County, where Archer started his career.
“About 10 years after she graduated, she sent me a note saying that while she was in those 4-H roles, she was often frustrated that I did not answer more of her questions, make decisions for her or solve some of her leadership-related problems,” said Archer, state leader of Ohio 4-H, the youth development arm of Ohio State University Extension. “She had to do it by herself, or with her peers.
“But...
What foods are most problematic when it comes to foodborne illness?
While an estimated 48 million Americans become sick and 3,000 die each year due to foodborne illness, many of those cases can’t be traced to a specific source. So, to answer questions like yours, authorities recently examined outbreaks caused by a known pathogen, which account for roughly 9 million illnesses and 1,000 fatalities annually.
The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service identified foods associated with four major foodborne pathogens: Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes and Camplyobacter. They focused on these four bugs in part because of the frequency and severity of the illnesses...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — “We’re going to be as brutally honest with you as we can today.”
That’s how Clint and Cody Rodabaugh of Rodabaugh Brothers Meats started their recent presentation to students in the Branded Meat Products class at The Ohio State University.
It was music to the ears of instructors Steve Moeller and Tom Katen.
Moeller, professor of animal sciences, and Katen, guest lecturer and senior research scientist at Cargill Meat Solutions, lead the class, designed to be a capstone course for meat science students and a culminating experience for other students in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“There’s a myriad of experience in this classroom, from farm kids to city kids, from students who have limited...
I need some fresh ideas to give my diet a boost. I eat fairly well now, but I feel like I’m in a rut and want some easy ways to make some changes while keeping health and nutrition front and center. Your thoughts?
You picked a good time to focus on a healthy diet with National Nutrition Month just around the corner in March.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) has sponsored the annual event since 1973, when it started as National Nutrition Week. The group has a website devoted to the month, nationalnutritionmonth.org, which is chock-full of handouts and tip sheets with just the kind of information you’re looking for. Look under “Promotional Resources” on the website for access.
The great ideas from this group of...
Our neighbor is dealing with a case of identity theft. It’s been a nightmare for him. What can we do to protect ourselves?
Identity theft is running rampant, and it can take many forms. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 16.6 million people experienced identity theft in 2012. Plus, a recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center revealed that more than 85 million records were compromised in 783 data breaches during 2014, putting many people’s information at risk. And the Federal Trade Commission recently reported that tax-related identity theft complaints made a big jump in 2014, accounting for almost one-third of the nearly 333,000 identity theft complaints it received.
Identity thieves have numerous tricks up their sleeves. Once they have your personal...
New college library transforms into home away from home
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- “It was a dungeon.”
That’s how users of the old College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences library described the 1956 facility, housed on the ground floor of the Agricultural Administration Building at The Ohio State University, said Pat Whittington, assistant dean of student development.
“It was that way when we were students here in the late 1970s,” he said, speaking with Linda Martin, associate dean of academic affairs.
“And it hadn’t changed a bit since then,” Martin added.
“As students so kindly labeled it, the old library was ‘retro.’ It just didn’t meet the students’ needs.”
Today, after an eight-month...
I saw a news report that seemed to indicate that schools can no longer hold bake sales or sell chocolate bars as fundraisers. Can that be right?
The new nutrition standards have indeed gone a step further this school year as rules for snacks and other foods sold during the school day have taken effect. With healthier school breakfasts and lunches already being offered, the new standards for snacks and fundraisers are meant to send a clear message about healthy eating and provide a way for students to actually form healthful eating habits not only at meals, but throughout the school day as well.
The school snack standards say foods and drinks sold during school hours, including items in vending machines, school stores, and a la carte cafeteria menus, cannot exceed limits on fat, salt...
