March 2013

Nutritional labeling laws were mandated in 1990 in an effort to provide clearer and more transparent information to consumers and enable them to better compare the nutritional value of consumable products.  I'm a nutrition label reader.  In part because my youngest son is allergic to peanuts but, also because I want to know what’s in the food I’m feeding my family.   However, the shrimp I buy from the seafood counter at my grocery store usually doesn’t come with a nutrition label. It’s seafood -- it’s health, right?   Maybe not if you’re watching your sodium intake.  Everyone needs to know that not all shrimp is created equal.  A 4 oz. serving of steamed wild-caught fresh Gulf shrimp that has never been frozen has 97mg of sodium compared to a 4 oz. serving of steamed Publix fresh frozen easy-to-peel farm-raised shrimp which as a whopping 730mg of sodium.  It would be a mistake to assume that shrimp you buy at Whole Foods is somehow better for you.  A 4 oz. steamed serving of Whole Foods individually frozen-easy-to-peel shrimp has 483 mg of sodium.  What’s the reason for the difference you ask?  Well, in order to freeze shrimp it is first washed in a saline solution and easy-to-peel shrimp are soaked in a sodium solution to prevent them from “clumping” together as they freeze.  So now you know.  Don’t assume anything and always consider the affects of processing as well as preparation.   

What is the secret for the “super human stamina” of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the most traveled Secretary of State in history?  According to Clinton biographer Kim Gattas, Clinton “eats those hot chilies that make you sweat and apparently, it’s one of the ways you can flush your system.” It’s all about the capsaicin.  Hot peppers have been proven to kill cancer cells, prevent sinus infections, produce fat oxidation, decrease blood cholesterol/triglycerides and boost immunity. And the real surprise is that hot peppers may help kill bacteria in the stomach that can lead to ulcers.  But are hot chili peppers little intense energy boosters or a Washington wife’s tale? I’ll let you decide.

Make the time to be good to you by making a decision and sticking to it.  People who second guess their decisions tend to be more stressed and less happy.

Good Health!

Terry

"I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want.  If that makes me a bitch, okay."
~Madonna

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