Leftovers can be a great way to help you enjoy a healthy, quick and inexpensive lunch.  However, some steps should be followed to avoid food poisoning:

• Refrigerate or freeze food within 2 hours of preparing it
• It is important to cool hot foods quickly, so place those hot leftovers in a dish large enough that the food depth is about 2” or less
• Date refrigerated leftovers and use within 4 days or throw away
• Check your refrigerator’s temperature (it should be below 40°)

We are excited to announce our new traveling dietitian program!

If you are a customer at Harmons’ Cougar, West, Emigration Market, Brickyard, Orem, or The District, you may have met one of Harmons’ dietitians on Tuesday sampling out some delicious trail mix.  You can expect to see us at all of Harmons’ locations (except St George, for now . . . sorry) two times each month.  We received feedback at various community events that customers who shop at our stores without a full-time dietitian would also like to benefit from dietitian services.  So we’ve listened, and we will now travel to you!

You can expect to see us in your Harmons either the first and third Tuesday of the month, or the second and fourth Tuesday (except this month— we will visit a few of the stores on Wednesday, April  18).  During our first visit of the month, we will be available in the store for two hours to answer any nutrition questions you have, and we will often have samples of delicious and nutritious snacks.  On our second visit of the month, we will hold a variety of store tours, like Diabetes, Gluten Free, and Healthy Living.  Sound confusing?  Here’s a breakdown of who will be visiting each store and when:

As always, you can also find out when we will be at your store on our website. Just link to the ‘Calendar of Services and Events’ in the Great Health tab along the top of our homepage.

We will also be available outside of those times listed above at your Harmons by appointment. We look forward to meeting our Harmons’ customers throughout the valley, so please stop by and see us!

If you haven’t dyed your Easter eggs yet, there’s still time! Not only is this a great way to spend quality time with your kids and family, it also gives you a healthy snack for your efforts. Eggs often get a bad rap in the media for being high in cholesterol. While one large hard-boiled egg does have about 185 mg of cholesterol (the daily limit for healthy adults is 300 mg), they are low in saturated fat. Research shows that cholesterol from food has less of an effect on your blood cholesterol levels than saturated fat. Here’s what you get in a large hard-boiled egg:

• ONLY 78 CALORIES
• 6.3 GRAMS OF PROTEIN
• 5.3 GRAMS OF FAT
• ONLY 1.6 GRAMS OF SATURATED FAT

And don’t skip the yolk—it provides important fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids not found in the whites. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that one egg yolk per day can be part of a healthy and balanced diet.

Also, remember food safety when handling eggs. Always wash your hands and surfaces after contact with raw eggs and egg shells, and consume boiled eggs within 1 week of cooking.

With Spring officially here, your kids are probably more active than ever! With sports practice, community groups, and Scouts, it may seem like there is no time to sit down to a proper meal. Try one of these delicious kid-friendly snacks packed with nutrition to keep them going.

• Peel a banana and dip it in yogurt. Roll in crushed whole grain cereal and freeze.
• Stuff a whole grain pita with ricotta cheese and apple slices. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon and enjoy.
• Make snack kabobs by putting low-fat cheese and grapes on a pretzel stick.
• Toss dried fruit and nuts with instant oatmeal.
• Fill a waffle cone with cut-up fruit and top with low-fat yogurt.
• Make mini pizzas by toasting a whole grain English muffin and topping with pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.
• Mix together peanut butter and cornflakes in a bowl. Shape into balls and roll in crushed graham crackers.

For more great tips, visit http://www.eatright.org/nutritiontipsheets/ and link to 25 Healthy Snacks for Kids.

Laura, Registered Dietitian

The week before Easter many of us turn our focus toward eggs — we hard boil them, dye them, eat them, and hide them.  While we enjoy these activities, let’s not forget that eggs can be contaminated with the bacteria, Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness in the United States.  Salmonella can be found in a variety of foods including eggs, poultry, fruits, vegetables, and ground meat.  To lower our risk of suffering from food-borne illness from Salmonella-contaminated eggs, we need to handle our eggs smartly.

There are a wide variety of views on how eggs should be handled — some people keep them in a kitchen drawer, others eat them straight out of their backyard chicken coop, and still others swear that eggs never “go bad.”   Although you may not get sick from handling eggs in these ways, there are safer ways to handle eggs.

According to the Center for Disease Control, here are the safest ways to handle eggs:

• Always eat fully-cooked eggs — never runny or raw.  Light cooking reduces the number of Salmonella in the egg, but only fully cooking them ensures that all Salmonella are wiped out.
• Keep eggs stored in the refrigerator at a temperature less than 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Do not eat eggs that have been stored at room temperature for more than 2 hours, this includes hard-boiled eggs.
• Use soap and water to thoroughly wash hands and all items that have come in contact with raw eggs (cutting boards, utensils, mixing bowls, etc.).
• When making egg dishes, cook to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Consume eggs within 4-5 weeks of the Julian date printed on the carton.  (Julian date: 001 = January 1^st, 365 = December 31^st)
• Eat hard-boiled eggs within one week of cooking.  Hard-boiled eggs spoil quicker than fresh eggs, since the protective coating has been washed away, leaving the pores in the shell open to bacteria contamination.

Happy Easter!  And enjoy your eggs!

Jonnell, Registered Dietitian

Spring has officially arrived!  Even though I have been enjoying the nice weather for a while now, there is something about the first day of spring that makes me begin to crave salad.  I start thinking about arugula’s peppery burst of flavor, the crispness of romaine and the mild taste of baby spinach.  While I love the flavor of these salad greens, I also understand the health benefits to be gained from eating them.  All of these types of lettuce are not only very low calorie (about 10 calories per cup!), they contain vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that may help to prevent diseases such as cancer and heart disease.  Usually, the darker the lettuce, the more nutritious it is.

Lettuces such as spinach, romaine, arugula, red leaf and green leaf contain beta carotene (a precursor to vitamin A and a powerful antioxidant), vitamins K and C, fiber, folate, and lutein and zeaxanthin (for eye health).  Spinach also contains iron (necessary for oxygen transport in the body) and romaine contains salicylic acid (the main compound in aspirin) so it may reduce inflammation.

Tips for enjoying lettuce: Continue Reading »

Jessica, Registered Dietitian

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been one year since my very first blog as a Harmons’ dietitian!  I know this because my first blog was about National Nutrition Month, which is celebrated every March.  So it’s time to celebrate again by getting your plate in shape!

National Nutrition Month is a campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (professional association for registered dietitians) to “focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.”  The theme of this year’s campaign is “Get Your Plate in Shape,” which focuses on building well-balanced meals based on My Plate.  Here are some tips for getting your plate in shape:

• Make half your plate fruits and veggies.  HALF?!?!  Yes, half.  If that seems daunting, start with small steps.  If you do not consistently include any vegetables at your meals, try to always include one.  Once you get used to always having some vegetables on your plate, you can work toward increasing the amount until you reach half of your plate.  Remember that fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables count!  When purchasing canned veggies, look for “reduced sodium” or “no salt added choices.”
• Make at least half of your grains whole.  Whole grains include whole grain bread, whole grain cereal, oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, and barley.  There are plenty more whole grains out there if you want to get adventurous too!  Always read ingredient lists and look for products that have “whole” grain as the first ingredient listed.  Wheat flour and enriched, bleached flour are NOT whole grain.
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat milk.  These have the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients as whole or 2% milk without all of the calories and fat.
• Vary your protein choices.  Think outside the box with protein.  If you eat a lot of meat and chicken every week, change it up sometimes with fish, nuts, beans, and eggs.  Try to make seafood your protein of choice twice each week.
• Be physically active YOUR way.  Pick activities that you enjoy doing and will be able to stick with.  And remember, you can add up physical activity throughout the day.  Children and teens should aim for 60 minutes or more physical activity every day.  Adults should get 2 hours and 30 minutes of physical activity each week (30 minutes, 5 days a week).

For more information about how to build a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov

Laura, Registered Dietitian

Potatoes. People living with diabetes are scared of them. Advocates for healthy school lunches want to ban them. Dieters claim they will make you fat. Bloggers call them “Potato Poison” and blame them for causing diabetes. What’s the deal with potatoes?

Potatoes are a starchy vegetable, which means that they are a high carbohydrate food. They are also high in fiber and vitamin C, and have almost twice as much potassium as a banana! They originated in South America. Peru has been known to grow over 5,000 potato varieties, and still maintains 2,800 varieties today. In the US, the vast majority of potatoes grown are the familiar Russet Burbank potato, which makes our beloved baked potato and French fry.

So, are all potatoes equal? That depends. If you are living with diabetes, about one quarter of a potato, regardless of the type, has about one serving of carbohydrates (15 grams). This means you will really want to watch your serving size, since one large potato contains four servings of carbohydrates, which is about the total number of carbohydrates you want to eat in an entire meal. All potatoes have a similar amount of calories, since they are mostly carbohydrate.

Beyond carbohydrates and calories, we start seeing some differences. Sweet potatoes are loaded with vitamin A, packing almost 700% of the recommended daily value in one medium potato. They also have about twice the vitamin C of Russet Burbank and red potatoes.

Purple and red potatoes are unique in the fact that they are packed with antioxidants. The purple potato is full of the antioxidant, anthocyanin, like most blue/purple foods.

Comparison of nutrition facts for various types of potatoes (1 medium):

The bottom line– enjoy eating a variety of potatoes!
Here are a few tips on how to fit them into a healthy diet:

• Bake, broil, roast, or grill your potatoes.
• Instead of butter and sour cream, try topping your potato with plain yogurt and fresh herbs.
• Be aware of portion sizes—split a baked potato with a friend.
• Save French fries or other forms of fried potatoes for special treats.
• Choose sweet potatoes frequently to boost your vitamin A and C intake.  Restaurants are often happy to substitute a sweet potato for white potato.
• Be adventurous—try a new kind of potato.  Purple potatoes are great mashed!  Fingerling potatoes are great roasted with a little bit of olive oil!
• Eat the skin!  Try mashed potatoes with the skin included.

Lachman J, Hamouz K. Orsak M.  Red and purple potatoes – a significant antioxidant source in human nutrition.  International Food Information Service. 2005; 99 (7): 474–82.
Collyns D. Peru’s potato passion goes global. BBC News.  8 February 2008.  Accessed 9 Mar 2012. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7231148.stm

Jonnell, Registered Dietitian

When I hold a store tour, one of the things I like to highlight is how to choose a healthy peanut butter. The first thing I recommend looking for in a peanut butter is that it does not contain trans fats. You will want to look at the ingredient list for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil.  There are many great options now that don’t contain trans fats and still don’t need to be stirred (with some peanut butters that don’t contain trans fat, fat may separate from the solid and will need to be stirred in), such as Natural Jif, Skippy Natural, or Natural Directions Organic peanut butter. If you don’t mind stirring, MaraNatha makes a great peanut butter that only contains peanuts and salt.  Some peanut butters have some additional health benefits, such as Smart Balance Peanut Butter, which contains flax seed oil (this adds omega-3 fat). One type of peanut butter that I don’t recommend is reduced fat peanut butter; it often has the same amount of calories and has a higher amount of sugar. If you are allergic to peanuts or would like to try something new, you might like Sunbutter, a sunflower seed spread which has the added benefit of containing vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant). Whichever healthy option you choose, remember that it does contain around 100 calories per tablespoon, so enjoy in moderation.

Jessica, Registered Dietitian

Today is the Diabetes Expo from 9 am – 4 pm at the South Towne Expo Center, and Harmons is excited to be a sponsor of this FREE event!  Whether you are personally living with diabetes or know someone who is, you will find a wealth of information at this Expo.  Chef Evan, one of Harmons’ Cooking School Chefs, will be providing free cooking demonstrations of diabetes-friendly breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack, with recipes included.  Harmons’ dietitians will take you on a “store tour” down our grocery aisle to help you make smart choices at the grocery store.  Our pharmacists will also be on hand to answer any questions you have about your medications.  We hope to see you at the Expo today.

If you are not able to visit us at the Expo, there are still some great diabetes events you can take advantage of at three of our Harmons’ locations—City Creek (Salt Lake City), Bangerter Crossing (Draper), and Station Park (Farmington).  We will be teaming up with our Cooking School Chefs for some great diabetes-friendly cooking classes and offering free diabetes store tours.  Registration for all events is available online or by contacting the dietitian hosting the event.  And as always, you are welcome to schedule a one-on-one store tour at any time by giving us a call. Continue Reading »