Senior Notes

Cora Flood

Wishing you a reflective and peaceful Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday

 Who reads and understands the nutrition labels on food cans, boxes and bottles?

• Who enjoys runny boiled eggs, lard (dripping), bagels with cream cheese and the odd glass of diet coke?

Marie Burke, RN at our Quincy Coffee Morning asked these questions as she continued with her education series on maintaining a healthy heart. Marie spent time sharing more tips and thoughts on how to understand what makes up a healthy diet and what goes into supporting our quest to maintain good blood pressure levels.

Nutrition label facts:

Nutrition facts on food labels can help you watch your weight and limit fat, sugar or salt. Use it to boost good nutrients and avoid empty calories.

Serving sizes:

Serving sizes can be deceptive. Many food items look like 1 serving but may actually contain 2 to 4 servings.

All nutrition facts including calories are per serving. Multiply the servings per container to discover what you consume if you eat the entire food item.

Calories:

High calories per serving is often a sign that the food has a lot of fat or added sugars.

400 calories per serving is a high calorie food

100 calories per serving is moderate

40 calories per serving is a low calorie food.  

Fats, Cholesterol and Sodium:

Saturated fat and trans fat raise cholesterol. Avoid foods that boast no cholesterol but are high in saturated or trans fat.

Carbohydrates:

Look for healthy carbs that provide at least 2 to 3 grams of fiber per serving.

Avoid carbs loaded with added sugars. Check the first 3 or 4 words on the ingredients list for words that end in “ose”. Those are added sugars.

Vitamins, Potassium, Calcium and Iron:

Most people don’t get enough vitamin A, calcium, iron or potassium. Ask your PCP about the best multivitamin to take.

% Daily Values (DV):

DV represents the amount of each nutrient you need if you eat 2,000 calories a day.

20% or more is high. Look for high DV’s for fiber, vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium and iron.

5% or less is low. Look for low DV’s for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

Resources for this article: www.webmd.com

Next month: Understanding Diabetes.

Announcements

ST. BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

St. Brigid’s Day Celebration on Sat. January 30^th at the AOH Hibernian Hall, Watertown.

3:00 PM Children’s Activities to be followed at 5:00pm with Mass celebrated by Fr. John.

6:00 PM Buffet Dinner and Traditional Irish Ceili with Ceol Tradisiunta na h’Éireann.

Suggested donation is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children and under 5’s are free.

For more information call Cora at 617 479 7404.

MOHEGAN SUN CASINO TRIP

Thursday February 11^th from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Spend a day of fun entertainment with a lively bunch of people.

$25.00 cash includes transport, lunch voucher and gambling voucher.

Bus departing from/returning to parking lot beside St. Ann Church, Wollaston

Call Mike Shields at 617 471 9380 to book your spot.

For questions about our senior citizen outreach program-services and activities call Cora Flood at 617 479 7404 x 13.