KTK-Nutrition

How healthy is the pasta in your spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, rigatoni, and other pasta dishes?   So many people have been avoiding pasta as it is a “carb” and they think carbs are unhealthy.   Americans still enjoy their pasta as we eat about 20 pounds of it a year.   How healthy is pasta? Pasta provides a lot of nutrition.   Not just carbs but also protein, about 5-7 grams of protein in a cup of cooked pasta.   The flour used to make pasta is a high protein durum wheat flour which is higher in protein than other types of flour. If you want to add more nutrition to your spaghetti or pasta dish, add some whole wheat pasta.   We usually use about ¾ white pasta and about ¼ whole wheat pasta.   Some people use all whole wheat pasta but it is a taste one needs to get used to.   Most people hardly notice if you add just a little whole wheat pasta.   Even the white pasta provides some fiber.   And pasta is enriched with some B vitamins and iron. Whole wheat pasta adds even mo

But too many of us aren’t getting the calcium we need.   About 80% of teenage girls and 60% of teenage boys aren’t getting enough calcium in their diets. Most adults are also low in getting enough calcium taking in about 500-700 mg when they need 1000 mg of calcium a day.   The Dietary Guidelines recommend adults have 3 cups of milk or dairy servings every day.  How much calcium do you need each day? Probably more than you are getting.   The chart below shows how much calcium different age groups are getting.   If you aren’t drinking milk or having a yogurt at every meal, you are probably low in your calcium intake. Age Recommended Calcium (mg/day) Children 4-8 1000 Children/teens 9-18 1300 Adults 1000 Women over 50 and men over 70 1200 What foods provide calcium? Although some people take calcium supplements, calcium is best absorbed from food.   Dairy foods – are the best sources of calci

Are you at risk of diabetes?   About 1 in 4 Americans have diabetes and don’t even know it.   About 23 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes and 7 million of us don’t even know it.   Another 79 million Americans have prediabetes.   We can take some steps to lower our risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.   The American Diabetes Association has a wealth of information on diabetes and even a Diabetes Risk Test you can take. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.   They used to call these juvenile diabetes and adult diabetes.   However, so many Americans, even those at a young age are getting Type 2 diabetes that they no longer refer to this as adult onset diabetes.   Type 1 – Usually kids or young adults get this type of diabetes, that is why it used to be called juvenile diabetes.   This type affects about 5% of Americans.   The body does not produce the insulin needed to get sugar (glucose) into the cells so blood sugar rises.   People with Type 1 are put on insulin

So much added sugar in our diets.   We notice most of the added sugar in our diets, like the added sugar in candy, ice cream or desserts.   But so much added sugar is “stealth sugar” in our foods.   Manufacturers love to add sugar to common foods like bread and pasta sauce.   There is also so much confusion about “sugar” as some people avoid “sugar” and then end up avoiding milk because it has lactose, a natural sugar in milk. Or they stop eating fruit like bananas, as they mistakenly say, “bananas are high in sugar”, when bananas have NO ADDED SUGAR.   So, what should you know about added sugar?   Consumer Reports has provided an excellent guide called, Eat Smarter, Eat Healthier which includes information about we can cut back on the added sugar in our diet.    Can you enjoy some added sugar? Yes.   Who doesn’t like dessert, some ice cream, some cookies or other treat every day?   I do.   The problem is we eat way too many foods with added sugar and manufacturers have sneaked