KTK-Nutrition

Hard to avoid “processed” food.   Some of my students say that to eat healthy one should avoid “processed” food.   But most of the food we eat is “processed” to some extent.   Eating whole wheat bread is healthy but bread is “processed” as they harvested the grain, milled the grain, made the flour and then made the bread.   Cereal, even whole grain cereal, is processed.   Canned vegetables are processed as is canned fruit in syrup.     But some food is “ultraprocessed” so much so that this processing adversely affects the nutritional processing of the food.   What are ultraprocessed foods and how is the nutritional value of this type of food affected?   Are there any consequences to your health if you eat a lot of ultraprocessed food? What are ultraprocessed foods ? Not only are these foods processed but often these foods have lots of added sugar, salt, and fat as well as preservatives and many have artificial colors.   Foods that ar...

Many kids are going back to school in August and not just via Zoom.   Kids need snacks after school – but healthy snacks. Some parents won’t give their kids snacks thinking snacks are unhealthy, snacks spoil a kid’s appetite, or that kids just don’t need snacks.   But kids do need snacks. Pre-school kids need snacks twice a day -morning and afternoon.   School-age kids need an after-school snack.   One reason kids need snacks is because they have small stomachs and eat smaller amounts at meals and then get hungry between meals.   They also need snacks to meet their daily nutritional needs. If you give kids healthy snacks, the snacks contribute nutrients and good nutrition that kids need to grow.   Snacks should be small enough to help curb hunger pains but not too filling the child eats less at meal time. Deana Hildebrand, a nutrition specialist with the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Services notes :   “The trick is to provide snack...