StrongWomen Newsletter
Issue 122, November 2008
I hope you find this newsletter helpful, and that you share it with your friends. Feel free to forward, post or reprint it – but please credit strongwomen.com for the information and don’t change the content.
By Miriam E. Nelson, PhD
Author of
Strong Women Stay Young
Strong Women Stay Slim
Strong Women, Strong Bones
Strong Women Eat Well
Strong Women and Men Beat Arthritis
The Strong Women’s Journal
Strong Women, Strong Hearts
Strong Women, Strong Backs
Founder of www.StrongWomen.com
IN THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
- What We Eat Impacts the Environment
- Upcoming Strong Women Workshops
- Reader Questions and Answers
- Is aerobic exercise for legs the same as strength training?
- Is whole milk better than skim for calcium absorption?
- Success Stories
- Recipe - Butternut Squash Soup
WHAT WE EAT IMPACTS THE ENVIRONMENT: PALM KERNEL OIL
With trans-fat bans in New York, Boston, and California, restaurants voluntarily reducing hydrogenated oils in their entrées, and the FDA requiring the inclusion of trans-fats on nutrition labels, Americans have gotten the message - trans-fats are bad for us. And the food manufacturers have gotten the message too. Palm oil has become an attractive alternative for food manufacturers because it hardens like hydrogenated oils and it's cheap. But palm oil isn't that much healthier of an option.
While palm oil is somewhat better for you than trans-fats, it is still high in saturated fat. Saturated fat raises LDL "bad" cholesterol in the body and increases risk of heart disease. Monounsaturated oils, like olive oil, and polyunsaturated oils, like sunflower oil, remain healthier alternatives.
My major concern with the shift from trans-fats to palm oil is that its production is very damaging to the environment. Oil palm, planted primarily in the tropics of Indonesia and Malaysia, is often grown on newly cleared rain forest land. Demand for palm oil has increased exponentially over the past thirty years. According to a report commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands, total global consumption grew from less than 5 million tons in 1976 to 17.7 million tons in 1998, with the largest increase in the later years. Between 1990 and 1999, more than 6,900 square miles of forestland (an area larger than the size of Connecticut) was converted into oil palm plantations in Indonesia.
It's important to remember that what we eat can have significant environmental effects. Next time you're in the grocery store and you're scanning the nutrition facts, keep an eye on the amount of trans-fat and glance down to the ingredients to make sure that palm oil has not been the chosen substitute. We want to not only take care of our own health, but the health of the environment as well.
Lifting women to better health,
Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D.
UPCOMING STRONGWOMEN WORKSHOPS
Several upcoming StrongWomen Program workshops are scheduled for the next few months. In order to be eligible for StrongWomen training, you must be actively strength training right now, and you must have a firm commitment to starting a program in your community. This training teaches you how to "lead" a StrongWomen Program, and should not be attended simply for informational/personal purposes.
Date: December 17, 2008
Location: Lebanon, PA
Contact: Nancy Wiker
Phone: (717) 394-6851
Email: nwiker@psu.edu
Registration Deadline: December 1, 2008
Date: February 4, 2009
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Contact: Shirley Perryman
Phone: (970) 491-2404
Email: shirley.perryman@colostate.edu
Registration Deadline: January 9, 2009
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Does aerobic exercise targeting the lower body provide enough exercise for the leg muscles? Put another way, isn't weight-bearing exercise the same as weightlifting for the legs?
A: While aerobic exercise works your leg muscles, it does not offer the same benefits as weightlifting or strength training. Aerobic exercise primarily helps to improve your cardiovascular system (i.e. your heart and lungs). Weightlifting, on the other hand, primarily helps build muscle and bone in your body. If possible, it is important to include both types of activity in your regular exercise routine.
Q: I read in a newspaper article that calcium isn't absorbed without saturated fat. If this is true, isn't it better to drink whole milk rather than skim or lowfat milk?
A: Calcium in our diet is absorbed poorly no matter what. On average we absorb only about 20 to 30% of calcium we ingest from food or supplements. If our diet is very high in fiber, we absorb less. If our vitamin D status is low, absorption of calcium can be even lower. I have seen no evidence that drinking lowfat or skim milk will decrease your overall calcium absorption. The problem with whole milk is that it does contain a substantial amount of saturated fat. If you don't have a weight or cholesterol problem, whole milk is fine. Otherwise, you need to be careful about getting too much fat in your diet. Of course, I use half and half or whole milk in the recipe below, but I am highlighting a main meal here, not everyday milk consumption.
FROM THE MAILBOX: SUCCESS STORIES FROM INSPIRING WOMEN
I am impressed with the information on your site, and happy to find a site for women committed to being strong in mind, body, and spirit. What you provide gives women a way to move forward toward that goal, and I appreciate the effort you've obviously put into this essential work.
-- Anonymous
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
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