Last week, I participated in a webinar titled the National Dialogue on Sodium put on by the American Society for Nutrition.  Sodium has been in the news frequently over the past few weeks.  But as you may have noticed, I’ve avoided talking about it here.  The reason?  The discussions around sodium are complex, and there isn’t true agreement amongst health professionals as to the real impact on health or what the recommendation should be for most consumers.  I haven’t addressed the topic as I’m still conflicted about it, so felt like I couldn’t possibly talk to you about it.

But. . . .

There was some interesting information presented on the webinar that I do think will be helpful to you.  First off, we hear generalizations about how much sodium consumers are getting today.  The number most often mentioned is 3,400 mg of sodium in comparison to the 2,400 mg which is recommended by FDA on the Nutrition Facts panel of food labels.  The average consumer gets 42% more sodium than he/she should.  But we live in a world today that centers around personalized service and individualization.  That said, if you split the data, it shows that the average woman gets 2,880 mg of sodium a day and the average man 3,962 mg.  Why the difference?  On average, men eat more calories eat day.

The other interesting information shared is where we’re getting our sodium.  While sodium is found throughout our food supply, based on the level of sodium or the frequency with which they’re eaten, about 50% of sodium intake is coming from these foods (as presented by Victor Fulgoni, III, PhD, Nutrition Impact LLC):

Breads and rolls, Cheese, frankfurters, sausage, lunch meat, condiments and sauces, crackers, popcorn, pretzels and chip, pork, ham, bacon, biscuits, corn bread, pancakes, tortillas, cakes, cookies, quick bread, pastry, pie, soup, broth, bouillon, tomatoes, tomato/vegetable juice.

In this data presented on the webinar, there’s some good news as well as practical tips.  First, the good news – woman are not far off where they should be in sodium intake.  Some minor tweaks in our eating habits can get us to the recommended level.  As to the practical tips, it’s clear that cutting calories is not only an effective way to manage your weight, but also a way to reduce sodium.  Are there simple ways you can cut 100 calories out of your eating habits each day?  Focusing on these top sources of sodium – examining bread labels more closely for sodium content, for example, or choosing the foods listed less frequently (cook chicken breasts on the weekends and use them for sandwiches during the week), can get us closer to the recommended intakes.

Visit NuVal.com to see how high sodium levels can lower scores and low sodium levels can help raise scores.

Earlier this week, I made a call to action to several companies – Schwan’s, Peapod, Coborns Delivers – to help address the lack of access to healthy food like fruits and vegetables in some neighborhoods.  These areas are often called “food deserts.”  In response to this blog, I have heard back from two of the companies.  Their responses were:

Schwan’s via FB:  Hi Annette, thanks for the link. I’ll definitely check it out. Meanwhile, take a look at our inventory of fruits, vegetables and the LiveSmart line.

Peapod via FB:  We are actually working a on a project to help bring food to food deserts in Chicago (http://bit.ly/cvxhsu). Stay tuned for more info on our progress.

I encourage you to follow the link to Peapod’s project.  It’s right on tracking in partnering with local organizations trying to impact change and help people live healthier lives.  Hats off to Peapod!

Can others follow their lead?  Can you start a revolution of your own by sending this idea onto businesses in your community with refrigerated trucks.

NuVal.com can help companies decide what to load on the trucks.

In you happened to read my very first blog post, you know that I am the daughter of a lifelong gardener.  Having been raised in this way, I have much passion for getting my hands dirty, tending to plants and the luxury of being able to go out my back door and pick fresh peas, tomatoes or herbs.

For years, I tried having a garden in my yard.  I would have a beautiful teepee of pea pod shots growing perfectly one day.  The next day, it would be destroyed by a family of deer that live in our neighborhood.  They are my gardening menace.  No matter the number or type of fences, barriers or sprays I tried, the deer (and some bunnies, I suspect) destroyed all my work and with it, my harvest.

Eventually, after eight years of trying, I sodded over the garden plot, and conceded victory to the deer.  I know my husband silently cheered (as we were the only house in the neighborhood with a garden plot!), but too this day, I’m still a little ticked off at those deer.

But conceding defeat to the deer doesn’t mean I gave up.  I have simply moved to a solution that I can keep out of reach of the animals searching for a snack.  Container gardening has become my answer.  I can still grow tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, and others to fuel my passion for playing in the dirt.  But I do it closer to the house where the animals don’t venture.

Why do through all the trouble?  Partially, because it’s just part of who I am.  I love the creativity of gardening, the seasonality of it, the challenge of it, the attachment to the earth.  But it’s also important for me to teach my son, Jack, about the glory of food, where food really comes from, the taste of foods at their absolute peak of freshness.  Engaging him in this process make him more likely to try new vegetables, to eat them more often, and to gain an appreciation of their importance in his eating habits.

Visit www.nuval.com to decide on perfect scoring foods you can plant this spring.

Topic #1:  A sure sign of summer in Minnesota is actually a sound – the ringing bell of the ice cream truck.  As a kid, all of us in the neighborhood would come running when we heard that bell.  There was nothing like a frosty ice cream treat in the heat of summer.  Last week, I heard that same bell ringing in my neighborhood, and it brought back great memories.  Summer, friends, running the neighborhood. .. the delight of childhood. ..

Topic #2:  As First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign has brought to light, one of the issues in achieving healthy eating habits as part of the equation to lower childhood obesity rates is access to fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods in some neighborhoods.  For some people, their only grocery store is a convenience store.  Transportation issues can also make it difficult for some to get to grocery stores that offer a good assortment of fruits, vegetables, skim milk, whole grain breads, low fat meats, etc.

So how do Topic #1 and #2 intersect?  In the call to action I am making today.

There are companies like Schwan’s, Coborns Delivers, Pea Pod, and others that have refrigerated trucks running delivery routes throughout the country. Why can’t they be the ice cream trucks of healthy eating, driving through neighborhoods selling only healthy options?  Why can’t they turn their marketing genius onto this initiative – making selling fruits and vegetables off their trucks as compelling as the ice cream truck was in my childhood?

So this is my call to action, and I’m asking for your help.  Reach out to your friends, your neighbors, your FB connections to help find contacts from companies like Schwans and Pea Pod, and get them to respond to this idea here on this blog.  I’ll keep posting it until we hear from someone.  As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes efforts from all parts of our communities to solve problems like childhood obesity.

Visit nuval.com to know the most nutritious products to load on those trucks.

There’s a question that’s been on my mind a lot over the last week.

Are beverage companies becoming the tobacco companies of this decade?

I live in a liberal state.  Minnesota is known for taking issues seriously.  When the lawsuits against Phillip Morris and the tobacco world started hitting the books, Minnesota was in the front pack of the charge.  “Smoke free” has been a mainstay in our public places for a long time.  Nowadays, when you run into someone here who smokes, it’s almost with embarrassment that they maintain this habit.  It’s become socially unacceptable to smoke.

And I wonder if this is where we’re heading with what we call “pop” here in Minnesota.    According to a major nutrition data source (NHANES, 2001-04), the average consumer gets more than 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day, totaling more than 350 calories.  The main source of this sugar?  Soft drinks and other carbonated beverages.  One 12-oz. can of soda has about 8 teaspoons of sugar.

With childhood obesity on everyone’s mind, especially First Lady Michelle Obama, fingers are being pointed at the pop manufacturing giants like Coke and Pepsi.  NPR has an interesting discussion on soda in schools.  Everyone is concerned about the calories pop contributes and the more nutritious beverages (think milk) that pop replaces in kids’ eating habits.

Adding to the nutrition concerns, beverage manufacturers have also taken a beating from the environmentalists.  Coke owns Dasani, Powerade, and Vitamin Water in addition to their soda brands, and Pepsi owns Aquafina, Gatorade, Lipton teas, Propel and SoBe Waters in addition to their pop lines.  At the end of the day, that’s a lot of plastic bottles, and environmentalists raise concern over the energy it takes to produce them, potential seeping of compounds from the plastic into the water, and all those bottles ending up in landfills.

So, can my musing be far from the truth?  Carbonated beverage companies are the new tobacco companies, aren’t they?

Visit www.nuval.com where most regular sodas score a 1, the lowest score possible.

My husband Dan is a pop culture guy.  He can quote lines from both Family Guy and Seinfeld episodes as though it’s scripture, and still can’t believe Arrested Development was canceled.  He knows who the latest pop star is, is in the know on up-and-coming technology gadgets, and uses the right lingo with hip audiences.  Yet, he’s a 45-year-old white guy living in the suburbs with a wife, a kid, a dog, and a manicured lawn.

So one night during dinner a few months ago, I asked him if he ever watched the Colbert Report.  He almost fell out of his chair laughing.  He couldn’t believe I hadn’t ever watched it.  Truth be told, I hadn’t.  But now, I have, and it’s hard not to be a fan.

On Monday, one of my favorite segments was aired, and if you have any interest at all in nutrition and health, it’s an absolute must see. Titled FDA Salt Regulation, the segment features Lori Roman, Executive Vice President of the Salt Institute (the people who promote salt for various uses), and Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (anti-sodium consumer watchdog group).  What Colbert has done in this segment – and with a flavor that can’t be matched – is show the complexity of the sodium issue as it relates to health.  Simply put, it’s brilliant.

So, take a break in your day, sit back for 7 minutes and 11 seconds, and enjoy.

Visit www.nuval.com to learn about Dr. David Katz, the inventor of the scoring algorithm that fuels NuVal scores, who would make an ideal guest on the Colbert Report.