Our office manager, Renate, recently visited Memorial Hermann hospital.  She’s always kind enough to scope out the health education materials every time she visits a doctor’s office.  This time she came back with a cute little DVD all about shopping healthy at the grocery store.  What a treat!

The DVD start out with a monologue from a man dressed head to toe in red spandex.  “Hey it’s me, your heart,” he says.  I’m hooked already!

A fat primer.

Before beginning any heart healthy grocery shopping, the experts at Memorial Hermann say it’s important to know your fats and what kinds to avoid.  There are four types of fats, some good and some bad:

1. Saturated fats
   1. Avoid these!
   2. They are in animal products like egg yokes, butter, lard, whole milk products, coco butter, coconut and fatty meats.
   3. Eating too many of these can raise bad LDL cholesterol which is directly linked to increase risk of heart disease!
2. Trans fatty acids
   1. Avoid these!
   2. They are in hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated foods like vegetable shortening, margarine, commercial snacks, French fries.
   3. Eating too many of these can raise bad LDL cholesterol which is directly linked to increase risk of heart disease!
3. Monounsaturated fats
   1. Eat these instead of saturated fats.
   2. These are in nuts, olive oil, canola oil, avocados.
   3. Can lower cholesterol without affecting HDL or good cholesterol.
4. Polyunsaturated fats
   1. Eat these instead of saturated fats.  One type is omega 3 fatty acids that we hear so much about.
   2. These are in corn, soybeans, sunflower seeds, soft margarine, and mayonnaise.
   3. Can lower cholesterol without affecting HDL or good cholesterol.

Heart healthy shopping.

To stay heart healthy, here’s what the experts at Memorial Hermann recommend you shop for:

1. Pick Fresh Produce
   1. Choose ones that have deep and vibrant colors which indicates high vitamin content.
   2. When cooking, always leave on the peel to get extra fiber.
2. Find Whole Grain Fiber
   1. Help you fill up fast and stay full.
   2. Loaded with fiber for colon health.
   3. Select cereals with flaxseed added.
3. Purchase Lean Protein
   1. Choose fish with fins, a great source of omega 3.
   2. Watch out for mercury levels in fish like shark, swordfish and tuna for young children and pregnant women.
   3. Eat white meat with no skin.
   4. Eat red meat that’s lean and doesn’t have marbling.
   5. Avoid pre-marinated meat and processed meat since these have a higher sodium content.
   6. Always choose unsalted nuts and don’t overeat since these tend to be high in fat.
   7. Add soy products to the menu.

For help on identifying fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean protein, we recommend you play our health games Lunch Crunch and Pyramid Pile Up!

Is it just bologna?

Yesterday Kraft Foods announced they are cutting about 10% sodium out of more than 1000 Kraft products, including their famous Mac ‘N Cheese and Oscar Mayer Bologna.  The company says that over a period of two years, consumers should see an average of 10-20% salt reduction for Kraft products sold in North America. By 2012, that will be a whopping 750 million teaspoons of salt eliminated from Kraft Foods.

According to Rhonda Jordan, president of health & wellness at Kraft Foods,

“We are reducing sodium because it’s good for consumers and, if done properly, it’s good for business. A growing number of consumers are concerned about their sodium intake, and we want to help them translate their intentions into actions.”

So expect your favorite cup of Easy Mac to now only have 560 milligrams of sodium versus its traditional 700.  That’s still 24% of an adult’s daily allowance for sodium, but it’s a start.  We’re glad to see Kraft is taking the salt down a notch, especially in kid-popular foods.

Loser lunches?

School lunch is a topic of great discussion these days with important folks like the First Lady Michelle Obama and chef Jamie Oliver campaigning for healthier public school lunches in the United States.  After seeing yet another commercial for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution in which the popular chef passionately explains how the American people are killing kids by feeding them junk at lunch, I decided it was time to investigate.

How bad are public school lunches in comparison to other countries? Is one of the wealthiest countries in the world really putting school lunches that far down the totem pole?

What’s for school lunch?

That’s when I came upon a brilliant little blog called What’s For School Lunch.  The author is a former school lunch die hard who collects photos of school lunches from around the world.  Perfect!  So let’s do some investigation.

Here’s what you can expect from a typical U.S. school lunch menu.  Fruit and vegetables are in bold.

• Nachos with chili and cheese, tater tots, a plum and chocolate milk
• Hot dog, French fries, potato chips, ketchup, baked beans and punch
• Iceberg lettuce salad with chicken and cheese, ranch dressing and bread stick
• Fish nuggets, tartar sauce, apple, green beans and carrots
• Spaghetti with meatballs, roll, green beans, fruit cocktail and chocolate milk

We are definitely lacking some major nutritional content here.  Where’s the 100% juice and the skim milk?  Where’s the fruit and vegetables?  Why is everything so processes?

Other countries?

But what about other countries?  Is the United States really that bad in comparison?  Let’s take a look and see what other countries have to offer.  Fruit and vegetables are again in bold just for comparison sake.

• Brazil – Meat with vegetables, rice, beans, roll, banana, acelga salad
• China – Fish, scrambled egg with tomato sauce, rice, spinach, cauliflower, soup
• France – Mussels, artichoke, grapefruit, baguette, fries, lemon tart
• Japan – Bean sprout and spinach soup, noodle salad with cucumber and seaweed, chicken in tomato sauce, rice, strawberry crepe
• Malawi – Beans, assorted vegetables, cabbage
• Poland – Chicken, mashed potatoes, cabbage, soup, tea
• Russia – Salad with cheese, ham and mushrooms, coleslaw, apple, mashed potatoes, baked pudding, orange juice, cranberry juice
• South Korea – Breaded pork with bbq sauce, rice, turnips, cucumber salad
• Spain – Three course meals generally made of soup or salad, rice, veggies, beans, banana, apple, yogurt
• UK – Fried fish, French fries, pasta salad, green beans, corn, white bread, bread pudding

Who’s doing better?

The typical public school lunch in the United States is pretty pathetic in the way of nutritional value.  Just ask experts like Chef Ann Cooper, the Renegade Lunch Lady, who spends her life advocating for changing the way we feed our children.  It comes as no surprise to me that it was the UK is a close second.

Other countries seem to be doing much better than the United States and the UK when it comes to serving healthy meals to school children.  The big difference?  More fruit and vegetables, less sugar, less fat, less processed foods.  Many in the United States argue that schools can only afford to feed kids processed food.  But somehow other countries, even those that are much less financially stable than the U.S., are able to make it happen.   Perhaps we should ask ourselves, why aren’t we doing a better job?

How can you help?

At Playnormous we believe that lunch is one of the most important parts of a child’s school day.  Why do you think Lunch Crunch remains one of our most popular health games?  We’ve covered many lunch-related topics on Monster’s Blog from how to create a cool bento box lunch to basic instructions on how to pack a healthier lunchbox. Hopefully we’re helping make some difference.

You can help too!  Sign Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution petition or pack your child a healthier lunchbox using revamped classics like Mac ‘N Cheese and PB & J.