If you're heading down the aisles of the grocery store looking for canned goods but unsure which types might be the healthiest, your struggle is over. First off, there are some canned goods that are better than others, so it's smart to go fresh or frozen, instead, when necessary. Also, you'll want to read labels, as sodium, sugar, and calories can vary based on brand names and whatever substances the food is canned in, explains Keri Gans, MS, RDN, CLT. When it comes to canned goods, they do offer convenience, so it makes sense that you're looking to save time and effort in the kitchen. However, when it comes to nutrition, canned goods differ, so it's worth knowing when to ditch the can and when you're in the clear. Here are the three best and three worst foods you can eat in a can.
Wednesday 4 April 2018
3 Canned Foods That Are the Best For Your Health — and 3 That Are the Absolute Worst
Doctors Reveal 15 Things You Should Do to Avoid Getting Heart Disease
Heart disease kills more people in the United States than any other two diseases combined. Men and women of all ages can be affected, but you’re more at risk the older you get. Wondering how can you avoid getting heart disease? Your doctor’s answers are the best ones out there.
1. First, know the risks you can’t control
There’s nothing you can do about your age, your gender, or your family’s health history. You also can’t change your race or ethnicity. All these heart disease risk factors make you more likely to suffer heart trouble — but thankfully, you can, and should, take charge of the following things.
2. Manage your cholesterol
High cholesterol can make it harder for your heart to pump blood throughout your body, so it’s important to do everything you can to keep your levels under control. If you’ve already been diagnosed with high cholesterol, make sure you limit or avoid these foods to avoid getting sicker.
3. Keep an eye on your blood sugar
Living with type 2 diabetes — or on your way there? Uncontrolled blood sugar increases your risk of heart disease because it also messes with your blood pressure. If you keep your levels within a normal range, you’re less likely to develop heart problems.
4. Fix your questionable relationship with sleep
While it’s true your sleep habits and needs change as you get older, your body still needs to rest as much as possible. One too many sleepless nights puts your heart in danger. Can’t seem to fall asleep? These foods might help you get some much-needed rest.
5. Practice effective stress management
Everyone needs small amounts of stress to keep them going. Too much of it over time, however, messes with your hormones and wears down your heart. If you suspect life’s daily stressors are hurting your health, do what you can to get it under control.
6. Control your blood pressure
Did you know high blood pressure doesn’t always warn you of its presence? This is why it’s such a dangerous symptom of heart disease. If high blood pressure runs in your family, it’s probably a good idea to have it checked regularly.
7. Eat your vegetables, even if you don’t want to
There’s a reason your doctor (and, years prior, your mom) nags you about your diet. The more plants you eat — including fruits and vegetables — the healthier your heart will be. Adding even a few servings to your daily total can make all the difference. And yes — you can buy them frozen!
8. Avoid eating the ‘wrong’ kind of fat
You’ve likely heard that fatty foods are bad for you, but this claim is only partially true. Foods high in saturated fat, like desserts and over half of most fast food menus, can increase your heart disease risk. Foods like fish, avocados, and nuts contain a different kind of fat that can actually lower your risk.
9. Keep your weight in check
Has your doctor suggested you drop a few pounds? They really do have your best interest in mind. Fortunately, getting to and maintaining a healthy weight through both diet and harmless exercise over time can help you avoid getting heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and more.
10. Eat more grains
Love toast? Breakfast cereal? Dinner rolls? You’re already on the right track. Grains — the right kinds, anyway — are extremely heart-healthy. Just make sure that the flours, breads, cereals, and other grain-based products you buy are as close to 100 percent whole grain as possible.
11. Put away the saltshaker
Salt is not the enemy. Too much of it, however, makes it pretty difficult to avoid getting heart disease. Some of the foods you wouldn’t expect to hurt you are some of the worst for your health. Getting into the habit of not flavoring your food once it’s on the table is a great starting point.
12. Kick your sugar addiction
Is sugar slowly killing you? One of the best ways to avoid getting heart disease — and a long list of other unfavorable health conditions — is to eat fewer foods containing added sugars. You can still satisfy your sweet tooth without going overboard.
13. Exercise regularly
Just 30 minutes of exercise five days a week can significantly lower your risk of heart disease. If you’re out of shape, it’s not too hard to get back into it. These are the exercises you should try, and the ones you should avoid at all costs.
14. Don’t drink too much alcohol
The good news is, you don’t have to completely cut alcohol from your life to avoid getting heart disease. Reducing your intake, however, not only lowers your dementia risk, but also protects your heart as you approach old age.
15. Quit smoking — or don’t start
If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, it’s not too late to quit. Cigarette smoke does plenty of terrible things to your body, but most people don’t know it hurts your heart just as much as it destroys your lungs. Do whatever you have to do to stop — it could save your life.
Tuesday 3 April 2018
The hidden crisis on college campuses: 36 percent of students don’t have enough to eat
Caleb Torres lost seven pounds his freshman year of college — and not because he didn’t like the food in the dining hall. A first-generation college student, barely covering tuition, Torres ran out of grocery money halfway through the year and began skipping meals as a result.
He’d stretch a can of SpaghettiOs over an entire day. Or he’d scout George Washington University campus for events that promised free lunch or snacks. Torres told no one what he was going through, least of all his single mom.
“She had enough things to worry about,” he said.
Now a senior and living off-campus, in a housing situation that supplies most of his meals, Torres is finally talking about his experience with the hunger problem on America’s college campuses: a quiet, insidious epidemic that researchers say threatens millions of students every year.
According to a first-of-its-kind survey released Tuesday by researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, 36 percent of students on U.S. college campuses do not get enough to eat, and a similar number lack a secure place to live. The report, which is the first to include students from two-year, four-year, private and public universities, including GWU, found that nearly 1 in 10 community college students have gone a whole day without eating in the past month. That number was 6 percent among university students.
Researchers blame ballooning college costs, inadequate aid packages and growing enrollment among low-income students — as well as some colleges’ unwillingness to admit they have a hunger problem. College hunger is not a new issue, researchers caution. But it appears to be growing worse, and not merely because college is getting more expensive.
"Prices have gone up over time," said Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy at Temple and the lead author of the report. "But the rising price is just a piece. This is a systemic problem."
Goldrick-Rab's report is based on data from 43,000 students at 66 schools and used the Department of Agriculture's assessment for measuring hunger. That means the thousands of students it classifies as having "low food security" aren't merely avoiding the dining hall or saving lunch money for beer: They're skipping meals, or eating smaller meals, because they don't have enough money for food.
On top of that, the report found, 46 percent of community college students and 36 percent of university students struggle to pay for housing and utilities. In the past year, 12 percent of community college students and 9 percent of university students have slept in shelters or in places not intended as housing, or did not know from one day to the next where they would sleep.
Measuring college hunger and homelessness is difficult. Researchers depend on universities to distribute the surveys and on a self-selecting group of students to fill them out.
Goldrick-Rab says those constraints make it likely that college hunger is actually more prevalent than her data show. There may also be more variability between different areas of the country or different types of institutions, though several education policy analysts not involved with the survey said they believe this is the best national estimate available.
The numbers align with other recent surveys on the issue. The University of California has found that 40 percent of its students suffer food insecurity. At four state universities in Illinois, that number is 35 percent.
“Not a single university administrator wanted to acknowledge this was an issue five years ago,” said Rachel Sumekh, the chief executive of Swipe Out Hunger, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit. “But the numbers are amazing. It helps us make the case to universities that they need to do something about this.”
Experts say the factors underlying campus hunger are complex. More low-income students are enrolling in college, thanks to expanded needs-based scholarship and grant programs, a move away from standardized test scores as part of the application process, and other initiatives designed to recruit more diverse students.
But once they get on campus, low-income students often find that the patchwork of grants and scholarships they’ve assembled are not enough to cover all of their expenses.
“There has been an uptick in low-income students on campus, but there hasn’t been a corresponding change in university policy to welcome and prepare for these students,” said Anthony Abraham Jack, an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
In the 2013-2014 academic year, room and board for the average undergraduate totaled $9,929, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, a 50 percent increase over 20 years prior.
Those figures are higher for private and four-year colleges. And they don’t include incidental expenses, from printing and laundry fees to nightly room charges assessed against students who can’t leave for spring break or summer vacation.
On top of that, students have fewer ways to provide for themselves: Competition for low-wage jobs has increased, and strict work requirements for food stamp recipients mean that many cannot rely on the federal safety net. Even higher income students who don't have their parents' full financial support can find themselves facing difficult choices.
“We know for some students, even one small financial problem can throw them off course,” said Tim Miller, the associate dean of students in the Division of Student Affairs at George Washington, where Torres is a senior. “That is serious. We want to help students overcome those issues.”
With a 2017-2018 tuition of more than $53,000, and a brand-new food court hawking poke bowls and yogurt topped with rose petals, GWU does not outwardly look like a place where students encounter hunger.
But mixed in among the Canada Goose-clad undergrads are students such as Torres and Emma Montero, a sophomore, who are struggling. Montero works three jobs, including a federal work-study gig designed to help low-income students cover expenses, but neither her wages nor a series of grants, scholarships and low-interest loans have made ends meet, she said.
“I’m not going hungry per se, but there are days I’m just not going to eat,” she said. “Today, I am kind of hesitant to buy food, because I have less than $100 and I need to do laundry. Do I want to do my laundry or do I want to eat today? That is the kind of question I’m dealing with.”
To alleviate these issues, GW opened a food pantry in 2016, stocked with canned goods, produce and day-old bagels, tucked behind an unmarked door in the same food court where students flock for poke. Hundreds of schools have recently launched these sorts of pantries: Membership in the College and University Food Bank Alliance has swelled from 15 in 2012 to more than 600 today.
Colleges are taking other steps as well. Some have altered their dining plans to cover more meals or to offer more low-cost options, or have begun distributing free dining hall vouchers to students who need them. Others have partnered with nonprofits to redistribute unused meals to hungry students.
Michigan State University, the first school to establish an on-campus pantry, has begun screening students for food insecurity during routine visits to its campus health center. In New York, St. John’s University has started advertising an emergency fund that disburses small, one-time grants to students with unexpected expenses.
“This is top-of-mind right now on many campuses,” said Amelia Parnell, the vice president for research and policy at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. “When we think about reasons students drop out, financial issues — like the ability to pay for food and housing — are one of them.”
But advocates say higher education is still not doing enough to solve student hunger. There is persistent skepticism about the depth of the problem at some institutions. Others have proven skittish about opening a food pantry or even surveying students, concerned with the message it will send prospective students and donors.
“All the great hunger efforts underway are not even half a drop in an empty bucket given the scale of this crisis,” said Wick Sloane, a writing professor at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston who has advocated for low-income students. “All of us in higher ed know this.”
Sloane and other advocates have called on the federal government to provide free or reduced-cost meals at colleges, as is already done in primary and secondary schools. This fall, the federal Government Accountability Office is scheduled to release a study on the extent of college hunger, which gives advocates hope that lawmakers are paying attention to the issue.
Advocates would like to see changes to the food stamp program to make it more available to college students. There are also calls to reevaluate the financial aid process, with particular attention to how the government assesses "need."
But unfortunately, those changes will come too late for many. Torres will graduate from GW in May. With little initial support at school, Torres moved off-campus sophomore year on the advice of a friend, renting a room in the home of a middle-aged couple known for helping down-on-their-luck students.
Torres says he hasn’t worried about food since then — and that he feels “blessed every day.” But he hopes future college students will have other, more institutional support to keep them from going hungry.
“We’re in a time where there is going to be a lot of change,” he said. “And I’m pleased with where I see it going.”
Facebook Live captures moment Houston man accidentally shot in head outside gas station
Facebook Live video shows the moment a man was accidentally shot in the head on Easter, leaving him in critical condition.
The victim, Devyn Holmes, was in a car with a woman and another man who were playing with two guns when he was shot around 2 a.m. Sunday.
"You're making me nervous," Holmes says in the Facebook Live, captured outside a Valero gas station on Almeda and Southmore in Houston.
Police say the three were inside the car for about nine minutes before the accidental shooting.
"It ain't got no clip, bud," the man in the backseat utters in the video.
"Hey, where you from again...?"
Seconds later, Cassandra Nickcole Damper fires a shot.
The gunshot hit Holmes in the head.
Police said both passengers immediately got out of the vehicle. Officers arrived about five minutes later.
Now Holmes' family is asking for prayers.
"To me, he's my backbone," said Kendric Holmes, Devyn's brother. "To his whole family, whenever problems go down, he'll be right there to pick us all up."
Devyn is fighting for his life at Ben Taub Hospital.
The woman who fired the weapon is only being charged with tampering with evidence after police said she tried to wipe off her hands before testing for gunpowder residue.
The victim, Devyn Holmes, was in a car with a woman and another man who were playing with two guns when he was shot around 2 a.m. Sunday.
"You're making me nervous," Holmes says in the Facebook Live, captured outside a Valero gas station on Almeda and Southmore in Houston.
Police say the three were inside the car for about nine minutes before the accidental shooting.
"It ain't got no clip, bud," the man in the backseat utters in the video.
"Hey, where you from again...?"
Seconds later, Cassandra Nickcole Damper fires a shot.
The gunshot hit Holmes in the head.
Police said both passengers immediately got out of the vehicle. Officers arrived about five minutes later.
Now Holmes' family is asking for prayers.
"To me, he's my backbone," said Kendric Holmes, Devyn's brother. "To his whole family, whenever problems go down, he'll be right there to pick us all up."
Devyn is fighting for his life at Ben Taub Hospital.
The woman who fired the weapon is only being charged with tampering with evidence after police said she tried to wipe off her hands before testing for gunpowder residue.
US college crackdown: Chinese student admits impostor did English test
A Chinese woman pleaded guilty on Monday to cheating on a college-entrance exam, becoming the latest person to admit wrongdoing amid US probes into international students who use impostors to gain admission to American universities.
Huang Leyi, who had been attending Pennsylvania State University using a student visa, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiring to defraud the United States, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Huang in March 2016 arranged to have a paid test taker sit in her place and take the TOEFL, the English-language exam used to assess foreign applicants, after she failed to achieve the minimum score needed to attend Penn State.
While she faced up to five years in prison, US District Judge Dennis Saylor sentenced Huang, 21, to time served after she agreed to be deported, according to court papers. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As China has become increasingly affluent, more Chinese students have been enrolling in US colleges and universities, attracted by the prospect of a prestigious American education and good jobs.
The number of Chinese students studying in the United States in the 2016-17 academic year rose by 6.8 per cent to 350,755, the Institute of International Education reported in November.
According to court papers, Huang admitted to authorities that she paid US$3,000 to have someone take the TOEFL exam for her and, following instructions from a broker, mailed her Chinese passport to an address in Massachusetts.
That passport was used by Wang Yue, a Chinese student at Hult International Business School in Cambridge who prosecutors said took the TOEFL on behalf of Huang and at least two other Chinese women seeking to gain admission to US universities.
In each case, the women were issued student visas based on their admission to universities, prosecutors said.
They said that as a result of the scheme, Huang defrauded the United States by impeding the US Department of Homeland Security in its administration of a programme that sets standards for an international student to obtain a visa.
Wang, Huang and the two other women were arrested on immigration-related charges in May 2017. Like Huang, they later pleaded guilty and were sentenced to time served after agreeing to be deported.
Jury convicts off-duty Boston officer of racially-motivated assault
A jury has convicted a police officer of a racially-motivated assault of a man working as an Uber driver.
Forty-three-year-old Michael C. Doherty is convicted on multiple charges including assault and battery after yelling a racial epithet to the driver.
Doherty was an off-duty Boston police officer when he took an Uber ride to South Boston. He told the 28-year-old driver that they were in the wrong location before striking and chasing the victim around the car. He then stole the vehicle and drove off until a second Uber driver and the victim chased him down. He used racial and ethnic slurs again during a second physical confrontation. Doherty fled the scene before police arrived and later surrendered to the Boston Police.
Doherty has been suspended without pay since his indictment in April, 2015.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley called Doherty’s action a slap in the face to “countless police officers.” He will be sentenced in April.
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