Reading Nutrition Labels: POTATO CHIPS

 

Today's blog is going to focus on a short quip about nutrition labels and how to read this for your best benefit:

1) Always check what the manufacturer considers one (1) serving size.

•     In this chips bag, 18 chips = 1 serving size = 140 calories.

•     There are a total of 8 servings per entire bag. This means, if I ate the entire bag, I ate 1120 calories in potato chips (140 x 8 = 1120). 

• Believe it or not, eating this entire bag of chips would be so easy to do while I'm watching Netflix mindlessly. 

2) Check what your sodium intake would be: 

• If you only ate 18 chips, you took in about 125mg of sodium 

• If you ate the entire bag, you just ate 1000 mg of sodium. This is about a 1/2 day's worth of sodium you should be eating. 

3) Check Fat content

• NO Trans Fats (partially hydrogenated oil) - GOOD!   

• Look at ingredients - use of vegetable oils such as Canola, Sunflower or Safflower are good sources of naturally occurring, non-hydrogenated oils and unsaturated fat.

• Limit sources of foods made with tropical oils (for example: Palm oil). 

4) Check Carbohydrate content (important for diabetics)

• If you are carb counting, make sure you double check this area

• 18 chips = 16 grams of carbs. Ingredient says made of potatoes - which has good nutrients, however, deep frying them and processing them into chips destroys important vitamins and nutrients, and simply adds calories.

• For a typical person watching carbs, you should try to keep each meal to around 45 -60 grams of carbs, depending on your current treatment plan. Since there is a limited intake of carbs - it's best not to simply eat only potato chips: highly nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables and some whole grains should be in your day-to-day plan. 

• Your carbohydrate need changes based on activity level. Someone who runs a marathon will require much, much more of this fast energy. 

• Try to limit highly processed, refined carbohydrates and added sugars. 

Summary: 

Although this particular brand of potato chips chooses decent ingredients, potato chips should be eaten in moderation because they're processed, lack nutrition (many nutrients from the potato was destroyed during processing), are high in salt and fat (deep fried), and add calories! 

That doesn't mean they don't taste good. 

So eat in moderation - try to stick to the one serving size if you're eating this as a treat. Pair it with something nutritious, like an apple. Share the small bag or buy individual sized bags, and enjoy just once in a while. 

One serving size = 18 chips (per potato chip manufacturer)

COVID19 Vaccine Recommendations Update & Omicron Update

Vaccines:

Age 5-11 - vaccines (Pfizer only) have been available since early November 2021 - first series

Age 16-17 -vaccine boosters now available (Pfizer only)

Age 18 + - vaccine boosters now available (can mix-match any)

    6 month time interval minimum from Pfizer or Moderna first series.

    2 month time interval minimum from J&J dose.

Quick tips:

1) You can schedule your vaccines at most pharmacies - check their online schedules. Your physician's office may carry it too - give them a call. Hospitals and Health Departments also have clinics and pop-up clinics. Resources are available everywhere.

2) You can get your COVID19 vaccine with other vaccines (such as the influenza vaccine). 

• Those who had a strong vaccination response previously: you may want to consider separating the doses by a few days or a week, or plan for a few days of rest. 

• I highly recommend, that while your immune system is doing a lot of work doing its internal strengthening after vaccinations, it might be transiently low on resources, and you may get infected with a different respiratory virus. Take care of yourselves and allow your body time to recover. Try not not plan major trips, parties, large gatherings (including dining out), tough workouts after your shots. Give yourself about a week, mask up when you're out and about, hydrate well with water and feed your body proper healthy nutrition. Doing so may give your body the advantage and avoid some additional misery. (Please note: This is an opinion recommendation; there are no scientific studies to support this claim. This is a common-sense recommendation based on personal and patient experiences).

3) Remember that, if you're not allergic or have other medical reasons to avoid, you can take Ibuprofen or Tylenol after vaccinations to help with discomfort or fevers.

4) Vaccine critical adverse events are rare. Hospitalizations & deaths from COVID19 are preventable and significantly and tragically more common in unvaccinated individuals, young or old. 

Benefits significantly outweigh the risks in favor of getting vaccinated, and even more so now as millions of people around the globe have been vaccinated with one of the most well-vetted vaccines we have in history.

Vaccine side effects and a bit of misery after the vaccines: common. Expect a sore arm, feeling rather tired, some chills, headaches, and muscle aches or joint pain. Often improves after 3-4 days.

5) There is growing evidence from small studies that show that mixing or switching to a different booster dose version may increase your immunity level against COVID19.

Omicron Variant is now in Central Ohio

Still very few cases, but likely more of it in community, just unidentified. We ARE sequencing the tests that are going to the labs. The cases mostly have been mild so far, and we're thankful - however, that's not reason to not stay vigilant. We need more information - another 1-2 weeks to gather more data to see if this variant is going to be an issue.

Influenza cases are on the rise

Flu is not gone. We're starting the season. Many people are skipping their flu shots this season, and I empathize that this year, it just seems like we're standing at an assembly line waiting for the next vaccine.

Just had an Influenza positive test in my care population. CDC already seeing higher numbers this year than last year. Why?

Masks are off more often. Distancing is not happening as much. We're seeing some more pre-pandemic lifestyles than last winter. 

Suggestion? Be careful. Strongly consider the influenza vaccine. It is still a miserable infection and can still cause hospitalizations and pneumonia in some.

How to Prepare for a Visit with My Physician

Whether you are planning to come in for a wellness visit or discuss a new medical concern with your physician in-person or on a telehealth video conference, preparing ahead for the issues you wish to talk about may actually be helpful. 

From a physician perspective, here are some key points we are grateful for:

How Do Vaccines Work?

Inactivated (non-live) Vaccines work by taking a small blueprint protein of the enemy virus or pathogen (a small piece of the puzzle) and introduces this puzzle piece to our body (usually the muscle cells in your arm, thigh or bottom). This puzzle piece is foreign to the body, so it activates your cells to "present" it to your body's military/army (your immune system), who studies this puzzle piece and begins training exercises and creating weaponry (like neutralizing antibodies) to defend against this foreign invader. Because the puzzle piece blueprint is just a blueprint - it cannot infect or destroy cells - so it simply gets gobbled up by your immune system or degrades on its own in a few days. 

While your immune system goes through its military training exercises, you will feel like you're getting a major internal workout, especially if it's a particularly effective vaccine. You get soreness or swelling in the arm and lymph nodes, some chills, fatigue, sometimes a fever (which is activated by your immune system) and body aches. Usually a very limited and short training exercise, most people feel better after about 3-4 days of this workout and your immune system is now newly trained, and therefore, stronger, to defend against the real, full strength, foreign invader. 

Extra vaccine doses and boosters are simply allowing the immune system to re-train (continuing education, if you'd like to call it) to build more weaponry (antibodies) against the disease (as the weapons may need polishing or replenished from time-to-time).

COVID19 Vaccines are NON-LIVE, inactivated viruses. They cannot "infect" the immune compromised. This is why those who have weak immune systems or are pregnant can safely take these vaccines. 

Vaccines are a major landmark of our health and wellness in modern society - it has given us an incredible tool to fight infectious disease and has increased life-expectancy and quality of life of humans over the past century.