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LIFESTYLE TIPS Nutrition Mythconceptions This article is provided by the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute in collaboration with ParticipACTION. The Campbell Survey on Well-Being in Canada tells us a great deal about our current health practices. It tells us, for example, that one-quarter of Canadians consistently follow Canada's Food Guide for healthy eating. And it shows positive changes in recent years. Many Canadians report eating more poultry, fish, fruit, and vegeta- bles, while consuming fewer total calories. Still ... there are many myths about diet and nutrition. To help counter these myths, the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute asked a registered dietitian, Helen Bishop MacDonald, to respond to the more common ones. MacDonald is a columnist for the Calgary Herald, a popular radio commentator on nutrition matters, and the author of Eating For The Health Of It. Here are her comments--to help set the record straight! MYTH: It costs more to eat nutritiously. Many of the /east nutritious foods are the most costly items in a grocery cart. Yes, shy you should pay atten- \Wyerg tion to buying produce .in. season and avoid paying the ER i manufacturer or the 'f guy at the supermar- ° {7 ket to do your meal - preparation, but basic foods are usually the least expensive. MYTH: Cholesterol-free foods are a healthier choice. Not necessarily! Some foods that have absolutely no choles- terol may be loaded with fat, which is a much greater threat to health. Conversely, eggs contain cholesterol in the yolk, » but they are very rich in many important nutri- ents. Watch out for baked goods made with hydrogenated vegetable oils--they may well have no cholesterol, but lots of saturated fat. MYTH: You'd be healthier if you cut out red meat. It's a good idea to avoid too much fat from any source, and it's wise to buy lean meat and trim the fat bé fore cooking. But the minerals, especially iron and zinc, found in red meat make it a valuable part of the diet. In the past some people perhaps chose too large a serving of meat, but there is definitely a place in the diet for reasonable amounts of lean red meat. MYTH: Foods today are full of dangerous chemicals. All foods are made up of chemicals. Certain processed foods have small amounts of approved chemi- cals added to il Crease their safety, shelf-life, appearance, texture, or taste. What we seem to have forgotten is that it's "the dose that makes the poison"--anything consumed in large enough quantities can be toxic. In small amounts, preservatives and additives are not harmful and are infinitely preferable to mould and rancid- ity. MYTH: Low-fat foods are healthier, but take the joy out of eating. This needn't be so. Many low- fat and fat-reduced products now on high on_ taste. Breads, cereals, fruits, and vegeta- bles can _ taste great, and they're almost invariably low in fat. Lean meat is readily available as are low-fat milk and milk prod- ucts. True, no one has yet come up with a perfect low-fat donut! I came home from work the other day all worked up about an energy horror story I'd just heard, and I was so agitated that finally Em had to steer me towards the kitchen and plop me down on a chair so I'd eat dinner before it got cold. Well, I said after my first fork- ful, it seems this fellow at work has a newly-married son who is renting a house while he and his wife save for a down payment on their own place. When one of their hot water faucets began to leak they called their landlord, but he didn't get around to doing ' it for a month. It's a darned shame, really, I said to Em, because all that needed to be done was to replace a single washer that cost a few cents. With a bit of know- how, those kids wouldn't have had to depend on their slow- motion landlord. I wondered if they or their landlord know what a month's worth of drips adds up to. "Okay, so tell me," says Em. (She knows when to humor me.) Well, as a matter of fact, a tap that leaks one drop every second wastes 800 litres (175 gallons) of hot water every month. Think of it. Line up 800 one-litre car- tons of milk in your mind. Down the drain, wasted, along with the energy that went into heating it, because of one single washer. Makes that down pay- ie A "ath "aS i ment that much tougher to save if those kids are paying for hot water to go right down the drain. Before you go to the store to buy new washers - and now's a good time, because there's a good chance they're on sale - take a look at the problem you're having. If your faucet drips from the spout after you've turned it off, you'll probably need to replace what's called the "seat" washer. If it's leaking from the stem, you'll probably need to replace a rubber O-ring or what's called the "packing". You can get some good advice from your hardware store if you need It. While you're in the faucet-fix- ing mode at the store, take a look at faucet aerators, too. They mix air in with the water so that you don't notice any dif- ference when you're washing your hands, say, but you'll use much less water. And that, as they say, is the ticket! This newspaper, in conjunc- tion with Ontario Hydro, is bringing you Phil's Basement to help "bring home" ideas on how to save energy. To receive a copy of the brochure "Power Saver Ideas to Help You Manage Your Electric Bill", call Ontario Hydro at 1-800- 263-9000 and tell them Phil Sent you. Page 7, Tuesday, November 24, 1992 Provincial Police buckles down on Ontario motorists Ontario motorists not buck- ling up will be paying up if caught. Seat belt fines have increased to $90 as of Nov. 16, 1992. Sec. 106. Definition-- (1) In this section, "seat belt assembly means a device or assembly composed of straps, webbing or similar material that restrains the movement of a person in order to prevent or mitigate injury to the person and includes a pelvic restraint or an upper torso restraint or both of them. (2) Seat belt assembly--no person shall drive on a highway a motor vehicle in which a seat belt assembly required under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada) at the time that the vehicle was manufactured or imported into Canada has been removed, rendered partly or wholly inoperative, modified so as to reduce its effectiveness or is not operating properly through lack of maintenance. (3) Use of belt assembly by driver--Subject to subsection continued on page 10 - t's that time of year again. be sure your cusfamers dnd - friends know that you appreciate their 'riendship and patronage, You can d0 this by ensuring that y Greetings Section December |)