EatRight Ontario eNews Consumer - May 2013

Registered Dietitians bringing you trusted nutrition and healthy eating information

In this issue:

• What’s new: A Guide to Setting SMART Goals
• Hot topic: It's Allergy Awareness Month
• Tip of the Month: Eat more veggies!
• Question of the month:  What should I look for when choosing a whole grain food?
• Recipes of the month: EatRight Ontario celebrates asparagus and rhubarb season

What’s NEW at EatRight Ontario 

New handouts on Setting Goals for EatRight Ontario callers

Did you know that EatRight Ontario always has free nutrition resources available for callers? This month we are featuring our new guide to Setting Goals. Call 1-877-510-510-2 or send an email to get this package sent to you.

The Setting Goals package includes:

• Setting SMART goals
• How to Track your Eating and Activity Choices
• Lifestyle Steps for Healthy Weight Loss – Taking Action

Hot Topic: May is Allergy Awareness Month!

Do you know the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?

A food allergy is an immune system response to a substance in food, usually a protein.  When that food is eaten it can cause an allergic reaction in the skin, respiratory system and/or digestive systems. Symptoms may include wheezing or breathing difficulties, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes or hives.  About 5% of babies and young children, and 3-4% of adults have food allergies.

On the other hand, a food intolerance is an unpleasant reaction to a food that does not involve the immune system.   Sometimes an allergy and intolerance have similar symptoms, like diarrhea.  Your doctor can help you figure out if you have an allergy or intolerance.

Health Canada has identified the 10 foods most likely to cause an allergic reaction:

• Peanuts
• Tree Nuts (e.g., walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews)
• Milk
• Eggs
• Fish
• Shellfish (e.g., shrimp, crab, lobster, mussels)
• Soy
• Sesame Seeds
• Wheat
• Mustard

EatRight Ontario has many factsheets to help you or your kids manage food allergies. Call 1-877-510-5102 or email and ask for our handouts on managing a wheat, egg, milk or soy free diet. 
 

Tip of the Month

You know that you should eat more vegetables – but sometimes it can be a challenge. Here are some ways that you can save time and make sure that you get more vegetable servings throughout the day. 

• When you bring home your groceries, wash and wrap your greens, in paper towel or a tea towel, right away.  Then use in sandwiches, salads and pastas for the rest of the week. 
• If you’re slicing vegetables like cucumbers, bell peppers or carrots for a salad, cut extra and place in containers for school or work snacks.
• Use frozen vegetables for your stir-fries, omelets, casseroles and pita pizzas. Thaw them first in the microwave and then drain the excess water.

Use this Vegetable and Fruit Checklist to help you see how many servings you are getting each day.

Question of the Month

Question: What should I look for when choosing a whole grain?

Answer:  Follow these two simple steps:

1.     The “whole” grain should appear first on the ingredients list. Look for:

• Whole grain whole wheat flour (whole wheat by itself is not whole grain)
• Whole rye
• Whole oat or oatmeal
• Whole corn
• Whole barley 

2.     Look for higher fibre whole grains. Foods labelled "whole grain" are not always high in fibre. Choose foods that have 4 g of fibre or more per serving.

Check out our Whole Grains FAQ for more tips on choosing and using whole grains.

Recipes of the Month

This month we are celebrating the start of the short asparagus and rhubarb season.  Make the most of spring foods with these recipes. 

Grilled Asparagus and Sweet Potato with Curry – This is great in the oven or on the barbeque.

Baked Springtime Risotto – Save time by baking this dish in the oven.

Rhubarb Smoothie – Use this recipe to make a sauce, smoothie or milkshake.

Rhubarb and Apricot Bread Pudding – This is a great way to use up stale bread.

Rhubarb Apple Loaf with Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Topping – Can also be made into muffins.  Freezes well so you can enjoy rhubarb all summer long.

Did you know? eaTracker has a tool called Recipe Analyzer that can help you figure out the nutrient content of your favourite recipes. 

EatRight Ontario provides free healthy eating advice from Registered Dietitians to residents of Ontario. 

Call 1-877-510-510-2 or visit www.eatrightontario.ca | www.twitter.com/EatRightOntario | www.facebook.com/EatRightOntario

Dietitians of Canada acknowledges the financial support of EatRight Ontario by the Ontario government. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Province.

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