Still a Fast-Food Nation: Reflections 10 Years Later

Some pretty interesting information about us here in the U.S. -- still a fast-food nation....

Still a Fast-Food Nation: Eric Schlosser Reflects on 10 Years Later

Hospitals and Employee Wellness

Keeping hospital employees happy and healthy? Great idea! By setting up committees with champions for nutrition, tobacco use and physical activity, the health of ones' own hospital employees can only get better as you will read in this article. Hoping that this positive trend will continue -- we need it!

Cheetos...so much for wellness, right?

I have to admit, I very rarely eat junk food like Cheetos, but, today just happened to be one of those days. I was really hungry, and it just seemed that a small 1 1/4 oz bag would do the trick of "filling the void" until my next meal. But, imagine how many times people -- who, in a hurry and out of time, grab that quick snack. Do people generally read labels and are they aware of what they put in their mouth? I would imagine that sometimes yes and sometimes no, right? Out of curiosity, I looked up a few of the ingredients contained in Cheetos and I found one in particular that was quite disturbing.
Did you know that one of the artificial colorings used in Cheetos is Yellow 6, the third most widely used dye? It really is best to avoid the consumption of it as the dye has caused adrenal gland and kidney tumors in animal tests and contains small amounts of carcinogens. The FDA states that it poses no significant cancer risks to humans but may cause occasional severe hypersensitivity reactions. To protect flavor trade secrets, food companies like Frito Lay are not required to list the ingredients in their products' artificial flavors. These flavors are a blend of natural and synthetic chemicals and may contain dozens of ingredients that range from safe to notably risky to consume.
Isn't that enough to make you think twice about what you consume? After all, a little bag of Cheetos seems so harmless -- maybe not.

Benchmark Wellness News

Check out what Benchmark Wellness has to offer with an interactive online wellness portal, wellness webinars, nutrition coaching and more.

More on Corporate Wellness Programs...

Forbes has this article out on corporate wellness programs in the workplace. Essentially, more and more work places that are medium to larger sized corporations are being approached in order for their employees to join a wellness program. It is interesting to see the offerings of these programs as some people may be all for it, but others, perhaps those that are already smokers or overweight, may not be. Read on to find out more.

Work Smart Live Smart

This article has some great ideas for starting up a wellness program at work such as smoking cessation and control, healthy recipes on-line, equity in the work place, childcare and eldercare and so much more!

Ten Reasons for an Employee Wellness Program

Here is the latest research on the 10 top reasons a company should have an Employee Wellness Program. The article discusses that through the introduction of such programs, the work environment succeeds with beneficial results for both employer and employee.
Wellness Programs focus on the physical well being of employees, looking after medical requirements and ensuring personal health as priority.

The Case for Recess in Louisiana

When I think of Louisiana, I automatically think of New Orleans. My mind just goes there. But, when it comes to eating right, exercise and setting good standards for our kids, New Orleans -- the land of good food, little exercise (unless you dance a lot) and good music, really should not come to mind. Instead, the big-picture here should be the growing evidence that physical activity enhances brain function and improves thinking and reasoning skills.
This article talks about the importance of recess and why it should be kept in schools.

Cod with Coconut, Lime & Lemongrass Curry Sauce

I found this recipe from Epicurious, but, I always like to "change things up a bit", simply because it is creative, but also because I don't always have the exact ingredients on hand. I'm sure the original recipe is delicious, but we were pretty happy with the end result of this rendition. This is what I did....

The Sauce:
1 Tbsp. butter (I used Earth Balance)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced (*see how to cut lemongrass)
1-inch ginger, thinly sliced
**3 large Kaffir lime leaves
1 Tbsp. Madras curry (or other good quality curry)
3 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup coconut milk
4-5 cilantro sprigs
Kosher salt & freshly ground white pepper to taste
1 good squeeze of fresh lime juice (at the end)
**I made brown jasmine rice too.

The Cod:
Light salt & pepper on both sides, then cook in 1-2 tbsp. of canola oil.

The Garnish:
Instead of using bok choy (like the recipe asked for and I didn't have) I used roasted bell peppers that I already had).

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To make the broth, first melt your butter in a small saute pan, then add shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, kaffir leaves and curry and seat until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil; once it has boiled, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add coconut milk and cilantro, simmer for 5 minutes. You can then season to taste with salt & pepper. *Lastly, strain through a fine chinois (sieve) and set aside.
For the fish, I used two fillets. Place over high heat until oil is smoking (use a cast iron skillet for best results). Once you have seasoned the cod on both sides with salt & pepper, place the cod in the skillet and saute until browned and crusted, say 2 1/2 minutes. Turn to sear the other side for 30 seconds, then place the skillet in the oven for about 6-7 minutes.

In a large soup bowl, I ladled about 1/2 to 3/4 cup brown jasmine rice, topped off with the cod fillet, added the curry broth (which I warmed up again) and lastly added the roasted bellpeppers and cilantro as garnish with the squeeze of lime. Delicious if I do say so myself! **To buy Kaffir Leaves, I go to a place called Muang Lao Market here in San Diego. If not you could always go to an Asian Market and you should be able to find them there.

An Employee Wellness Portal

Now that corporate wellness programs are becoming more and more diverse with their offerings, here is yet another program through FitClick Wellness that offers a package of a Health Risk Assessment, Workout Tracker, Diet Tracker with Nutrition scorecard, custom meal planning and so much more. Interested?