A-Z: Beta Carotene

What is beta-carotene? 

Beta-carotene is a carotenoid, or color containing (red, orange or yellow), fat-soluble compound. Beta-carotene is cleaved to form two molecules of retinal, a form of Vitamin A (1).

Vitamin A is important for cell function including DNA transcription which is essential for healthy growth and development especially in children and pregnant women. Vitamin A is also important for vision, which might be why you've heard carrots are good for your eye-sight (1).

Important to Know about beta-carotene:

Since Vitamin A is fat soluble, it requires fat for best absorption: only a small amount of fat is needed. So the next time you have a salad, be sure to include a little of your favorite salad dressing to help your body absorb the vitamins you're consuming.

Sources of beta-carotene:

• Red, orange, or yellow peppers
• Carrots 
• Pumpkin
• Sweet Potato

References:

1. Lindshield BL. Kansas State University HN 400 Flexbook. 489-496

Costa Rican Culinary Workshop

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a culinary workshop at K-State featuring a chef form Costa Rica. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect of Costa Rican cuisine except for fresh ingredients prepared in a simple tasteful way. That is exactly what I got, but the flavor was incredible

Before the lunch, we had a homemade salsa of sorts that included avocado, onion, red pepper, lime juice, lemon juice, and palm hearts. Palm hearts are the center part of young palm trees that are cooked down: they don't have strong flavor but take on the flavor of what they are paired with.

We had two lunches to showcase the different flavors and to take time to enjoy our food. Our first lunch is pictured above and included red snapper, rice and beans with onion and red pepper cooked in coconut milk, and pickled vegetables. I am not a bit fan or traditional coconut, it has a strong flavor for me. However, the coconut that was used to cook with was fresh and didn't have the strong flavor that American coconut does.

Between the two lunches, we had a blackberry sorbet. It was sweet and a nice fresh treat between the meals.

The second lunch (not pictured) was a sort of Costa Rican Sheapard's Pie. I say that because it was simple ingredients layered together and reminded me of the American dish. Rice was cooked with coconut milk, onion and red pepper was layered under chopped fresh green beans with onion and pepper. The next layer had marinated beef. The dish was topped with fried plantains. I had never had plantains: they completed the dish by providing a sweet crunchy flavor.

After the main portion of the workshop, we had a coffee tasting. I greatly enjoy coffee and it was neat to learn about the different origins of coffee. The one thing that I had never really payed attention to was the caffeine content of different roasts of coffee. The lighter roasts actually have more caffeine than dark roasts.

This was my first culinary workshop and I hope to take advantage of other opportunities like this in the future. I was able to attend the workshop because the registration fee was greatly decreased for students ($10 for the whole day) so they could learn from the experience.

I encourage students to seize opportunities like this whenever possible. It's a great way to meet new people and learn about other cultures.

The "Biggest Loser"

As part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices (SNAC) brought in a keynot speaker, Chris, former contestant on NBCs hit show, The Biggest Loser. Chris spoke on body image and ate dinner with the SNAC peer educators.

Chris's thoughts and messages were on personalizing your eating habits and exercise habits so they are enjoyable for you in a healthy way. Humor and personal stories were used to explain how Chris sturggled with binge eating and how he is still working on his eating disorder, but had made great progress.

I greatly appreciated how Chris was able to relate to college students and used homor to make the subject of disordered eating an approachable one. He did an excellent job of addressing the topic of his keynote, One Size Fits Most, and this is not the case.

SNAC peer educators with Chris after his keynote.

During dinner, we had the opportunity to learn more about Chris' experience on the show and how that experience shaped his life since then. It was not what I had expected to hear from someone that looked healthy, but the physiological complications that some contestants experienced didn't surprise me, afterall they were losing a significant amount of weight.

For any students looking to plan events for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week that would like advice or have questions, please feel free to contact me. I will gladly share my experiences in planning this event.

***A special thank you to K-State Student Governing Association for their sponsorship of this event.***

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

The week of February 24-March 1 is designated National Eating Disorders Awareness week. SNAC (sensible nutrition and body image choices) sponsors events for this week. This year we renamed it, "Fit to be Me!" Week to put appositive spin on things.

I have coordinated two campus events and was fortunate enough to have sponsorship from both K-State SGA and from General Mills. 

The two events we have planned are:

1. Chris, former contestant on "The Biggest Loser", speaking about healthy body image at any size. 

2. Physical activity promotion at the K-State Recreation Complex by promoting the group fitness classes and hosting a knockout competition. 

Overall I hope for the weeks events to bring awareness to eating disorders in an unconventional way but also show students that there are numerous campus resources available for those dealing with an eating disorder. 

Next Steps

As my time with EFNEP and K-State Research and Extension come to an end, it is time to look forward to the start of school. While school is three weeks away, I will stay busy with various activities. It will definately be a "different kind of busy", as the more I complete these weeks, the less I will have to do once school starts. Some of those activities include moving, clinical dietetic shadows, and sorority recruitment.

I will also be working on graduate school applications and contacting faculty and internship directors at those respective schools. I am exctied to have date goals for when I will submit each application and am excited to see the results.

Why Chase "That" Apple?

Chasing Those Apples is a personal account of my dietetics and life experiences. I chose to start this blog because I have had so many wonderful opportunities this past year and I want to make sure I get them all down.

I chose the title Chasing Those Apples because nutrition and physical activity have always been a central part of life. However, in college, I have had to work harder to make healthy choices nutritionally and physically. I now have a better understanding of the struggles to not only eat healthy but also incorporate physical activity into a daily routine.