• Get Free Service: Announcing the Nutrition for You Referral Program
• Feature: Organic vs. Conventional Foods
• Keeping it Off: Part 1 of 5 Proven Behaviors for Long Term Weight Management: A low-fat diet
• New at Nutrition for You: Our Blog and Facebook Group

It's simple; one free month of membership will be added to your account for each person you refer that joins Nu4You. It doesn't matter what your plan is; 1 referral = 1 free month.

How to Make Sure You Get Your Benefit
Just give your username to the person you refer. When they sign up they simply put your username in the "How Did You Hear About Us" form. Once we process their first month's payment and verify your username we will update your account and notify you.

The Clean and Dirty Details of Organic!
Organic foods can be 50% more expensive than conventionally grown foods. However, the more organic foods you eat, the less pesticides you consume. It is especially important for children to consume organic foods. New studies suggest that pesticides are linked to ADHD, obesity, diabetes and learning disorders in kids who don't yet have the immune system to be able to flush out these toxins.

Produce:
Here are two lists: one for produce that we recommend you buy organic and one for produce where conventional is ok.

Meat and Poultry:
It is very important to buy meat and poultry that has not been treated with antibiotics. Public health authorities recognize that antibiotic use in live-stock (used to fatten them up and prevent disease caused by over crowding and unsanitary living conditions) has led to people contracting antibiotic-resistant infections. The World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have urged farmers to stop using antibiotics. However, many farmers still continue to use antibiotics. So, when it comes to meat and poultry definitely buy meat that has not been treated.

What labels mean:

BEST: Certified Organic: Meat that bears this label is raised without the use of antibiotics or related drugs and meets other rigorous standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). When organically raised animals become sick, they are treated with antibiotics but do not receive the organic label. A third party certifies these standards.

BEST: No Antibiotics Added/Raised without Antibiotics: This label indicates that the animals have not been fed antibiotics at any point in their lives. Meat from sick animals treated with antibiotics cannot be sold under this label claim. Although the USDA approved the use of this claim, compliance is not certified by a third party.

OK: Natural/All-Natural: The USDA defines a "natural" meat product as one that "contain[s] no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed." Meat labeled "natural" may or may not have been treated with antibiotics.

DOESN'T MEAN MUCH: Free-Range/Free-Roaming: These labels have been approved by the USDA for poultry that have been allowed access to the outdoors (though they may never actually go outdoors) but the claim implies nothing about the antibiotic use practices of the producer.

Milk:
Many dairy farmers use the bovine growth hormone (bGH) to increase cattle weight as well as milk production. Though the FDA concluded that there are no risks to drinking milk from cows treated with this hormone, the issue is still being researched. bGH has been banned in Europe and Canada. Since there are so many dairies that don't use this hormone, we suggest buying from them if you can. Buy milk/milk products labeled organic or "rbGH free."

Whether you buy organic or not, here are some tips:

• Buy local produce whenever possible.
• Reduce pesticide residues and other contaminants by:
  *Washing and scrubbing all produce (even produce with skin) under streaming water (don't use soap).
  *Remove peel from fruits and vegetables.
  *Remove outer leaves of leafy vegetables.
  
• Discard produce that has been out of refrigerator for more than 4 hours.
• Trim visible fat and skin from meat and poultry (pesticides residues collect in fat).
• Eat a variety of foods from different sources.
• Prioritize: The majority of your organic food dollars should be spent on produce which carry the most pesticides.

Created by Kate Haisch, BS, Dietetic Intern

Resources:
Brannon, Carol Ann. "Organics: Separating Science Fiction from Fact." Today's Dietician 10.4 (2008): 8-14
Bareuther, Carol. "Mission Organic: 2010." Today's Dietician 10.4 (2008): 30-34
UCS: What's in the Meat You Eat?

During this five part series we will talk about the five biggest conclusions of their research.

5 Proven Behaviors for Long Term Weight Management:

1. Follow a low-fat diet
2. Record keeping
3. Monitor weight frequently
4. Eat breakfast daily
5. Exercise

Part 1: Follow a low-fat diet.

It takes work to keep those hard-earned pounds off. Even though 42% of National Weight Control Registry members believe it is easier to maintain weight loss than lose weight, you still need to be careful of what you eat. It is important to continue eating a low-fat diet, even after the pounds are gone.

What do we mean by low-fat? About 25% of your calories should come from fat. An example of this is if you eat 2,500 calories per day then 625 of your calories should be from fat. This is equal to about 70g of fat per day (there are 9 calories per gram of fat). However, one thing to remember is the type of fat you eat will play a major role in your health. Most of your fats should be heart-healthy fats, such as olive oil, canola oil, salmon, flaxseeds, avocado and nuts. Continue to limit saturated fats, such as fatty meat cuts, dairy fat and tropical oils. You can tell if a fat is saturated or not by its state at room temperature. If a fat is solid (like lard) at room temperature, then it is a saturated fat. If it is a liquid (like olive oil) at room temperature, then it is a healthy fat.

Good fats are an essential part of any healthy diet, just be careful not to over do it, because they can lead to weight gain. In our next newsletter Part 2 will we will discuss Record Keeping.

The Nu4You Blog
We just launched our new blog! We'll be featuring news, announcements, and short articles and editorials relevant to Nutrition and our service there. You can find our blog and news feed at www.Nu4You.net/Blog.

Nutrition for You on Facebook
We really love the idea of being able to network with other members so we created a group in Facebook. If you are a member of Facebook just do a Group search for Nu4You or Nutrition for You in and you should see our logo in the results.