Pop diets come and go but it seems the DASH diet is here to stay. DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.” Beside lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, the DASH diet is associated with a lower risk of kidney stones, cancer, stroke, heart failure, heart disease and developing diabetes. On November 1, 2011, US News and World Report ranked it one of the healthiest diets for the entire family.
US News and World Report reported David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said, “Most diets aren't about the family, and that really is a fundamental flaw. It is typically an every-man-for-himself scenario, and inevitably, people leave their families behind.”
The DASH diet is family-friendly, making it a top choice for all kinds of people. While it deflates blood pressure, it also keeps weight in check. The DASH diet is easily tailored for everyone from children to seniors. Meals include vegetables, fruits, fat-free or low-fat dairy, lean meant, poultry and fish and grains. Included in the diet are buckwheat pancakes, fruit smoothies and southwestern-style potato skins.
Teresa Fung, a nutritionist at Simmons College in Boston, said, “I don't think the typical American diet looks anything like DASH or Mediterranean. Most families get pizza or go out to eat twice a week.” She stated moving a step closer would be an improvement for families.
According to the DASH diet website, the diet is recommended by physicians for people with hypertension or pre-hypertension. The National Institute of Health sponsored studies and found the diet plan has been proven to lower blood pressure.
The DASH diet is low sodium and endorsed by several health industry leaders including the American Heart Association, the Mayo Clinic, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The DASH Diet also was the basis for the USDA MyPlate. The DASH diet is low fat, high fiber and rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Benefits of the DASH diet include lower cholesterol, weight loss and maintenance and reduced insulin resistance. It can even improve the response to medication for people with severe hypertension.
While the DASH diet may have the same name as the Kim Kardashian store "Dash," there is no connection to the socialite. Other family-friendly diets that landed on the Best Diets rankings of U.S. News include the Mayo Clinic Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Vegetarian Diet and Volumetrics.
2011年7月4日星期一
‘Bigger and hotter’ but unchanging
For a rookie watcher, Jeff Smith picked the ideal spot — on the shady side of Peachtree Battle, seated on a brick pillar. Then again, he did have some feel for the AJC Peachtree Road Race, having run the event 20 or so times.
But not on July 4, 2011. Smith’s foot had been hurting, and he was a spectator at the 2 1/2-mile mark awaiting his wife and his 12-year-old daughter, who were running/walking the Peachtree. And already Smith, an Atlantan since 1988 who’s a technology manager, had seen something new.
“Those guys up front,” he said. “They really run fast.”
Such is the scope of the Peachtree that you can run the race and see a couple hundred thousand folks along the way without ever espying the elite runners, who start first and are long gone by the time the masses begin their trek. “Those guys finished 40 minutes ago,” Smith said, and still the 42nd Peachtree was in its nascent stages.
The massive race grew even bigger this year, growing to 60,000 participants. Think of this way: If you took everyone in a sold-out Turner Field — counting Braves and umpires and ushers, too — and arrayed them in rows in front of Lenox Mall, you still wouldn’t quite approximate this elephantine event.
“If it gets much bigger,” Smith said, “it’ll turn into a big walk.”
Not that he was complaining. Smith was having a fine time watching the runners and his young son was enjoying himself leaping at a tree branch. For all that the Fourth of July in Atlanta, Ga., entails — runners and watchers and dogs and crazy costumes and blaring music and the army of volunteers and even a fighter-jet flyover this year — griping doesn’t register. “You notice that nobody is upset,” Smith said. “Everybody’s in a good mood. All these people are in good spirits.”
It was hotter and more humid this Peachtree, and the good-spirited participants were sweating harder than usual after 2 1/2 miles. “And they haven’t gotten to the hill [in front of Piedmont Hospital] yet,” Smith said. But still: Over its four-plus decades of existence, this signature Atlanta event has proved indestructible.
Why, Smith was asked, is that so? Why is the Peachtree such a humongous deal?
“People are always looking for ways to celebrate the Fourth,” he said. “I’ll see people at the Peachtree that I only see once a year.”
Not far from Smith’s perch sat Jean Ingram and Blanche Roberts, sisters-in-law from Sharpsburg, Ga. They used to park themselves in front of the big water oak at Peachtree Battle, but a few years ago they scooted up the street because the tree’s roots grew.
When last this correspondent encountered Ingram and Roberts, the year was 2002 and they were accompanied by two of Ingram’s grandchildren, the younger of them in a stroller. On this day those grandchildren — Taylor, 19, and Tiffany, 13 — were running the race. As ever, so was Ferma Ingram, the 73-year-old husband of Jean and brother of Blanche.
“It’s bigger and hotter,” Roberts said, speaking of this installment of the Peachtree.
A few updates: Since 2002, Ingram has retired as postmaster of Sharpsburg and Roberts from her job as a teacher. Their Peachtree ritual, however, hasn’t changed: They left home at 5:30 a.m., were in place by 6 and came wearing red, white and blue. (Although Ingram’s sequined vistor of years past had, alas, fallen apart; it has been replaced by a “Peachtree Road Race Spectator” visor.)
Afterward the family — some 32 members were expected this year — would convene at Ingram’s house for the staple grilling-out. As for her indefatigible husband, who was running the 42nd Peachtree at age 73, Ingram said: “He’s had cancer; he’s had open-heart surgery.”
“About ready for brain surgery,” said Roberts of her brother.
“One year he ran with a kidney stone,” Ingram said. “Another year he ran with a cracked rib. After his open-heart surgery, we had someone run with him to make sure he didn’t fall over.”
Let the record reflect that Ferma Ingram and the other five members of the Ingram/Roberts running party — each of their names were pasted in glitter on a poster mounted on a wall — made the 6.2 miles without wilting Monday. “They’re still coming into the house,” said Ingram, speaking by phone from Sharspburg shortly after noon.
Earlier, someone had wondered when big becomes too big. Not just yet, came the sisters-in-law’s considered verdict. Said Ingram: “They organize it so well.”
Said Roberts: “Sixty thousand is a good number.”
But not on July 4, 2011. Smith’s foot had been hurting, and he was a spectator at the 2 1/2-mile mark awaiting his wife and his 12-year-old daughter, who were running/walking the Peachtree. And already Smith, an Atlantan since 1988 who’s a technology manager, had seen something new.
“Those guys up front,” he said. “They really run fast.”
Such is the scope of the Peachtree that you can run the race and see a couple hundred thousand folks along the way without ever espying the elite runners, who start first and are long gone by the time the masses begin their trek. “Those guys finished 40 minutes ago,” Smith said, and still the 42nd Peachtree was in its nascent stages.
The massive race grew even bigger this year, growing to 60,000 participants. Think of this way: If you took everyone in a sold-out Turner Field — counting Braves and umpires and ushers, too — and arrayed them in rows in front of Lenox Mall, you still wouldn’t quite approximate this elephantine event.
“If it gets much bigger,” Smith said, “it’ll turn into a big walk.”
Not that he was complaining. Smith was having a fine time watching the runners and his young son was enjoying himself leaping at a tree branch. For all that the Fourth of July in Atlanta, Ga., entails — runners and watchers and dogs and crazy costumes and blaring music and the army of volunteers and even a fighter-jet flyover this year — griping doesn’t register. “You notice that nobody is upset,” Smith said. “Everybody’s in a good mood. All these people are in good spirits.”
It was hotter and more humid this Peachtree, and the good-spirited participants were sweating harder than usual after 2 1/2 miles. “And they haven’t gotten to the hill [in front of Piedmont Hospital] yet,” Smith said. But still: Over its four-plus decades of existence, this signature Atlanta event has proved indestructible.
Why, Smith was asked, is that so? Why is the Peachtree such a humongous deal?
“People are always looking for ways to celebrate the Fourth,” he said. “I’ll see people at the Peachtree that I only see once a year.”
Not far from Smith’s perch sat Jean Ingram and Blanche Roberts, sisters-in-law from Sharpsburg, Ga. They used to park themselves in front of the big water oak at Peachtree Battle, but a few years ago they scooted up the street because the tree’s roots grew.
When last this correspondent encountered Ingram and Roberts, the year was 2002 and they were accompanied by two of Ingram’s grandchildren, the younger of them in a stroller. On this day those grandchildren — Taylor, 19, and Tiffany, 13 — were running the race. As ever, so was Ferma Ingram, the 73-year-old husband of Jean and brother of Blanche.
“It’s bigger and hotter,” Roberts said, speaking of this installment of the Peachtree.
A few updates: Since 2002, Ingram has retired as postmaster of Sharpsburg and Roberts from her job as a teacher. Their Peachtree ritual, however, hasn’t changed: They left home at 5:30 a.m., were in place by 6 and came wearing red, white and blue. (Although Ingram’s sequined vistor of years past had, alas, fallen apart; it has been replaced by a “Peachtree Road Race Spectator” visor.)
Afterward the family — some 32 members were expected this year — would convene at Ingram’s house for the staple grilling-out. As for her indefatigible husband, who was running the 42nd Peachtree at age 73, Ingram said: “He’s had cancer; he’s had open-heart surgery.”
“About ready for brain surgery,” said Roberts of her brother.
“One year he ran with a kidney stone,” Ingram said. “Another year he ran with a cracked rib. After his open-heart surgery, we had someone run with him to make sure he didn’t fall over.”
Let the record reflect that Ferma Ingram and the other five members of the Ingram/Roberts running party — each of their names were pasted in glitter on a poster mounted on a wall — made the 6.2 miles without wilting Monday. “They’re still coming into the house,” said Ingram, speaking by phone from Sharspburg shortly after noon.
Earlier, someone had wondered when big becomes too big. Not just yet, came the sisters-in-law’s considered verdict. Said Ingram: “They organize it so well.”
Said Roberts: “Sixty thousand is a good number.”
2011年4月26日星期二
Exclusive Q&A: E-Teacher of the Year
National Online Teacher of the Year Kristin Kipp toured the nation's capital today, shadowing federal director of education technology Karen Cator on her daily duties and getting a taste of federal education policy.
Kipp is an English teacher for the 21st-Century Virtual Academy in the 84,000 student Jefferson County (Colo.) school system, an online school that has full-time offerings for grades 9-12 and part-time offerings for grades 7-12. The school, which opened in the fall of 2009, serves a population of students who have turned to online school as an option, often because they might otherwise be at risk of dropping out.
Kipp, who also previously taught for seven years in a regular classroom, won the online teaching award in March. She was selected from five finalists who were chosen for their outstanding online teaching and their advocacy work for the trade, said Southern Regional Education Board Director of Educational Technology Myk Garn, whose organization co-sponsors the award along with the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
Kipp sat down with the Digital Education blog to reflect on her career, which includes seven years as a face-to-face instructor and three as an online teacher, the award, and the benefits and challenges of entering online education. We bring you her insights below in this exclusive Q&A.
Digital Education blog: You spent seven years in a face-to-face classroom. So how did you end up teaching online?
Kristin Kipp: I initially started out teaching part-time online. I was actually an instructional coach, meaning I taught teachers, and I was really missing the connection with kids. So I started teaching online to sort of fill that void. At the time, I was afraid that it wouldn't be the same, that I wouldn't have that kid connection teaching online.
DE: There weren't other places you could find that connection? What was so unique about this opportunity?
KK: I was missing the kid connection, but I also love the technology. I love the bells and whistles of it all. And I got into this program where I got to work with a huge population of at-risk kids.
Our full-time online kids tend to be high-risk kids. They tend to be pregnant, or they need to work full-time because their families need money, or anything along those lines. I think that's where I got the passion for it. I started out because it was fun, and then I started working with those kids and went, "Wow, this is amazing work I get to do," because these kids wouldn't graduate high school if this program didn't exist.
DE: So there was an "Ah-ha!" moment?
KK: I have a student that I work with that, during her freshman year of high school, she considered dropping out because she missed so much school because she had kidney stones. She was gone all the time. And then her dad passed away from esophageal cancer. During her sophomore year of high school, she couldn't connect with anybody. Nobody understood what she was going through. She was missing so much school. She just considered saying, "Just forget it, I'm done." We opened the 21st-Century Virtual Academy during her junior year, and she came to us as sort of a last ditch, thinking, "Maybe I can do this." Maybe this will work. This is a kid that's Ivy league material, that would've dropped out if we weren't there to be able to sort of step into that gap and fill the void for her. Connecting with her during her junior year and realizing what she was going through, that's the moment when I really went, "Wow, this is good stuff that we're doing—this is amazing."
DE: How did your face-to-face experience help you become the online teacher you are today?
KK: I think because I started teaching face-to-face, I got to know my subject and how to teach it really well face-to-face. Then you add that extra element. "How do I do it online? How do I transfer the same skills, the things that I know really work into teaching English, teaching reading and writing?"
DD: Was it a difficult transition?
KK: Online teaching is not easier. It does not take less time than face-to-face teaching. And I think a lot of teachers are surprised that the learning curve is vertical when you do start to teach online. Because you're learning so many systems, all at one time, and you're trying to figure out, "How do I make this system communicate with kids, and how do I develop a community of learners in an online setting?" And it can be overwhelming. You feel like you sort of hit a brick wall and go, "What did I get myself into?" But then as you develop familiarity with the systems, it's not about the systems anymore. They just become the way you do business. And once you get past that learning curve, then you can get into the real meat of what's fun about it, and how you are connecting with kids. I can tell you, I know my students better than I ever knew them when I taught face-to-face. Hands down.
DE: How about teachers? Do you feel isolated away from other faculty, or do you have colleagues you can lean on?
KK: What's been fun about our program is that we, of course, started off small with five or six teachers. You mention it being isolating. I haven't had that experience at all, because we, from the beginning, said, "We're all going to be available by instant messenger all day, and if at any point, anybody needs anything, we're down the hall," figuratively speaking. I think we relied on each other a lot to go, "This isn't working, do you have some other ideas?" With one colleague, we call it the water cooler phone call. When things are just going nuts, we IM and say, "Do you have time for a water cooler chat?" We give each other a call and say, "OK, this isn't working, can you help me figure this out?" I think just that community of other teachers has been helpful.
DE: What does winning this award mean to you?
KK: I work for a very small program that I think does amazing things. I got involved with the award because we need the publicity and we need the marketing to be able to say we are doing something really amazing. And I think having the award, it's really pushing me. It's still such a new field. I'm constantly learning and trying to figure out what really is the best practice for how we do this. I'm definitely still pushing myself to think, there are better ways to do that. It's exciting to continue to explore that.
DE: What to you hope people learn from visiting with you during your trip to Washington? What do you hope to learn from them?
KK: I hope that they grasp that there are students all over the country who need an alternative educational approach, or need online learning for whatever reason. What I hope I will gain from them is just an understanding of what's happening at the national level and how's that going to impact our schools, and how can we help it impact our schools.
Kipp is an English teacher for the 21st-Century Virtual Academy in the 84,000 student Jefferson County (Colo.) school system, an online school that has full-time offerings for grades 9-12 and part-time offerings for grades 7-12. The school, which opened in the fall of 2009, serves a population of students who have turned to online school as an option, often because they might otherwise be at risk of dropping out.
Kipp, who also previously taught for seven years in a regular classroom, won the online teaching award in March. She was selected from five finalists who were chosen for their outstanding online teaching and their advocacy work for the trade, said Southern Regional Education Board Director of Educational Technology Myk Garn, whose organization co-sponsors the award along with the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
Kipp sat down with the Digital Education blog to reflect on her career, which includes seven years as a face-to-face instructor and three as an online teacher, the award, and the benefits and challenges of entering online education. We bring you her insights below in this exclusive Q&A.
Digital Education blog: You spent seven years in a face-to-face classroom. So how did you end up teaching online?
Kristin Kipp: I initially started out teaching part-time online. I was actually an instructional coach, meaning I taught teachers, and I was really missing the connection with kids. So I started teaching online to sort of fill that void. At the time, I was afraid that it wouldn't be the same, that I wouldn't have that kid connection teaching online.
DE: There weren't other places you could find that connection? What was so unique about this opportunity?
KK: I was missing the kid connection, but I also love the technology. I love the bells and whistles of it all. And I got into this program where I got to work with a huge population of at-risk kids.
Our full-time online kids tend to be high-risk kids. They tend to be pregnant, or they need to work full-time because their families need money, or anything along those lines. I think that's where I got the passion for it. I started out because it was fun, and then I started working with those kids and went, "Wow, this is amazing work I get to do," because these kids wouldn't graduate high school if this program didn't exist.
DE: So there was an "Ah-ha!" moment?
KK: I have a student that I work with that, during her freshman year of high school, she considered dropping out because she missed so much school because she had kidney stones. She was gone all the time. And then her dad passed away from esophageal cancer. During her sophomore year of high school, she couldn't connect with anybody. Nobody understood what she was going through. She was missing so much school. She just considered saying, "Just forget it, I'm done." We opened the 21st-Century Virtual Academy during her junior year, and she came to us as sort of a last ditch, thinking, "Maybe I can do this." Maybe this will work. This is a kid that's Ivy league material, that would've dropped out if we weren't there to be able to sort of step into that gap and fill the void for her. Connecting with her during her junior year and realizing what she was going through, that's the moment when I really went, "Wow, this is good stuff that we're doing—this is amazing."
DE: How did your face-to-face experience help you become the online teacher you are today?
KK: I think because I started teaching face-to-face, I got to know my subject and how to teach it really well face-to-face. Then you add that extra element. "How do I do it online? How do I transfer the same skills, the things that I know really work into teaching English, teaching reading and writing?"
DD: Was it a difficult transition?
KK: Online teaching is not easier. It does not take less time than face-to-face teaching. And I think a lot of teachers are surprised that the learning curve is vertical when you do start to teach online. Because you're learning so many systems, all at one time, and you're trying to figure out, "How do I make this system communicate with kids, and how do I develop a community of learners in an online setting?" And it can be overwhelming. You feel like you sort of hit a brick wall and go, "What did I get myself into?" But then as you develop familiarity with the systems, it's not about the systems anymore. They just become the way you do business. And once you get past that learning curve, then you can get into the real meat of what's fun about it, and how you are connecting with kids. I can tell you, I know my students better than I ever knew them when I taught face-to-face. Hands down.
DE: How about teachers? Do you feel isolated away from other faculty, or do you have colleagues you can lean on?
KK: What's been fun about our program is that we, of course, started off small with five or six teachers. You mention it being isolating. I haven't had that experience at all, because we, from the beginning, said, "We're all going to be available by instant messenger all day, and if at any point, anybody needs anything, we're down the hall," figuratively speaking. I think we relied on each other a lot to go, "This isn't working, do you have some other ideas?" With one colleague, we call it the water cooler phone call. When things are just going nuts, we IM and say, "Do you have time for a water cooler chat?" We give each other a call and say, "OK, this isn't working, can you help me figure this out?" I think just that community of other teachers has been helpful.
DE: What does winning this award mean to you?
KK: I work for a very small program that I think does amazing things. I got involved with the award because we need the publicity and we need the marketing to be able to say we are doing something really amazing. And I think having the award, it's really pushing me. It's still such a new field. I'm constantly learning and trying to figure out what really is the best practice for how we do this. I'm definitely still pushing myself to think, there are better ways to do that. It's exciting to continue to explore that.
DE: What to you hope people learn from visiting with you during your trip to Washington? What do you hope to learn from them?
KK: I hope that they grasp that there are students all over the country who need an alternative educational approach, or need online learning for whatever reason. What I hope I will gain from them is just an understanding of what's happening at the national level and how's that going to impact our schools, and how can we help it impact our schools.
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