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Month: August 2017

  • A Drink to Dental Health

    The Truth About Sparkling Water

    Soda sales are down, and sparkling water sales are up.

    Health-minded individuals are turning away from sugar-filled sodas and juices, replacing them with fizzy alternatives such as La Croix and Perrier. These beverages offer all the bubbles without the guilt — but are they any safer for our teeth?

    Sodas and juices are highly acidic. Combine that with sugar, and you have the ultimate recipe for tooth decay. Remove the sugars and acidic ingredients, such as citric acid, and you are left with a very different sort of drink.

    A 2016 study featured in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) took a close look at the erosive properties of beverages we consume every day and their impact on tooth enamel. The study found that sports drinks were the worst offenders, or “extremely erosive,” with sodas trailing close behind.

    Researchers also found that sparkling water was “minimally erosive” when it came to the impact on tooth enamel. Dr. Edmond Hewlett, a professor with the UCLA School of Dentistry and consumer advisor with the American Dental Association, says that, sugars aside, the acidity in sparkling water is significantly less than sodas, juices, and other similar drinks.

    The carbon dioxide bubbles in sparkling water (which become carbonic acid when consumed) are weaker than the acids found in other drinks. The bubbles are not a danger to tooth enamel. If regularly consumed over a long period of time, however, sparkling water may have an erosive effect. But for a vast majority of the population, this is a non-issue.

    The important takeaway from the JADA study is that sugar-free sparkling water is a healthier alternative to soda, juice, sports drinks, and other beverages high in sugars and acid content. That includes beverages marketed as diet (they may lack sugar, but they are still highly acidic). The next time you reach for a bubbly and refreshing sparkling water, you can know you are making a good choice for your body and teeth.

  • Shake Up Movie Night With Crazy (Healthy) Popcorn Recipes

    Popcorn is considered to be a fairly healthy snack by most experts, especially when compared to other salty treats, like corn chips. Unfortunately, microwave popcorn is another matter. Many popular popcorn brands use trans fats, which the Centers for Disease Control estimate are related to 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths annually. Additionally, a study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health identified a connection between the chemical diacetyl, used to flavor microwave popcorn, and cases of lung disease in workers at popcorn factories.

    For popcorn lovers, the answer is clear: Make popcorn yourself! Pour ¼ cup of popcorn kernels into a regular brown paper bag, fold the top of the bag shut tight, then pop in microwave for about two minutes, or until popping slows to a second between pops. Voila! Fresh popcorn with no factory chemicals. If you’re craving some fun flavors, try these simple recipes.

    Traditional Butter

    Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then drizzle it along the sides of a brown paper bag. Pour your already popped popcorn into the bag until it’s half full, close the bag tight, and shake vigorously. In no time, you’ll have perfectly buttered popcorn!

    Cinnasugar Bliss

    This is a great recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth. Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of sugar to 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Drizzle onto the edges of a brown paper bag, add popped popcorn, and shake well.

    Sriracha Sesame Celebration

    Here’s to the adventurous popcorn lovers! Combine 1 tablespoon Sriracha, 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Sprinkle half over popcorn and shake well inside of bag. Repeat with remaining mixture.

    Whether you’re preparing for a movie marathon or need an afterschool snack, any of these recipes will be a tasty alternative to the chemicals saturating microwave popcorn. Enjoy!

  • The Value of Hard Work

    Summer Jobs, Awesome and Awful

    Summer may be associated with vacation and free time, but when I was growing up, it also meant summer jobs. I’m grateful for the work experiences I had as a kid. They instilled in me the value of hard work and gave me the chance to develop some unique skills. I may not use all of those skills today, but I still have them in my back pocket.

    Unless you’re extremely lucky, you’ve had a job that you hated. For me, that was bagging groceries at Albertsons one summer. As you can imagine, it was far from thrilling. The first few weeks were okay, when I was still figuring out the best strategy for stacking milk, eggs, and produce in the same bag. Pretty quickly, though, I was going through the motions. This summer was long before the days when people worried about bag consumption, so double-bagging was a consistent occurrence. I know one thing for certain: If I never have to say “paper or plastic?” again, I won’t mind.

    Slightly more exciting were the summers I spent on my uncle’s potato farm. They could always use someone to do a little grunt work. As a nephew, I was pretty cheap labor. Most of my time there was spent working on irrigation. That might sound glamorous, but when I say “irrigation,” what I really mean is “moving pipes around.” Nevertheless, it was great to work alongside family, and the gig off ered me the chance to learn a little about agriculture and Idaho’s most iconic export.

    “I know one thing for certain: If I never have to say ‘paper or plastic?’ again, I won’t mind.”

    The coolest of my summer jobs was building log cabins. We constructed everything by hand off-site, dismantled it, labeled each piece, and sent it off to its final destination. It was a bit like playing with a massive, heavy Lego set. I like to think I’m pretty handy these days, and I owe a lot of that to my time spent on the cabin crew.

    Of course, I didn’t spend every hour of my summer on the clock. Some of my best summer memories are the times I spent camping with my family throughout the Northwest. Being out in the wilderness was so relaxing, especially when compared to bagging groceries for eight hours. Another favorite activity was riding my motorbike. In particular, I will never forget biking the St. Anthony Sand Dunes, where the open space meant I could cut loose without fear.

    This year, I’ve already had a new summer experience: sturgeon fishing. Oregon opened up sturgeon fishing for six days and allowed you to keep sturgeon 44–50 inches in length. I felt lucky just to be able to go and even luckier that I brought home a sturgeon.

    I’m hoping to provide my kids with a lasting memory when we go to Rexburg to watch the solar eclipse. Apparently, it will be one of the best places in the country to view this once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Rexburg, a town of about 50,000 people, is expecting 10 times that for the eclipse. Luckily, with my family out there, we won’t struggle to find a place to stay.

    I hope everyone enjoys the last few weeks of their summer this year. If you happen to trek out to eastern Idaho for the solar eclipse, maybe I’ll see you there.

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