From Texas to Mexico and back again

Today started with the second session of a Diabetes class. This class focused on nutrition for individuals living with diabetes. We focused on the importance of eating balanced food (el plato balanceado). This focuses on a 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 plate portions. Bread, starch, and grains should fill 1/4 of the plate, meat and other proteins should fill another 1/4, and lastly vegetables should fill the 1/2. Fruit and milk/calcium should should also be eaten. We also discussed the importance of reading food labels, watching especially the sodium (sodio), carbohydrates (carbohidratos), fiber (fibra), protein (proteina), fat (grasa), and calories (calorias). Along with the plastic fruits and vegetables on the table were vials filled with the fat, sugar, and sodium in commonly eaten food.

Wow were some of those disgusting!! Especially the double cheeseburger, the vial was filled to the top with a very gross spoiled milk colored, pudding consistancy, yuck that was supposed to represent fat. After discussing what not to eat, we turned to what is good to eat, including fiber, omega 3, and the importance of water (especially down here in Texas!).

For the afternoon, I headed over to Mexico, which is really just a hop, skip, and a jump away (and maybe a few steps too). We went to a filming studio to watch as they filmed sections of a morning talkshow that happens on channel 7 (here at least). These sessions are a part of the Tu Salud, Si Cuenta! (Your Health Matters!) promotion which focuses on healthy food and proper food portions, exercise, and general healthy living. They bring in professionals and community members to share their health stories. It was really cool to see the filming of these shows. Following we went to eat gorditas. They are quite delicious, mine had queso and nopalitos (cactus) in it. Cactus has 5.6 grams of fiber in it, who would have known. This is more fiber than a banana (2.4 grams), bran flakes (4.0 grams), and shredded wheat (3.0 grams). Though Fiber-One beats it with 11.9 grams. But cactus is much more tasty than Fiber-One.

For those interested, cactus tastes a bit like a mix of green pepper and okra and kinda like canned green beans. It's slightly slimy, but not enough to be disgusting and has a crunch to it as cooked green peppers do. It's often cooked up with other spices and vegetables. If you have the chance to try it, I certainly encourage it, yum!