HEALTH
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WHAT'S IN A LABEL?
FINDING THE ACCURACY IN "HEALTHY" FOOD LABELS
ADAM VOSSEN
Some soy milk in your cereal, granola for breakfast, a bottle of Vitamin Water in between classes — a seemingly healthy list of foods. Depending on what you buy and the quantity you consume, you could be adding unneeded sugars to your diet or even creating a life-long allergy.
There are lots of foods that have become part of the nation's health food lexicon. Determining whether or not this is true can mean unraveling the ingredient list and understanding how foods are processed. Rather than sifting through the Wikipedia article on pyridoxine hydrochloride, dietitians can help spell out the ABC's of health food.
I DON'T THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL COMPLICATIONS THAT SOY CAN CAUSE.
ARIEL TAZKARGY
WELLINGTON SENIOR
Although soy is marketed as a health food, overconsumption can have somenot-so-healthy effects. When she was diagnosed with lactose intolerance, Ariel Tazkargy began drinking soy milk, but her doctor advised her to also drink another dairy-alternative like coconut milk. In the United States, non-fermented soy is used as opposed to the fermented soy common in Asian foods, which is easier to digest. Tazkargy, Wellington senior, says her doctor told her that the enzyme needed to break down soy has to slowly develop in the body. This is why Tazkargy doesn't drink soy consistently.
NO JOY FOR SOY
"I don't think a lot of people are aware of the potential complications that soy can cause," Tazkargy says. Another claim made by the soy industry is that soy can help prevent heart disease. The American Heart Association agrees with this statement, says Kaayla Daniel, author
of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food. Soy has been linked to congestive heart failure and heart arrhythmia.
Soy is also one of the top eight allergens, Daniel says. This means overconsumption of soy is likely to create allergic reactions. After drinking soy milk for over a year, Brianna Hird, Lawrence junior, is going to switch to almond milk because her pulmonologist, the doctor she sees for her asthma, told her soy milk may be making her asthma worse. Hird drinks soy milk several times a day. "Soy milk is fine in small doses, but many people drink it in larger quantities and that's when it's harmful," Daniel says.
IS IT GRANOLA OR A CANDY BAR?
Granolaiscomprisedofwholegrainsandoats, but in many brands sugar and hydrogenated oils are added. Most granolas sold in grocery stores are highly processed, says Dr. Marvin Kunikiyo, author of Revolutionizing Your Health. Granola is full of simple carbohydrates, which are broken down into glucose and cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin. If simple carbohydrates aren't used as energy they are stored in the body as fat Kunikiyo says.
Reading the labels is a step that many people skip, says Lily Boyce, Lawrence senior. Boyce has been a vegetarian for nine years and is frequently skeptical of the foods she eats. Boyce eats granola as cereal but does not buy it if it has high fructose corn syrup, added sugar, or hydrogenated oils. "Labels like 'natural' don't mean much — that could be anything," Boyce says. She says people need to educate themselves before they buy what's on the shelves.
VITAMINS - PROCESSED JUST FOR YOU
Juices marketed as vitamin supplements or as electrolyte sources might not be the best place to look for these important parts of your daily diet.
These products ought to come with a
"buyer beware" warning, says Katie Brown. National Nutrition Education Director for the American Dietetic Association Foundation.
Looks can be deceiving: Just because the package says "natural" or "organic" doesn't mean it is good for you. Reading labels can prevent you from buying unhealthy foods that appear healthy.
Although the products might include vitamins, Brown says it isn't worth paying four dollars a bottle and consuming calories from the added sugars and flavorings.
With 125 percent of the daily requirement of Vitamin C, Kevin Workman drinks orange-flavored Vitamin Water several times a week. The Lawrence junior likes the drink because it tastes good. He says he doesn't consider getting Vitamin C elsewhere, nor does he read the label closely.
Drinks like Gatorade and Powerade that provide you with electrolytes are really only necessary for athletes going through training lasting longer than one hour Brown says. For the rest of us, electrolytes are in every meal we eat.
JUDGE A FOOD BY ITS LABEL
These foods have a place in a healthy diet, but be a careful consumer. Read the labels and list of ingredients before buying foods you might assume are healthy. JP
--the Theatre in Greece program, for which they put on a production of Euripides' classic tragedy "The Trojan Women."
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Cassidy Kirch, a senior from Olathe, plays Hecabe in Euripides's classic Greek tragedy, "The Trojan Women." The actors learned some modern Greek when members of the cast traveled to Greece this summer to prepare for their roles.
Directed by Dennis Christilles Today and Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
August 29 at 2:30 p.m.
Inge Theatre, Murphy Hall
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
bus.
Brian Bondari produced the score for "The Troian Women" in
collaboration with Christilles. He now teaches at the University of Texas at Tyler, but went to Inades twice with Christilles.
"It's overwhelming to rehearse and practice in a place that witnessed the birth of Western music, theater and civilization as a
They also travel to historic cities like Delphi, Corinth and Mycenae. Christles said the cornerstone of their work, the production itself, was done in fourth century B.C. theater in Iniades.
This weekend, the same group of students will transfer the Greek tragedy from the ancient theater of Greece to the Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall. The performances this weekend are in celebration of the one-year anniversary of Lawrence's sister city agreement with Niades.
whole." Bondari said in an e-mail.
One challenge the students faced was learning and performing one-third of the dialogue in Greek. Maggie Parker, a junior from Bentonville, Ark., said that
Director Dennis Christilles has been taking students to Greece since 1997. He said this experience is unique for his students because they don't just see Greece through the windows of a tour
SEE PLAY ON PAGE 3A
"The students get an opportunity to learn about another culture first hand by living in it," Christilles said.
The group lives in an elementary school in the village of Katohi, which is part of the larger city of Iniades, for six weeks. During this time, they take classes in ancient Greek drama and architecture.
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Firefighters wait outside of Haworth Hall Thursday morning. The building was evacuated following a hazardous materials report shortly after 7 a.m.
include placing additional security and trash cans around the hotel's property. The hotel also received a permit to sell alcohol outside the bar areas on its property, Longhurst said.
Lance Johnson, Lawrence City Commissioner, said one of the commission's concerns was making sure that no alcohol was sold to minors.
Dalton Gomez/KANSAN
The Oread will check IDs and give customers wristbands that indicate that they are allowed to drink, Longhurst said.
Customers are allowed to carry
SEE OREAD ON PAGE 3A
Haworth reopened for classes at 8:30 a.m.
KU Police Chief Ralph Oliver said that a beaker had been accidentally knocked over, and the chemicals had an odor. The police had to figure out what had been knocked over and if the chemicals were in the air system.
CAMPUS
— Allyson Shaw
Haworth evacuated after chemical spill
The University's emergency notification text message and e-mail alert system notified students and staff this morning that Haworth Hall had been evacuated as a precaution after a hazardous materials report.
Police cars blocked Sunnyside Avenue from Illinois Street to Naismith Drive.
Study shows students to be less empathetic
index
BY GARTH SEARS gsears@kansan.com
An understanding friend may be harder to come by as technology grows and changes the way society interacts. According to a recent University of Michigan study, college students today, also called 'Generation Me', are about 40 percent less empathetic than those from the '80s or' 90s.
The study measured nearly 14,000 students over 30 years, from 1979 to 2009. A Michigan graduate student Edward O'Brien, who worked on
the study, said in the news release that the largest drop in numbers happened after 2000.
That class of college students seems to correspond with the beginning of a new generation, one still at large, that is totally immersed in the Internet.
SCIENCE
"I feel like Facebook changes how we talk to each other," said Erin Tomkins, a senior from Lawrence.
Classifieds... 8
Crossword... 4A
Horoscopes... 4A
With Facebook chat, e-mail, text messaging and instant messaging, college-aged people communicate
SEE EMPATHY ON PAGE 3A
Opinion...5A
Sudoku...4A
Sports...10A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2010 The University Daily Kansan
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