By Jennifer Joy
YMCA Wellness Director
Winston Family YMCA

One sleepy morning, Dad was reading the girls a poem during breakfast (his ritual) and came across an unfamiliar word: flagon. Having one of those Ferris Bueller moments he bellows to me, “Do you know what flagon means?” Anyone…..anyone….Trying not to register shock since he has a PhD and is six months away from a law degree, I stare at him with what must have been a blank look…..(anyone)…..I call my Mom who is somewhat of a wordsmith. “Do you know what flagon means?” She, to my surprise, is stumped as well.

We took a moment to flip through the dictionary only to have our nine-year old tell us that she knows what the word means. Sure enough, my voracious reader of a daughter knew a word that three overly educated adults did not- a flagon is an ornate container with a handle and spout to hold beverages. Big deal? Anyone……anyone….

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By Kerri Napoleon
YMCA Nutritionist

Organic, Natural, Free Range: What does it all mean? Below is a listing of different terms and what they mean to you.

Organic Fruits & Vegetables: these were grown without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or sewage sludge and haven’t been genetically engineered or irradiated.

Organic Beef & Chicken: come from animals that were not the offspring of cloned animals. They were raised on 100% organic feed, were never given growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs, and their meat was never irradiated.

Organic Milk: comes from animals that, for at least the past 12 months, were fed 100% organic feed and were not given antibiotics or growth hormones.

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One of the most common questions I receive is: Should I eat before exercise and what should I eat? Eating before exercise (if you tolerate it) is the best approach to improving performance (strength, speed, endurance). I do note that some people cannot tolerate eating before exercise, but it may also be what you eat that will help you tolerate the food. The goal with a meal or snack before exercise is that it should prepare the person for the upcoming activity and you should not be hungry nor should you have undigested food in the stomach.

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A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) looked at which sources of calcium are absorbed the best.  They looked at 183 postmenopausal women and divided them into three groups: diet only group (calcium only from food), supplement group (calcium only from supplements) and diet plus supplement group (calcium from supplements and food). They found that the women who took calcium supplements as their only source of calcium, took more calcium in milligrams yet their bone density’s were lower than the group that did not take a calcium supplement and ate less calcium through food. The group with the highest bone density and the highest calcium intake was the diet plus supplement group.

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