LOCAL
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, JANuARy 16, 2019
Resources available for eating better, quitting smoking
dren who might otherwise
go hungry.
Good Shepherd also
offers a variety of classes
and one-on-one options
around healthy eating. They
can be found at http://www.
gshealth.org/classes-events.
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
T
wo weeks into Janu-
ary, it’s a good bet that
some New Year’s res-
olutions have already fallen
by the wayside.
The good news is, when
it comes to goals around
healthy eating, experts say
the best way to tackle the
problem is by incremental
changes.
“People try and change
everything at once, and
that’s not realistic,” said
Angie Treadwell, a regis-
tered dietician. “Set small
goals you think you can
accomplish and then when
you accomplish them move
on to the next goal.”
On Thursday Treadwell
was teaching healthy cook-
ing classes at the Women,
Infants and Children (WIC)
office in Hermiston. Partici-
pants in the program get to
take home a supply of pro-
duce to try the recipes they
learned at home.
Treadwell said just about
everyone needs to eat more
fruits and vegetables than
they are currently eating, so
that’s one of the best places
to start when it comes to
dietary goal-setting.
People should eat as
many colors of plants as
they can, she said, to get a
good variety of vitamins
and minerals. Mixing it up
also helps people stick to
their goal to eat more veg-
etables instead of getting
bored and falling back into
old patterns.
“There are a ton of fruits
and vegetables out there,
so don’t make yourself eat
something you hate,” she
said.
“There are a
ton of fruits and
vegetables out
there, so don’t
make yourself eat
something you
hate.”
Angie Treadwell,
registered dietician
She encouraged people
to not only experiment with
new fruits and vegetables
they haven’t tried before,
but also to find new ways to
cook them. Instead of just
heating up vegetables in the
microwave, for example,
Treadwell teaches people
how to bring out the best fla-
vors by roasting them with a
little olive oil and the right
spices.
It also helps to recognize
the source of temptations,
such as boredom or the fact
that Americans tend to cel-
ebrate holidays and mile-
stones with unhealthy food.
“Why not celebrate with
an activity instead?” she
said. “Go for a hike, or go to
Quitting smoking
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet provides a variety of health benefits.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet provides a
variety of health benefits.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A young boy stirs chicken and pear salad Thursday during
Hermiston Head Start’s healthy cooking class.
a trampoline park.”
While people tend to
think of healthy eating in
terms of weight loss goals,
Christine Guenther, dieti-
cian manager at St. Anthony
Hospital in Pendleton,
said everyone had differ-
ent needs for improving
their health. A skinny per-
son might actually be mal-
nourished due to an illness,
for example, and need help
gaining weight in a healthy
way. And people of various
weights can have problems
with diabetes, high choles-
terol, high blood pressure or
other ailments affected by
diet.
She said one problem
people have with setting
eating-related goals is all of
the conflicting advice out
there.
“People will come to me
and say, ‘I just don’t know
what to do. The internet
isn’t helping; every time I
read something it’s differ-
ent,’” she said.
Guenther and other dieti-
tians help people learn
moderation and scien-
tifically-sound ways to
eat healthier, looking to
longterm health benefits
like more energy instead of
just temporary weight loss.
She said while most people
usually know they should
be cutting back on things
like desserts and soda, one
thing she often has to teach
people is how to get pro-
tein and fats from the right
sources — olive oil and
lean chicken, for exam-
ple, instead of bacon and
sausage.
Guenther said the time of
day people eat is important
as well. Many people make
the mistake of skipping
breakfast or lunch every
day, leading them to over-
eat unhealthy foods later or
snack after dinner.
“Eat more earlier in the
day and less in the evening,”
she said.
Both Guenther and
Treadwell said planning
ahead is an important part
of eating healthy. Diets
fall apart when there aren’t
healthy ingredients around
the house or meal prep for
days when there isn’t time
to cook.
“If someone wants to
work on increasing their
vegetable intake, for exam-
ple, they need to come up
with a plan,” Guenther said.
“How are they going to do
that? If they say, ‘I’m going
to eat this much,’ how does
that fit into their day? Will it
be snacks? Or with dinner?”
For people planning to
increase or decrease certain
foods in their diets, there
are plenty of resources. Ore-
gon State University’s Food
Hero website, for example,
features a large collection of
healthy recipes searchable
by ingredient. And Good
Shepherd Health Care Sys-
tem in Hermiston just put
together a new cookbook
called “Shepherd’s Pie.”
Kathy Thomas, wellness
coordinator for Good Shep-
herd, said the cookbook’s
recipes were submitted by
staff and reviewed by the
hospital’s wellness commit-
tee and a registered dietician
to make sure each recipe
selected was healthy, practi-
cal for a family on a budget
and passed “the delicious
taste test.”
The cookbook is ded-
icated to Jared Bowling,
who was Good Shepherd’s
head chef and nutrition ser-
vices manager for more than
10 years before his death.
Thomas said the first order,
selling at $15 apiece, is
almost sold out. The money
goes toward the Agape
House’s backpack program
to send food home on the
weekend with school chil-
As some people try cut-
ting back on foods that are
harmful to their body, oth-
ers are focusing on quitting
another harmful substance:
tobacco.
Dr. Tom Jeanne, deputy
health officer for the Ore-
gon Health Authority, said
the OHA does see a spike in
calls to its quit line this time
of year. The department is
taking advantage of reso-
lution season to run adver-
tisements reminding people
that the state has resources
to help them quit smoking.
They can call 1-800-QUIT-
NOW (1-800-784-8669) 24
hours a day or visit www.
quitnow.net/oregon
for
guidance.
“In Oregon we know
nearly three out of four
people who smoke want to
quit,” he said.
Many of them have tried
before but relapsed. Nico-
tine is “highly addictive,”
Jeanne said, and those try-
ing to quit can easily be trig-
gered by smelling cigarette
smoke or seeing someone
else using.
There is hope, he said,
even for people who have
tried and failed to quit in
the past. Millions of people
have quit eventually.
Jeanne said some peo-
ple do manage to power
through on their own, but
using a combination of
counseling and FDA-ap-
proved products such as
nicotine patches doubles a
person’s chances of quitting
permanently. Tobacco ces-
sation tools are covered by
all health insurance provid-
ers in Oregon.
“They really do raise
people’s chances of quitting
for good,” he said.
Health care providers
are also a “key resource,”
Jeanne said. It is import-
ant for people trying to quit
to talk to their doctor, who
can give them advice about
what options will work best
and help them make a quit
plan.
Smoking kills 8,000 Ore-
gonians a year and worsens
chronic diseases in many
more. Jeanne said the bene-
fits of quitting are longterm,
but also immediate: After
12 hours, a smoker’s carbon
monoxide levels go down to
the level of a nonsmoker’s,
and after just one year their
risk of coronary heart dis-
ease is cut in half.
Thank you to the following businesses for supporting
Newspapers in Education
Their generous support of the Hermiston Herald NIE program helps provide
copies of the newspaper and unlimited access to HermistonHerald.com and
the e-Edition to schools throughout the community.
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
1090 W. Hermiston Ave.
Hermiston, OR
541-567-8229
JeremyJLarsonDMD.com
Our patients are the very
heart of our practice
1739 N. First St.
Hermiston, OR
Whiteline Dig Area
OldWestFCU.org
541-276-1260
BLUECC.EDU
Call 811 to Locate
Wait for Locates
Dig Safe
Rick’s
Car Wash
620 E. Main St.
Hermiston, OR
541-567-3908
Bert's Auto
Salvage & Towing
BertsAutoSalvage.com
30775 Baggett Ln.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-1042
541-567-5050
QUIZNOS.COM
1565 N. FIRST ST. #9
HERMISTON, OR 97838
541-564-0264
1
2
3
4
750 W. Elm Ave. Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-6414 • UmatillaElectric.com
2411 NW Carden Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801
DuPont Pioneer - Hermiston
541-567-1860
pioneer.com
Starvation Ridge Farming
79937 S. Edwards Rd.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-5842
YOUR
BUSINESS
HERE:
Call Today & Donate!
800-522-0255
2212 SE 9th St. Hermiston, OR 07838
For more information on the NIE Program, visit HermistonHerald.com/hh/nie.
858387
To make a donation, call 800-522-0255.
1-888-522-1130 | www.cngc.com