South Carolina on WIHI

Organizing for Health: A Story from South Carolina
November 3, 2011, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Guests:
Rick Foster, MD, Senior Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety, South Carolina Hospital Association

Kate B. Hilton,

Director, Organizing for Health; Principal in Practice for Leading Change at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University

Landis Landon,

President, Immaculate Merchant Services; Resident, Columbia, South Carolina

In August of this year, a very different sort of town hall meeting was held in Columbia, South Carolina. About 90 people who shared the zip code 29203 sat down to talk about the health issues they faced. The list was long: lack of dental care, colon cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, mental illness, low birth weight babies, and more. Any one of these issues is worthy of attention; indeed, in most parts of the US, you can find initiatives trying to either prevent or reduce the burden of specific diseases that affect specific individuals. But what if the approach was more comprehensive and more widespread – and, most importantly, engineered by the community itself? What if hundreds of people from across the community –representing neighborhoods and businesses and insurance companies and local hospitals and municipal offices and professional schools – all decided to band together to turn things around?

That’s what the people decided in Columbia, South Carolina, and WIHI is pleased to welcome to the program some of the key leaders behind the effort – Rick Foster, Kate Hilton, and Landis Landon – to describe their groundbreaking mobilization.

Some of the concepts and goals underpinning the Healthy South Carolina campaign are quite familiar, such as expanding the role of primary care and helping everyone become more physically active. What sets this initiative apart is the strategy. It starts with training some 300 leaders by the end of this year (2011). They’ll play several roles, but will focus in part on fanning out across Columbia, SC, to work directly with residents on creating pathways and programs to better health. There will also be a major emphasis on improving everyone’s health literacy and communication skills. And every part of the community’s health care delivery system is pledging, along with insurers, to engage in serious discussions about how to improve access to primary care, reduce reliance on emergency departments for non-urgent problems, and reduce costs.

Yes, it’s just the beginning stages and yes, it’s just one community. And no one knows whether this multi-year effort will succeed. Still, at a time when new models of better health, better health care, at reduced per capita costs, are badly needed, Healthy South Carolina is an initiative to root for, learn from, and watch. WIHI Host Madge Kaplan hopes you’ll join her and her guests on Nov 3. Invite someone from your community to tune in with you!  

To enroll, please click here.

Carolina BBQ SAUCE and AGAVE Facts

Have you looked at the ingredients in your BBQ sauce? The first ingredient is usually corn syrup NOT tomatoes! But maybe you are saying, “I always make my own already.” BUT how are you making it? My mom still uses ketchup…and what is ketchup? Nothing but gooey-red corn syrup.

You may be thinking, “Well, I don’t buy the ketchup with high fructose corn syrup, I get the organic agave sweetened brands at health food stores.” (such as the “organic” ketchup in the photo), but that is no better.

Agave Syrup is marketed as “low glycemic” and that is true, but let’s look into why agave syrup is “low glycemic.” It is due to the shockingly high concentration of fructose. It is 90% fructose and 10% glucose. Sugar is about 50/50% fructose to glucose, honey is about 55% fructose, high fructose corn syrup can range from 55-65% fructose.

Why FRUCTOSE is so harmful:
1. Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver; glucose on the other hand can be metabolized by every cell in the body. Fructose raises triglycerides (blood fats) like no other food. Fructose bypasses the enzyme phosphofructokinase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme for glucose metabolism. Fructose is shunted past the sugar-regulating pathways and into the fat-formation pathway. The liver converts this fructose to fat, which, unfortunately, remains in the liver = FATTY LIVER DISEASE. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat! This is why I see so many children with fatty liver disease…they aren’t drinking alcohol, they are drinking sodas, juices and consuming too much fructose!

2. Fructose reduces the sensitivity of insulin receptors, which causes type II diabetes. Insulin receptors are the way glucose enters a cell to be metabolized. Our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin and as a result, the body needs to make more insulin to handle the same amount of glucose. We also start to produce insulin as a defense mechanism even if we don’t eat and sugar or starch. YIKES! This is why we shouldn’t allow our children to eat so much sugar and starch either…even though they are thin and active, you are setting them up for an adulthood where they can’t enjoy a dessert without reaping the adverse effects. I grew up on Fruity Pebbles and skim milk for breakfast, Cocoa Pebbles for dinner, which is why I am so sensitive to glucose.

3. Fructose is high in uric acid, which increases blood pressure and causes gout.

4. Fructose increases lactic acid in the blood. High levels cause metabolic acidosis especially for those with conditions such as diabetes.

5. Fructose accelerates oxidative damage and increases aging. Fructose changes the collagen of our skin making it prone to wrinkles.

6. High consumption of fructose leads to mineral losses: iron, calcium magnesium and zinc, which can lead to low bone density (osteoporosis). It also interferes with copper metabolism. This causes collagen and elastin being unable to form, which are connective tissue that hold the body together. A deficiency in copper can also lead to infertility, bone loss, anemia, defects of the arteries, infertility, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks and inability to control blood sugar.

7. Fructose has no effect on our hunger hormone ghrelin and interferes with brain’s communication with leptin, which is the hormone that tells us to stop eating and you CAN become leptin resistant! (please read the chapter on HORMONES in Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism for charts on FOODS to Eat and FOODS to NOT EAT to balance your hormones properly.)

This recipe is a little different that a tomato BBQ sauce, but it is very tasty!

1 cup prepared yellow mustard
¼ cup Nature’s Hollow xylitol honey (or Swerve)
¾ cup coconut or cider vinegar
1 TBS chili powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp Organic Tamari sauce (soy sauce)
2 TBS butter or coconut oil
1 tsp liquid smoke flavoring

In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the mustard, sweetener, cider vinegar, chili powder, black pepper, white pepper, and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the Tamari sauce, butter, and liquid smoke; simmer for 10 more minutes. Cool completely, and refrigerate overnight to blend flavors before using.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional BBQ sauce = 71 calories, 11.8 carbs, trace fiber
“Healthified” BBQ sauce = 37 calories, 1.9 carbs, 1 g fiber

Click HERE to find a tasty BBQ sauce that is low in sugar and you don’t have to make:)

Coconut Vinegar nutritionally exceeds other vinegars in its amino acid, vitamin and mineral contents, and is an excellent source of FOS (a prebiotic that promotes digestive health). In addition to using in your favorite dressings and marinades, our Coconut Vinegar may also be used instead of apple cider vinegar for skincare or with any internal cleansing program. (This delicious vinegar does not have a coconutty flavor.) Click HERE to find.