One M&M candy has the same glycemic index as NINE (9) Strawberries!

I love my job.  I get to visit with some amazing people everyday - my patients, staff members and friends.  Recently a patient shared this tidbit learned in a continuing education forum, "One M&M candy has the same glycemic index as Nine whole strawberries."  WHAT?!!!  This got me thinking... I love M&Ms.  I can easily eat way too many M&Ms in one setting.  But, could I eat nine strawberries in one sitting? ? ?

There are certain things that were in my dental school education, but are not utilized every day in my dental practice.  So, I decided to do a little research.  I like what the Mayo Clinic has to say, so I started there.  "The glycemic index was originally developed to help improve blood sugar control in diabetes."  The lower the glycemic index or glycemic load, the less that food affects blood sugar and insulin levels.  However, when we are looking at a healthy diet, you can't just choose a food with a low glycemic index.  Some of those foods are not nutritionally balanced.  Nutrition is a very complicated field of study, in my opinion.

The Short part of the story is... size does not matter!  Just because it is tiny, does not mean that it cannot pack a punch.  I am making a resolution to eat less M&Ms (less candy) and strive for a more balanced diet.  Oh, don't worry - I'll slip up and eat those delicious foods from time to time, striving for what we all need... MODERATION.

It's too bad that understanding nutrition is complicated by all the different fad diets out there.  Getting down to the basics may sound easy, but can be difficult to maintain with a busy lifestyle.  So here's my advice... Start with  Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate (below).  Make some small changes to incorporate more healthy foods into your diet and less unhealthy foods.  After you have adjusted to those changes, THEN start thinking about ways to improve your diet even more. 

From a dental perspective, try to limit between meal snacks.  Each time you eat food or drink a sugary beverage it takes at least 2 hours for the pH level (acidity) in your mouth to go back to neutral.  Why does this matter?  Because that means your mouth has been in cavity-producing mode during those couple hours after you finished eating!  Better snacks for between meals include raw fruits and vegetables and a small serving of cheese.  Try to limit dried fruits to the times of day when you will be brushing your teeth immediately post-meal.  Dried fruits, while convenient, tend to stick in the grooves of your teeth and can cause cavities.

Did you or your child consume a few too many sugary treats around Halloween this year?  Don't forget to schedule your dental checkup, so that we can identify dental problems early.  When we can fix small teeth problems, a smaller amount of tooth structure is removed and the healthier that tooth is for a lifetime.  When dental examinations are sporadic, the problems are often much larger and more procedures are necessary.  Since Preventative Dentistry saves so much money (to the tune of $70 billion annually), why not let it save you some money also? 

Schedule your dental appointment with Dr. Melanie Steckelberg today.  Call (402) 489-7800 or visit us on the web www.steckelbergdental.com

 
Sources:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/glycemic-index-diet/MY00770
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate-vs-usda-myplate/
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm

Fun in the Mud

Every once in awhile an experience comes along that you just can't pass up.  For myself, that was yesterday... Kawasaki Motors in Lincoln, Nebraska had been hosting a big district meeting this week and decided to allow Kawasaki employees and family to test drive some RUVs this week.  Kawasaki Motors California set up and maintained a great track for us to have fun on.  When it rained in the afternoon, I was worried that my evening drive was going to be cancelled... no worries, the ride went on with a couple changes to the course.  We were fortunate to drive a Kawasaki Teryx vehicle in 4WD over turns, bumps, rocks, hills and some straightaways to get up some speed.  This was a great experience - Thanks so much, Kawasaki!

I actually think the muddy course demonstrated the ease of handling this vehicle has... so maybe I want one now just like my husband.  I was the driver in these photos, but don't you worry, my husband still got his time in on the vehicles this week.

Just a few mud chunks present after the ride on this 2012 Teryx...  Check out one of the 2013 Teryx that is proudly made in USA - manufactured only in Lincoln, Nebraska!

The dental office of Dr. Melanie A. Steckelberg located at 3201 South 33rd Street, Suite A in Lincoln, Nebraska 68506  (402) 489-7800.  Call us today for an appointment.

Spring... We're Ready For YOU!

This is the time of year where I start to get antsy for Spring.  I start thinking about sunshine, warm weather and not needing to wrap up in a jacket before leaving the house. Since we definitely still need a jacket to go outdoors, I decided to start an Easter project... FABRIC CARROTS!  This is a project that a child can help by putting the stuffing inside the carrots and help tie the ribbons at the top.

I think they turned out okay.  They are being enjoyed as toys and decorations.  I love items with more than one purpose!

The tutorial for the fabric carrots can be found at  Clare's Craftroom.  I have to admit, I like her fabric choices better than mine.  The overall project was very inexpensive.  Have a Hoppy Day!

Visit Steckelberg Dental for all your dental needs.  Melanie A. Steckelberg, D.D.S., P.C.  3201 S. 33rd St, Suite A, Lincoln, Nebraska  68506  (402) 489-7800  www.steckelbergdental.com

National Children's Dental Health Month & Crayons

February is National Children's Dental Health Month!   Parents, you have a very important role in reducing your child's risk of dental decay (caries).  Often we think about brushing teeth as the way to reduce cavities, but there are other habits that can improve our dental health as well.  These habits truly apply to us all. 

Limiting between meal snacks - sticking to raw fruits and vegetables for snacks and only water as our beverage. 

Consume your sugars with your meals, and in moderation.  Why does it really matter WHEN sugary foods are consumed?  It has to do with the lasting effects after your last bites are swallowed.  After we consume sugary foods and beverages, the resultant acid sits on teeth for 20 minutes or more.  But even worse - the pH (acid level) in your mouth takes hours to return to normal.  What does this mean?  Well, your mouth is in a cavity-producing mode for 2-3 hours after eating foods harmful for dental health.  Wow!   So that 3pm candy bar may still be causing effects on the pH (acidity) of your mouth at 5:00 or 5:30pm! 

Limit that sugar contact.  You want to limit the length of time that sugary foods and beverages come in contact with your teeth.  If you are going to drink a sugary beverage or eat a sugary snack, do so in one setting.  In dental school we discussed research where people who sipped on a beverage all day long got more cavities than people that drank that beverage in one sitting.  This applies to food consumption as well - it seems to all come down to that pH balance in our saliva.  

Limit Diet sodas and sugar substitutes, as these still cause dental decay.  There is some misinformation on the internet stating that sugar substitutes do not cause cavities.  This statement was proven to be incorrect by dental student research at my dental college.  My classmates presented their research that cavity-causing bacteria eventually interact with a sugar substitute to cause cavities just like regular sugar.  The take-home message is, we need to limit our between-meal snacks, whether they are diet soda, regular soda, have regular sugar or a sugar substitute.  These items do have a place in our society, we just need to limit our consumption.  See the USDA website for more information about healthy meal choices and how the Nutrition Pyramid was replaced with Choose My Plate. 

Avoid introducing Juice into a child's diet until age 2, if at all possible.  Once they get started on juice, it is very difficult to reduce its consumption.  When a child falls asleep while drinking juice or milk, the sugary liquid pools around the teeth.  Often we do not realize that beverage is just sitting in the child's mouth until they wake up and swallow it.  This is seen all-too-often as Early Childhood Caries (cavities).  Milk and water are still the best choices for a young child's beverages.  Milk is a healthy drink, but even it has hidden sugars.  After each feeding, you will want to wipe the gums of a baby or brush the teeth of a child, who has their teeth. 

The Indiana Dental Association specifically talks about how our beverage choices impact dental health.  Read their article about how Fizzy Drinks make Fuzzy Teeth.    

So, after all that...

If you are into sewing and and looking for an easy non-sweet Valentine's Day gift, consider making a Crayon Roll.  It takes a very small amount of fabric, 1 button and an elastic hair tie. 

 You only need about 1/6 yard of the main fabric and if you are like me, you might have that amount sitting in your fabric stash at home.  This was my first project using a disappearing ink fabric marker.  It works pretty slick, as long as you are using a dark fabric marker on dark fabric.... so my lines are not perfect, but now I know better.  I did use the flannel to line it and was very happy with the results, as was my recipient!    

I used the tutorial and instructions from The Pleated Poppy. 

Happy Valentine's Day from Steckelberg Dental!

The dental office of Dr. Melanie A. Steckelberg located at 3201 South 33rd Street, Suite A in Lincoln, Nebraska 68506  (402) 489-7800.  Call us today for an appointment.
 

Valentine's Mail Bag

The month of February means many things to us all.  It seems that each and every day has been adorned with "This Group's" day.   While February is National Children's Dental Health Month (more to come in a later post), it is arguably most widely associated with Valentine's Day.  This year our household has been on the ball and our homemade Valentine's are finished and ready for preschool.  So I decided to do another Pinterest Valentine's project... a Pottery Barn inspired Mail Bag.  I was pretty proud of my work... it also gave me a chance to sew my first buttonholes.  The great thing about sewing for a young child is that they don't notice the mistakes you made along the way (well, not yet, at least).  Here's how this sewing project turned out...

 

Here's the side view

I took these photos on a cloudy afternoon... so the background is rather dark, unfortunately.

Today I presented my little one with her very own Valentine's Mail Bag.  We plan to give her "mail" each day through Valentine's Day.  Tomorrow is her father's day to send a "letter" to the little one.  It should make for a couple weeks of great fun.  :)

This project was inspired by a blog At Second Street, which was, of course, found on Pinterest.  The tutorial is quite helpful and the bag nicely fits a DVD, which is planned to be the Valentine's Day "Mail" for my little one.  Shhhh!  Don't tell her, the new movie is a surprise. 

The Start of Something Different

So I have been busy in my "free time" doing things other than dentistry.  Shocking, I know!  My purpose of this blog was to let you get to know me a little bit better.  Some might say that a dental office does not lend itself to truly get to know a person.  Well, maybe sharing my interests with you will help.  For instance, I have really enjoyed using Pinterest and have challenged myself to try out many of the Pins that inspire me.  I plan to share some of the things I have tried from Pinterest, as well as some other things that are going on in my life and at Steckelberg Dental over the next few months.  So to no avail, let's move this blog into a different direction.  Please let me share one of my family's favorite recipes, "Dad's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie."  I originally found it on All Recipes.  My husband makes this recipe and it is amazing!  This is what it looked like once before putting it into the oven.... 

This is how it looks after digging in!  D-elicious!

 Would you like to try your hand at this recipe?  Well, here is how it is made in the Steckelberg household.

INGREDIENTS
Our recipe makes one 9-inch pot pie

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn & green beans)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup margarine

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon dried onion

1 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup milk
2 cups cubed cooked turkey meat (or chicken)
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

  Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Place the frozen vegetables and celery into a saucepan; cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium-low heat until the celery is tender, about 8 minutes. Drain the vegetables in a colander set in the sink, and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. [Note: you may need to add more margarine or canola oil if mixture seems dry before adding flour, to avoid the flour clumping up.]  Stir in flour, salt, black pepper, celery seed, onion powder, and Italian seasoning; slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens. Remove from heat; stir the cooked vegetables and turkey meat into the filling until well combined.
4. Fit 1 pie crust into the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish. Spoon the filling into your pie crust, then top with another crust. Pinch and roll the top and bottom crust together at the edge of each pie to seal, and cut several small slits into the top of the pie with a sharp knife to release steam.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the crust are golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. If the crust is browning too quickly, cover the pie with aluminum foil after about 15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.