Tips: It helps to read food labels to lose weight

If you're hoping to eat healthy and lose weight, your reading glasses may be as important as your running shoes.

Researchers at Washington State University found that adults trying to lose weight who said they read food nutritional labels but didn't exercise were more likely to lose weight than those who exercised but said they never looked at the food labels.

But for some people, reading the "Nutrition Facts" label brings on sticker shock. "The label is chock full of good information," says Constance Brown-Riggs, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "The problem is, for most people, it's a little overwhelming."

Brown-Riggs says many consumers will do well if they zoom in on the parts of the label most important to them. A person with no medical problems most concerned about losing weight should start with the calories, making sure to keep a close eye on the "serving size" on the label.

But beyond weight control, it is important to pay attention to the nutritional information of foods to ensure better health. For example, a person with hypertension should look closely at sodium content. "And the person with diabetes needs to look at the total carbohydrates," says Brown-Riggs, a nutritionist and certified diabetes educator in Massapequa and author of "The African American Guide to Living Well With Diabetes."

When it comes to artery-clogging trans fats, look beyond the nutritional facts, even if it says 0 grams. The reason: "If the product contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, they can say it has zero grams on the label," Brown-Riggs says. The giveaway that a product contains trans fats even if the nutritional label says 0 grams is when hydrogenated oils are listed on the ingredients list.

And even if you're not counting calories, make sure you keep a running tally of fats and cholesterol. You may think a hard-boiled egg and an 8-ounce glass of whole milk makes a light, sensible breakfast. But read the labels: You will be getting about 205 milligrams of cholesterol, or about 70 percent of your maximum recommended daily intake. Think about switching to skim milk or 1-percent fat milk. "Skim milk gives you that same calcium level as whole milk," Brown-Riggs says. "You're not getting the fat, but you're still getting those good nutrients."

Dix Hills Arts Center to mark Lennon's 70th

It may be hard to imagine, but John Lennon would have been 70 Saturday.

The John Lennon Center for Music and Technology, part of the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center, will celebrate the former Beatle's life and music next Saturday with a concert featuring local musicians. Tickets are $20, with proceeds going to the Five Towns College John Lennon Scholarship fund. For information, call 631-656-2148 or visit dhpac.org. The Lennon Center includes the John Lennon Library, with documents and artifacts from Lennon's career. It is open to the public.

Meanwhile, Lennon's entire catalog as a solo artist has been re-released to coincide with his birthday. Eight albums, including the iconic "Imagine" from 1971, have been remastered from the original mixes.

Caregiving classes in Kings Park, Westbury

Nobody signs up to become a family caregiver. It usually happens overnight, ready or not. For those who have recently accepted the chores of caring for a loved one or for those who want to be better prepared if the time comes, Utopia Home Care (utopiahomecare.com) is offering free caregiving training classes at its Kings Park and Westbury offices starting Tuesday. Each workshop has four sessions, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. You can attend all the sessions or just one.

For information on the Kings Park workshop, call 631-544-0462. For Westbury, call 516-334-4807.

And for those caregivers who are finding the chores too much and need some assistance, Huntington Public Library is sponsoring Home Care Help for Seniors on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Representatives from the Senior Companion Program, the Suffolk County Respite Care Program and Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice of Suffolk will answer questions and provide advice. The workshop is free.

Poor peripheral vision leads to falls

About one-third of seniors 65 and older suffer a fall each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many falls are caused by vision problems - seniors stumbling because they didn't see an object in front of them. But a recent study indicates impairment in peripheral vision also contributes to falling. Peripheral vision is the ability to ascertain objects on the side of the vision plane.

In a study of healthy seniors living independently, researchers at the University of Southern California found that those with impaired central vision had 2.8 times the risk of falling than those with good vision. But seniors who also had impaired peripheral vision increased their risk another 1.4 times.

Since researchers concluded that "treating central vision alone may be insufficient to help prevent falls," be sure to ask your eye doctor to screen you for peripheral vision problems.