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Healthy Halloween

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Alissa Vandenbark

Halloween is the time of the year that you can have your candy and eat it too! But with obesity rates rising and other health issues related to excess sugar and process foods, these sweet treats can do nightmares to your body. According to Donna Arnett, Ph.D, chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s School of Public Health, the average child accumulates 3,500-7,000 calories worth of treats on Halloween night.

Here at MANNA, we want you to have your fun so here are five tips for a healthy Halloween:

Eat before you go Trick or Treating. Have a healthy meal before getting dressed up and hitting the streets – this will reduce the amount of candy you eat along your travels.
Get moving! Pick neighborhoods that are easily walkable – this way your kids are adding in exercise with their fun.
Keep your favorites and hide the rest. Moderation is key to all things in life. Either agree with the amount of candy they can have per day from their stash or keep their favorites and get rid of the rest by donating them to Operation Gratitude as part of a Halloween Candy Buy-Back program that sends care packages to US troops overseas.
Hand out non-sugar foods such as granola bars, crackers, pretzels or trail mix.
When you have the option… go for the dark chocolate option!

Halloween is the beginning of the holiday season – so make sure it is a healthy start!

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Alissa Vandenbark

When Valarie Maddox was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, her two young daughters needed MANNA’s support as well. Valarie avowed, “The meals are great because I am a single mother and I live with my two daughters. To see the strain on my daughters and their worry because I was always the cook in my house, the MANNA meals helped to take the pressure off of them knowing I was taken care of.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and the incidence continues to rise steadily with over 1 million new cases and almost half a million deaths annually. Currently the direct cause of breast cancer is not known; education, awareness and early detection remain as the key components to combating this disease. October marks National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when people across the world increase awareness of the disease and fundraise to support research in search of a cure.

In 2007 MANNA partnered with the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia organization to provide medically-appropriate meals to hundreds of women and families battling breast cancer. This partnership ensured access to nutritious meals early in their treatment, increasing their chances of survival. Since 2007, MANNA has nourished back to health over 500 individuals diagnosed with breast cancer.

“MANNA has helped me so much with their meal program. When I was too tired to cook I was able to heat up a meal which helped me a lot. I felt like if I didn’t have MANNA, my nutrition would not have been as good,” MANNA client Chanel Royster noted.

Charlene Callicut, a current MANNA client agreed, “MANNA has provided me a lot of support since day one. It really helped me with my eating and providing me with nutritious food. The type of food that they are sending me is good food, and it tastes good too.”

For more information on ways that you can become involved with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, go to www.komenphiladelphia.org.

Sue Daugherty – Our #Health Hero

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Alissa Vandenbark

Philadelphia’s health blog staple – Be Well Philly of Philadelphia Magazine has announced its 16 semi-finalist for their annual Health Hero Challenge. Out of over 500 entries, MANNA’s Executive Director, Sue Daugherty was named one of the 16. Voters can start voting and showing their support on September 10^th when voting begins. Voters are allowed to vote once a day – every day until September 16^th when voting for Sue’s round ends. We sat down with Sue to find out what she thinks about the nomination and what she is doing to make MANNA a health hero to thousands of ill neighbors throughout the greater Philadelphia area. Make sure to Like Be Well Philly’s Facebook page to be able to vote!

How did you feel when you found out you were nominated and a semi-finalist for the Be Well Philly Health Hero?

I was shocked and honored. What a great forum for me to talk about MANNA and the work we do.

What is your idea of what a Health Hero means?

Someone who takes seriously their role in learning and understanding what being healthy means and spreads that message. Your health needs to be a lifelong commitment that requires discipline.

MANNA focuses on nutrition and food as medicine and you have been a key force in the science of the MANNA meals. Could you speak more about what “food as medicine means”?

I often tell patients that your body is like a car – if you don’t put gas in it you are not going anywhere. You may splutter along for a little while, but eventually without the proper fuel, you aren’t going to get too far. Like a car, you need to fuel your body with good nutrition as the foundation and base for all your treatments. The prescription bottle and its contents are next to useless without certain nutrition standards met first.

Speaking of food as medicine, MANNA was recently published in The Journal of Primary Medicine and Community Health: Examining Health Care Costs Among MANNA Clients and a Comparison Group. What were the key finds from the research?

Keeping someone nourished in the home is saving significant health care cost – study results. MANNA clients who received complete nutrition cost the health care system less, are hospitalized for less days and when discharged they are more likely to be discharged to home versus sub-acute or long term care.

When did your love/passion for health begin?

Hmm, I think my passion began early in my profession working with the HIV/AIDS population. I always had an interest and studied nutrition. I knew it was important, but I don’t think I really fully understood its impact until I saw patients fighting for their lives first hand. I was watching patients wasting away/dying from AIDS – but over and over again I saw patients that were nourished and physically strong able to tolerate their treatments better. It was at this time that I started to talk about food as medicine. I counseled my patients to think of food as a pill and just like you needed to take your pills at a certain time it was just as critical to eat at regular times.

What do you believe is the best way to stay healthy?

I think everything in moderation and balance. Eating healthy and physical exercise should be part of your life routine but not rule your life. Too many times I’ve made the mistake of going on a “diet” or some intense exercise regimen. The problem with diets and crazy workouts is their not sustainable; there is a start and an end. Often when you fail (missing a day at the gym or eating a “forbidden” food) you feel bad about it and end up eating worse or not working out at all. It really is a balance for me – it is a routine but it’s okay to take a day off.

Besides good nutrition, do you do anything else to stay healthy?

For me health is defined by a lot. Yes, good nutrition and regular exercise (the kind that makes you sweat) are important. Just as important for me is laughter and not taking life too seriously. It’s so easy to get caught up in work demands and my profession is important to my mental health and my identity, but sometimes you just have to have a good laugh and usually it’s at myself – I have 7 nieces and nephews who are all under the age of 11 and I have to tell you they are pretty good at keeping me in check!

What is your favorite exercise?

Running is therapy for me and always surprises me – I’ve been running for the past 20 years and I still can’t predict a good or bad run? Spin is another favorite exercise – I love the music!

Who is your personal health hero?

Patricia Sola founder of Hope Initiative – Namibia, Southwest Africa. In 2007 I had the honor of traveling to Namibia with a small team to work with Patricia to help develop nutrition programs for OVC’s (orphans and vulnerable children) living in squatter settlements. Patricia was an inspiration and continues to be.

Who or what makes you motivated to stay healthy?

MANNA clients – they are fighting for their life. I know what a gift my health is – I never take it for granted and want to do everything in my power to ensure I continue a healthy lifestyle.

How do you treat yourself? Any forbidden foods that you just can’t stay away from?

Of course, I don’t believe in forbidden foods – my belief is “all foods fit.” I would have to say that Chickie and Pete’s crab fries with cheese sauce are my favorite.

While eating out, what’s your trick on watching your calorie intake with all of Philadelphia’s amazing restaurants around?

I hardly ever order an entrée for myself – I love to share or get a salad and an appetizer for my meal.

What is your favorite MANNA pie?

Sky Pie

Food as Medicine: Prestigious medical publication affirms nourishment has beneficial results for the critically ill

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Alissa Vandenbark

Sue Daugherty is used to grateful thank you notes that trumpet the benefits of nutrition and nourishment.

As Executive Director of MANNA, (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance), she heads up a local charity that has been providing life-saving nourishment to the critically ill since 1990. MANNA prepares, cooks and delivers over 70,000 meals monthly and just recently celebrated the delivery of its 10 millionth meal. Meal plans have 11 different diet modifications created for such serious illnesses as cancer, renal and cardiac disease, HIV/AIDS and diabetes.

Though evidence suggested that neglecting the importance of adequate nutrition in chronically ill patients had far-reaching implications on their health (as well as health care costs), solid research was lacking. So MANNA conducted a study exploring health care expenditures in MANNA clients over time compared to a control group of patients without MANNA services. Health care costs were examined before and after clients began receiving services. The study found that the mean monthly health care costs decreased for three consecutive months after initiation of MANNA services. Other health care cost–related factors, such as inpatient costs, length of stay, and number of hospital admissions also displayed a downward trend.

When the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health reviewed the research and found it worthy enough for publication, Daugherty had the satisfaction of adding the weight of this prestigious publication to the organization’s long heralded benefits. Research printed in The Journal of Primary Care and Community Health will show, among other things:

Average monthly health care costs of MANNA clients fell 62% for three consecutive months after beginning service – a drop of almost $30,000.
For HIV/AIDS patients, costs fell over 80% in the first three months.
Even when MANNA clients’ needed hospitalization, their improved nutritional status resulted in reducing the average number of monthly visits to half that of the comparison group and their length of stay for inpatient visits was 37% shorter.
Monthly inpatient hospital costs of clients were 30% lower over the six months following initiation of services as compared to the six months prior to starting MANNA.
The costs of inpatient hospitalizations of MANNA clients were 40% lower. On average, the MCO paid out $12,000 less per month for MANNA clients.
MANNA clients were over 20% more likely to be released from the hospital to home rather than to long-term care or health care facility.
MANNA clients living with HIV/AIDS cost the MCO (Managed Care Organization) an average of $20,000 less per month.

For MANNA, the publication provided long sought after credentials for their work that could convince providers there was a less expensive and more effective way to reduce healthcare expenditures.

“With national healthcare looming just months away, hospitals and other healthcare organizations can breathe a little easier knowing that MANNA is a reliable partner to help them reduce costs and keep people healthier,” says Daugherty. The nourishment provided “is life affirming” she continued, “and keeps people in their homes longer, enhancing quality of life as well as extending it.”

Walking through MANNA’s busy kitchen where a full culinary staff and 1500 volunteers monthly chop and dice busily, Daugherty says, “The publication of our study in the Journal of Primary Care just affirms what we always knew – there’s a miracle brewing on 23^rd Street in Philadelphia. And that miracle is MANNA.”

Read our study in the Journal of Primary Care by clicking here.