We love our Sparts!

Ending of girls dance

For the past 6 months I've been working with 32 wonderful high school girls and boys in the efforts to teach them 3 dynamic dance routines. I was working with the Mr and Ms Spartan program, which helps raise money for charities, such as The Regional Cancer Center and The Oregon Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. At the end of 6 months of fund raising a big pageant is thrown, which is where the students perform the dances.

Girls Dance

At the end of the pageant it is finally revealed how much money was made. This year, the program raised an amazing $137,850! I could not be more proud and grateful that I was part of such an important program. Using my dance skills to help people in need is more than I could ever ask for.

Clip of Boys dance (right when the pull away pants come off)

Back Again

Elite dance team performance

Hello again everyone! I know I've been gone for a long time, but I want to start blogging again. I've done a lot since last time I blogged. I've been dancing with the Oregon State Elite Dance Team and this year I'm the captain of the team, so that has certainly kept me busy.

I'm graduating college this year and the golden question has been on my mind, "what now?" I have a loose plan on what I'm doing next, including moving back to the Portland area and looking for a job, but the one thing I've learn about myself within this last year is this; I can't live without dance. So I know one thing I'm doing for sure is going on dance auditions.

To help get me ready for auditions I've completely changed my diet and work out routines. I've cut out most processed foods and focusing on eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. At the gym I'm kicking up my weight lifting (even though it can be intimidating in the weight room, it's worth it!). I'm going to be sharing my diet tips as I continue to gear up for summer auditions.

This tattoo means a lot to me, I got it last July and in Spanish it says Always dance. It reminds me that dance is something that will always be there for me and it's something that will always be in my life. But the reason why it's in Spanish is a whole other story. In first grade, I started speech therapy, and continued it for the next 7 years. I had trouble pronouncing words and it wasn't until 7th grade that I could speech without an "accent." In second grade I found out that I also had a reading disability, and was put into the "special" classrooms. This is something that I've made great strides in but still struggle with everyday. It took me an unusually long time to learn the English language as a child, so learning any type of second language was almost out of the question.
But at age 14, I wanted to learn Spanish. This was truly a struggle in every way, but through all the frustration and times of almost giving up, I am now graduating college as a Spanish minor. I will admit I do not know fluent Spanish, everyday I'm still learning and practicing. The tattoo represents to never give up on a dream, no matter what kind of obstacles stand in your way.

Organic or Not?

Introduction

You walk into a grocery store to buy some grapefruit for your favorite fruit salad recipe. Sitting in front of you are two choices: organic grapefruit and regular grapefruit. The organic versus not organic question is one that confuses consumers every day. You know that organic uses fewer chemicals, but is it healthier than the other option? Is it worth it to spend the extra dollar?  It seems that, it would be more beneficial to buy organic produce than regular if you have the extra money.

Higher Nutrients in Organic

Some nutrients are higher in organic versus ordinary produce, such as Vitamin C. As humans, we need vitamin C to keep our bodies healthy. It’s known as an antioxidant, which means it helps fight off cancer causing materials. Vitamin C also helps repair our bones and teeth. So, having an increased level of vitamin C in our foods would be beneficial. It’s been shown that vitamin C levels are higher in certain organic produce, such as tomatoes¹.

Other nutrients are also considered to be antioxidants, such as beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is high in carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach. The body can make vitamin A from beta-carotene, which helps with our eyesight. It’s still argued if beta-carotene is higher in organic or regular foods².

Flavonoids, also called vitamin P, are another compound that has antioxidant capabilities. They are typically higher in organic foods versus regular foods. One farm that switched from a traditional farm to an organic farm kept track of the flavonoid levels in the food. They noticed that every year the flavonoid levels increased. With organic soil it lets the food make more flavonoids. That means, the longer the soil has been organic; the more flavonoids will be produced.

Why there are more Nutrients in Organic

There is no clear reason why organic foods have more nutrients than regular foods, but there are some ideas. One idea is that regular produce comes in contact with more fertilizers. Fertilizers are high in the nutrient nitrogen, which allows the plant to develop more. So instead of the nutrients being available for us to eat, the plant uses them for its own development. Another idea is that organic produce has less fertilizer and protection. Without the fertilizer protecting the plant from pests, the plant must protect itself. So it creates its own defense system, and that defense system contains nutrients³. It’s similar to the ending sense in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The king’s castle is under attack and even though Aragon and his army are doing their best, they need more help. Then Gandalf and his army appear on the hill and ride in to help fight off the bad guys. Think of the King’s castle as the plant, and Gandalf and his army as nutrients. When a plant is organic it needs more help to fight of pests, so it builds a stronger “army.”

Other Views

The American Dietetic Association (AND) is a respected organization of food and nutrition experts. They don’t promote organic foods to be more nutritious. However, their reason is simply because they try to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables overall. AND doesn’t want people to think that organic produce is too expensive, and thus not eat any produce at all.⁴ They believe that eating any apple is more important than eating an organic apple.

Conclusion

As your looking at all your grapefruit choices, it may seem confusing. But know, you’re not alone in the confusion. Here is the bottom line: if you have the option and the extra money to choose between organic versus regular, the smarter choice would be to choose organic. This is because of its lower pesticide residue, the increase nutrient content, and the higher levels of antioxidants. Evidence is still being released on this subject. However, with the knowledge we know now, it would be more beneficial to buy organic. 

Work cited

1     United States Department of Agriculture. National Organic Program. Available at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop. Accessibility verified February 2, 2014.

2     Cardoso P. Vitamin C and carotenoids in organic and conventional fruits grown in Brazil. Food Chem. 2010; 126: 411-416.

3     Winter C. Organic Foods. J Food Sci. 2006; 71: 117- 124.

4      Wunderlich S. Nutritional quality of organic, conventional, and seasonally grown broccoli using vitamin C as a marker. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2008; 59: 34-45.