News Feature: Make fruits and vegetables part of
your plate
By Ma. Idelia G. Glorioso
Eating well-balanced meals is usually ignored and
neglected due to busy schedules in school or workplace.
Eating a variety of foods is a key to good health
as no single food can supply all the nutrients needed by the body.
One has more chances of getting all the nutrients
needed by eating a variety of foods.
Filling half of the plate with vegetables and
fruits offers lots of benefits such as important sources of vitamins, minerals,
and fiber phytonutrients.
Fibers are mostly found in vegetables and fruits.
Regular intake of soluble fiber enables the body to absorb minerals like
calcium and magnesium. Fiber also helps manage one’s weight.
Phytochemicals or phytonutrients are found in
plants, particularly vegetables. Examples of phytochemicals are lycopene in
tomatoes, anthocyanins in bell peppers and flavonoids in broccoli.
Bright-colored vegetables generally contain most phytonutrients.
Let us eat more fruits and vegetables to supply
the body with enough vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals that help
fight illness like cancer.
For more information on food and nutrition,
contact Dr. Mario V. Capanzana, Director, Food and Nutrition Research
Institute, Department of Science and Technology, Gen. Santos Avenue, Bicutan,
Taguig City, Metro Manila, Tel./Fax:
8372934, 8373164; FNRI-DOST website: http//www.fnri@dost.gov.ph,
email:mar_v_c@yahoo.com, mvc@fnri.dost.gov.ph; FNRI Facebook page:
facebook.com/FNRI-DOST; FNRI Twitter account: twitter.com/FNRI-DOST. (FNRI-DOST
S&T Media Service)
Solon wants Aug. 2 declared as Butuan City Charter
Day
BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 1 (PIA) - In pursuing a
meaningful celebration of Butuan City Charter Day, Agusan del Norte First
District Rep. Lawrence Lemuel Fortun has submitted a bill seeking to declare
August 2 of every year as Butuan City Charter Day to be known as Adlaw Hong
Butuan.
The proposed measure under House Bill No. 5061 is
entitled “An Act Declaring August 2 of every year as Butuan City Charter Day
and a Special Non-Working Holiday in the City to be known as the Adlaw Hong
Butuan.”
In his explanatory note, Fortun said that “Butuan
became a political entity in 1907 through the enactment of Act No. 1693 and a
city by virtue of Republic Act No. 523, otherwise known as the Charter of the
City of Butuan, which was signed into law on August 2, 1950. Since then, the
people of Butuan have referred to the second day of August as the “Adlaw Hong
Butuan,” or the Day of Butuan, which they commemorate every year in remembrance
of its rich history, and great achievement, and the significant contributions
of its people.”
“Butuan City is blessed with rich cultural
heritage, it has over 1,600 years of recorded history. It is known to be the
Home of the Balangays, the ancient boats utilized by our ancestors in
traversing Asia in the pre-colonial times, the oldest of which was carbon-dated
320 A.D. It is likewise host to the Bequibel Shell Midden that is proof to
civilized human existence in the area as early as the Neolithic Age.
Thus, its people proudly lay claim to a
declaration of their old folks, “In the beginning there was no Philippines, but
there was Butuan.” By declaring August 2 of each year as a special non-working
holiday in the city, Fortun hopes to recognize Butuan’s historical niche as an
ancient city and pay homage to the men and women who have contributed to its
progress and development that should serve as inspiration and example to our
people. (Lawig Katawhan/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
