Tours of Markets Put Seniors on Right Path Away From Cholesterol

One stroke was enough to scare Terry Tonkins.

Tonkins, 64, has two children and four grandchildren, all of whom would love to see her live a lot longer. The stroke a year and a half ago put Tonkins in touch with her own mortality.

So, Wednesday morning, she was cruising the aisles of Vons supermarket on Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach, taking notes, asking questions, looking like a student trying to learn about life from a great professor.

‘Professor’ Teaches Lessons About Life

In a sense, that was exactly her intention. The “professor” was registered dietitian Elaine Keegan, a staff member of Scripps Memorial Hospital. The lessons about life have to do with nutrition, the proper foods to eat and, specifically, how to lower fat, cholesterol and sodium in the diet.

The program is “Nutrition Tours 1988,” part of the Healthplus 55 agenda offered through Scripps. Tonkins heard about the tours, which are free, from her doctor, who thought a hands-on, show-and-tell approach would be the best way possible to wage the fight against illness, and in the best arena . . .

The Kitchen.

The tours are a stroll through a major supermarket, with Keegan & Co. offering instruction on what to buy by reading and deciphering labels. The tours take place at Vons markets in University City, Chula Vista, Solana Beach and La Costa, as well as Pacific Beach.

Barbara Ekberg, director of Healthplus 55, “stole” the idea of the strolling tours from a women’s magazine. She said such efforts had been tried previously in Texas and elsewhere but not as successfully, in her opinion, as those here. Scripps started its tours April 6.

“For people over 55 (the membership criterion), it’s very difficult when a doctor changes their diet,” Ekberg said. “Reading labels can be a real nightmare. So, we thought we’d help. Tours seemed the best way possible.”

Ill Health Motivated Her Quickly

Tonkins said ill health was enough to motivate her immediately.

“The fact that I could have other strokes more damaging than the last really scared me,” she said. “It frightened me to no end. The next time, let’s face it, I may not be as fortunate. I have to do the best I can to prevent recurrence.”

Prevention is the word. To prevent as well as possible, Tonkins and millions like her face the prospect of untangling a maze of detail. In her view, information about nutrition is contradictory and confusing; at the very least, she said, it weaves a complex web.

Starting in the produce section, Keegan led Tonkins and five other women on a detailed journey. At the meat counter, she inspected each package of turkey, pointing out that turkey is low in fat. A package of turkey carried one gram of fat per serving, contrasted with 9 grams per serving for each package of salami.

The clear message: Buy turkey; forget salami.

In the cheese section, she pointed to mozzarella as a clear winner. It is lower in fat than other cheeses, which are quite high in fat. She liked one particular brand of Swiss, which was low in sodium and fat.

Keegan is a friendly, informative woman with the patience of Job and the kitchenesque acumen of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee. As she tactfully answered a plethora of questions, passers-by wheeled their carts as close as possible. Some chuckled. Others tried to get a fix on exactly what was happening.

“Mommy, what are they doing ?” one young boy asked in a not-so-soft voice.

“The biggest problem--and there really are no problems--is having to deal with curiosity-seekers and small aisles,” Keegan said. “But really there are no problems . This program has been nothing but positive. The clients seem to welcome it enthusiastically.”

At certain points on the tour, Keegan had to explain that some items are high in fat but low in saturated fat. Others are high in fat but low in cholesterol or vice versa. In the frozen-food section, she recommended the items packaged by Lean Cuisine, which are low in fat and calories, but warned that some are high in sodium.

She pointed out that half a cup of Lightlymaid ice cream contains less than a gram of fat. A carton of mocha-mix ice cream is low in cholesterol and low in saturated fat but is generally high in fat.

She recommended fish and poultry, particularly turkey and specifically the Louis Rich brands, over high-fat red meats.

“The tougher the meat, the leaner it is,” Keegan said. “The more tender, the fattier. . . . Sorry. Turkey’s great, but it spoils a little easier than the others.”

Ceola Wilson, 76, has three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Her doctor said her cholesterol count was a tad too high and recommended the program. She said increased consciousness about food had even helped her husband, a 79-year-old chemotherapy patient trying to fight off cancer.

“It’s given me great ideas--wisdom--about what to cook and what to buy,” Wilson said.

“My main role here is not to educate them about a particular diet,” Keegan said. “It’s to give them an overview, help them pierce confusing detail and make smarter decisions. And, if that leads to better health, to preventive maintenance, I’ve done my job. And, more important, they’ve done theirs.”