Girlscout Cookies: nutritional changes in a classic seasonal indulgence.

On a lighter note, spring brings many things; allergies, change of season, bird migrations, and of course the Girlscout Cookie. But in recent years, this vice to many watching their calories has changed in nutritional content.

Until 2005, the cookies contained trans fat -- partially hydrogenated vegetable oil -- as did most commercially baked cookies. When research began to show that trans fat was unhealthy, the Girl Scouts announced they'd have the recipes reformulated for zero trans fat per serving.

That doesn't really mean "zero,"; partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is still the second ingredient listed in the Samoas. And that ingredient can still be found in the long list of ingredients for several of the cookies.

If that's your concern, a plain Trefoil is the best choice.

Additionally, the label information -- besides offering a lengthy list of ingredients that include some people's nutritional bugaboos, like palm oil -- also offer dietary exchanges now. So for those concerned about eating processed foods, this offers a better understanding on what the nutritional value is in a time honored treat.

Some Nutritional Examples (note serving size is only 2)

Thin Mints:

• Serving size= 4 cookies
• 160 Calories
• 22 g of carbs (not the good carbs)
• 2 g of protein
• 6 g saturated fat

Samoas:

• Serving size = 2 cookies
• 150 Calories
• 19 g of carbs
• 1 g of protein
• 4.5 g saturated fat

Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter sandwiches)

• Serving size = 2 cookies
• 120 Calories
• 16 g of carbs (1 g of fiber)
• 2 g of protein
• 1.5 g saturated fat

ABC World News:Acupuncture May Curb Severity of Hot Flashes

Acupuncture May Provide Relief for Menopause Symptoms

Nielsen said that after a series of treatments, women experiencing menopausal symptoms generally "start to feel much more relaxed -- the anxiety is also associated with hot flashes."

By the second or third treatment, she said, patients come in and say, "Actually I'm not hot flashing during the day anymore, maybe a couple at night, and then that starts to decline as well."

Menopause is the latest use of the 2,000 year-old Chinese tradition -- it's already being used to reduce symptoms related to arthritis, back, neck, knee and shoulder pain, and anxiety.

At the Mayo Clinic, acupuncture is part of the standard of care for all patients in the Joint Replacement Center. Doctors there are also involved in their own trial of the benefits of acupuncture for hot flashes.

Researchers suggest the reason why acupuncture may work for women suffering from hot flashes is that the treatment is able to boost the production of endorphins and that could help stabilize body temperature.

Authors of this study caution that their sample size was very small, and they did not follow up with patients after treatment, so they do not know if the positive effects of acupuncture continue.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/study-shows-acupuncture-curb-severity-hot-flashes-menopause/story?id=13075594&page=2

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