If you are one of those people who doesn't care for fish (I am one!), which is the best source of omega-3s, don't dispair! Add some ground flaxseed to your cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, smoothies, and in baking. One tablespoon of flaxseed has 1,000 mg of omega-3s. That is more than half of what you would get in a 4-oz salmon steak! Here is one of my favorite brands!
You can add more protein, fiber, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C to your diet by simply adding edamame to your salads. Edamame (soybeans) contains 8 grams of protein, 4 grams fiber, a little more iron than a 4-oz chicken breast, and around 10% of your daily requirement of vitamins A & C per 1/2 cup. What a tasty and easy way to add these essentials to your diet!
Dr. La Puma (see previous post) believes it is important to know how to shop for high-quality ingredients - an important step toward healthful eating. He believes in the touch and smell method. For instance, he says tomatoes "should smell aromatic." "Butternut squash should feel heavy in your hand and be free from bruises and cracks.' He prefers "fresh-from-the-market organic fruits and vegetables but says out-of-season substitutes can be fine." He continues to say, "nutrients from whole foods play key roles in optimal health. And, when they are not deep-fried and doused with salt, they're low in fat, calories, and sodium."
Dr. John La Puma is a physician/chef who thinks we could cut back on obesity by thinking of eating as an experience. He treats patients with hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and other obesity-associated illnesses. He finds that for a lot of his patients, and we know it is this way for many others, traditional dieting and calorie counting just don't work overtime. This is his statement on the matter: "People are too fixated on numbers." He believes we need more than 300 calorie frozen meals and height/weight charts. He says we need new ways of looking at food, shopping for it, and preparing it. He also believes, as I do, that one needs to sit down at the table and share their meals with family and or friends. He says that when we sit down in front of a TV, etc to eat, we are not concentrating on what we eat, don't even taste it half of the time, and therefore overeat.
While we usually think fresh foods are the best nutritionally, that is not always so. For instance, fresh green beans that have been purchased 3 days after picking and refrigerated have been found by the FDA to only retain 36% of their vitamin C. However, green beans that are picked and frozen within a day retained twice as much. Frozen vegetables that are frozen without additives such as butter and sauces can be as nutritionally sound, maybe even more so, than fresh.
Zucchini is a tasty, healthy, versatile food. It has been around forever, cultivated by the Native Americans before the New World was ever discovered. It was a favorite of the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who both grew it in their gardens. It is inexpensive to grow with a single plant often producing a bushel basket of zucchini.
Cancer is a dreaded disease. None of us want to hear our doctors tell us we have the disease. I know the feeling having heard it twice! This horrible disease is one in which we can help our bodies prevent and heal from with our diet. That may sound simplistic, but it is true. Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that if you have cancer, you made yourself sick. Nor am I saying that if you follow a certain diet, you will never get cancer. Cancer is more complicated than that. But I am saying there are certain foods proven to have cancer-fighting compounds. These are common foods, and they taste good. Doesn't it make sense then to include them in our daily diets?
It used to be that milk was milk. If you wanted a glass of milk, you went to the refrigerator and poured yourself a glass of "regular" milk. Like so many foods today, even choosing a glass of milk gets complicated. Below are some simple facts about some of our milk choices per 8-ounces:
I'm sure you've heard the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apples are good for us and should be a part of our diets, but I am not sure eating one a day will keep the doctor away. Two big benefits of apples are that they are low in calories, and they are high in soluble fibers. Soluble fibers do help to lower cholesterol. But you might be surprised to discover that apples are fairly low in nutritional values. The average apple only has 8 mg of vitamin C. That is 13% of the daily allowance needed. Nothing wrong with that except many people think apples are full of vitamin C, they are not. If you are eating an apple a day and think that is keeping up your vitamin C, you need to be sure you are getting plenty of vitamin C elsewhere in your diet.
That's right! You may need to eat some water. If you are an athlete, spend a lot of time in the heat, or just have a problem staying hydrated, drink your water but also add an apple or other piece of fruit that contains a lot of water. Vegetables, such as a tomato are helpful, too. This will help your body retain the water longer. This is especially important during the hot summer months.
We all know we need calcium to make our bones strong and to prevent osteoporosis. But are you aware that we also need the mineral manganese? Joy of joys, the tasty fruit - pineapple - is full of manganese! A professor of nutrition at the University of Texas at Austin was quoted as saying, "When we want to up the levels of manganese in the diet, we tell women to eat pineapple or drink pineapple juice." Her studies found that women with osteoporosis have about a third less manganese in their blood than do healthy women. When these women were given manganese, their bodies absorbed twice as much as did the bodies of the healthy women. This was proof their bodies needed it!
People often complain about not fully understanding nutrition labels. Here is a simple rule you can establish for yourself. If you are trying to cut back on sugar in your diet, and most people should be, it can be hard since sugar is in almost everything. When buying packaged/processed foods, read the ingredients label. Ingredients are listed in order of the amount in a product ie the first ingredient listed is the main ingredient in the product. The last ingredient listed contributes the least to the product. Where does sugar rank? In a long list of ingredients, you should avoid anything that has sugar listed in the top 4 or 5 ingredients. And remember corn syrup, fructose, etc are just other names for sugar.
If we would all just follow a few simple dietary guidelines, we could all feel better, maintain a reasonable weight, and just simply enjoy better health. The following guidelines are easy to follow, require purchasing no special foods, etc, or diets that make you feel like you are starving yourself. Keep these simple guidelines in mind everyday as you plan your meals:
If you are constantly struggling with your weight and constantly trying new diets, here is a simple piece of advice:
Would you rather walk 4 to 4 1/2 miles or hula hoop for 1 hour? At the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in the summer of 2011, researchers reported that in healthy women hula hooping for an hour expended about the same amount of energy as walking 4 to 4 1/2 miles. Personally, I say both are too much for me. My feeling is that it is better to eat healthy meals and do moderate exercise. Good grief, I couldn't hula hoop for an hour when I was a kid in the '50s! Learn to eat healthy foods and push back from the table a little sooner. Yes, exercise it necessary. I do, however, believe diet control is where we as a society are missing the mark.
I am always amazed at people's reactions to using food as medicine. Do they think this is something new? Food as medicine is ancient! Only in the last century has society become almost exclusively dependent on pills. Now I am not knocking pills or medicine, God knows I have used plenty of modern medicine. But let me also add, I know personally that modern medicine cannot cure all ills. Once I started to study my illnesses, causes, medicines, foods, etc, I was able to drastically improve my health with my diet. I have been incorporating what I have learned into my diet over the past 30 + years and guess what - I am much healthier than I was 30 years ago. Thirty years ago, I was told by my doctor I could be an invalid, or I could push back and see how far I could go. That is when I actually started doing research and improving my health. Believe me, I am not an invalid. In the past thirty years I have helped to raise 7 grandchildren, traveled the country, taught Sunday School, stayed active in my church, cooked monthly for 250 homeless, manage our church bookstore and served as primary caregiver to my husband who suffered from dementia, depression and COPD. Without my research and dietary changes, I know that would not have been possible. So, believe me, you are getting information from someone who has been there, is there!
