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Remember the food pyramid we were taught as kids? It has fallen from favour. However current thinking on nutrition is presented in a new pyramid developed by the American Department of Agriculture. While aimed largely at children the advice applies to us all. If you need to lose weight or want to visit another site promoting healthy living visit http://www.mypyramid.gov/ regards, Keith We are bringing up a generation that will need to lose weight. As parents we are concerned about road safety and stranger danger. However we seem to be less vigilant about a widespread danger to our kids. We appear to be compromising their health at an increasingly younger age. While historically many adults have drifted into obesity in middle age we are raising a generation that will enter adulthood obese. Not the proudest of legacies! An investigation of children’s meals at fast food outlets found only 3% met the standards set by the National School Lunch Program. The average energy density of the meals that failed the standards was 2.3 calories per gram compared with 1.5 in the standards. Of the meals that failed 65% had too much fat while the levels of a number of key nutrients were inadequate. reference: J.M. Mendoza, “Kids, Fast Food, & Obesity: Menu Reviews From a Houston Pediatrician” Agricultural Research, October 2009 To read the article click on: article Lets make sure our kids eat well and enter adulthood healthy. It will then be up to them to determine their future health and hopefully they will follow the guidance provided to them in their formative years. regards, Keith A recent study found Latino adolescents who increased their fiber intake reduced the amount of fat around their waists. reference: J.N. Davis et al, American Journal of Nutrition, November, 2009 While the authors were cautious about generalising from these results its worth considering how they might apply to the rest of us. How much fiber are you currently consuming? It is likely many people could improve their overall diet by increasing their fiber levels. One of the possible benefits might be a reduction in belt size! For fiber look to fruit and veges as the best sources. If you eat an orange rather than have an orange drink you get the fiber as well as the vitamin C! And, if you’re really interested in reducing your belt size consider getting my book Enjoy Losing Weight. I reduced my waist measurement by many inches (and enjoyed doing it). Whats more my waist has remained the same size since. regards, Keith Watching what you are eating to lose weight? Eating a diet high in fruit and vegetables to lose weight safely may also protect you from getting depression. A Mediterranean type diet has been found to reduce the risk of depression by 30%. Fruits, vegetables and olive oil were associated with even lower levels of risk. This was attributed to their effect on nerve cell growth and functioning and the availability and effectiveness of seratonin. Source: M.A. Martinez-Gonzalez & D. Mischoulon, Archives of General Psychiatry, October, 2009 By selecting fruit and vegetables with a low glycemic index you can combine the benefits of a Mediterranean type diet and a low glycemic diet to lose weight effectively and permanently, and obtain other health benefits at the same time. regards, Keith A central cause of the current epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes relates directly to our eating habits. We eat too much of the wrong food. End of story. We then need to lose weight to restore our health. A study of type 2 diabetics who were overweight/obese found 93 percent got too many calories from fat, 85 percent ate too much saturated fat and 92 percent ate too much salt. Fewer than half ate enough fruit, vegetables, diary and grains. Reference: M.Z. Vitolins et al, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, August, 2009. The challenge is to replace the high fat food we enjoy with other healthier food we enjoy as much or more. This will require effort to start with but over a short time you can train yourself onto tasty food that will support your weight loss efforts. What is clear is that merely being aware you are overweight or finding out you have diabetes is often not enough to trigger a change in eating habits. I suspect this is because an attractive path to better health is not presented in a format that is compelling. The book Enjoy Losing Weight could be renamed Enjoy Eating Great Food That Will Help You To Lose Weight. Don’t see the need to lose weight condeming you to eating boring food. Improve your enjoyment of food and lose weight at the same time. Happy and healthy eating, Keith Whether you are losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight it is recommended you have two or more servings of fruit and three or more servings of veges each day. It would appear many of us are not eating this much fruit and veges. The State Indicator Report on Fruit and Vegetables, 2009 reports that only 33% of adults eat sufficient fruit and 27% eat sufficient vegetables. The report notes ways of getting us to eat more fruit and veges. This includes getting us while we are still young through schools increasing student access to fruit and vegetables as well as teaching nutrition. The report repeats the importance of fruit and vegetables in optimal child growth, maintaining a healthy weight and preventing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, September, 2009 While eating fruit and veges is healthier for you than eating processed food full of refined sugar it is possible to take this further and be selective in the fruit and vegetables you consume when losing weight. To lose weight successfully focus on the fruit and vegetables with a lower glycemic load. This is fully covered in my book “Enjoy Losing Weight”. So, for overall health and to achieve and maintain permanent weight loss include sufficient fruit and vegetables in your daily diet. Eat well, Keith The risk of getting Alzheimers is reduced through eating a diet high in fruit, vegetables, legumes and good fats and exercising. In a study participants that ate a Mediterranean type diet and exercised had a 60% reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimers. Eat well, exercise and you will keep your brain functioning! regards, Keith If you eat processed foods you are likely to be eating excessive salt, a cause of high blood pressure and related heart disease and stroke. It is estimated the average American consumes 1,000 mg more than the recommended 2,300 mg daily intake. Additional health benefits could occur if total salt intake is reduced to 1,500 mg per day. The challenge is to reduce the amount of processed food eaten or find low salt processed food (that is also low in refined sugar and bad fat). Restaurant meals are another potential source of high salt dishes. K Palar & R Sturm, American Journal of Health Promotion, Sept/Oct, 2009 There you have it. Restrict your salt from all sources to less than a teaspoon a day. Regards, Keith Losing weight if you are obese will improve your health. This might seem obvious but a recent study provides the numbers to reinforce the importance of being a healthy weight. Research published under the title Healthy Living is the Best Revenge concluded four lifestyle factors can have a strong impact on preventing chronic diseases. In order of their impact the four factors are: having a body mass index of less than thirty, never having smoked, exercising 3.5 hours per week and eating healthy food. People with all four factors had a 93% lower risk of developing diabetes, an 81% lower risk of a heart attack, a 50% lower risk of a stroke and a 36% lower risk of getting cancer compared with people that had no factors. The full report can be downloaded from www.archinternmed.com. For example in the detailed results a body mass index of less than thirty was strongly related to a lower risk of diabetes. Healthy Living is the Best Revenge Lose weight eating tomatoes! Tomatoes are a great food to eat as part of a low-glycemic diet. With a low glycemic load and valuable nutrients they should be a regular part of your diet. Tomatoes have lycopene, potassium, vitamin C, B vitamins, alpha and beta carotene, chromium and fibre. Lycopene, a contributor to the red colour, is effective in reducing free radicals thereby reducing the incidence of cancer. It has been found to be particularly effective in reducing prostate cancer. It also assists to protect the skin from the sun. To release the lycopene tomatoes are best cooked. This will break down the vitamin C so make sure you get adequate vitamin C from another source – including raw tomatoes. |
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