Knowing What Foods Are Healthy
The question of what foods are healthy can often be quite a difficult one to answer. The research often seems to be in conflict, The studies that say a particular food is great for you one day often turn around and warn against that very food the next day. Sorting through all this clutter to find the real deal on nutrition and what foods are healthy can be difficult.
Dietary fads seem to come and go on an alarmingly regular basis as well. The low fiber high fat diets of yesterday give way to low fat low protein diets, and the wheel just keeps rolling, with too little thought given to what foods are healthy.
Understanding Your Current Diet
When evaluating your own diet, it is important to take a couple of steps back and evaluate your own health, including what you want to get out of your diet. Knowing your own tastes and preferences, in addition to knowing which foods are healthy, will help you create a diet you can stick to for the rest of your life.
When choosing what foods are healthy, it is essential that you choose foods you actually like. If you choose a list of healthy foods you hate, you will obviously have trouble sticking to your diet long term, and your overall health and fitness level will suffer as a result. It is best to choose from the long list of healthy foods you already like, and to incorporate them into your diet for maximum benefit.
The Importance Of Fruits And Vegetables In The Diet
Among the healthiest of all foods are fruits and vegetables. There is a good reason that fruits and vegetables make up such a large part of the government's new food pyramid. The new government guidelines recommend that everyone eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, but unfortunately most people fall far short of this important goal. It is important, however, to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables into your diet as you possibly can.
Eating fruits and vegetables does not mean you are limited to simply eating pieces of fruit and raw carrots all day. When choosing what foods are healthy, it is just as important to prepare them in new and interesting ways. You can add fresh fruits to your favorite energy drink or smoothie, for instance, top your yogurt with strawberries or enjoy a sliced banana with your morning cereal.
Learn To Think Long Term
This kind of variety is vital to the long term success of any diet. It is not enough to simply know what foods are healthy. It is vital to use that knowledge to create healthy meals that you and your family will love.
In addition to fruits and vegetables, of course, there are a wide variety of foods that are good for the body. These excellent foods include whole grains, including whole wheat bread and crackers, low fat meats, chicken, turkey and other poultry products and fresh fish. There are so many answers to the question of what foods are healthy that the hardest part may be choosing among them.
About Nutrition
| Drinking Water |
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Good nutrition isn't just about the foods you eat, it also includes the beverages you drink. Water is a good beverage. It doesn't have any calories or artificial colorings or flavorings and your body needs it. It's also cheap when you get it from the tap. Maybe you prefer bottled water or you use a filtered pitcher to avoid impurities or you prefer the flavor.
I don't like to drink water. I don't like the way it tastes. A lot of people think that's weird because water doesn't really have any flavor. I was a picky eater as a kid so maybe that's related, I don't know. Anyway, if you're like me you can still get enough water by choosing other beverages or flavoring your water with a slice of lemon or lime. I also like sparkling water. You can choose flavored waters too. Just because they're flavored doesn't change the fact that they're almost completely water. Common Questions About Water
Drinking Water originally appeared on About.com Nutrition on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 10:45:21. Permalink | Comment | Email this |
| Sweet Potatoes |
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Did you know that yams and sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A and beta carotene? Sweet potatoes are also a good source of fiber. They have a naturally sweet flavor that doesn't need much extra seasoning, although they're often glazed or served in sweet potato pie. Today I wrote an article about sweet potatoes, how to choose them, how to cook them and I included some links to healthy and delicious recipes that feature sweet potatoes: What's your favorite way to serve sweet potatoes? I like mine baked and then served with a little bit of real maple syrup with a few pecans sprinkled on top. Sweet Potatoes originally appeared on About.com Nutrition on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 11:07:54. Permalink | Comment | Email this |
| Vitamin D In the Winter |
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Vitamin D is a popular vitamin in the world of nutrition right now - it seems there's news about vitamin D research every week. Your body needs vitamin D in order to absorb calcium and various research studies have linked deficiencies with several health conditions, including high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Today I read a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology in which the authors looked at vitamin D deficiency, supplementation and cardiovascular disease risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes. The researchers (not surprisingly) found an association of vitamin D deficiency with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and also with decreased survival time. So they looked a little closer at the patients who were deficient in vitamin D levels to see if taking vitamin D supplements had any impact on survival times. Turns out the vitamin D deficient-subjects who were taking vitamin D supplements tended to have increased survival times. This was an observational study and not a randomized control trial (which provides the highest form of evidence), so there was no specific dosage used and the subjects weren't required to take any vitamin D. So there was a wide range of dosages reported, from 1,000 International Units per day up to prescription forms of vitamin D taken at 50,000 International Units bi-weekly. Interestingly, subjects who had cardiovascular disease but were not deficient in vitamin D according to blood tests, but took vitamin D supplements anyway didn't have the same increased survival times. We still have a lot to learn about any therapeutic benefits of vitamin D. You don't usually get much vitamin D from the foods you eat, although milk is usually fortified with it, you're body makes vitamin D after your skin is exposed to sunlight. Those of us who live north of a line drawn on a map from the northern border of California in the west to Boston in the east can't even get vitamin D from the sun during the colder months because the sun's rays just aren't strong enough to give us the UV exposure we need. So it's a good idea to take vitamin D supplements during the winter (or any time of the year if you avoid sun exposure). Vitamin D In the Winter originally appeared on About.com Nutrition on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 14:40:43. Permalink | Comment | Email this |
| Dietary Magnesium and Stroke Risk |
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A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition came to the conclusion that dietary magnesium intake is inversely associated with the risk of ischemic stroke (these are the strokes caused by blood clots in the brain). The authors performed a meta-analysis, which is a type of study that involves taking the data from previous similar studies and combining them. The authors of the study used the data from seven previous studies and determined that an increased intake of 100 milligrams magnesium per day was associated with an 8 - 9% decreased risk of ischemic stroke. Eight or nine percent may not sound like much, but according to the Internet Stroke Center, stroke is the third highest cause of death in the United States and of those strokes, 88% are ischemic strokes, so something as simple as increasing a dietary mineral could be quite significant.
So this could be a good thing, but, it's important to keep a couple of things in mind with this study. The authors of this study looked at dietary intake of magnesium so it doesn't indicate that taking magnesium supplements will have the same decrease in risk, and it's important (I think) to understand that magnesium deficiency symptoms are uncommon. Also, it's possible that the reduction of stroke risk is caused by other factors besides the actual magnesium since foods that contain magnesium are generally healthy fiber-rich foods - things like whole grains, nuts, seeds and green leafy vegetables. Still, I believe it adds some evidence to the idea that eating magnesium-rich plant-based foods is important for good health. Dietary Magnesium and Stroke Risk originally appeared on About.com Nutrition on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 15:36:54. Permalink | Comment | Email this |
| Nutritionist or Dietitian? |
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A reader wants to know if there's a difference between nutritionists and dietitians? Here's my answer: Nutritionist or Dietitian Have you been to a dietitian or a nutritionist? Or both? Share your experiences and opinions of the two by leaving a comment. Nutritionist or Dietitian? originally appeared on About.com Nutrition on Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 15:32:29. Permalink | Comment | Email this |