Good Nutrition Made Easy

 

 

We all want to eat healthy and we should. But this change needs to be easy so we can fit it in our busy lifestyle or we will not stick with it.

 

Health claims are picked out from scientific studies and packaged into appealing food products. Media picks up the headlines and sensationalizes the study. All of these daily and contradicting news items leave consumers confused and guessing at what truly is good for them and what will negatively impact their health.

 

As a dietitian I get frustrated with all of these hypes and feel that we, from the nutritional profession, need to start teaching consumers the right things – to enjoy food for both, its science-backed goodness and for its gastronomical appeal. In other words, we should practice Nutrition as an Art and a Science.

 

Today, I decided to write something about whole grains since grains, and products made from grains are so ubiquitous in everyone’s diet plans. By making a few subtle changes in the types of grains that we eat, we can all eat a lot healthier.

First and foremost, whole grains derive their names from having an intact seed grain. This means that particular grain did not go through the route of milling and processing. It retains the outer bran or the fiber providing layer and the germ which provides B vitamins, antioxidants, vitamin E, and some good unsaturated fats. Now this grain is a wholesome grain providing many nutrients. You want to eat them because tons of research has provided evidence that these whole grains help reduce the risk of some chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and more.

We all eat bread or bread products made from the grain family, practically every meal. For example, common breakfast choices are toast, cereal, bagel or waffle. For lunch, we often eat sandwich or wrap. We also add croutons in the soup or have crackers with the soup or grain products in our   salad.  For dinner, common sides are rice, noodles, pasta, or dinner roll. Now, all that we need to do is to start using the whole grain variety for the same favorite bread or starch product at a given meal. It is that simple a change.

 

For example, you can start out by eating quick cooking oatmeal or a whole grain cereal for breakfast. Request a whole wheat or whole grain bread for sandwiches and whole wheat tortilla for wraps. Use whole wheat pasta or brown rice for dinner. There you have it – a simple way of including 3 servings of whole grain foods in your diet. So every time you have a grain product or a product made out of flour, request the whole grain variety.

 

But do remember that whether it is whole grain bread or regular enriched bread, they both practically give the same calories and the simple rule of calories in to equal calories out prevails to prevent weight gain

 

Eating out is a big part of today’s lifestyle and fortunately whole grains are now available as a choice at many restaurants. Brown rice is commonplace in Asian restaurants. Bulgar and barley are often found in the soup or salad section of the menu. Buckwheat pancakes are seen at breakfast places and Tabbouleh- a Middle Eastern salad is a favorite side dish with falafel in Middle Eastern restaurants. At Japanese restaurant, ask for Soba noodles. Some of the above mentioned grains, not so common in American diets so far, are being increasingly consumed as the benefits of whole grains become more known.

 

The easiest way of buying whole grains is to learn how to read nutritional labels on food packages. This is good for lots of reasons – you are not only learning how to get the right whole grain product, you are also reading the ingredient label to avoid unnecessary items that you would want to avoid.

 

I will have to teach you to read nutrition label another time, but in order to buy the right kind of whole grains, look for the word whole in front of any flour or grain. Preferably those words will be in front of the first three ingredients on the list, and if so you have a great whole grain product in your hand.

 

This is simple, right?  But what if you say that you are pressed for time and you do not read labels and quickly go in and out of the food store. But like any other research, this process is going to take some time initially, but is going to help you big time in long term health. Go to the food store once with some time on your hand. Read some labels of your favorite food items and find the same items in whole grain variety by reading the labels and make a note of them. That’s it. Then every time you go, you know what you have to buy and it will not take you any longer then before to do food shopping. Consider this as an essential research step for your health investment.

  

Consumers are supposed to take full responsibility for what they buy and eat. So let’s all start out by learning how to read labels and how to buy good food. Business is a simple game of demand and supply. If we, the consumers demand healthy food, food manufacturers will put it our there.

 

Did I come out sounding very idealistic? Not really. Look at the fate of man-made Trans fats in the food industry. Once the nutrition educators, consumers, and the law makers got together, they made the unnecessary Trans fats disappear from the food industry, didn’t they?

 

For a journey towards a healthful lifestyle, this is a baby step. Just DO IT!

 

 

 

Kanan Thakore,RD,CNSD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February is the month for Valentine’s Day and “Go Red for Women” from the American Heart Association. Both are about doing the right things for your heart. As a Registered Dietitian, I can talk about diet, nutrition and lifestyle changes which will help you get there.

Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in women? It claims 400,000 lives each year and even surpasses cancer! Although this is very heart breaking, we can all do simple things for prevention.

Here’s the check list:

 Get close to your ideal body weight for your height. This will help reduce your body mass index- a measure of obesity.

 Include whole grain products in your diet by replacing white bread, white rice or pasta. 

 Reduce your total fat consumption. No more than 30% of calories should come from fat. An easy way to calculate this is to follow the link: http://www.myfatstranslator.com/. This simple calculator on the American Heart Association’s website lets you individualize your fat content.

 “Fruits and veggies – more matters!” This is the recommendation from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  Depending upon how many calories you consume, 4-13 servings per day of fruits and vegetables are recommended. An easy way to individualize your plan is to follow this link: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/index.html.

Easy additions can come from keeping handy snack packages of raisins or dry cranberries in your purse or office drawers. Keep a fruit bowl near the door as a grab-and-go snack for the whole family. Adding salads in your daily plans or simply keeping bags of baby carrots or celery hearts in your fridge can curb unhealthy snack attacks. During winter months you can even leave a fruit in your glove compartment in the car!

 Replace artery-clogging saturated fats like butter, lard, or Crisco by heart-healthy fats like canola oil, sunflower oil or olive oil as per your daily fat allowance.  

 Eat oily fish such as salmon, trout, and herring at least twice a week to get omega three fatty acids in your diet. Omega three fatty acids are part of good fats that help in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

 Choose lean meats and poultry without skin in place of red meats, and use cooking methods like baking, roasting, boiling, grilling to avoid the use of additional fats.

Kanan Thakore, RD, CNSD