Best source of vitamins? Your plate, not your medicine cabinet

Every food group provides some essential nutrients, and certain foods (cereals and milk, for example) are fortified with specific nutrients as well. Vitamin and mineral supplements from a bottle simply can’t match all the biologically active compounds teeming in a well-stocked pantry.
By focusing on the big picture — eating a balanced diet that contains a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, dairy products, seafood, lean meats, and poultry — it’s easy to get enough vitamins and minerals. Here are some tips.
Choose healthy fats. Fish, nuts, and vegetable oils contain healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Eat these foods regularly and in moderation. But do limit consumption of saturated fat and stay away from trans fats, found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (often used in spreads, baked goods, and fast foods).
Don’t forget fiber. Good sources include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and dark chocolate. Fiber from grains helps lower the risk of heart disease. Your daily fiber goal depends on your age and sex:
  • Men ages 50 or younger: 38 grams
  • Men over 50: 30 grams
  • Women ages 50 or younger: 25 grams
  • Women over 50: 21 grams
Balance energy intake and output. The energy you take in should equal the energy you use. That means, for example, that if you are sedentary and 5 feet 4 inches tall, you need far fewer calories to remain at your current weight than an active person who is 6 feet tall.
Set a goal. Start by eating one extra fruit or vegetable a day. When you’re used to that, add another and keep going. For example, add fruit to your breakfast cereal every morning. Then try eating a piece of fruit for an after-lunch snack. Next, add at least one vegetable to your dinner plate.
Be creative. Adding finely grated carrots or zucchini to pasta sauce, meat loaf, chili, or a stew is one way to get an extra serving of vegetables. Dip vegetables into hummus or another bean spread, some spiced yogurt, or even a bit of ranch dressing. Slather peanut butter on a banana or slices of apple. Try mashed avocado as a dip with diced tomatoes and onions, or as a sandwich spread, topped with spinach leaves, tomatoes, and a slice of cheese.
(courtesy: HEALTHbeat)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World Renown Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease

We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong. So, here it is. I freely admit to being wrong.. As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries,today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact. I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labelled “opinion makers.”  Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol. The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake. The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease. Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice. It Is Not Working! These recommendations are no longer
Read more

Spoiler Alert: Processed Meats and Sweets Aren't Healthy

Image
Posted on 11/19/2015  by  Healthy Living Blog  Just days before Halloween, foodies got bad news that was neither a trick nor a treat. The World Health Organization’s cancer agency, the   International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) , classified eating red meat – beef, veal, pork, lamb – as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” This new classification puts steak and pork chops in Group 2A, the   same group   as inorganic lead compounds and malaria. But, it gets worse. IARC’s   press release   also says processed meat is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) and that one portion a day (one hot dog, or two slices of bacon) was linked to increased rates of colorectal cancer, as well as prostate and pancreatic cancer. “It’s pretty bad when a food lands in the same category as asbestos and tobacco in terms of its carcinogenic potential,” says   Kay Judge, M.D. opens new window , medical director for   Sutter Weight Management Institute   in Sacramento and internal medicine special
Read more

Chemical Dependency and Aging

Most people look forward to the golden years, but after age 75 many medical issues arise that can compromise quality of life. Philip E. Kolski, LCSW, program manager of Outpatient Services at Mills-Peninsula’s   Behavioral Health Services Center Opens new window   sees many seniors struggling to manage chronic pain that keeps them from living the life they want. “Joint and back pain is especially prevalent among seniors,” he says.   According to the National Institutes of Health, about half of older Americans living on their own have chronic pain. Typically, to manage this pain, doctors prescribe opioid pain medications. “When these medications are taken over time, people can develop a tolerance for the medication,” Kolski says. “When that happens, either their dosage has to increase, they have to find an alternate way of coping with the pain such as acupuncture, or they have to stop taking the medication, go through withdrawal and start a new opiate.” While developing a tol
Read more