Getting to the Heart of a Healthy Diet: Empty-Calorie Foods

Getting to the Heart of a Healthy Diet: Empty-Calorie Foods

The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your intake of foods high in calories or low in nutrition, including foods like soft drinks and candy that have a lot of sugars. We know that soda and junk food is bad for us. But do we actually know why?

Here's Why:
Since there is such a focus on eating a low-fat diet, people may think that any food that is low in fat is inherently healthy. This is not the case! For example, soda and hard candy have no fat, but they also have no vitamins, minerals, fiber, or other health-promoting ingredients. What they do have is sugar, and lots of it. And a lot of sugar can add up to a lot of calories.

Eating foods high in sugar and calories can lead to weight gain, and being overweight is a risk factor heart attacks and heart disease.

In addition, sugary foods often take the place of healthier foods. For example, when was the last time you chose a soda over a glass of skim milk or snacked on gummi bears instead of an apple?

How to Minimize Empty-Calorie Food Intake:
Here are a few tips to help you minimize your intake of empty-calorie foods.

Do not be fooled by low-fat sweets. Often, when food manufacturers remove fat from cookies, crackers, cakes, and other snack foods, they add sugar to make up for the flavor lost with the fat. The result is that many low-fat snacks provide the same amount of calories—or more—as the original product. So a low-fat banner on the package does not give you free reign to eat the whole box. It's still important to look at calories and limit snacks.

Find other ways to satisfy your sweet tooth. Sometimes a little bit of sugar goes a long way. Try some of these tactics:

• Instead of the sugary cereal you have been eating since you were a kid, make a bowl of oatmeal and top it with some brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup.
• Snack on a bowl of applesauce; if it's not sweet enough, add raisins.
• Fruits, both fresh and dried, are sweet and may offer you the sweet fix you are looking for at 3 o'clock in the afternoon or after dinner. Try some fruit first, before heading for the candy, to see if that satisfies your sweet tooth.

Choose diet versions. If you just love the taste of soda and can't imagine having popcorn or pizza with anything else, try a diet version. Or if it's the bubbles you crave, have a glass of one of these zero calorie beverages:

• Seltzer water (some are flavored)
• Club soda (add a splash of fruit juice for flavor)

RESOURCES:

American Dietetic Association
http://www.eatright.org/

American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/

The Nutrition Source
Harvard School of Public Health
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

CANADIAN RESOURCES:

Canadian Cardiovascular Society
http://www.ccs.ca/

Dietiticans of Canada
http://www.dietitians.ca/

REFERENCES:

Duyff RL. The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutrition Guide. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 2006.

Our 2006 diet and lifestyle recommendations. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3040349. Accessed June 30, 2008.

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This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.

Eating a Diet Rich in Fruits and Vegetables

Here's Why:

Produce has certainly earned its healthful reputation. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and fiber, while being low in calories and fat. All of these factors contribute to many health benefits, such as:

• Lower blood cholesterol levels
• Decreased risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease
• Decreased risk of certain types of cancer
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower risk of overweight and obesity

Here's How:
A total of 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day may sound like a lot, but a serving is probably smaller than you think.

One serving of fruit equals:

• 1 medium piece of fruit, such as an apple, banana, orange, pear, or peach
• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1/2 cup chopped, cooked, or canned fruit, including berries and grapes
• 1/4 cup dried fruit
• 3/4 cup 100% fruit juice

One serving of vegetable equals:

• 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables, such as spinach, romaine lettuce, and broccoli
• 1/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or chopped raw
• 3/4 cup 100% vegetable juice

Within your daily servings, try for one rich in vitamin A or beta-carotene and one rich in vitamin C. Produce rich in vitamin A and beta-carotene (which is converted to vitamin A in the body) include:

• Pumpkin
• Sweet potatoes
• Carrots
• Mangoes
• Spinach
• Cantaloupe
• Kale
• Apricots
• Tomato juice
• Nectarines
• Papayas
• Peaches

Produce rich in vitamin C include:

• Bell pepper
• Papayas
• Oranges and orange juice
• Broccoli
• Strawberries
• Grapefruit
• Cantaloupe
• Tomatoes and tomato juice
• Potatoes
• Cabbage
• Spinach
• Collard greens

To reach five a day, eat some at each meal
For breakfast:

• Fresh or dried fruit mixed with cereal or oatmeal
• Bagel or English muffin topped with onion and tomato or cucumber and cream cheese
• Glass of tomato juice with a spear of celery

For lunch and snacks:

• Bake a sweet potato (microwave on high for 5-8 minutes) and top with black beans
• Stir fresh fruit into yogurt
• Pop open a can of mandarin oranges
• Dip carrot, celery, red pepper, and zucchini sticks into hummus, yogurt, or low-fat dip

For dinner:

• Roast vegetables—onion, squash, peppers, and eggplant—and spread on a pizza crust with tomato sauce and cheese
• Top baked potatoes with steamed broccoli, beans, and salsa
• Add dried fruit to rice and stuffing
• Grate carrots and zucchini into pasta sauce

For dessert:

• Top frozen yogurt with sauteed apples, fresh peaches, or canned pineapple
• Choose a fruity dessert, such as a cobbler, over a heavier treat, such as cheesecake

RESOURCES:

American Dietetic Association
http://www.eatright.org/

My Pyramid.gov
http://www.mypyramid.gov/

CANADIAN RESOURCES:

Canadian Council on Food and Nutrition
http://www.ccfn.ca/

Dietitians of Canada
http://www.dietitians.ca/

REFERENCES:

American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org .

Jiang R, Jacobs DR Jr, Mayer-Davis E, et al. Nut and seed consumption and inflammatory markers in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;163(3):222-231.

Kuriyama S, Shimazu T, Ohmori K, et al. Green tea consumption and mortality due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all causes in Japan: the Ohsaki study. JAMA . 2006;296(10):1255-1265.

US Department of Agriculture website. Available at: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome .

US Department of Agriculture. Versatile vegetables. US Department of Agriculture website. Available at: http://www.cnpp.us.... Accessed June 14, 2010.

Vlachopoulos C, Aznaouridis K, Alexopoulos N, Economou E, Andreadou I, Stefanadis C. Effect of dark chocolate on arterial function in healthy individuals. Am J Hypertens . 2005;18(6):785-791.

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This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.

Whole foods and health

Whole Foods & Health

Humans are designed to eat food.
Minerals from the soil are broken down by bacteria from large, rock-like molecules into tiny molecules often bound to protein. These miniature minerals are absorbed by plants. Plants use soil, water, air and sunlight to create active minerals and vitamins. We eat the plants and gain the benefits of their work. (Sometimes we eat the animals that have eaten the plants.)
We are designed to digest plants and extract the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. We are designed to desire the plants as food. Culinary artists tell us that we have large taste buds for sweet, salty, sour, bitter and acrid/pungent tastes and smells that attract us to various foods; these taste buds trigger cravings before we eat and satiety after we eat.
The journey of digestion
Hunger will be triggered if our brain detects a deficiency in any nutrient. These include "macro" nutrients like carbohydrates and sugars, protein, fats, water and fiber. It also includes "micro" nutrients like calcium, magnesium and Vitamin C. In a wonderful way, our body communicates the nature of the deficiency. For example, we crave sweets when we need Vitamin C. Cravings are the language our body uses to communicate its needs. We need to use our brains when interpreting this language!
As we anticipate eating a food that satisfies our cravings, we begin to salivate and our stomach prepares to receive the food. Microscopic particles of our meal enter the bloodstream and lymphatic system as we chew the food. This triggers our small intestines, liver, gall bladder, immune system and hormone regulatory system to prepare for the next steps of digestion and assimilation.
Macronutrients have special enzymes that break out the vitamins and minerals we need from the foods: Amylase for starches, Protease for proteins, Lipase for fats, etc. These are present throughout the digestive tract, but they are concentrated in the first 10 inches of the small intestines. Without whole foods, these special enzymes will not be released. Without these enzymes, vitamins will not be liberated from the food.
Renting your vitamins
You have actually seen evidence of vitamins that were rejected by your body because they were not properly digested. You may not have recognized the signs. But, have you ever seen your urine change colors after taking a vitamin? This is a sign that the vitamins were rejected. You didn't "buy" the vitamins, you merely rented them! Do you want to know how to keep the vitamins you take?
The answer is simple: Humans are designed to eat food. Take your vitamins with food and you will increase your chance to absorb them. If you have indigestion, try one of the over-the-counter digestive enzyme blends to help out where you may be deficient. Use probiotics from fermented foods as a digestive aid as well. Most important: start with food-based vitamins for the best absorption!