Eating For Health

Whole Grain s:   The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released (January 31, 2011)   the Dietary Guidelines for 2010.    These guidelines note that a HEALTHY DIET emphasizes fruits, vegetables, WHOLE GRAINS , and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.   One of the recommendations of the guidelines is to increase our intake of WHOLE GRAINS , as the guidelines state:   ·          Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains. Another recommendation is to reduce our intake of refined grains: ·          Limit the consumption of foods that contain refined grains, especially refined grain foods that contain solid fats, added sugars, and sodium. So how does one apply these recommendations when buying and choosing food?   It actually can be quite confusing.   One of the assignments students in my nutrition class have is to analyze food labels from a va

What is so important about 5 fruits and vegetables a day?   Why do we even need to care about fruits and vegetables?   In the same report about fruits and vegetables, CDC notes, “Fruits and vegetables are important for optimal child growth, weight management, and chronic disease prevention. 1,2”        Research after research study has cited the importance of an adequate intake of fruits and vegetables.   For one, fruits and vegetables provide many nutrients such as the vitamins and minerals we need and they are an important source of fiber in our diet.    Fruits provide vitamin A, C, folate as well as potassium and fiber.   Vegetables are also an important source of vitamin A and C, as well as vitamin K, E and the minerals potassium, magnesium, and fiber.    Additionally, fruits and vegetables aid in disease prevention by providing numerous phytochemicals.    What are phytochemicals?    Phytochemicals are not nutrients but they do have biological activity in the body.   Some of the ph

How are Americans doing in reaching the goal of eating 5 Fruits and Vegetables a Day?   The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently reported (see: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/health_professionals/statereport.html ) about our fruit and vegetable consumption by state.     For adults, CDC found only 27% were eating at least 2 vegetables a day and only 33% were eating two servings of fruit.    If you are eating French fries or potato chips as your “vegetable”, you are out of luck.    CDC asked those surveyed, “During the past 7 days, how many times did you eat potatoes? (Do not count French fries, fried potatoes, or potato chips.)”    Not surprisingly, teenage diets were even worse than adults and as a group they were far from the 5 A Day goal.    Less than 10% of high school students are meeting the 5 A Day goal.       If you are eating at least 2 servings of fruit a day, you are doing better than most Americans.   Clearly, these numbers indicate many Americans need to make s

Yesterday I went with my two adult daughters grocery shopping.    While they were choosing their groceries, I spent some time noticing what the other customers were buying.   Basically, was the food they were putting in their cart nutritious or not?    Unfortunately, it was quite disturbing as the carts full of nutritious foods were few and far between.   There were some positive things.   One couple in their thirties were reading the food label on cooking oils.    They choose a good oil, canola oil, which is rich in monounsaturated fats.    A father and son were going through the store and in their cart was 2 gallons of milk and real orange juice.    It went downhill from there.   A mother in her teenage son at first impressed me, they had whole wheat bread, an onion, a green pepper in their cart and then reached into the frozen food section to pull out a large bag of chicken nuggets and a large bag of French fries.    At least some of their food was healthy.    Then there was the mo