Eating For Health

Eggs have gotten a bad rap over the years.   Almost everyone knows eggs have cholesterol and for years health professionals have given warnings that eating eggs are bad for your heart.   Is this true?   Does eating eggs raise your cholesterol and raise your risk of heart disease?   For those of us who love eggs, it was hard to limit our egg consumption.   What are the facts? Does eating eggs raise my risk of heart disease?          For most people, eggs are not the culprit they used to be.    Most of us can enjoy up to 6 eggs a week or 2 eggs every other day and not raise our risk of heart disease.   However, some people have a sensitivity to dietary cholesterol and they should heed the recommendations of their health professional.         The latest Dietary Guidelines note that dietary cholesterol such as the cholesterol in eggs are not the primary drivers of blood cholesterol.   Rather, the saturated fat in foods is more likely to raise our blood cholesterol.   The Dietar

Can you give your nutrition a boost?    Kaiser Permanente recently had an article, 4 Easy Ways to Boost Your Nutrition .   Their focus is on easy ways to healthier eating and controlling your weight. Food is Fuel – to have energy for your everyday activities and for any workout, food is your fuel.   But not just any fuel, focus on fueling your body with high quality fuel. At Least 1 fruit or vegetable per meal – yes, 5 A Day is the goal but if you’re not even meeting that, at least start with always having a fruit or vegetable with every meal.   Packing your lunch, your kids lunch – make sure you add some fruit or a vegetable.   A piece of fresh fruit is easy to pack, baby carrots and hummus, green or red pepper strips.   So many great choices.   Fruits and vegetables not only add important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to your day, they help fill you up for few calories. Drink more water .     A recent study found that kids aren’t drinking enough water.   Dr. Oz and

We all should be eating at least five fruits and vegetables a day.   But it may be challenging to get kids to eat fruits and vegetables.   One of my daughters had to be coaxed to eat grapes, she didn’t like feel of biting into them.   Another daughter, didn’t like tomatoes, they were to be avoided at all costs.   She would eat spaghetti sauce but not with chunks of tomato. Every kid has likes and dislikes.    A good tip sheet from CDC is Encourage Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies .   So what are their suggestions for encouraging kids to get their 5 A Day? Keep fruits visible – have a bowl of fruit on the counter, put cut up fruit and vegetables in small bags in the refrigerator to pack with a lunch or grab as a snack. Fruits and Veggies at Every Meal – MyPlate shows half the plate should be fruit and vegetables.    Have them as side dishes, add vegetables to soup, to entrees.   Top off a yogurt with fresh fruit, put some sliced fresh fruit on cereal, frozen fruit is alway