Eating For Health

In honor of American Heart Month, this week we will look at heart health and what you can eat for a healthier heart.   The Centers for Disease Control notes even small changes in your diet and lifestyle can lead to healthier changes for your heart.   Why be concerned about heart health?   CDC states, “heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women”.   Another great source of information is The American Heart Association, the go to place for questions about heart health and how to adopt a heart healthy lifestyle.   What are some of their recommendations in terms of healthier eating and exercise?   Eating for a healthy heart:   Small steps to take Eat at home at least 3 times a week.    By skipping the fast food and restaurant meals you can prepare meals that are lower in fat, especially meals lower in saturated fat, and lower in sodium. Use more herbs and spices when cooking – keep the flavor while cutting back on ...

Last week I shared 4 of the Healthy Eating Habits the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition recommends.   The Council has Eight Healthy Eating Goals , and this week we will look at the remaining 4 healthy eating habits you can adopt in 2017.   So many people think healthy eating means giving up food.   But for many people, healthy eating means adding food to your day – adding more fruits and vegetables, adding whole grains.   Yesterday, I was in a grocery store and the mother of a toddler was buying a carton of "Juice Drink" boxes.   She probably thought this was a healthy choice but she was really buying mostly sugar water for her young child.   Had she bought real juice she would have been offering her toddler something with nutritional value rather than a drink of empty calories.   Making some small changes in the foods we choose to eat and buy each day can have a major impact on our health.   Simply buying real juice instea...

This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced proposed changes in our food labels.    Major changes in the food labels appearing on everything from chips to soup haven’t changed much in 20 years.   So what are some of the proposed changes? Serving sizes – ever look at the serving size on ice cream.   It states one half cup is the serving size, yet who eats only one half cup?   In teaching my nutrition class, I show a video in which the dietitian notes the one half cup serving size on ice cream.   The students are always surprised it is so low.   When I told my husband, he insisted that one half cup was too low and went to the freezer to prove it.   Of course, the ice cream container verified that one half cup is the serving.   So one of the proposed food label changes is to increase the serving size on foods such as ice cream to reflect what people actually eat.   Thus, for ice cream the serving size will increase fro...