Eating Healthier: Six Simple Steps

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Eating Healthier: Six Simple Steps"

Pierce Harris
6 years ago
Views:

1 Eating Healthier: Six Simple Steps Most of us are interested in learning how to eat a healthier diet. As a coach, you can support your client by making simple suggestions as well as giving her resources like website links and online articles to read. I ve compiled a short list of recommendations, including a few online excerpts from my book The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today: A Yuppie s Guide to Hippie Food. Use the following six steps to get on a healthier eating track. 1. Learn about whole foods diets Distinguish the whole foods (fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, lean meats, milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter) from the processed foods (foods containing refined flours, refined sugars, preservatives and other additives, processed oils, and/or synthetic sweeteners) in your current diet. Research shows that adding more plant-based whole foods can lower blood pressure levels, lower cholesterol levels, improve blood sugar control, increase regularity, and improve energy levels. The two short articles below explain why whole foods are important for good health. Whole Foods Diet: Beyond Vitamins Whole Foods Diet 2. Increase green leafy vegetables Studies show that a single serving of green, leafy vegetables lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease by 10%and other major chronic disease by 5%. The nutrients in green leafy vegetables calcium, magnesium, vitamin K, and folate are essential for healthy bones (see article below). Strive to eat larger salads and larger servings of these greens: broccoli, bok choy, kale, collards, cabbage, mustard greens, turnip greens, spinach, Swiss chard, and mixed salad greens. Osteoporosis Prevention: What You Need to Know 3. Get your omega-3 fats Omegas 3s are fats that promote the synthesis of prostaglandins that have anti-inflammatory and blood-thinning properties. These fats are being investigated for their role in reducing heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and other diseases. Encourage the regular consumption of all fish (particularly those that are rich in omega 3s: salmon, sardines, herring, and tuna). Encourage the consumption of omega 3 eggs from chickens fed a special diet. Four of these eggs have the omega 3 content of 3.5 ounces of salmon. For those that don t eat fish: 4. Avoid trans fat (hydrogenated oils) Trans fats are created when liquid oils are hydrogenated. These fats are used by the food industry to increase the shelf life of their foods. Eating trans fats increases total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL cholesterol. Those that eat higher levels of trans fats also have more inflammation (as measured by C-reactive protein) and are at a greater risk for diabetes. Foods with trans fats include hard-stick margarine, snack chips, commercial cookies, doughnuts, pastries, and fast-food french fries. A brief overview can be found at:

2 5. Add nuts and seeds to the diet The regular consumption of nuts and seeds correlates with a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes. Those consuming five or more servings of nuts per week have a 35% reduced risk of heart disease and a 27% reduced risk of diabetes compared with those rarely consuming nuts. Nuts and seeds are a good source of nutrients that have been shown as essential for heart health, including vitamin E, folic acid, magnesium, copper, and arginine. Consuming single, handful-sized servings of nuts and seeds as part of a healthy diet can support weight loss by increasing satiety and reducing overall food intake. Adding nuts to delicious smoothies is a great way to improve the diet. Arguably the best smoothie recipe: 6. Add new foods to the diet Be open and willing to try new foods. Below are two that offer real nutritional value. Flaxseed or Flaxseed Oil Flaxseed and flaxseed oil is recognized today as having beneficial medicinal qualities. The flaxseed is the single greatest plant source of an essential fat called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a short-chain omega-3 fat in the same family as the long-chain omega-3 fats found in fish. Omega-3s, when consumed as part of the diet or as a supplement, reduce inflammatory markers in the body, thin the blood, improve insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure, and offer numerous other health benefits. Quinoa Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is an ivory-colored grain native to the Andes Mountains of South America. This nutrient-dense grain can be used in place of white or brown rice. Unlike many whole grains that take close to an hour to prepare, quinoa cooks in only minutes. Increasing whole grains lowers your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Wellcoaches Corporation 2005 Page 2 of 5 6/12/2005

3 Shopper s Guide to Pesticides in Produce (Excerpt from The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today: A Yuppie s Guide to Hippie Food, Vol. 1 by Greg Hottinger, MPH, RD) Thanks to a grant from Stonyfield Farm and the efforts of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), we now have a complete Shopper s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The guide (see below) ranks pesticide contamination for 47 popular fruits and vegetables based on an analysis of more than 100,000 tests that were conducted by the USDA from Pesticide residues were measured in six different ways, after which a composite score was determined and assigned to each crop. The EWG estimates that a person can lower his or her pesticide exposure by 90 percent by replacing the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables with the least contaminated. Of the top twelve containing the greatest pesticide contamination, eight are fruits: peaches, strawberries, apples, nectarines, pears, cherries, red raspberries, and imported grapes. The four vegetables that make the top twelve list are: spinach, celery, potatoes, and sweet bell peppers. Of the twelve least contaminated fruits and vegetables, seven are vegetables. These are: sweet corn, avocado, cauliflower, asparagus, onions, peas, and broccoli. (Choose organic corn to avoid varieties that have been genetically engineered.) The five fruits rounding out the least contaminated category are pineapples, mangoes, bananas, kiwi, and papaya. Harmful effects from pesticides as demonstrated in animal studies include cancer, nervous system damage, and reproductive irregularities. Pesticides are more damaging to a developing fetus and are more toxic to all of us when we are exposed to multiple contaminants. EWG recommends washing produce, peeling vegetables and buying organic whenever possible. The complete list is provided below. For additional information, see Shopper s Guide to Pesticides in Produce (The crop with the highest pesticide contamination is assigned a score of 100) Rank Food Combined Score 1 Peaches Strawberries 89 3 Apples 88 4 Spinach 85 5 Nectarines 85 6 Celery 83 7 Pears 80 8 Cherries 76 9 Potatoes 67 Wellcoaches Corporation 2005 Page 3 of 5 6/12/2005

4 10 Sweet Bell Peppers Raspberries Grapes - Imported Carrots Green Beans Hot Peppers Oranges Apricots Cucumbers Tomatoes Collard Greens Grapes - Domestic Turnip Greens Honeydew Melons Lettuce Kale Mushrooms Cantaloupe Sweet Potatoes Grapefruit Winter Squash Blueberries Watermelon Plums Tangerines Cabbage Papaya Kiwi Bananas Broccoli 18 Wellcoaches Corporation 2005 Page 4 of 5 6/12/2005

5 40 Onions Asparagus Sweet Peas Mango Cauliflower Pineapples 6 46 Avocado 4 47 Sweet Corn* 1 * Author s note: Approximately 40% of all corn planted in the United States today is genetically modified (see Section Three: Genetically Engineered Foods). The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today: A Yuppie s Guide to Hippie Food, Vol. 1 Nutritionist Greg Hottinger, RD, has compiled an easy-to-read guide that shows you how choosing specific brands of your favorite foods can greatly improve the nutritional quality of your diet and your health. Includes recipes, valuable product coupons (1 st edition only), and information on pesticides, GMO foods, and food additives. Sign-up for a free electronic newsletter called Hippie Wisdom and receive $3 off of your copy of The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today by entering the coupon code: at Greg Hottinger, MPH, RD, nutritionist, is known for his warm presence as a speaker and coach, his enthusiasm for sharing the wisdom of healthy eating, and his ability to inspire others. His professional experience includes nutrition educator at the Duke University Diet & Fitness Center and the Duke University Center for Integrative Medicine. He is a Wellcoaches coach and co-owns NOVO Wellness, a weight loss coaching business. Wellcoaches Corporation 2005 Page 5 of 5 6/12/2005

EASY WAYS TO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AS PART OF A HEALTHY DIET.

EASY WAYS TO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AS PART OF A HEALTHY DIET. This is a text-only 508 accessible version for the visually impaired. For a full-color brochure, see: www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/downloads/aa_womens_brochure.pdf Page 1- Left column (back cover) EASY