EATING RIGHT

Food For Thought:

The alarming facts:
I was taught in nursing school that a healthy diet was essential to good health, especially when combined with proper rest, exercise, and a balance of work and recreation.  I have found some alarming facts about our nutritional status that I would like to share with you.  We are the wealthiest country in the world, but we are dying from diseases of malnutrition.  Here are some facts that should be “food for thought”.
• The fruits and vegetables we eat today have only one half to one quarter the nutritional value they did 50 years ago.
• Research at Cal Poly California indicates our soil is depleted of many nutrients perhaps not essential to the plant, but very essential to our health.  Additionally, we are exposed to past and present soil chemical use through fertilizers and pesticides.
• Free radical damage has been linked to cellular breakdown and all chronic diseases, but Americans eat far less than the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, the primary source of free radical scavengers known as antioxidants.
• Countries which have no rules regarding the use of known carcinogenic pesticides (cancer-causing) such as DDT, sell products in our grocery stores, and do not have to carry warning labels or even be labeled as to country of origin.
• Prostate cancer kills one man every 13 minutes, and researchers have indicated that prostate disease could be slowed, if not prevented by adequate zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin B intake.
• By the age of 60, one out of two women will have osteoporosis, a preventable but not curable condition.  Adequate calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D intake are essential for bone health, but most women do not get even a baseline value in their diet.
• Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, and is there any doubt why?  We don’t exercise, our diet is high in the trans-fatty acids found in shortening and margarine and low in antioxidants, and omega 3 fatty acids.  We have also the fattest people in the world, with 51% of us overweight and 25% obese.
• Asian women have 90% fewer breast cancers than their American counterparts, and diet is the glaring factor as they eat much less fat, more vegetables, and more soy protein.  Hormones in milk and meat have been shown to be a significant factor in breast health.

These are just a few of the disturbing facts that have come by my desk in the past few years.  Our fast food diets are going to kill us as they create more and more chronic disease.  Children at the age of 15 are found to have plaque in their coronary arteries, the beginning of heart disease.  Children even younger have gallbladder disease.  Diet does matter, and supplementation is essential for optimal health, according to many experts. What’s in your diet?

What should you do?

Eat more fish, little chicken, and little cuts of lean red meat. Eggs are an excellent source of protein and their cholesterol content is not as bad as once thought. I like eggs from chickens fed extra omega 3 oils. Omega 3 oils are very important to your health and should be included in your diet every day. I believe taking omega 3 supplements is also very important to reduce inflammation and improve cellular health, particularly if you don't eat much fish.

Fruits should be thought of as a between meal snack. Fruit juice is high in sugar, so don't drink large quantities. To improve overall water intake, a small amount of citrus juice (orange, lemon, grapefruit) can be added to water to improve its palatability. Which leads me to the next point- drink at least 64 oz of water per day. You'll need more if you are dieting, overweight, when it's hot, or when exercising.

Eat more fiber, such as that found in vegetables, whole grains, and fruit. Fiber supplements are good, but they should be a high quality product. When you first start increasing fiber intake, you may notice more gas. Be sure to increase your water intake when taking any fiber supplements. Supplements such as "Beano" can be very helpful in digesting high fiber foods, but symptoms will decrease as your gut becomes healthier and able to handle the fiber.

Try eating vegetables for breakfast- they really taste good if you mix them in an omelet. Try saving vegetables from the night before and eating them in the morning to save time. It gets one of those 5 servings a day out of the way. Poached eggs on a bed of spinach is pretty tasty too!

Avoid processed foods such as white flour, white sugar, and white rice. In fact, if you want to be healthy, shop in the grocery store only on the periphery- the center isles are where they put most of the processed stuff.

Milk is not really a great food from several standpoints. It is an acid producing food and the body must balance the acid with minerals to keep the Ph alkaline. Bones are the source of minerals used if you don't consume enough. This is why milk is not a good source of calcium. If you like milk and don't want to give it up, drink low fat or nonfat forms, and avoid the intake of BGH (Bovine growth hormone) by buying milk that has "BGH free" on the label, if not organic. Also, think of milk as a food, not as a beverage.
 
Be aware that just because it comes from a health food store doesn't mean it is absolutely healthy. Learn to read labels, look for key ingredients, and know what food additives to avoid. (See Controversial additives) Avoid high-glycemic carbohydrates and sugars in all forms. Glycemic index is determined by how fast a food converts to sugar in the body. There are various books on the subject and several free guides on the internet. Like here.

Fat is not bad- it is essential for us to consume healthy fats daily. However, hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils (oils that have been chemically altered to be solid at room temperature) are deadly even in moderate amounts. Avoid them at all costs- read labels! New research suggests a balance between omega 3 (fish oil in particular but also found in borage oil, evening primrose oil, walnuts, some eggs, etc) and omega 6 (common vegetable oils found in restaurant and processed foods such as corn oil, canola oil, soybean oil and others). Olive oil is monosaturated and in a class by itself. It has been associated with good cardiovascular health. It does not hold up in high heat, so it is not a good choice for frying or other high heat cooking.

Another fat in the news recently is organic coconut oil. The coconut oil you probably have noted on ingredient labels of processed foods is NOT healthy. On the other hand, organic coconut oil has been linked with healthy brain function, and there has been anecdotal use of it to help Alzheimer's sufferers. Learn more here.

If I had to recommend a diet that was probably suitable for most people, I would recommend the Mediterranean diet as the most balanced and healthy all around. However, the diet that suits you best is the one that gives you lots of energy, maintains your body at a good weight, and supports healthy blood chemistry.