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Nutrition
The Healthy Eating Food Pyramid
In the United States, The US Department Of Agriculture has devised a Food Guide Pyramid, which serves as a guide for people to understand how to eat healthy. The Food pyramid guide features a chart filled with vertical stripes that represent the five major food groups, plus oils and fats. The color stand for: Green – vegetables, red – fruits; yellow – oils and fats; Blue – milk and dairy products; Orange – grains; Purple – meat, fish, beans and nuts. Here are other pertinent facts about the food guide.
The Pyramid Cookbook: Pleasures of the Food Guide Pyramid
About the Food Pyramid
In 2005, the US Department of Agriculture revised the food pyramid, as they wanted to show Americans a better way of how to eat healthy. The food pyramid has other messages for all of us. It tells us to eat a wide variety of foods, as well as eat less of some foods and more of others. In the illustrated food pyramid guide, eating a wide variety of food indicates that a balanced diet is achieved when you include all the food groups. This means that you need to have foods of every color, each day. In the illustrated food guide, you’ll see that as the colored start to get thinner as they reach the top, this indicates that there is a difference between food groups, even if they all belong to a certain food group.
Food Serving Samples
The food pyramid guide offers a number of suggestions for achieving a balanced and nutritious diet. Her are some food serving suggestions.
• Grains: Grains are generally measured in ounces. An ounce of whole grains could be equivalent to 1 a slice of bread, half a cup of cooked cereal, half a cup of pasta and 1 cup of cold cereal. 4 to 8 year-old children require at least 4 to 5ounces of whole grains each day, while 9-13 year-olds need at least 5 ounces.
• Vegetables: Dark green and orange veggies are best for consumption. Vegetable servings are generally measured in cups, Children from 4- 8 years old need at least one and a half cups of vegetables each day, while 9 to 13 year olds need 2 ½ cups of veggies each day.
• Fruits: Sweet, juicy fruits should be part of the daily diet. Children from 4- 8 year-old need at least 1 cup of fruit each day, while 9-13 year old adolescents need to consume at least half a cup of fruit each day.
• Milk and Calcium-Rich Food: Calcium is a mineral that helps strengthen bones, and prevent osteoporosis and other bone deficiencies. 4-8 year-old kids need at least 2 cups of milk each day, while 9-13 year olds need to have at least 3 cups of milk daily. Apart from milk, you can also substitute cheese, yogurt, calcium-fortified orange juice and others.
• Milk, Beans, Fish and Nuts: An ounce equivalent of this group would be equal to 1 ounce of fish, poultry and fish, ¼ cup cooked dry beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon peanut butter and half an ounce of nuts and seeds.
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Healthy Eating Guidelines for Diabetics
A diabetic’s life can be tough on his diet. If a person has diabetes, it’s important that he or she is aware of the connection between carbohydrate consumption and diabetes management. Once carbohydrates are synthesized by the digestive system, they become sugars, and have a direct effect on blood glucose levels. A diabetic’s diet must maintain a delicate balance of essential nutrients and minerals. It’s important for diabetics to know what foods to eat, and which ones to avoid.
Choose High-Fiber Vegetables
Eating fiber-rich vegetables is good for diabetics, since fiber does not raise or affect blood sugar levels. The vegetables should be minimally processed, and ideally should be eaten raw. Among the fiber-rich veggies that are great for diabetics include cauliflower, celery, cucumber, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, artichokes, cabbage, eggplant, peppers, greens and spinach.
Suggested Fruit Variants for Diabetics
Fruits that have high fiber and fructose content are good for diabetics, since these do not affect blood sugar levels. Raw fruits are best for diabetics, since most dried and canned fruits contain high sugar levels. The suggested fruits include apricots, apples, blueberries, grape fruit, guava, Kiwi fruit, mango, pears and pomegranates.
Meat and Protein Substitutes
Getting adequate amounts of protein should be part of any diet, especially for diabetics. Protein helps regulate blood sugar levels and provides energy. While meat products are generally the best sources of protein, diabetics must limit their meat consumption, and instead consume more legumes and fish, which provide essential fatty acids and protein. The best meat substitutes for diabetics include veal, lamb, chicken or turkey, oily fish like mackerel and salmon, seafood, eggs, beans, lentils, soybeans, and moderate amounts of milk and dairy products.
Limit Consumption of Unhealthy Fats
Diabetics must also limit their consumption of unhealthy fats like trans fat and saturated fat, as well as reduce their intake of margarine, butter and shortening. Diabetics should instead go for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are found in canola, olive oil and nuts.
Whole Grains
Whole grains also serve as a tasty way for adding good carbohydrates to your diet. Choose whole-grain cereals and breads, bran, barley, buckwheat, millet and steel-cut oatmeal.
Just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean that you can’t have your fill of healthy and delicious food anymore. A healthy eating plan for diabetics should translate into consuming a wide array of foods, in moderate amounts. Diabetics also need to stick to regular meal times, and get a diet which emphasizes on vegetables, fruits, whole grains and other healthy meat substitutes. A diabetes diet should not be restrictive, but instead must offer you foods that are rich in nutrients, and low in fat and calories.
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Healthy Eating – Five Food Items that Help Lower Bad Cholesterol
Most of us are aware that eating less burgers, fries, pizzas and fried foods helps to improve our heart, and our overall health. However, eating more healthy food options can do more than just reduce cholesterol levels, or keep the heart healthy. Eating healthy foods also helps to improve skin tone, strengthen the immune system, sharpen the eyesight, and lower the risks of getting a heart attack or stroke. The consumption of fruits and vegetables, especially vitamin-C rich fruits and green leafy veggies, has also been found to offer a protective effect against stroke and other coronary heart diseases.
Kiwi Fruit and Avocado
Avocados are delicious and creamy, and they are also good at reducing LDL, or bad cholesterol, as well as regulate blood pressure. Avocados are also rich in plant sterols, soluble fiber, monounsaturated fats and minerals. The kiwi fruit is also a low-key but hardworking fruit that’s good for the heart. Kiwi has a high potassium content, which helps in regulating blood pressure.
Leafy Greens are Heart-Healthy Items
Leafy greens are good at enhancing your body’s immune system. They’re also good at keeping your heart in good shape. Leafy greens like kale, Swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, mustard greens other dark green veggies are good sources of calcium, vitamins and other antioxidants. They help reduce plaque build-up in the arteries, and also aid in reducing blood pressure levels. These greens are also good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids. Add fresh greens to your sandwich, taco or pizza, or sprinkle them in your soup and salads.
Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits like orange lemons, grape fruit, lime and tangerine, are excellent sources of vitamin C, folic acid, soluble fiber, minerals and antioxidants. Many doctors believe that eating at least one orange per day can help reduce the risks of stroke by as much as 25 percent. Citrus fruits are also help reduce blood pressure levels, bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Tea Helps Protect the Arteries from Damage
Whether green, black, white or any type, tea can help protect your arteries from high blood pressure and other harmful elements. By drinking at least two cups of tea per day, you actually help reduce the risks of having a stroke or heart attack by 40%. drinking tea also helps you lose weight, and strengthen the teeth too. Choose unsweetened tea instead of the usual commercial ice tea brands.
A colorful diet rich in fruits and vegetables, helps to keep the doctor away, and also allows you to live a longer and more active life. Make sure that you serve between three to five servings of fruits and veggies each day, and slowly increase your consumption as you get comfortable with your healthy eating meal plan.
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How to Stick to Your Healthy Eating Plan
Starting a healthy eating plan of sorts may look easy at the start, but wait till you drop by the grocery or pass through the local fast food joint. Once the temptation to binge sets in, you could be in for a tough mental battle. However, once you get in the swing of things, and conveniently settle in your healthy meal plan, things will certainly get much easier. Here’s how to faithfully adhere to your healthy eating plan.
Write Your Plan on Paper
Start by writing your healthy eating plan on a piece of paper. However, writing it down on paper is so different from having lots of tasty but fattening food in front of you. To formalize your eating plan, grab a meal planning guide from your dietitian, or get a free meal planning guide from health and wellness sites online.
A Healthy Eating Plan Isn’t Hard, Provided You Don’t Fall into a Trap
Finding healthy foods, and crafting a healthy eating plan with the help of your dietitian or doctor can be done, as long as you steer clear of the many traps that most people get into. The key to sticking to your healthy eating routine lies in ensuring that you eat foods that are good for you, until it becomes a habit, and is ingrained into your system. To ensure your success, let your friends and family or your co-workers know about your plan, and ask them to check in with you once in a while. It helps if you constantly get positive encouragement from your loved ones, as well a sin knowing that they will truly hold you accountable if you fail.
Try New Recipes
To make your healthy eating experience an enjoyable and interesting one, try a new vegetable recipe, salad or fruit juice mix, that you’ve never had before. However, don’t just discard the old favorites yet, because if you can’t live without having your fill of bacon and French fries, then don’t ease them out of your menu yet. Enjoy the usual stuff for like once a week or once every two weeks, and make a constant effort to eat healthy food for the rest of the day. The main idea here is that you don’t have to live without your favorite food items, but you need not eat them all the time.
Healthy eating can be summed up to say that you eat only the foods that contribute to good health. Eliminate the foods that contain empty calories, as well as the food items that contain lots of chemicals, food additives, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and preservatives. Remember to only eat foods that have natural and wholesome ingredients, which include fresh fruits and vegetables.
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How to Have a Budget-Friendly Healthy Eating Plan
With food prices soaring these days, is there way for you to eat healthy, without poring more holes in your pocket? There’s a actually a way for you to eat healthy and within your budget. Before you head off to the supermarket, sit down and write out a list first, and remember to stick to it. Shop just once a week, cut out the sale coupons from the newspaper, but disregard the coupons for processed foods. Here are other helpful tips for eating healthy on a budget.
Money-Saving Basics For The Healthy Eater
Before you make the dash for the grocery, make sure you don’t go shopping on an empty stomach. Eat a light snack or meal, so that you’ll be able to resist the temptation. Once you’re in the grocery, look for sales or discount promos on fruits and vegetables, as most groceries get a bargain on these items, which they pass-on as savings to their customers. Buy a large bag of fruit instead of single, large fruit items which are priced per pound. Also go for generic brand, which are labeled as the store brands, but are relatively priced less.
Get More Healthy Food Items From The Money You Spend
To make the most out of your budget, remember to get more healthy food items, as well as make significant changes in your food options. Here are some helpful tips for buying healthy food on a budget.
1. Buy in bulk an din season. Seasonal produce will offer more nutritional value, and are priced less too. Also make a food list that’s based on sale or discounted items.
2. Eat more beans. Beans are relatively affordable sources of fiber and protein, particularly the dry beans.
3. Cut down on your purchase of alcohol and other carbonated beverages, because these offer no nutritional benefits, and also cost a lot too.
4. Use meat alternative such as beans and tofu for your stir-fry, spaghetti and chili recipes, as well as use ground turkey meat in place of ground beef.
With the recession hurting our pockets, more and more people are constantly looking for ways to get more out of their money when they go to the grocery. However, health professionals worry that as the economy gets tighter, more people will be making poor food choices, and will also turn to eating unhealthy fast food fare. But eating unhealthy food should not be the case, since there’s a way for you to eat healthy without busting your budgets. All you need to do is buy smart, make more budget-friendly decisions, and change some of your shopping and food-preparation habits.
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The Essential Gluten Free Guide
The Essential Gluten Free Guide reveals more than just information on a gluten and wheat allergy. It guides you through all the steps you need to take in order to begin a new gluten free life.
Do you or a loved one have Celiac and must eat a gluten free diet? Are you totally fed up with worrying over food choices? Not sure what you can or can’t eat, or what to cook for the loved one that has Celiac? Are you fed up with missing out on the foods you really enjoy? No doubt these are obvious concerns for you. Well let me tell you now, it really does not have to be that way.
A new, exciting ebook about gluten free living, written by Peter Tremayne, has just been released. The Essential Gluten Free Guide combines extensive research and information with an original idea of using an immediate action plan. It also incorporates an ongoing management plan, which will aid anyone in keeping to a gluten-free diet. The ebook is easy to understand and is available to download to your computer immediately. Not only that, it comes with two valuable free bonuses — a really useful Celiac directory and a ton of free recipes.
The Essential Gluten Free Guide is a 73 page life changing manual, in e-book format. Jam-packed cover to cover with tips, information, resources and actual step-by-step plans for you to start and see immediate benefits. This book contains the latest information on Celiac Disease you need to know. Plus it gives you goal setting ideas and techniques to ensure you stay in control.
Whatever your goals, when you finally decide to stop making the same mistakes that have been making you ill, you diligently begin applying the techniques in The Essential Gluten Free Guide, you can literally live a better life than you do at the moment!
Click here to get your copy of The Essential Gluten Free Guide plus your free gluten free recipes and the Celiac directory.
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