Winter 2010 Volume 12 Number 4
It’s About Time for That Annual Nutrition Tune-up
Lots of things need tune-ups. Your car, your lawnmower, your golf game. If there is one thing that we ignore that could use a tune-up—it’s us. So let’s use 2010 to do a nutritional tune-up.
To plan your tune-up, concentrate on these nutrition choices:
- choosing healthy fat to eat
- increasing whole grain in your diet
- choosing less processed foods to eat and increasing whole food intake
The Skinny on Fats: Fat has a bad reputation, but everyone needs to eat some fat to maintain healthy brain, heart and immune system. The problem is most people eat too much saturated and trans fats instead of the more heart-healthy unsaturated fats.
You can help your family cut back on unhealthy fats and educate them on the difference between “good” and “bad” fats. The monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats come from fish and plant sources and generally stay liquid at room temperature.
Foods containing these good fats include:
- Olives and olive oil
- Many tree nuts and peanuts
- Seeds like sesame, pumpkin, sunflower
- Avocados
- Corn, canola, soybean, safflower, sunflower and cottonseed oils
Omega 3 Fatty Acids are a certain type of polyunsaturated fat. Fish that naturally contain more oil (like salmon, trout and herring) are higher in omega-3s than other lean fish. However, some fish (shark, swordfish, tilefish or king mackerel) contain higher levels of mercury and should be avoided by children.
For more information on mercury in fish, go to: www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html. There are also plant sources of omega 3s include fl axseed, walnuts, soybeans and oil and wheat germ.
Saturated and trans fats increase “bad”cholesterol, increasing risk for heart disease. Saturated fats are found in non-skim milk, dairy foods, higher fat cuts of red meats, skin from fowl, palm oil and coconut. Restaurant and store-bought foods are the most common sources of trans fat. Watch out for packaged snacks like chips, microwave popcorn, bakery items, margarine, vegetable shortening and deep fried foods.
To reduce your family’s intake of “bad” fats, read labels on packaged foods and buy products with the least trans and saturated fat. At restaurants, try to choose foods that are baked, broiled or grilled rather than fried. Learn more about trans fats on the short and fun video called the Trans Fat Brothers at www.americanheart.org.
The Grain Divide: Major health organizations recommend that Americans eat at least half of their grains from whole-grain or high-fiber foods. People who consume whole grains on a regular basis may lower their risk for heart disease. And because whole grains take longer to digest, they often leave people feeling full longer and make them less likely to overeat.
Refined grains, like those found in white bread and most baked goods, did not start out that way. In nature, all grains are “whole,” meaning they include the entire seed, or kernel, of the plant from which they are harvested. Often food manufacturers will process, refine and bleach grains like wheat and rice, removing the bran (outer layer) and the germ (middle layer) from the kernel. With only the inner part of the grain left, the product is stripped of many important nutrients (including B-vitamins and healthy fats), much of the grain’s fiber, and up to 25 percent of its original protein!
So which grains are considered whole? Grains like wheat, corn, rice, oats, barley, quinoa, sorghum, spelt, rye and popcorn are all available in their whole form. Some products are stamped 100% Whole Grain, which is a good sign that they contain nutritious whole grains. Check out www.wholegrainscouncil.org for more information and recipes. Be wary of products that say “made with whole grains.” As long as there is even a small amount of whole grain used to make the food, this claim is considered legal.
Your safest best is to read the ingredients. If the words whole wheat, whole grain or brown rice appear first on the list, you can be more certain that food is largely whole grain.
More whole food, less refined foods. Although the list of nutrients on a nutrition label is short, researchers are learning that the list of food components suspected of helping prevent disease is huge. Some of these food components are lost in the processing and refi ning of foods.
So why is this important? Research shows that people whose diets are based on whole foods tend to have lower rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Daily intake rich in whole foods also tends to increase your intake of fiber and whole grains and cuts your intake of sugars, refined grains and salt.
In February Partners in Pediatrics’ clinics will focus on nutrition. And March just happens to be National Nutrition Month. The theme for this year’s national campaign is Nutrition from the Ground Up, promoting back to basics; simple and economical healthy whole foods; food preparation and family meals at home; and general health promotion.
Go to the following web sites for recipes and tips for putting your new knowledge and healthy eating goals into practice:
www.healthiergeneration.org
www.eatright.org
www.americanheart.org
www.eatingwell.com
Take a food adventure with your family this year and focus on these three areas to tune up the healthy eating for your family and reduce the risk for chronic disease.