Articles

How to Eat Well and Not Wear It

By Nancy Bennett, M.S., R.D., Nutritionist

INTRODUCTION

While most of us know that good nutrition is essential in helping us feel our best and reach our optimal health; finding time to eat a balanced diet on a daily basis seems a formidable task in this fast-paced, affluent society. Yet, though your life may be hectic, there are still many good tasting, healthy choices which can help you lose weight and improve your health. This eight week course is designed to be a practical guide in finding those choices whether you are at home, at work, on the road, or at a friend's home. The good news is that by taking charge of your diet, you can improve your health while reducing your risk of "lifestyle" diseases such as heart disease or cancer.

A good place to start is defining what constitutes a "healthy"diet. The "Four Food Group" Plan of yesteryear implied that foods in the Meat, Dairy, Breads and Vegetable Fruit group were equal in their contribution to a healthy diet. Today, researchers show that diets rich in complex carbohydrates and low in saturated fats may reduce our risk of chronic disease. Health professionals designed the "Food Pyramid"guide to translate these recommendations into a food plan for daily living.

Complex carbohydrates are present in whole grain breads, cereals, starches and fruits and vegetables. These foods are not only rich in B vitamins and trace minerals, but they also contribute dietary fiber which has been shown to reduce risk for developing certain cancers, lowering cholesterol levels and helping in weight control.

Six to twelve servings of breads, cereals and starches may sound like a lot of food, but when you consider one cup of rice is three servings of cereal, you can see that meeting these guidelines isn't that difficult.

Likewise for fruits and vegetables. Most people gag at the thought of eating four to seven servings per day until they discover one medium piece of fruit is two servings. Your typical salad is at least three servings and let's not forget that lettuce and tomato in your deli sandwich, that counts as one also.

Proteins are found in the dairy and meat group.

Foods in the dairy group not only provide protein, but they also contribute calcium, Vitamin D and other essential nutrients required for synthesizing healthy bones and teeth. They can be a significant source of saturated fat, so chose two to three servings of the low-fat (1% fat or less) milks, yogurts and/or cheeses.

The meat group includes chicken, fish, nuts and beans or legumes. A deck of cards roughly approximates a three ounce serving and you need at least two servings a day. These foods provide zinc, magnesium and iron which, along with protein, are used by the body in creating hemoglobin and lean body tissue. These foods can also contribute to a elevated intake of saturated fat, so chose lean cuts of meat like flank or round steak, pork tenderloin, ham and leg of lamb. Skip the skin on chicken or turkey and you will miss much of the fat and cholesterol. Better yet, skip animal protein altogether and try minestrone or split pea soup, chili or bean burritos.

Fats, sugars and alcohol have the least amount of surface area on the pyramid for a reason. They contribute little more than calories to the diet and your body will squeeze them into a fat cell. Worse yet, your body will create another fat cell to harbor them until they are burned!

Many health organizations, like the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society, agree that limiting your fat intake to less than 30% of calories goes a long way to protect you from life threatening diseases. As a gram of fat has nine calories, that isn't much fat. As there is some fat in dairy products and meat, chicken and fish; you are better off to avoid adding fat to your food. Luckily, there are many good tasting low-fat or nonfat salad and sandwich spreads which make the task of avoiding added fat a lot easier.

Yes, certain fats are essential to good nutrition (like linoleic acid), but these are found in ample amounts in whole grain breads, cereals and vegetables. Corn, for example, is where mother nature originally put corn oil. Why not skip the margarine and just eat corn?

In short, good nutrition means eating a wide variety of foods from each of the five food groups. The Food Pyramid shows us that by eating more complex carbohydrates and less total fat and saturated fat, we can become empowered by the good life and not fall victim to it.

TIPS

Whole grain products contain the entire kernel. Examples are whole grain bread, pastas, crackers, bagels, tortillas, brown rice or burger.
Fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, kiwi, melons and strawberries are excellent sources of Vitamin C.
Betacarotene is found in red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables such as apricots, peaches, carrots, tomatoes and squash.
Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, kale and romaine lettuce are great sources of folic acid.
Non-dairy sources of calcium are salmon, sardines, dates, oranges, pinto beans, broccoli, kale, and calcium fortified juices, breads and cereals.
Choose cheeses made from part-skim milk. Examples are Yarlsburg, Swiss Lorraine, string, mozzarella, tybo, lappi and farmers cheese.
Choose yogurts made from non-fat milk. Skip the extra sugar by choosing those made with aspartame. This sweetener is actually two naturally occurring amino acids: phenylalanine and aspartic acid. They are widely found in food and not hazardous to your health.
An avocado cut in eights, a strip of bacon, a teaspoon of cream cheese and five nuts are all equal to a pat of butter or five grams of fat.
If you can not live without candy, save it for a special occasion rather than an every day indulgence.
Drink in moderation. Though a glass of red wine may prove to lower cholesterol levels, remember a glass is 6 ounces not 16 ounces!

Quiz

Did you eat at least 4 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day?
Did you eat at least 2 servings from the dairy group from those foods rich in calcium?
Did you choose leaner cuts of meats?
Did you try to reduce the fat you add to food?
Name some non-animal sources of protein?

EATING TO LOSE WEIGHT

You need to eat to burn body fat. This is a fact: The first nutritional demand of your body is energy. Without adequate energy, your body will convert muscle protein into energy to feed your brain, nervous system and red blood cells.

These particular tissues do not possess the metabolic machinery to burn fat. They only burn carbohydrate. When your intake of carbohydrate falls below these tissues demand, the body begins to convert tissue protein into carbohydrate to meet their need. The net result is a loss of muscle tissue.

Yes, the scale may say you have lost "weight", but you have lost the very tissue that burns fat. Muscle tissue burns 70% of the fat in your body; so losing muscle sacrifices your ability to burn body fat.

In fact, the "weight" you lose on a diet can represent up to 10 to 20% of those pounds in muscle loss. This poor dieter will not only regain this weight, but then some. All because they have compromised their ability to burn body fat.

This is also why people gain weight as they age.

Aging causes muscle loss. So does inactivity. Have you heard of the saying"Use it or lose it"? This is true of your muscle.

Inactivity leads to muscle loss and muscle loss causes a lowered capacity to burn fat, so you wear more of it.

The bottom line is this: At any time, or for whatever reason, you lose your muscle; you lose your capacity to burn fat. Diets, aging and inactivity all lead to a decreased amount of muscle weight and an increased amount of fat tissue.

Never fear. You can, at any time in your life, rebuild your muscle and teach it to burn fat.

Aerobic exercise rebuilds your muscle and teaches it to burn more fat. Eating right gives you the nutrients you need to make that muscle. The food pyramid outlines how to eat to get the nutrients you need, so let us deal more specifically with energy needs and where that energy needs to come from.

In order to burn just the fat and not the other lean tissue in your body, you need to meet your minimal energy requirement.

If you want to maintain your current weight, this level is found by multiplying your weight by 15.

If you want to lose weight, multiply your ideal weight by ten. For example, if your ideal weight is 140 pounds, your minimal energy requirement is 1400 calories.

Next, you need to factor in the calories needed for exercise and activity. Very active people (those who exercise 3 hours or more a week) need to multiply their minimal requirement by 1.5. Moderately active individuals (those who exercise 1 to 3 hours per week) need to multiply their requirement by 1.2.

Slugs need not factor in additional calories.

For those of us who move, let's cite an example: if you take 4 hours of aerobics classes per week and your ideal weight is 140 pounds, you need 2100 calories a day to keep your muscle and burn the fat.

Now, where does that energy need to come from? It makes sense that if you want to burn the fat on your body; you do not want to be eating it in your food.

Let's be perfectly clear about this. There are only two fates of fat in your diet: Fat is either burned by your muscle or it is deposited in your fat cells. If you are wanting to lose body fat, the solution is simple: Eat less and burn more.

Which leads to the debate: "WHAT IS LESS?"

Less is 30% of your calorie intake. To find this amount of fat in grams; multiply your caloric requirement by .3 and divide the calories by nine. For example, 2100 calories times .3 is 630 calories, divided by nine leaves 70 grams of fat.

When you consider a "Double Western Cheeseburger Supreme" has 70 grams of fat, you can appreciate the etiology of obesity in America. In fact, statistics show that one out of every three of us can qualify as overweight, so we have some work cut out for us in terms of the amount of fat in our diets.

Take a look at the foods below and see where you can substitute one food for another to lower your fat intake:

Food	Fat Grams	Food	Fat Grams
1 cup Ice Cream	34	1 cup Frozen Yogurt	0
3 oz Salami	30	3 oz Ham	3
1 Croissant	25	1 Bagel	1
1 Tablespoon Butter	11	1 Tablespoon Sour Cream	3

Remember, small substitutions can add up to big losses over a years time. Cutting out 25 grams of fat a day translates into a 25 pound body fat loss in a year. The best part is, you are still eating. Only this time, you wonÕt be "wearing" your groceries!

TIPS

Those who are successful at losing weight make evolutionary changes with their diets, not revolutionary changes. Start by choosing those changes you can live with on a permanent basis. Then move on to change other habits. One habit at a time, you'll get there!
Eat slowly. It take twenty minutes for your stomach to tell your brain you are full.
Pick out foods you need to chew on. Try bagels, apples, french rolls and raw vegetables. These foods will slow your rate of eating.
Try a warm beverage as or with a snack. This helps to feel full.
Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water per day. This helps fill you up and keeps you busy with other activities besides swinging on the refrigerator door!
An eight ounce glass of orange juice is really three oranges! Eating oranges is much more satisfying than drinking juice.
Eat an afternoon snack before you leave work. This helps overeating while getting dinner ready.
Here are some healthy snacks: Popcorn, bread sticks, oyster crackers, pretzels, fruit, yogurt, gingersnaps, graham crackers, biscotti cookies, vanilla wafers or amaretto cookies.
Frozen yogurt, angel food cake and sherbet are all low fat!
Every time you use your muscles, you are burning fat. Try climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
Small steps add up in reducing fat. Use jam on toast instead of butter and knock off 30 calories and 5 grams of fat.

Quiz

Did you cut back on added fat in your diet?
Did you substitute lower fat foods for your regular ones?
Did you chose leaner cuts of meat?
Did you have a low fat snack before leaving work?
What three factors contribute to muscle loss?

WHAT'S IN A LABEL?

Grocery shopping and reading labels is a delight for some and real drudgery for others. Regardless of how you feel about this task; judging whether or not a particular food fits into your diet has become easier since Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. The new food labels standardize serving sizes, lists the amounts of several nutrients and then compares these amounts to the recommended daily intake of 60% calories from carbohydrates, 10 - 15% calories from protein and 30% calories from fat. The label also indicates the food's vitamin and mineral contribution to your diet.

Take a look at a label on a food product. Here are some key points to consider when judging a particular product:

Check out the serving size. The serving size is designed to reflect the amount an average adult would eat at one sitting. Is this amount true for you? Be honest here. Do you really get four servings to a pint of ice cream or limit your serving of chips to twelve? If you are like most normal adults, you will have to adjust the following nutrient numbers to your actual serving size.

If weight loss is your goal, check the total calories and total grams of fat per serving. It is important to consider both as many of the new fat-free products still contribute substantial calories to your diet. This is particularly true of fat-free cookies and cakes. The manufacturers add extra sugar to these products to create the moisture that fat would have given the regular product. Remember, extra calories still have to be burned if you don't want to wear them in the form of body fat.

The label also indicates the food's calories from fat. This confuses many a consumer. The American Heart Association recommends we limit our calories from fat to less than 30% of our total calories. You can count up your total calories from fat each day if you wish, but there may be an easier way.

You may just want to just count the total amount of fat in the product and then compare it to your fat allotment for the day. If you know your daily limit is 40 grams of fat and one tablespoon of olive oil is 11 grams of fat, you can still make adjustments in your diet to include it. This way you do not have exclude those foods which derive a majority of their calories from fat.

Those percentages for fat, carbohydrate, and protein show you how much that food contributes to a 2000 calorie or 2400 calorie diet. This is simply a standard for women and men respectively and may be different for you. Make adjustments according to your ideal calorie intake.

The label includes the total amount of saturated fat, cholesterol and fiber per serving. Saturated fat and cholesterol have shown to raise serum cholesterol levels which contribute to coronary artery disease. The American Heart Association recommends we limit our saturated fat intake to one third of our total fat intake and cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams per day. For example, if your total fat intake is 45 grams, your saturated fat intake should be 15 grams or less.

A diet rich in dietary fiber, especially soluble fiber (like oat bran), may help lower serum cholesterol. The National Cancer Institute recommends 25 grams of dietary fiber a day to lower the risk of developing colon cancer and other gastrointestinal diseases. Dietary fiber not only helps in maintaining bowel regularity but it also helps in weight control by adding bulk to the diet.

The label indicates the percentages of Vitamins A and C, calcium and iron the food contributes to a 2000 or 2400 calorie diet.

Remember, these labels are meant to be a guide. There is no such thing as a "bad food"; so use the labels to incorporate your favorite foods into your diet. If ice cream is your "vice", you can either count the total grams of fat into your daily allotment or you can find a reasonable substitute such as frozen yogurt. In this way, you can avoid feeling deprived. Deprivation never works long term, so learn to enjoy your"vices".

The task of reading labels may initially be laborious; but with a little practice, you too will become a pro.

Better yet, you can sidestep a lot of label reading by shopping the perimeter of the market. Other than picking up a few necessary staples in the center aisles, this method is a great way to avoid extra salt, sugar, additives and preservatives in your diet. Fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry and bakery items do not contain all the additives and preservatives required to allow a food to sit on a self without spoiling. Those additives and preservatives are often salts of sodium compounds which add unnecessary sodium to your diet. You are better off avoiding them wherever possible.

Regardless of where you shop, at the market or at the vending machine, the following tips will help you avoid becoming a walking causality of modern man's quest for convenience.

TIPS

Eat before you shop! The layout of grocery stores are designed for impulse buying. Ever notice all the candy at the check out stand? It is easier to avoid temptation if not hungry.
Go to the store with a list and stick to it. This helps you to buy what you need... instead what you want.
Have trouble controlling the portion size of a particular food? Don't buy it!
Cholesterol-free" doesn't mean fat-free. Many vegetable oils have this plastered on the label. Vegetables can not make cholesterol, only animals can.
Peanut butter, though rich in protein, is also rich in fat. In fact, one tablespoon has equal grams of fat as protein.
"Sugar-free" on the label refers to sucrose (table sugar). Other sugars to look out for are glucose, dextrose, fructose, maltose, lactose, corn-syrup solids, corn sweeteners and hydrolyzed corn starch. Honey and fruit juice concentrates are also sugar.
"Reduced fat" doesn't mean fat free. Many products have less fat than the original product, but may still contain more fat than you want. Read the label and check grams of fat per serving.
Many convenience foods (soups, entrees, sauces) now come in a lower fat, lower sodium alternative. "Healthy Choice" products may be a way for you to enjoy some of your favorite foods.
Check out the meats under the butcher's glass. Animal muscles which are well utilized have much less marbling than those which are seldom used. Buy those well used muscles and you will be eating less fat. By the way, what kind of muscles do you have? Porter house steaks or Rump Roast?

QUIZ

Did you eat before shopping?
Did you read the labels of your favorite snack foods?
Do your choices have excessive amounts of fat or sugar?
How about your serving sizes? Are they the same as on label?
How many calories per day do the labels use as a standard?

CHOLESTEROL AND ARTERIAL CORRUPTION

Cholesterol has many important functions in the human body. It forms the lining of every cell wall in the body as well as forming a protective coat (myelin sheath) around each of your peripheral nerves. Cholesterol is also the substrate from which the hormones testosterone, estrogen and cortisone are made. It is so important to our survival that our livers manufacture it. In fact, 75% of the cholesterol in our blood stream comes from the liver.

Cholesterol is a waxy fat and blood is primarily water. As we know oil and water do not mix very well, the body makes a lipoprotein to help cholesterol become soluble in the blood. Low-density lipoproteins, LDL cholesterol, travel out from your liver to your body tissues which need it. High density lipoproteins, or HDL cholesterol, are like "roto-rooter". They pick up cholesterol in the blood stream and cart it back to the liver where it is converted into bile and used for digestion.

Arterial corruption, or atherosclerosis, starts as more LDL cholesterol is produced than the body can utilize. When serum cholesterol levels climb over 200 mg%, your risk of cardiovascular disease doubles. Researchers believe that LDL cholesterol becomes oxidized and embedded in arterial walls. The occlusion of coronary vessels can result in a heart attack; the occlusion of cerebral vessels can result in a stroke.

Fortunately, atherosclerosis can be prevented and reversed. A diet low in total fat, especially saturated fats, combined with aerobic exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol. The higher your HDL cholesterol levels, the greater your protection from atherosclerosis.

We have already discussed steps in lowering your total fat intake. Now it is time to discuss lowering your intake of saturated fats.

Any food has a combination of two basic types of fats: saturated and unsaturated. Space restricts a heavy biochemical discussion here; so it is best to define them in terms of their state at room temperature. Saturated fats are solid and unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. No one food is totally one kind of fat or another, but your eyes can tell you the major type of fat present in the food. For example, butter is solid at room temperature, therefore it is mainly saturated. Olive oil, on the other hand is liquid, hence unsaturated.

The fat in food is a little trickier, but follows the same rule of thumb. Beef fat is very hard at room temperature while fish fat is gel like. This is because beef fat has more saturated fats than fish.

Finding cholesterol in foods is easier because only animals can make it. Therefore, you will only find cholesterol in animal foods or foods made with animal products. Contrary to the marketing messages on certain food labels, foods like peanut butter and olive oil have always been and always will be "cholesterol-free".

Researchers recommend we limit our intake of saturated fat to less than a third of our total fat intake and cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams per day. Take a look at the table below which ranks the saturated fat and cholesterol content of various foods:

Food	% Saturated Fats	Cholesterol
1 Tbs Safflower Oil	9	0
1 Tbs Olive Oil	14	0
3 oz Tuna	19	55 mg
3 oz Chicken	28	73 mg
1 ea Egg	30	220 mg
3 oz Pork	35	79 mg
3 oz Beef	38	74 mg
3 oz Lamb	41	80 mg
1 cup Whole Milk	62	33 mg
1 Tbs Butter	62	9 mg
1 Tbs Coconut Oil	87	0

This table shows the wisdom of choosing more chicken and fish instead of red meats. The same goes for choosing low-fat or non-fat dairy products. This is not to say we should avoid these foods entirely; just choose them less often.

Another step in lowering cholesterol levels is to increase your intake of soluble fiber. The fiber in oats, beans, fruits and vegetables forms a gel in your intestines which binds to bile. This prevents your body from recycling bile and more cholesterol is utilized in making new bile for digestion. This helps lower serum cholesterol levels.

In short, these dietary steps will help lower serum cholesterol and prevent atherosclerosis: First, lower total fat to 30% or less of calories. Second, choose foods which are low in saturated fats and cholesterol. Third, eat more cereals, fruits and vegetables which are rich in soluble fiber.

Remember, lowering your serum cholesterol level by 15 mg% will drop your risk of coronary artery disease by one third. The effort is worth it. So are you.

Trim all the visible fat from beef, lamb, pork and poultry.
Some lean cuts of meat are flank steak, round steak, rump roast leg of lamb and pork tenderloin
Need a reason to remove the skin from poultry? The skin of a chicken has 1200 calories. The entire naked (shivering) chicken has 800.
Bake, broil or grill meats and fish.
Use vinegar or wine as a marinade instead of oil. Their acids break down the connective tissue which makes meats tough.
Use chicken broth with a touch of sesame oil for stir frying Sesame oil has a lot of flavor, so a little bit goes a long way.
Egg substitutes are simply egg whites with yellow food coloring. Skip the expense and use 2 egg whites to replace one egg.
Evaporated skim milk is a great substitute for cream.
Try reducing the fat in muffins and cakes by substituting fruit juice concentrates or yogurt.
Fat-free cheeses have a way to go before they start tasting like "real" cheese. However, low-fat cheeses are great for casseroles, enchiladas and tacos.
Try some of the "Healthy Choice" entrees and luncheon meats. They are low in sodium and fat.

QUIZ

Did you trim all the visible fat from meats, chicken and fish?
Did you substitute low-fat dairy foods for the high fat choices?
Did you choose leaner sandwich meats?
Did you increase your intake of fruits and vegetables?
Name three foods low in saturated fats?

THE PILLAR OF SALT IS CRUMBLING

There are many factors in our everyday stressful lives that contribute to high blood pressure. Some we have control over, many we do not. We may not have control over the traffic ahead of us at rush hour, but we do have control over the amount of sodium in our diets.

You may be interested to know that high blood pressure is nonexistent in countries with low sodium intakes. Meanwhile, it is the number one killer in Japan. No coincidence here. Japan has one of the highest per capita intakes of sodium in the world and the U.S. is not far behind.

Americans eat about 15 pounds of sodium per person per year.

That is approximately 10,000 to 20,000 milligrams per day and over half of this is hidden in the foods we eat. As the human body only requires 220 milligrams per day, it is no wonder why we have over 37 million American suffering from high blood pressure. And high blood pressure is a silent killer. It is one of the major causes of kidney failure and responsible for 170,000 deaths from strokes each year.

The body closely regulates the sodium concentration in our blood. The more sodium in our diets, the more fluid we retain to dilute it in the bloodstream. A prolonged sodium intake decreases the kidneys ability to excrete it and water retention leads to increased blood volume. The blood vessels become "waterlogged" and more sensitive to hormonal messages (adrenaline) telling them to contract. As the blood has to travel through constricted vessels, more pressure is required to pump it throughout the body. This increased pressure is hypertension.

Normal blood pressure is 120 over 80. 120 is the systolic pressure when your heart pumps the blood forward through the arteries. 80 is diastolic pressure or the pressure in your vessels when the heart rests. When the diastolic pressure climbs over 90, you have high blood pressure.

Reducing your sodium intake goes a long way to preventing the risk of developing hypertension. The American Heart Association recommends we limit our sodium intake to 2,400 to 3,000 milligrams per day.

As a teaspoon of salt contains 2,200 milligrams of sodium, avoiding the use of salt at the table is a great place to start.

Many of the salt substitutes contain potassium chloride and may taste bitter. Try using lemon juice or herbal blends instead. Products like "Mrs.Dash" use a number of herbs and come in a variety of seasoning blends. Use fresh herbs wherever possible, especially in salads. Fresh cilantro, parsley, green onions, chives and garlic can really add a punch to salads and salsas.

When cooking, try lemon juice, wine and fresh ground pepper to accent natural flavors in foods. Orange juice is an excellent base for meat marinades. Fresh fruits, like apples and/or cranberries, along with fresh herbs taste great when roasting meats or poultry. Check the tip sheet for seasoning suggestions for specific dishes.

Reducing your sodium intake would be an easier task if it just meant avoiding the use of salt. Unfortunately, we live in a sea of convenience foods laden with sodium additives and preservatives. These additives can contribute over half of our sodium intake per day!

Look what happens to fresh peas from processing: Peas normally contain only 2 milligrams of sodium per serving. Frozen peas contain 110 milligrams of sodium from an additive that prevents them from turning gray in the freezing process. Canned peas contain 236 milligrams of sodium from additives that prevent bacterial growth in the can. Frozen peas with sauce contain 420 milligrams of sodium from additives in the peas and the sauce. We went from 2 milligrams to 420 milligrams of sodium and we are still eating peas.

This is the price of convenience: sodium additives like MSG, baking powder, baking soda, and sodium benzoate, alginate, sulfite, propinate, nitrates, hydroxide and phosphates to name a few of the additives in our foods.

Moral to the story? Eat fresh whenever possible and you will avoid these hidden sources of sodium.

Just remember this: the taste for sodium is acquired not genetically driven. Give a new born a taste of something salty and they will grimace.

That look on a new born's face is telling you something. It is telling you the taste for salt is a habit you can live a lot longer without.

TIPS

Try eating less convenience foods... estimates are 55% of the foods we eat are processed.
Sweet tasting foods may not taste salty, but they still can contain extra sodium. Would you believe a cup of Jello Instant Pudding has as much sodium as a Dill Pickle!
Swiss Lorraine, mozzarella and string cheese have the least amount of sodium among this group of foods.
Gradually reduce the amount of salt in cooking. Start with cutting it in half. A few weeks later, cut it in half again.
Use lemon juice to season foods in restaurants.
Try vegetable or fruit salsas to spice up your entree.
Try seasoning chicken dishes with garlic, mushrooms, cranberries, orange slices, wine, curry, paprika, parsley, sage and onion.
Fish dishes can be seasoned with bay leaf, dry mustard, tomato, lemon, green pepper and paprika.
Try seasoning beef with bay leaf, marjoram, onion, fresh mushrooms, dry mustard, green pepper and ginger
Pork can be seasoned with applesauce, apples, garlic, onion and sage.
Ask for the nutritional information at fast food restaurants. Some entrees can contain 1500 to 2000 milligrams of sodium! Order entrees from fresh ingredients.

QUIZ

Did you salt food at the table?
Did you try other seasonings besides salt?
Did you read the label for the sodium content of your food?
Did you eat more fresh foods?
How many milligrams of sodium does the American Heart Association recommend each day?

FIBER. THE GOOD CARBOHYDRATE

All carbohydrates are similar in their composition, but not all carbohydrates are alike in their ability to prevent chronic disease.

Complex carbohydrates are found in whole grain breads, cereals, fruits and vegetables. They are also found in white bread and sponge cake, but the former foods have properties which can lower cholesterol levels, prevent certain cancers and help you lose weight as well. The difference is in what nature out in and man's processing takes out: fiber.

Both the American Heart Association and the National Cancer Institute recommend we increase our fiber intake to 25 grams per day. The average American eats about a third of this amount. This fact may in part be responsible for our high rate of heart disease, colon cancer and obesity in this country. These diseases are practically nonexistent in countries with a high intake of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

The fiber found in whole grain breads and cereals has insoluble fiber. This type of fiber draws water into your intestines and helps maintain regularity. As food travels through your gut more quickly and is more diluted with water, the exposure of your gut wall to potential carcinogens is decreased.

The soluble fiber in oats, legumes, fruits and vegetables binds up bile acids and disposes of them. As stated previously, the body likes to recycle bile and use it over and over again. These fibers form a gel substance in the gut that prevents this recycling process. More cholesterol is used to create more bile and this helps increase cholesterol utilization which lowers serum cholesterol.

Fresh fruits and vegetables have an additional benefit. They are loaded with antioxidants, phytochemicals and vitamins which neutralize "freeradicals". Researchers believe free radicals are unstable compounds created from the metabolism of fats and/or environmental factors (like car exhaust or cigarette smoke). They may be responsible for oxidizing LDL cholesterol which implants itself into arterial walls causing heart disease. They also may be responsible for altering the cell's metabolism resulting in abnormal cellular growth food in cancer. Either way, eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is a cheap and easy way to avoid these chronic diseases.

Not to mention how full you feel after eating them! These foods greatly help us to feel as if we have eaten something substantial and they do so with fewer calories. Compare the caloric density of a pound of apples versus a pound of "Tootsie Rolls": 263 calories versus 1200!

A word here about sugar. Is it bad for you? No. Is a lot of sugar bad for you? Maybe. That depends on how much and how often you eat foods rich in sugar. If you replace meals with candy bars, you run the risk of short changing your body of essential nutrients, gaining body fat from the excess calories and rotting your teeth. If, however, you simply have a piece of candy after your meal and brush your teeth, there is nothing to worry about. Let common sense be your guide.

Take a look at the following table which lists the fiber content of foods:

Food	Fiber Grams	Food	Fiber Grams
1/4 c. Grapenuts	1.4	3 c. Popcorn	7.5
1 sl. Wholegrain Bread	1.4	1/2 c. All Bran	13.0
1 c. Wholegrain Pasta	1.4	1/2 c. Fiber One	12.0
1/2 c. Kidney Beans	7.3	1/2 c. Lima Beans	4.5
1/2 c. Peas	3.6	1 Medium Potato	2.5
1/2 c. Corn	2.9	1/2 c. Carrots	2.3
1/2 c. Broccoli	2.2	1/2 c. Green Beans	1.6
1 Medium Apple	3.5	3 Dried Prunes	3.0
1 Medium Banana	2.4	1 Medium Orange	2.6
1/4 c. Raisins	3.1	1 c. Strawberries	3.0

Adding more fiber to your diet isn't difficult. A bowl of high fiber cereal with raisins in the morning adds 15 grams of fiber. A sandwich made from whole grain bread at noon and popcorn as an afternoon snack adds another 10.5 grams of fiber. So far you are up to 25 grams of fiber and your day isn't over yet. Top off dinner with a medium baked potato with broccoli and you add another 5 grams for a total of thirty for the day.

The best part of eating this way is the amount of food you get to eat...without getting fat. Fiber helps add volume to your meals without additional calories. This is the key to eating well...without wearing your groceries!

TIPS

Whole grain breads and cereals contain important trace minerals such as zinc and magnesium used to make muscle tissue.
Beans, aside from containing soluble fiber, contribute protein, trace minerals and iron. Try dishes like minestrone or split pea soup for lunch or dinner. Or try tossing some garbanzo or kidney beans on a salad.
Popcorn is a terrific high fiber, low fat snack for late night T.V. marathons.
Burger wheat or couscous is a good change from standard starch side dishes.
Bagged salads have taken much of the drudgery out of washing, shredding and preparing salads. No more decaying heads of lettuce to throw out!
Try keeping raisins at your desk for a "sugar fix" in the afternoon.
Blend a breakfast shake with non-fat yogurt, milk, strawberries and banana. This you can take on the road with and sip while commuting to work.
On the way home from work, nosh on an apple or banana. You won't be as hungry when you walk through the front door and you will make wiser choices at dinner.
Try the recipes on the high fiber cereal boxes. You can freeze muffins and take them to work for breakfast.

QUIZ

Did you eat 4 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables each day?
Did you choose whole grain breads and cereals?
Did you try to include some bean dishes in your diet?
Did you try any high fiber cereals?
Name the two types of fiber in the diet?

NUTRITION FACTS AND FALLACIES

No one food contains all the essential nutrients necessary to achieve optimal nutrition. No one combination of foods nor one single nutrient insures good nutrition either. Optimal nutrition is the product of eating a wide variety of nutrients from a wide variety of foods.

This is important to emphasize because all too often you will hear people make statements like: "I want to build muscle so I'm taking these protein supplements" or "I want to avoid osteoporosis so I'm taking oystershell calcium".

These nutrients may in part help build bone or muscle tissue, but they do so in concert with many other nutrients as well. Take bone tissue for example. Bone is created from protein, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, Vitamins A, D, C and a host of B Vitamins as well. Vitamin D is required to pull calcium in from your gut and deposit it into a protein matrix. Vitamins A and C help to insure that protein fibers in the matrix have sufficient strength to hold the calcium. Riboflavin and other B Vitamins work to convert dietary protein into bone matrix protein. They also help convert carbohydrates and fats into energy to do all this metabolic synthesis. Most of these nutrients are found together in dairy foods and they work in concert to create bone tissue; oyster shell calcium contains only one nutrient. A good start maybe, but not the whole show.

The major point here is that slugging down a lot of supplements with a diet soda is not going to give you a healthy body; but eating a wide variety of nutrients present in foods will do the trick.

In fact, excessive amounts of some supplements can be harmful. High protein diets and protein supplements can land you in the emergency room.

Proteins, unlike carbohydrates and fats, leave nitrogenous waste products and acids in your blood stream. These wastes are filtered out by the kidneys, except when your intake exceeds their capacity to do so. Tremendous sums of water are required to flush out these wastes and one can become both dehydrated and acidotic in the process.

Low carbohydrate diets cans cause the same results. The body needs the carbohydrates found in breads, cereals fruits and vegetables to feed the brain, completely combust fats and protect the protein stores in lean tissue. Without adequate carbohydrate, lean tissue proteins are catabolized and this produces acids. Fats are incompletely metabolized into ketones and these are acids as well. The kidney's ability to clear these acids is surpassed, excessive water is lost and dehydration occurs. Many a dieter has been brought to the E.R. in ketoacidosis. This is a rough way to learn the virtues of eating a balance diet.

Another crucial benefit to the nutrients found in food is that there are still many nutrients we have yet to identify. Researchers have found many, but not all the nutrients in foods. They can not reproduce them in a lab if they have yet to isolate them.

Take betacarotene for example. Did you know there are 600 different forms of betacarotene? Which ones work where? We don't know. How much of what forms do we need? We don't know. There is much about nutrition we have yet to learn. Man's quest to duplicate the beauty of food in a lab is just beginning. In the meantime, why not just eat a carrot? You not only get many different forms of betacarotene, but the soluble fiber as well. And it is cheaper.

This is not to say that supplements are never necessary.

They are; even before the conception of a human being. Researchers now believe the leading cause of neural tube defects, like spinal bifida and cleft palates, is the result of folic acid deficiency. This is why they lobbied Congress to force food manufacturers to add folic acid to breads and cereals.

If you are planning to conceive a baby in the next couple of months, start eating your fruits and vegetables now. It may be possible that the form of folic acid present in foods is more potent in preventing birth defects.

Supplementation of iron and folic acid is necessary during pregnancy for the creation of extra red blood cells. It is difficult to keep up with the demand of these nutrients (but not impossible) by eating foods alone. Prenatal vitamins can help a healthy diet, but they are not a substitute for a healthy diet.

That goes for the rest of us too. Pregnant or not. There is no substitute for food (thank goodness) or a balanced diet. Balance is the operative word here. Balanced eating is the key to not only a long life, but a high quality life as well. Let this be your key to becoming empowered the good life and not a fallen victim to it.

TIPS

A medium papaya contains 200% of your Vitamin C requirement A green pepper has more Vitamin C than a orange.
Whenever possible, eat raw fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C is very easily oxidized by air. In fact, orange juice and cantaloupe can lose half their Vitamin C content if not stored properly. Wrap tightly in plastic or store juice in a small container. This minimizes their exposure to air.
Tomatoes contain both Vitamin C and betacarotene. Both are powerful antioxidants.
Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant. You can find it in sunflower seeds, wheat germ and fortified cereals.
Whole grain breads and cereals contain magnesium, iron, zinc, B Vitamins and fiber.
Good sources of folacin are broccoli, beans, spinach, romaine lettuce, eggs, and oranges.
Non-dairy sources of calcium are sweet potatoes, beans, broccoli collard greens, kale, tofu, salmon and sardines.
Do not take iron and calcium supplements at the same time. They bind together in your gut and your body can't absorb either of them!
Many vitamins do not dissolve in time to be absorbed by your body. Test yours by putting it in vinegar. If it doesn't dissolve in thirty minutes, it ends up in the septic tank!

Quiz

Did you eat a red or yellow-fruit or vegetable each day?
Did you eat a good source of Vitamin C each day?
Did you eat any whole grain breads or cereals each day?
Did you eat 2 servings of calcium-rich foods each day?
State one reason why it is best to get your nutrients in food rather than supplements?