|
This is very important!
All foods can be part of a healthy diet! That's right!
All foods! There is no such thing as a bad food. Some
foods will prevent you from getting to your goal as fast as
you want to, but that doesn't mean it’s a bad food, or bad
for you, given certain considerations. But you have to be
selective. You have to do a little more thinking about what
you're eating.
You do need to know about
what makes foods higher in calories so that you can better
understand what foods to cut down on and which ones to eat
more of. This isn't really that complicated, and you
probably know a lot of this already. But it doesn't hurt to
review some basics. After all, the more you know about what
you are eating, the better able you are to make healthier
food choices, and that is what this whole program is all
about.....making better choices!
All foods are composed of
one or more of six types of nutrients. These are protein,
carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, minerals and water. Protein,
carbohydrate and fat - all of these furnish calories.
Vitamins, minerals and water do not.
1. Protein.
Protein is vital to all
living cells, and it helps to build and repair your body.
Protein is the chemical building blocks that your body uses
to make skin, tissue, muscle, blood, bones. We also need
protein to make the enzymes we need to burn the fat. You
just gotta have it! And it's found in various foods.
Now don't get the idea that
any one food is all protein or all carbohydrate or all fat
for that matter...most foods contain more than one of these
nutrients. So foods that are high in protein, may also
contain some carbohydrates and even some fat, but protein
dense foods, will contain more protein than the others.
2.
Carbohydrates
provide your primary energy source. There are two types of
carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates sometimes called
concentrated sugars....and....complex carbohydrates,
sometimes referred to as starches.
Some sugars contain
nutrients and others don't. If you think about for just a
minute, I'll bet you already know what I'm going to say.
You know for example that soda pop has sugar in it right?
Now what do you think, does it have any nutritional value?
Of course not! But, what about orange juice? You know
that fruit has natural sugar in it, but it's also ‘loaded’
with nutrients. The difference is the amount of nutrients
you're getting for the calories you're taking in.
3.
Complex carbohydrates
are the starches. Foods
like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta are good examples of
foods that have a lot of starch. Now remember what I said a
few minutes ago....most foods contain several nutrients. So
don't assume that bread and rice only have starch in them
and nothing else. Keep remembering that foods are composed
of various nutrients, not just one. Even though they may be
heavy in one or the other, they are still combinations of
several nutrients.
Many people classify the
carbohydrates based on their being simple,... such as
sugars...or complex...like the starches and fibers. From a
dieter's standpoint however, it may be more advantageous to
categorize carbohydrates as refined....like sugar and
starch...or unrefined, which are largely fiber.
4. Fiber! Fiber! Fiber!
There's quite a
lot written and discussed about fiber these days. You may
have heard that fiber plays an important part in a diet
plan, and that most of us don't get enough fiber. But do
you really know what fiber is and why it's so important?
Fiber is also called
roughage...residue or bulk. It is found only in fruits,
vegetables and whole grain products and consists of the
indigestible parts of cell walls that form the plant
skeletons. (Sounds icky....but good for you) the chief
function of fiber is to help rid the body of wastes and to
help liberate essential fatty acids that help lower
cholesterol levels.
Fiber not only helps carry
off wastes but also excess fats, sugars, and starches.
Increasing the fiber in your
diet will also help to regulate blood sugar
levels....maintain healthy function of your stomach and
intestines and control serum cholesterol levers. It also
helps you feel full and cuts the hunger. Sounds like a
pretty terrific food right? It is when used with your
complete diet. You get fiber from almost all summer fruits
and vegetable, nuts, legumes and whole grain breads.
Ok...let's go eat a carrot!
5. Fat. Fat
is not all bad. It does provide some nutrients, and a
little makes food more satisfying. We need some fat every
day. The problem is, most of us eat way too much.
Fat furnishes many more
calories than carbohydrates and protein. Protein and
carbohydrates, for example,
each contain four calories per gram, while fat contains nine
calories per gram. What's a gram? Well it's a unit of
weight measurement. In other words, fat has more than twice
as many calories as protein and carbohydrates. If we reduce
our intake of fat, we reduce our calorie intake. And that's
the name of the game right?
You haven't heard us say
‘eat' less .... have you? Fact of the matter is, many times
when people reduce their intake of fat, they can actually
eat more food than they were eating before. Remember the
marbles are exactly the same size. You're eating just as
much food, but now, it's nutrient dense. How's that for an
eating plan, eat more and lose weight?
Where does fat come from?
Fat sources include margarine, butter and vegetable oils,
such as olive, cannola, soy bean, corn, safflower and cotton
seed, to name a few. Shortening is another fat source.
Nuts and seeds are also rich in fat. And so are salad
dressings, unless they are one of the fat free versions.
Now when we talk about calorie dense foods, these guys are
the grandads of all time. Loads of calories for a fairly
small amount of food. It's time to know what you're eating.
Sometimes fat exists where
you don't expect it. It kind of hides on you. This is why
the more knowledge you gain about what's in the foods you
eat, the more ammunition you have to control what you eat.
You need to know where fat and calories might be hiding.
Which foods are nutrient dense and which foods are calorie
dense. Now you can start to eat more nutrient dense foods,
and less of the calorie dense foods. Because now you know
which is which.
6. Vitamins, minerals and
water. Water is
the easy one, so let's start there. You probably already
know that water is the one of the most important substances
on our planet. After all, our world is nearly 70 % water,
and so are we by the way, which ought to tell you just how
important water is to us. But did you know that water is a
nutrient? It is.
Your body needs water to
help regulate its temperature. Water is involved in
building new body tissue, and breaking down foods for the
body to use. It is considered the most essential of all
nutrients and the major constituent of all living cells.
So what are vitamins? They
come in little bottles and look like Fred Flintstone, right?
Well those are artificial vitamins, and not the kind we're
talking about. Vitamins are organic substances, found in
foods, which are necessary for good health and to perform
specific functions in our bodies. Now if you didn't like
that definition, then remember this....vitamins are good for
you. You need them. That's all you need to know. And best
of all they don't have any calories. But like the other
nutrients, they are present in most food.
Exercise:
1. Name specific foods,
especially those that might be hard to figure out whether
they are nutrient dense or calorie dense and research its
nutrient values. A good place to look is in your online food
journal. It has multiple listings of foods and their
nutrient base. An example would be avocados, almonds,
peanut butter, etc.
What are
the pros and cons of each food?
2. List where fat hides,
especially in flavorings such as high fructose syrups etc.,
and how you might eliminate or limit your exposure to them.
|
