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The fresh fruits and vegetables (five to seven servings a day) and lean, fresh meats that you eat are shown, over and over again, to have more of the helpful nutrients your body needs and can absorb than packaged, de-natured foods with long lists of ingredients (which are mainly synthetic chemicals, with supplements added).
This involves not only eating slowly (so that your stomach has the requisite time to send a message to your brain that it is full), but also focusing on your food. Your television, phone, computer, and any other electronic devices should be turned off or in the next room. Some nutrition professionals advocate eating with other people as opposed to sitting in front of the telly, but we point out that conversation still involves a distraction. Focused-on food is more satisfying and will help you to feel full more easily without overeating.
It is the most important meal of the day, and study after study shows that kids who eat breakfast do better at school. Adults who eat breakfast more easily maintain their right weight.
With the all-important roles of cell repair, cell regeneration, hormone production, and blood sugar management, protein is a basic building block in a healthy diet. You should have it throughout the day, in relatively equal amounts at each meal. You need at least 0.8 grams of high-quality (lean) protein per kilogram (2.2 lbs) of body weight, and older adults should try to get 1 – 1.5 grams of lean protein for each kilo of body weight. This means that even a relatively slender 55 kg (121 lb) older adult would require around 55 – 82 grams of protein per day, and her younger counterpart would need a minimum of 44 grams. An adult weighing 68 kg (150 lbs) would need between 54 grams (if the person is younger) and 68 to 102 grams if older. By comparison, an egg tends to have about 6 grams of protein. The g ood news is that, if you are getting sufficient high-quality protein, your cravings for the foods that hurt your health are vastly reduced (Better Health Channel, Victoria State Government, 2012; Eden, 2009).
Well, we don’t mean your fat, but the fat you take in. “Bad” fats – such as the trans-fats found in most takeaway meals, processed foods, vegetable shortenings, margarines, biscuits, and snack and fried foods – increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other “killer” diseases. “Good” fats include monounsaturated fats – such as those found in nuts, avocados, and seeds – and polyunsaturated fats, including the “Omega 3” group found in fatty fish (salmon, herring, anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and fish oil supplements) and flaxseed and walnuts.
Recent nutritional discoveries are focusing not only on the Omega 3 fats, which for some time we have known are helpful to us, but also the ratio of Omega 6 fats to Omega 3 fats. We need both, but in the right proportions. We should have Omega 6: Omega 3 ratios of somewhere between 1:1 and 1:4, but sadly, most Westerners’ diets have ratios more like 20:1 or even 40:1. Omega 6 fats, found in vegetable oils such as corn oil, sunflower oil, and safflower oil, are more emphasised in the Western diet, and it is easy to create health-jeopardising imbalance (Eden, 2009).
Even vegetarians must look out here, as many varieties of nuts and seeds have outrageous ratios. Sunflower seeds, for example, have a ratio of 472:1, and even cashew nuts are 48:1 (Cordain, 2011), so if these were to be your main source of protein, you could be undermining your health. Sometimes you can “shop smart” around this issue; caged eggs are 20:1, but free-range eggs have the right ratio (Eden, 2009). Watch this space, as studies give us increasing information about the many diseases we cause ourselves by this imbalance. And a note on saturated fats: we are now finding out that not all of them are bad. Coconut oil, for example, much beloved in the Asia-Pacific region, has lauric acid, which is protective against heart disease by helping to eliminate the gut bacteria which increase inflammation and elevate the risk for cardiovascular disease (Cordain, 2011).
Brian Tracy (best-selling author and motivational speaker but not a nutrition expert!) warns against too much consumption of what he calls the white poisons. This notion nicely encompasses many dietary problems for typical Westerners. We have white (processed, refined) flours, white salt, and white sugar, all of which undermine our wellness (Tracy, 2010). If you are going to eat grains (many people are adopting grain-free, “Paleo” diets these days), then be sure to consume ones which have not had the fibre and other nutrients stripped in the refining process. It is said that meal worms placed into jars of white flour don’t even eat any of it; they seem to know that there is nothing in it to nourish them (source unknown). Ditto salt (you are better off with sea salt or Himalayan salt), and le ss refined sweeteners, such as honey (Robinson et al, 2015). All of these foods, however – even the recommended versions – should be consumed in moderation. Be adventurous instead with herbs and spices, such as garlic, turmeric, chili, basil, and parsley.
but aim to feel just satisfied rather than stuffed. You’ve probably heard the term, “portion control”. You can achieve it more easily on smaller plates, whose surfaces you have covered more with different-coloured fruits and vegetables than the other food groups. Your lean protein might take up about as much space on the plate as a deck of cards, and your carbohydrate serving could be about the size of a traditional light bulb. Make your “seconds” veggies rather than the carbohydrates of potatoes or pasta. In this category, we can also say that this sort of gentle restraint can work when eating out as well. For example, you can save money and reduce the possibility of over-consuming by ordering a medium size latte, not the largest one. Similarly, you can share large portions between two people, or order “starter” size for yourself rather than mains size.
We all know the scenario where several friends go to the ice cream shop for a treat, but only the one who has recently been on a diet orders two banana-splits! That person was probably experiencing deprivation. Rather than saying that any food is off-limits now and forever, amen, try to think in terms of a little bit of what you love as an occasional treat. Knowing that the food is not gone forever can help you enjoy it as an indulgence, returning to your more healthy habits as a lifestyle.
However, don’t get too hungry; your blood sugar may swing wildly, causing intense (read: unhealthy) cravings. One solution for this is to consume mostly low Glycaemic Index foods, which release their energy over time, stabilising blood sugar, rather than causing it to spike and then crash as high Glycaemic Index foods do. Some people need to eat smaller meals, up to five or six times a day. Others are better off with fewer, but more substantial, meals. See what works for you.
Prepare your own meals as much as possible (you have more control), read the labels on the foodstuffs you buy (are you aware of how many names crafty food manufacturers have managed to give to sugar and salt?). Avoid high-kilojoule drinks and foods, and always focus on how you feel after a meal; if you feel nauseated or drained of energy, it’s probably not a health-inducing food for you.
Most diets depend on restriction in some way in order to achieve the weight loss or gain. Even people on a maintenance diet are sometimes tempted to count calories, but for both instances, we question: is it really necessary? To get your nutrients in balance with one another and your diet in balance with the rest of your life (especially including exercise) is to come into a balanced (i.e., ideal) weight, sooner or later. For those with hormonal or other issues inhibiting weight loss or gain, special assistance may be needed, but for most people, observing the chief dietary principles we have outlined here will tend to enhance wellness and bring your weight into line.
Moreover, studies have shown that the more frequently a person has dieted, the greater are that person’s chances of being overweight and even obese in later life. Dieting also puts people at greater risk of developing food intolerances and digestive problems due to the over-consumption of some foods and the exclusion of others. A better option seems to be to aim for a healthy, long-term lifestyle eating regimen (suggestions in this section adapted from: Change4Life, n.d.; Eden, 2009; Robinson et al, 2015; Better Health Channel, Victoria State Government, 2012).
Based on what you have just read/heard, how do you rate your diet? We are not talking about the occasional treat, but about your regular eating habits. Answer the following questions and make any additional notes here to capture your sense of how your diet is enhancing or undermining your wellness – and what you plan to change for the areas where you are undermining yourself. Don’t forget to reflect on any obstacles you will have to work through in order to implement the changes, including possible resistance in yourself to feeling regimented.
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Source: lcia.com.au
All the period that we worked together to pull me out of my depression I also had the feeling that Liudmila really cares and even outside the sessions I could send her a few emails to share my black thoughts when I was really deep down.