Eating well is a major challenge for most people.
You may have heard about a recent report indicating that American adults and kids over age 1 get more than half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods..
A New York Times article shared a bunch tips from nutrition experts on how to eat well. Below are some of them. One reason people eat so much “junk” food – most of those products are tasty. But, so are healthy foods, such as the ones mentioned below.
1. Prioritize whole foods.
Not all processed foods are unhealthy, but they’re often stripped of beneficial nutrients like fiber and certain vitamins and minerals. And they may contain high levels of ingredients that can be harmful to health, like added sugars and sodium. Because of this, it’s best to consume foods as close as possible to how they exist in nature. Whole foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains are packed with many important nutrients.
2. Eat more healthy fats.
During the 1980s, the dominant nutrition advice was to eat less fat. Yet researchers have since found that not all fats are bad – eating more unsaturated fats, which are found in foods like nuts, avocados, fish, and olive oil, help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
3. Watch out for added sugars.
Diets high in added sugars can increase the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity, among other chronic conditions. Added sugars are found in many foods, including those you may not expect, like store-bought tomato sauces and salad dressings. So they can be challenging to avoid. But if you follow the other healthy diet strategies – namely eating more whole foods – you’re likely to consume fewer of these sugars overall… The fiber in whole fruits and vegetables, for instance, can help you stay fuller, longer, and make you less likely to reach for sugary snacks… And whole foods, by definition, don’t include added sugars.
Also important to read labels!
A few years ago, I was on a mission to find a tasty, yet not-too-sugary granola. In the end, I moved to Bob’s Red Mill Muesli, which satisfies my need for a bit of crunch in my yogurt, without any added sugar. (It does have some sugar from raisins and dates, but no added sugar.)
During my granola exploration, I often found myself enthused about the seemingly small amount of sugar in a given product, only to realize the amount of sugar listed corresponded to what I considered a very small serving size. You have to do the math when you look at serving sizes. For example, a cereal that lists 3g of added sugar, with a serving size of 1/3 of a cup, has more sugar than one that lists 4g of added sugar with a serving size of 1/2 a cup. (The former has 9g per cup, the latter has 8g.)
Be well,
David
P.S. My overall conclusion about granola: If it’s sweet enough that I would eat it for a snack, it’s likely too sweet. Unfortunately, that’s the case with most of them.