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 Balancing Your Diet Wednesday, August 21, 2013 | 11:18 AM | 0 comments
We all know the importance of a healthy lifestyle and choosing a balanced diet, but with so much information available it can be hard to sort fact from fiction.
Most people think they eat fairly well - surveys show 93 per cent of Malaysian shoppers describe their overall diet as extremely or very healthy. But surprisingly, only 15 per cent are very satisfied with their eating habits and 57 per cent plan to watch what they eat more closely in the future1. Clearly, health is high on people's agendas.
The 'secret' to maintaining good health is combining a healthy eating plan with daily physical activity. While it may seem easy to follow the latest fad diet or trend going around, many of these plans excessively restrict your intake of foods or entire food groups which can lead to inadequacies in key nutrients. 'Diets' can also be hard to stick to for longer than a few weeks, and many people simply revert back to their old habits in the end. So here we get back to basics to help you put together your own healthy lifestyle plan.
The basics
The basic principles of healthy eating are quite simple:
- Foods are often categorised into five main groups based on their nutrient content. These are vegetables, breads and cereals, fruit, dairy and meats/alternatives. Each different food group provides unique nutrients to your diet, so it's important to eat a variety of foods from each of the major food groups every day.
- Eat moderate portions of all foods, with the exception of vegetables where you can generally eat plenty! (Just make sure you don't overdo the starchy vegies such as potato, sweet potato and corn, which are higher in kilojoules than other vegies). Choosing smaller, frequent meals and snacks will help keep the variety in your diet.
- Remember that enjoying foods is the key to being able to sustain healthy eating habits in the long term, so a healthy balanced diet can include the occasional treat!
Recommended dietary intakes
In 2006 the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released updated recommended dietary intakes (RDIs) for energy (kilojoules), fluids and over 40 vitamins and minerals needed at all stages of life. For the first time, they've also recommended dietary intakes of nutrients that are optimal to prevent chronic disease.
By choosing foods from each of the major food groups daily (taking care to choose healthier options within each group and also include some foods that contribute healthy fats to the diet), most people will be likely to get enough vitamins and minerals to meet their requirements.
Every day foods
While in urgent need of revision to bring it up to speed with the latest scientific research, the federal government's Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends the following serves of foods daily. Use these as a guide - your individual requirements are likely to vary and there may be other factors that need to be taken into account.
Bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles
These foods contribute to your daily carbohydrate intake, and wholegrain choices in particular such as wholemeal bread or pasta, brown rice and oats are high in fibre, B vitamins and minerals.
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends you eat at least 4 serves daily, but you can eat less if you choose wholegrain varieties because they're higher in nutrients. This in turn can help you manage your kilojoule intake.
One serve of breads and cereals equals:
- 2 slices of bread or 1 bread roll
- 1 cup of cooked rice, pasta, noodles
- 1 1/3 cups flaky breakfast cereal, 1/2 cup muesli or 1 cup cooked porridge
Vegetables and legumes
Including a variety of different coloured vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables like cabbage, spinach and broccoli, and orange, yellow and red coloured vegetables like carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin and tomato in your daily diet means you get plenty of fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C and folate. Aim for at least 5 serves daily.
One serve of vegetables equals:
- 1 cup of salad
- 1/2 cup of vegetables or legumes
- 1 potato
Fruit
Fresh, canned and frozen fruits are rich in fibre, vitamin C and folate, so enjoy these daily. Fruit juice and dried fruit in small amounts can also contribute to your fruit serves. Aim for at least 2 serves daily.
One serve of fruit equals:
- 1 medium piece such as apple, orange or banana, or 2 small fruits such as apricot or kiwi fruit
- 1 cup of diced or canned fruit
- 4 pieces of dried fruit or 1 1/2 tablespoons of sultanas
- 1/2 a glass of juice (125ml)
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes
The foods in this group include lean red meat, fish, pork, chicken, legumes and eggs. These foods provide protein, vitamin B12, zinc and iron in varying amounts, so it's important to include a variety of each type in your weekly eating plan. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends at least 1 serve each day, however for optimal nutrition, at least 2 serves from this group daily is ideal. It's important to include lean red meat 3 or 4 times per week and fish twice per week.
One serve of meat and alternatives equals:
- 85g cooked lean beef, lamb, veal, pork or chicken
- 100g cooked fish
- Two eggs
- 1/2 cup cooked dried beans, lentils or chickpeas, or 1/3 cup peanuts or almonds
Milk, yoghurt and cheese
Dairy products provide protein, calcium, riboflavin and vitamin B12. Include at least 2 serves daily and choose low and reduced-fat versions.
One serve of dairy equals:
- 1 glass of milk (250ml) or calcium fortified soy milk
- 40g cheese
- 200g carton of low fat yoghurt or 1 cup of custard
Healthy fats and oils
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating doesn't separate healthy fats and oils from foods that are high in unhealthy fats so it's important to remember to choose these and add them to your daily diet. Healthy fats come from foods such as vegetable oils, unsaturated margarines, avocado, nuts and seeds and are needed in small amounts daily.
What is a serve?
Food & Nutrition Australia classifies a serve of healthy fats as 2 teaspoons of oil or 3 teaspoons of unsaturated margarine, 10 unsalted nuts or 2 tablespoons of avocado.
Fluids
Include plenty of still, sparkling and lightly flavoured waters and tea daily. If you're watching your weight, limit your intake of fruit juices, soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages, which can be an unnecessary source of kilojoules.
Occasional treats
A healthy eating plan can include your favourite treat foods such as chocolates, sweets or savoury snacks or alcohol occasionally. By leaving yourself a bit of room to enjoy the occasional indulgence, it's likely you'll be able to stick more closely to a healthy eating pattern most of the time.
Get physical
Being active in as many ways as you can every day is not only essential for maintaining a healthy weight and fitness, it can also help boost your energy levels and clear your head. For successful weight loss, the body needs to burn up more energy than it takes in. Quite simply, this can be achieved by consuming fewer kilojoules from foods and drinks than you usually do or increasing the amount of energy you use up from physical activity or both!
Healthy Eating Plate
Use a Healthy Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid that are based on the latest and best science.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s why nutritionists use symbols and shapes to answer the question, “What should I eat?” For nearly two decades, the U.S. government distilled its nutrition advice into pyramids. These efforts didn’t accurately show people what makes up a healthy diet. Why? Their recommendations were based on out-of-date science and influenced by people with business interests in the messages the icons sent. This year, the U.S. government scrapped its MyPyramid icon in favor of the fruit-and-vegetable rich MyPlate—an improvement, yet one that still doesn’t go far enough to show people how to make the healthiest choices.
There are better alternatives: the new Healthy Eating Plate and the Healthy Eating Pyramid, both built by faculty members in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, in conjunction with colleagues at Harvard Health Publications. The Healthy Eating Plate fixes the flaws in USDA’s MyPlate, just as the Healthy Eating Pyramid rectifies the mistakes of the USDA’s food pyramids. Both the Healthy Eating Plate and the Healthy Eating Pyramid are based on the latest science about how our food, drink, and activity choices affect our health—and are unaffected by businesses and organizations with a stake in their messages.
The Healthy Eating Pyramid
The Healthy Eating Pyramid is a simple, trustworthy guide to choosing a healthy diet. Its foundation is daily exercise and weight control, since these two related elements strongly influence your chances of staying healthy. The Healthy Eating Pyramid builds from there, showing that you should eat more foods from the bottom part of the pyramid (vegetables, whole grains) and less from the top (red meat, refined grains, potatoes, sugary drinks, and salt).
When it’s time for dinner, most of us eat off of a plate. So think of the new Healthy Eating Plate as blueprint for a typical meal: Fill half your plate with produce—colorful vegetables, the more varied the better, and fruits. (Remember, potatoes and French fries don’t count as vegetables!) Save a quarter of your plate for whole grains. A healthy source of protein, such as fish, poultry, beans, or nuts, can make up the rest. The glass bottle is a reminder to use healthy oils, like olive and canola, in cooking, on salad, and at the table. Complete your meal with a cup of water, or if you like, tea or coffee with little or no sugar (not the milk or other dairy products that the USDA’s MyPlate recommends; limit milk/dairy products to one to two servings per day). And that figure scampering across the bottom of the placemat? It’s your reminder that staying active is half of the secret to weight control. The other half is eating a healthy diet with modest portions that meet your calorie needs—so be sure you choose a plate that is not too large.
Five quick tips:
1. Stay active. A healthy diet is built on a base of regular physical activity, which keeps calories in balance and weight in check. Read five quick tips for staying active and getting to your healthy weight, and 20 ideas for fitting exercise into your life.
2. Go with plants. Eating a plant-based diet is healthiest. Make half your plate vegetables and fruits. Cook with healthy plant oils, like olive and canola oil. Get most or all of your protein from beans, nuts and seeds, or tofu. Check out these delicious healthy recipes that bring the Healthy Eating Pyramid and Healthy Eating Plate into your kitchen.
3. Pick healthy protein sources like fish and beans, not burgers and hot dogs. Eating fish, chicken, beans, or nuts in place of red meat and processed meat can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. So limit red meat—beef, pork, or lamb—to twice a week or less. Avoid processed meat—bacon, cold cuts, hot dogs, and the like—since it strongly raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer. Read more about choosing healthy proteins.
4. Make your grains whole grains. Grains are not essential for good health. What’s essential is to make any grains you eat whole grains, since these have a gentler effect on blood sugar and insulin. Over time, eating whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole grain pasta) in place of refined grains (white rice, white bread, white pasta) makes it easier to control weight and lowers the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Read more about whole grains.
5. Drink water, coffee, or tea—not sugary beverages—and drink alcohol in moderation, if at all. What you drink is as important to your health as what you eat. Water is the best choice, and coffee and tea also have health benefits. Sugary drinks are the worst choice, because they add empty calories, leading to weight gain, in addition to raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Limit milk and dairy to one to two servings per day, since high dairy intake can increase the risk of some diseases, and go easy on juice, since it is high in sugar. Moderate alcohol consumption can have real health benefits for many people, but it’s not for everyone; those who don’t drink shouldn’t feel that they need to start. Read more about healthy drinks.
How To Make A Timetable For Daily Meals
The food that goes into your body affects your energy levels and weight management. While nutritious food is essential to a healthy lifestyle, the timing of your meals also plays a role in your energy and weight. Eating at a convenient time makes it easier for you to cook a wholesome meal that supports your health goals. If you engage in regular exercise, your meal timing needs to support your workout schedule. A regular timetable for eating also helps you get into healthy dietary routines to keep yourself on track.
Review your usual daily schedule, including the time you wake up, go to bed, leave for work, have a scheduled lunch break and other regular occurrences in the day. Pencil these tasks into a schedule that breaks down the day by the hour or half hour as a reference.
Decide if you prefer to eat the usual three meals a day or break your calorie intake into five or six smaller meals. According to the American Council on Exercise, either option works depending on your personal preference and how you are able to keep your food consumption under control.
Schedule meals at least one hour before a workout to give your body time to digest what you eat. Look at your usual workout schedule to determine whether any of your daily meals fall near that time. Move the meal back to an hour before that time or push it back until after your workout.
Schedule breakfast every morning to give yourself energy and keep hunger away during the morning. Use your typical wake-up time as a guide for scheduling your breakfast. Avoid waiting too long after you wake up to eat to avoid becoming overly hungry.
Fill in your other meals, depending on how many meals you eat in a day. For the typical three-meal schedule, write in your lunch and dinner. Lunch is often dictated by your work schedule. Try to keep the spacing between the meals relatively equal to avoid becoming overly hungry.
Add in healthy snacks on the eating timetable as needed to keep your hunger at bay.
6 Things to Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle boosts your energy, improves your mental outlook and enhances your quality of life. Regardless of your current health, you can begin making positive lifestyle changes today. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle does not mean an overnight transformation. Gradually integrate healthy lifestyle choices into your normal daily routine. These small changes will add up to big results -- a long, healthy life.
Start with a healthy diet. Avoid eating processed and refined foods. Consume foods in their natural state, whenever possible. Avoid bad fats found in whole dairy products, partially hydrogenated cooking oils and fatty meats. Get carbohydrates and fiber from whole grains. Include healthy sources of protein such as lean meat, fish, nuts and legumes. Drink plenty of water and eliminate high-fructose carbonated beverages and juices.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website cites the “2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans," which recommends a combination of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to spend a fortune on health clubs or personal trainers to reap the benefits of exercise. Walking, jogging, biking and mowing the lawn will increase your heart rate and qualify as aerobic activity. Strengthen your muscles by lifting weights, performing resistance band exercises, gardening or doing sit-ups or push-ups.
Smoking cessation represents one of the single most important things you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. According to the American Heart Association, smoking significantly increases the risk of stroke, chronic heart disease and lung cancer. Smoking contributes to respiratory disorders, osteoporosis, infertility and gum disease.
Eliminate or limit alcohol consumption. Excessive drinking, as defined by the CDC, involves consuming more than two drinks each day for men and more than one drink each day for women. Heavy drinking leads to chronic liver disease and contributes to alcohol-related injuries. The CDC website attributes 79,000 U.S. deaths annually to excessive drinking.
Mental and physical health goes hand in hand. Take time to relax and avoid bringing work stress home. Meditation, socializing, hobbies and sports all play a role in relieving stress. If the affects of stress begin to interfere with your sleep, job and relationships, discuss the problem with your healthcare provider or therapist.
An adequate amount of sleep keeps you healthy by boosting your immune system and increasing your metabolic rate. Getting a good night’s sleep also improves memory and your ability to comprehend and process new information. To ensure a good night’s sleep, take a relaxing bath or read before bedtime. Avoid late night meals, caffeine or alcohol. Keep the bedroom cool and purchase a comfortable pillow and mattress. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule.
Maintaining a healthy weight decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and arthritis, to name a few. Setting a sensible weight-loss objective will make the journey less frustrating and help you achieve your target goal. Avoid rapid weight-loss plans and fad diets that limit the types of food you can eat. Gradual weight loss from a balanced diet and realistic calorie intake will keep the weight off. Talk to your doctor before starting any weight-loss program.
How Does Food Impact Health ?
The food we eat gives our bodies the "information" and materials they need to function properly. If we don't get the right information, our metabolic processes suffer and our health declines.
If we get too much food, or food that gives our bodies the wrong instructions, we can become overweight, undernourished, and at risk for the development of diseases and conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease.
In short, what we eat is central to our health.
Consider that in light of Webster's definition of medicine: "The science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease." Food acts as medicine, to maintain, prevent, and treat disease.
 What does food do in our bodies?
The nutrients in food enable the cells in our bodies to perform their necessary functions. This quote from a popular textbook describes how the nutrients in food are essential for our physical functioning.
"Nutrients are the nourishing substances in food that are essential for the growth, development and maintenance of body functions. Essential meaning that if a nutrient is not present, aspects of function and therefore human health decline.
When nutrient intake does not regularly meet the nutrient needs dictated by the cell activity, the metabolic processes slow down or even stop."
- Perspectives in Nutrition, Wardlow and Insel
In other words, nutrients give our bodies instructions about how to function. In this sense, food can be seen as a source of "information" for the body. See examples in Food As Information.
Thinking about food in this way gives us a view of nutrition that goes beyond calories or grams, good foods or bad foods. This view leads us to focus on foods we should include rather than foods to exclude.
Instead of viewing food as the enemy, we look to food as a way to create health and reduce disease by helping the body maintain function.
Why should I care?
The nutrients in food give our bodies the information and materials they need to function properly. But our daily diets may not always be providing all the information our bodies need.
 We all know that we need to get a basic balance of nutrients every day. But we may not be aware that the Standard American Diet (SAD) lacks nutrients. Moreover, some of our processed foods include chemically-altered fats and sugars that may be giving our bodies the wrong signals.
Our Plate
 Balancing Your Diet Wednesday, August 21, 2013 | 11:18 AM | 0comments
We all know the importance of a healthy lifestyle and choosing a balanced diet, but with so much information available it can be hard to sort fact from fiction.
Most people think they eat fairly well - surveys show 93 per cent of Malaysian shoppers describe their overall diet as extremely or very healthy. But surprisingly, only 15 per cent are very satisfied with their eating habits and 57 per cent plan to watch what they eat more closely in the future1. Clearly, health is high on people's agendas.
The 'secret' to maintaining good health is combining a healthy eating plan with daily physical activity. While it may seem easy to follow the latest fad diet or trend going around, many of these plans excessively restrict your intake of foods or entire food groups which can lead to inadequacies in key nutrients. 'Diets' can also be hard to stick to for longer than a few weeks, and many people simply revert back to their old habits in the end. So here we get back to basics to help you put together your own healthy lifestyle plan.
The basics
The basic principles of healthy eating are quite simple:
- Foods are often categorised into five main groups based on their nutrient content. These are vegetables, breads and cereals, fruit, dairy and meats/alternatives. Each different food group provides unique nutrients to your diet, so it's important to eat a variety of foods from each of the major food groups every day.
- Eat moderate portions of all foods, with the exception of vegetables where you can generally eat plenty! (Just make sure you don't overdo the starchy vegies such as potato, sweet potato and corn, which are higher in kilojoules than other vegies). Choosing smaller, frequent meals and snacks will help keep the variety in your diet.
- Remember that enjoying foods is the key to being able to sustain healthy eating habits in the long term, so a healthy balanced diet can include the occasional treat!
Recommended dietary intakes
In 2006 the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released updated recommended dietary intakes (RDIs) for energy (kilojoules), fluids and over 40 vitamins and minerals needed at all stages of life. For the first time, they've also recommended dietary intakes of nutrients that are optimal to prevent chronic disease.
By choosing foods from each of the major food groups daily (taking care to choose healthier options within each group and also include some foods that contribute healthy fats to the diet), most people will be likely to get enough vitamins and minerals to meet their requirements.
Every day foods
While in urgent need of revision to bring it up to speed with the latest scientific research, the federal government's Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends the following serves of foods daily. Use these as a guide - your individual requirements are likely to vary and there may be other factors that need to be taken into account.
Bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles
These foods contribute to your daily carbohydrate intake, and wholegrain choices in particular such as wholemeal bread or pasta, brown rice and oats are high in fibre, B vitamins and minerals.
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends you eat at least 4 serves daily, but you can eat less if you choose wholegrain varieties because they're higher in nutrients. This in turn can help you manage your kilojoule intake.
One serve of breads and cereals equals:
- 2 slices of bread or 1 bread roll
- 1 cup of cooked rice, pasta, noodles
- 1 1/3 cups flaky breakfast cereal, 1/2 cup muesli or 1 cup cooked porridge
Vegetables and legumes
Including a variety of different coloured vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables like cabbage, spinach and broccoli, and orange, yellow and red coloured vegetables like carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin and tomato in your daily diet means you get plenty of fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C and folate. Aim for at least 5 serves daily.
One serve of vegetables equals:
- 1 cup of salad
- 1/2 cup of vegetables or legumes
- 1 potato
Fruit
Fresh, canned and frozen fruits are rich in fibre, vitamin C and folate, so enjoy these daily. Fruit juice and dried fruit in small amounts can also contribute to your fruit serves. Aim for at least 2 serves daily.
One serve of fruit equals:
- 1 medium piece such as apple, orange or banana, or 2 small fruits such as apricot or kiwi fruit
- 1 cup of diced or canned fruit
- 4 pieces of dried fruit or 1 1/2 tablespoons of sultanas
- 1/2 a glass of juice (125ml)
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes
The foods in this group include lean red meat, fish, pork, chicken, legumes and eggs. These foods provide protein, vitamin B12, zinc and iron in varying amounts, so it's important to include a variety of each type in your weekly eating plan. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends at least 1 serve each day, however for optimal nutrition, at least 2 serves from this group daily is ideal. It's important to include lean red meat 3 or 4 times per week and fish twice per week.
One serve of meat and alternatives equals:
- 85g cooked lean beef, lamb, veal, pork or chicken
- 100g cooked fish
- Two eggs
- 1/2 cup cooked dried beans, lentils or chickpeas, or 1/3 cup peanuts or almonds
Milk, yoghurt and cheese
Dairy products provide protein, calcium, riboflavin and vitamin B12. Include at least 2 serves daily and choose low and reduced-fat versions.
One serve of dairy equals:
- 1 glass of milk (250ml) or calcium fortified soy milk
- 40g cheese
- 200g carton of low fat yoghurt or 1 cup of custard
Healthy fats and oils
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating doesn't separate healthy fats and oils from foods that are high in unhealthy fats so it's important to remember to choose these and add them to your daily diet. Healthy fats come from foods such as vegetable oils, unsaturated margarines, avocado, nuts and seeds and are needed in small amounts daily.
What is a serve?
Food & Nutrition Australia classifies a serve of healthy fats as 2 teaspoons of oil or 3 teaspoons of unsaturated margarine, 10 unsalted nuts or 2 tablespoons of avocado.
Fluids
Include plenty of still, sparkling and lightly flavoured waters and tea daily. If you're watching your weight, limit your intake of fruit juices, soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages, which can be an unnecessary source of kilojoules.
Occasional treats
A healthy eating plan can include your favourite treat foods such as chocolates, sweets or savoury snacks or alcohol occasionally. By leaving yourself a bit of room to enjoy the occasional indulgence, it's likely you'll be able to stick more closely to a healthy eating pattern most of the time.
Get physical
Being active in as many ways as you can every day is not only essential for maintaining a healthy weight and fitness, it can also help boost your energy levels and clear your head. For successful weight loss, the body needs to burn up more energy than it takes in. Quite simply, this can be achieved by consuming fewer kilojoules from foods and drinks than you usually do or increasing the amount of energy you use up from physical activity or both!
Healthy Eating Plate
Use a Healthy Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid that are based on the latest and best science.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s why nutritionists use symbols and shapes to answer the question, “What should I eat?” For nearly two decades, the U.S. government distilled its nutrition advice into pyramids. These efforts didn’t accurately show people what makes up a healthy diet. Why? Their recommendations were based on out-of-date science and influenced by people with business interests in the messages the icons sent. This year, the U.S. government scrapped its MyPyramid icon in favor of the fruit-and-vegetable rich MyPlate—an improvement, yet one that still doesn’t go far enough to show people how to make the healthiest choices.
There are better alternatives: the new Healthy Eating Plate and the Healthy Eating Pyramid, both built by faculty members in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, in conjunction with colleagues at Harvard Health Publications. The Healthy Eating Plate fixes the flaws in USDA’s MyPlate, just as the Healthy Eating Pyramid rectifies the mistakes of the USDA’s food pyramids. Both the Healthy Eating Plate and the Healthy Eating Pyramid are based on the latest science about how our food, drink, and activity choices affect our health—and are unaffected by businesses and organizations with a stake in their messages.
The Healthy Eating Pyramid
The Healthy Eating Pyramid is a simple, trustworthy guide to choosing a healthy diet. Its foundation is daily exercise and weight control, since these two related elements strongly influence your chances of staying healthy. The Healthy Eating Pyramid builds from there, showing that you should eat more foods from the bottom part of the pyramid (vegetables, whole grains) and less from the top (red meat, refined grains, potatoes, sugary drinks, and salt).
When it’s time for dinner, most of us eat off of a plate. So think of the new Healthy Eating Plate as blueprint for a typical meal: Fill half your plate with produce—colorful vegetables, the more varied the better, and fruits. (Remember, potatoes and French fries don’t count as vegetables!) Save a quarter of your plate for whole grains. A healthy source of protein, such as fish, poultry, beans, or nuts, can make up the rest. The glass bottle is a reminder to use healthy oils, like olive and canola, in cooking, on salad, and at the table. Complete your meal with a cup of water, or if you like, tea or coffee with little or no sugar (not the milk or other dairy products that the USDA’s MyPlate recommends; limit milk/dairy products to one to two servings per day). And that figure scampering across the bottom of the placemat? It’s your reminder that staying active is half of the secret to weight control. The other half is eating a healthy diet with modest portions that meet your calorie needs—so be sure you choose a plate that is not too large.
Five quick tips:
1. Stay active. A healthy diet is built on a base of regular physical activity, which keeps calories in balance and weight in check. Read five quick tips for staying active and getting to your healthy weight, and 20 ideas for fitting exercise into your life.
2. Go with plants. Eating a plant-based diet is healthiest. Make half your plate vegetables and fruits. Cook with healthy plant oils, like olive and canola oil. Get most or all of your protein from beans, nuts and seeds, or tofu. Check out these delicious healthy recipes that bring the Healthy Eating Pyramid and Healthy Eating Plate into your kitchen.
3. Pick healthy protein sources like fish and beans, not burgers and hot dogs. Eating fish, chicken, beans, or nuts in place of red meat and processed meat can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. So limit red meat—beef, pork, or lamb—to twice a week or less. Avoid processed meat—bacon, cold cuts, hot dogs, and the like—since it strongly raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer. Read more about choosing healthy proteins.
4. Make your grains whole grains. Grains are not essential for good health. What’s essential is to make any grains you eat whole grains, since these have a gentler effect on blood sugar and insulin. Over time, eating whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole grain pasta) in place of refined grains (white rice, white bread, white pasta) makes it easier to control weight and lowers the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Read more about whole grains.
5. Drink water, coffee, or tea—not sugary beverages—and drink alcohol in moderation, if at all. What you drink is as important to your health as what you eat. Water is the best choice, and coffee and tea also have health benefits. Sugary drinks are the worst choice, because they add empty calories, leading to weight gain, in addition to raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Limit milk and dairy to one to two servings per day, since high dairy intake can increase the risk of some diseases, and go easy on juice, since it is high in sugar. Moderate alcohol consumption can have real health benefits for many people, but it’s not for everyone; those who don’t drink shouldn’t feel that they need to start. Read more about healthy drinks.
How To Make A Timetable For Daily Meals
The food that goes into your body affects your energy levels and weight management. While nutritious food is essential to a healthy lifestyle, the timing of your meals also plays a role in your energy and weight. Eating at a convenient time makes it easier for you to cook a wholesome meal that supports your health goals. If you engage in regular exercise, your meal timing needs to support your workout schedule. A regular timetable for eating also helps you get into healthy dietary routines to keep yourself on track.
Review your usual daily schedule, including the time you wake up, go to bed, leave for work, have a scheduled lunch break and other regular occurrences in the day. Pencil these tasks into a schedule that breaks down the day by the hour or half hour as a reference.
Decide if you prefer to eat the usual three meals a day or break your calorie intake into five or six smaller meals. According to the American Council on Exercise, either option works depending on your personal preference and how you are able to keep your food consumption under control.
Schedule meals at least one hour before a workout to give your body time to digest what you eat. Look at your usual workout schedule to determine whether any of your daily meals fall near that time. Move the meal back to an hour before that time or push it back until after your workout.
Schedule breakfast every morning to give yourself energy and keep hunger away during the morning. Use your typical wake-up time as a guide for scheduling your breakfast. Avoid waiting too long after you wake up to eat to avoid becoming overly hungry.
Fill in your other meals, depending on how many meals you eat in a day. For the typical three-meal schedule, write in your lunch and dinner. Lunch is often dictated by your work schedule. Try to keep the spacing between the meals relatively equal to avoid becoming overly hungry.
Add in healthy snacks on the eating timetable as needed to keep your hunger at bay.
6 Things to Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle boosts your energy, improves your mental outlook and enhances your quality of life. Regardless of your current health, you can begin making positive lifestyle changes today. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle does not mean an overnight transformation. Gradually integrate healthy lifestyle choices into your normal daily routine. These small changes will add up to big results -- a long, healthy life.
Start with a healthy diet. Avoid eating processed and refined foods. Consume foods in their natural state, whenever possible. Avoid bad fats found in whole dairy products, partially hydrogenated cooking oils and fatty meats. Get carbohydrates and fiber from whole grains. Include healthy sources of protein such as lean meat, fish, nuts and legumes. Drink plenty of water and eliminate high-fructose carbonated beverages and juices.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website cites the “2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans," which recommends a combination of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to spend a fortune on health clubs or personal trainers to reap the benefits of exercise. Walking, jogging, biking and mowing the lawn will increase your heart rate and qualify as aerobic activity. Strengthen your muscles by lifting weights, performing resistance band exercises, gardening or doing sit-ups or push-ups.
Smoking cessation represents one of the single most important things you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. According to the American Heart Association, smoking significantly increases the risk of stroke, chronic heart disease and lung cancer. Smoking contributes to respiratory disorders, osteoporosis, infertility and gum disease.
Eliminate or limit alcohol consumption. Excessive drinking, as defined by the CDC, involves consuming more than two drinks each day for men and more than one drink each day for women. Heavy drinking leads to chronic liver disease and contributes to alcohol-related injuries. The CDC website attributes 79,000 U.S. deaths annually to excessive drinking.
Mental and physical health goes hand in hand. Take time to relax and avoid bringing work stress home. Meditation, socializing, hobbies and sports all play a role in relieving stress. If the affects of stress begin to interfere with your sleep, job and relationships, discuss the problem with your healthcare provider or therapist.
An adequate amount of sleep keeps you healthy by boosting your immune system and increasing your metabolic rate. Getting a good night’s sleep also improves memory and your ability to comprehend and process new information. To ensure a good night’s sleep, take a relaxing bath or read before bedtime. Avoid late night meals, caffeine or alcohol. Keep the bedroom cool and purchase a comfortable pillow and mattress. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule.
Maintaining a healthy weight decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and arthritis, to name a few. Setting a sensible weight-loss objective will make the journey less frustrating and help you achieve your target goal. Avoid rapid weight-loss plans and fad diets that limit the types of food you can eat. Gradual weight loss from a balanced diet and realistic calorie intake will keep the weight off. Talk to your doctor before starting any weight-loss program.
How Does Food Impact Health ?
The food we eat gives our bodies the "information" and materials they need to function properly. If we don't get the right information, our metabolic processes suffer and our health declines.
If we get too much food, or food that gives our bodies the wrong instructions, we can become overweight, undernourished, and at risk for the development of diseases and conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease.
In short, what we eat is central to our health.
Consider that in light of Webster's definition of medicine: "The science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease." Food acts as medicine, to maintain, prevent, and treat disease.
What does food do in our bodies?
The nutrients in food enable the cells in our bodies to perform their necessary functions. This quote from a popular textbook describes how the nutrients in food are essential for our physical functioning.
"Nutrients are the nourishing substances in food that are essential for the growth, development and maintenance of body functions. Essential meaning that if a nutrient is not present, aspects of function and therefore human health decline.
When nutrient intake does not regularly meet the nutrient needs dictated by the cell activity, the metabolic processes slow down or even stop."
- Perspectives in Nutrition, Wardlow and Insel
In other words, nutrients give our bodies instructions about how to function. In this sense, food can be seen as a source of "information" for the body. See examples in Food As Information.
Thinking about food in this way gives us a view of nutrition that goes beyond calories or grams, good foods or bad foods. This view leads us to focus on foods we should include rather than foods to exclude.
Instead of viewing food as the enemy, we look to food as a way to create health and reduce disease by helping the body maintain function.
Why should I care?
The nutrients in food give our bodies the information and materials they need to function properly. But our daily diets may not always be providing all the information our bodies need.
We all know that we need to get a basic balance of nutrients every day. But we may not be aware that the Standard American Diet (SAD) lacks nutrients. Moreover, some of our processed foods include chemically-altered fats and sugars that may be giving our bodies the wrong signals.
Our Plate Wednesday, July 10, 2013 | 6:18 PM | 0comments
Introduction
Food and Balancing Diet
Food is component that important to our daily life. While balancing diet is the best way to eat healthy and get a good body healthcare.
In this blog, we will discuss about the important of food in our daily life and what the best food we must eat to get healthy body. Example, food is the things that can give us energy to move and do works. Food is also important because they give nutrition to us to do works and this nutrition also needed by our body.
But, if we just eat what we want, it also cannot help our body. This is why, balancing diet is also included in this title. Balancing diet give us a good amount of food nutrition needed by our body.
So in this blog, we will discuss about the important of balancing diet and their effect to our body.
Food
Food and Balancing Diet
Edible or potable substance (usually of animal or plant origin), consisting of nourishing and nutritive components such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, essential mineral and vitamins, which (when ingested and assimilated through digestion) sustains life, generates energy, and provides growth, maintenance, and health of the body.
Balanced Diet
Food and Balancing Diet
Eating a balanced diet means choosing a wide variety of foods and drinks from all the food groups. It also means eating certain things in moderation, namely saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, refined sugar, salt and alcohol. The goal is to take in nutrients you need for health at the recommended levels.
Tips !
Food and Balancing Diet
Healthy eating Tip 1: Set yourself up for success
Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
Healthy eating tip 2: Moderation is key
Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.” When you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards sweet, salty, or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.
Healthy eating tip 3: It's not just what you eat, it's how you eat
+ Take time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of our food. Reconnect with the joy of eating.
+ Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up and your metabolism going.
+ Avoid eating at night. Try to eat dinner earlier in the day and then fast for 14-16 hours until breakfast the next morning. Early studies suggest that this simple dietary adjustment—eating only when you’re most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day—may help to regulate weight. After-dinner snacks tend to be high in fat and calories so are best avoided, anyway.
Healthy eating tip 4: Fill up on colorful fruits and vegetables
+ Sweet vegetables. Naturally sweet vegetables—such as corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, and squash—add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your cravings for other sweets.
+ Fruit. Fruit is a tasty, satisfying way to fill up on fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.
Healthy eating tip 5: Eat more healthy carbs and whole grains
+ Healthy carbs (sometimes known as good carbs) include whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Healthy carbs are digested slowly, helping you feel full longer and keeping blood sugar and insulin levels stable.
+ Unhealthy carbs (or bad carbs) are foods such as white flour, refined sugar, and white rice that have been stripped of all bran, fiber, and nutrients. Unhealthy carbs digest quickly and cause spikes in blood sugar levels and energy.
Diseases
Food and Balancing Diet
Diabetes
Although there are some uncontrollable factors that may predispose you to developing diabetes, it is a preventable disease with a healthy lifestyle. Obesity, high blood pressure and increased cholesterol are strong risk factors for developing diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, good nutrition is one of the best ways to prevent diabetes. The ADA recommends choosing a balanced diet full of whole grain foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. Before being diagnosed with diabetes, many people find that they have prediabetes. This is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diabetes. Oftentimes, establishing good nutrition and exercise habits can prevent prediabetes from progressing to full blown diabetes.
Anemia
Anemia occurs when red blood cells are unable to carry enough oxygen to your body's cells. Symptoms of anemia include fatigue, sensitivity to cold temperatures, headache and a fast, irregular heartbeat. Anemia has various causes, and some are related to deficiencies in certain nutrients. The Mayo Clinic indicates that iron deficiency anemia affects 1 to 2 percent of American adults. Your body needs iron to make hemoglobin to transport oxygen throughout the body, and it is found in meat and poultry. Anemia can also be caused by a lack of vitamin B12, which your body needs to make red blood cells. Vitamin B12 is found in fortified grains and animal products.
Osteomalacia/Rickets
Osteomalacia and rickets are caused by a deficiency of vitamin D, calcium or phosphate. Osteomalacia occurs in adults, while rickets occurs in children. Osteomalacia and rickets cause soft, weak bones, pain and muscle weakness. Sometimes these diseases result from an inability to absorb vitamin D or not getting enough sunlight so that your body can make its own vitamin D. Vitamin D also regulates blood levels of calcium and phosphate. These diseases can also occur from not getting enough vitamin D, calcium or phosphorus in the diet. These vitamins are found in dairy products, fortified foods and vegetables. Replacing the missing nutrients in the diet will relieve most symptoms of these diseases.
Authors
Food and Balancing Diet
Name : Ellia Natasha Binti Amzah
DOB : 17 September 1995
Asal : Kangar, Perlis
College : Perak Matriculation College
email : -
Name : Siti Hajar Binti Samsudin
DOB : 27 February 1995
Asal : Shah Alam, Selangor
College : Perak Matriculation College
email : -
Name : Nurul Najeeha Binti Sahdan
DOB : 25 July 1995
Asal : Merlimau, Melaka
College : Perak Matriculation College
email : ai_ujeens@yahoo.com.my
Sources
Food and Balancing Diet
1. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/food.html
2. http://caloriecount.about.com/article/what_is_a_balanced_diet
3. http://www.livestrong.com
4. http://www.google.com
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