Choose a "healthy" diet

Do you know someone with a diet? Have you ever dieted?

The answer to these two questions for everyone is "yes". Technically, we are all "on the diet".

According to the first definition of most dictionaries, a "diet" consists of "types of food that a person, animal or community eats".

In other words, if you eat food, you are on a diet. Because you are alive and you are reading this, you have to eat food regularly.

Most people think that "diets" are somewhat restrictive. Many people associate "dieting" with attempts to lose weight. Others follow diets for medical, religious, cultural or other reasons.

Sometimes the diets are described according to the nutritional content. For example, have you heard of special diets low in fat, sodium, protein and / or carbohydrates?

Some plans are named after the person who developed the plan, the place where it was developed or the food presented in the plan.

Somewhere in my workbooks, I have some fad diets, including the cabbage soup diet, the beer diet, the grapefruit diet, the cookie diet and the popcorn diet. These are not long-term sustainable plans. I would not recommend any of them.

When new information is released by a study, diets make headlines. More recently, you may have read or heard about the link between carbohydrate restriction and reduced length of life.

The article was published in the respected public health journal The lancet. The authors analyzed data from 15,400 middle-aged adults from the atherosclerosis risk study in the community and published data from seven studies of 432,000 adults in 20 years of age. country.

According to their analysis, people consuming moderate amounts of carbohydrate (50 to 55% of total calories) lived four years longer. Those who ate high carbohydrate diets lived another year.

In other words, skipping carbs was not good for you.

The level of carbohydrate associated with longer lifetimes is consistent with current recommendations. Many studies are being considered in the development of US national guidelines every five years.

What's a healthy diet, anyway?

In January 2018, the Mediterranean diet and the DASH Diet ranked first in the world, according to the annual ranking of US News and World Reports. I think most nutrition experts would agree that these eating habits are associated with better health.

The DASH diet, abbreviated dietary approaches to stop hypertension, includes a variety of food groups. For example, on a 2,000 calorie diet, the diet includes six to eight servings (one ounce) of grain (focusing on whole grains); four to five servings (half a cup to a cup) of vegetables; four to five servings (half a cup) of fruit; two to three servings (one cup) of skim milk or low fat; about six ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish; and four to five weekly servings of nuts, seeds and legumes.

The DASH diet allows two to three daily servings of fat. One serving is half a teaspoon of vegetable oil or soft margarine. It limits sweets and added sugars to five servings a week. A serving is a tablespoon of jelly or a cup of regular lemonade, for example.

DASH has been shown to reduce high blood pressure, which can reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease and blindness.

The style of Mediterranean consumption is based on what people in Spain, Italy and other Mediterranean countries have eaten for centuries. It includes fruits, nuts, legumes, seeds, vegetables, beans, cereals and olive oil as part of every meal. It includes average quantities of fish and seafood consumed at least twice a week; medium to low quantities of poultry, eggs, cheese and yoghurt; and lower amounts of meat and sweets.

The Mediterranean diet is associated with reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Eating "Mediterranean style" also includes other lifestyle-related factors, such as physical activity. It encourages slowing down and savoring your meals and limiting portion size in order to lose weight during the process.

The US Department of Agriculture's MyPlate program includes aspects of these two health promotion plans or visit this website for more information. If you are dieting for medical reasons, contact a registered dietitian and your health care team.

Aiming to meet the recommendations for fruits and vegetables, food groups are missing most often in the diet of adults and children. Here is a colorful recipe with lots of vegetables and fruits, as well as nuts and cheese, to start with.

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The ultimate salad of fruit, cheese and nuts

• 3 c. Spring vegetables
• 1 small apple or pear cut into thin slices
• 1/2 c. grapes, sliced ​​lengthwise
• 1/8 c. feta cheese crumbled
• 1/4 c. halves of roasted nuts

In a large bowl, combine green vegetables, apples and raisins. Pour the favorite vinaigrette over the fruit and lettuce and stir to combine. Top salad with feta crumbles and roasted nuts. Serve immediately.

Give two servings. Each serving (without your favorite dressing) contains 180 calories, 12 grams (g) of fat, 5 grams of protein, 19 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber and 115 milligrams of sodium.