Food variety needed to keep healthyby Lynn MulvihillDietetic Intern Healthy food choices help us improve and maintain our good health, promote growth in children, and help recover from injury and surgery. A healthy diet includes all types of food. Variety is important because no one food or food group can provide all the nutrients our bodies need. Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are all needed to give the body energy. Fiber, vitamins, minerals, and water are also needed to keep us healthy. Eating foods that are high in added sugar can crowd out these important nutrients. This is because they contain a lot of calories but few or none of the other nutrients our bodies need. These extra “empty calories” can really add up to and cause unwanted weight gain. Drinking one can of soda every day for a year can cause an additional weight increase of 17 pounds a year. Achieving a healthy lifestyle can have many benefits. Improving and maintaining your weight will reduce your chances of having high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. In fact, just a small reduction in weight can significantly improve blood pressure and control over blood sugar. So, for a 150 pound woman who was 25 pounds overweight, losing 7-15 pounds (a 5 to 10 percent weight loss) would give her great health benefits. People who have successful weight loss have not only changed their eating habits, but have also increased their activity level. The latest research suggests a half hour of exercise each day is valuable. This includes activities such as walking, aerobics, martial arts, team sports, and even physically demanding chores like gardening. So if you are dreading spring yard work, just remind yourself that it
will get you ready for summer bathing suits.
Friday, March 18, 2005
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