Heart & Soul
A Collection of Heart Healthy Southern Foods
Eatin' Healther
1. Eat a Variety of foods
2. Balance the food you eat with physical activity to maintain or improve your weight.
3. Choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits
4. Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
5. Choose a diet moderate in sugars
6. Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium
7. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation
| Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures. Our food choices depend on many different factors-history, culture, environment, as well as on energy and nutrient needs. We also eat foods for enjoyment so family, friends, and beliefs play a major role in our selection of foods and planning of meals. Diet is important to health at all stages of life. Genetic, environmental, behavioral, and cultural factors can affect health. Understanding family history of disease or risk factors, body weight and fat distribution, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol, for example, can help people make more informed decisions about actions that can improve health prospects. Food choices are among the most pleasurable and effective of these actions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed Dietary Guidelines for Americans which provides advice for healthy Americans age two years and over about food choices that promote health and prevent disease. In combination with the Food Guide Pyramid the Dietary Guidelines are designed to help Americans choose diets that will meet nutrient requirements, promote health, support active lives, and reduce chronic disease risks. To meet the Dietary Guidelines choose a diet with most of the calories from grain products, vegetables, fruits, low-fat mild products, lean meats, fish, poultry, and dry beans. Choose fewer calories from fats and sweets. Research has shown that certain diets raise risks for chronic diseases. Such diets are high in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt and they contain more calories than the body uses. They are also low in grain products, vegetables, fruit, and fiber. The following seven guidelines can assist you with planning a healthy, balanced diet: 1. Eat a Variety of foods To obtain the nutrients and other substances needed for good health, vary the foods you eat. Foods contain combinations of nutrients and other healthful substances. No single food can supply all nutrients in the amounts you need. To make sure you get all of the nutrients and other substances needed for health, choose the recommended number of daily servings from each of the five major food groups displayed in the Food Guide Pyramid. Choose different foods within each food group. You can achieve a healthful, nutritious eating pattern with many combinations of foods from the five major food groups. Choosing a variety of foods within and across food groups improves dietary patterns because foods within the same group have different combinations of nutrients and other beneficial substances. For example, some vegetables and fruits are good sources of vitamin C or vitamin A, while others are high in foliate; still other are good sources of calcium or iron. Choosing a variety of foods withi9n each group also helps to make your meals more interesting from day to day. 2. Balance the food you eat with physical activity to maintain or improve your weight. Many Americans gain weight in adulthood, increasing their risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain types of cancer, arthritis, breathing problems, and other illness. In order to stay at the same body weight, people must balance the amount of calories in the foods and drinks they consume with the amount of calories the body uses. Physical activity is an important way to use food energy. Most Americans work at jobs and activities that require little energy. In addition, many spend a lot of leisure time each day watching television or working at a computer. To burn calories, spend more time in activities like walking to the store or around the block. Use stairs rather than elevators. More vigorous activity may help reduce body fat and disease risk. It is recommended that Americans try to do 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. 3. Choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits Grain products, vegetables, and fruits are key pars of a varied diet. They are emphasized because they provide vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates (starch and dietary fiber), and other substances that are important for good health. They are also generally low in fat, depending on how they are prepared and what is added to them at the table. Most Americans of all ages eat fewer than the recommended number of servings of grain products, vegetables, and fruits, even though consumption of these foods is associated with a substantially lower risk for many chronic diseases, including certain types of cancer. Most of the calories in your diet should come from grain products, vegetables, and fruits. These include grain products high in complex carbohydrates - breads, cereals, pasta, rice - found at the base of the Food Guide Pyramid, as well as vegetables such as potatoes and corn. Dry beans such as pinto, navy, kidney, and black beans, are included in the meat and beans group of the Pyramid, but they can count as servings of vegetables instead of meat alternatives. 4. Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol Some dietary fat is needed for good health. Fats supply energy and essential fatty acids and promote absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Most people are aware that high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet are linked to increased blood cholesterol levels and a greater risk for heart disease. More Americans are now eating less fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol rich foods than in the recent past, and fewer people are dying from the most common form of heart disease. Still, many people continue to eat high fat/high calorie diets, the number of overweight people has increased, and the risk of heart disease and certain cancers remains high. Fat, whether from plant or animal sources, contains more than twice the number of calories of an equal amount of carbohydrate or protein. Choose a diet that provides no more than 30 percent of total calories from fat. Cutting back on fat can help you consume fewer calories. Fats contain both saturated and unsaturated (monounsaturated and poly-unsaturated) fatty acids. Saturated fat raises blood cholesterol more than other forms of fat. Reducing saturated fat to less than 10 percent of calories will help you lower your blood cholesterol level. The fats from meat, milk, and milk products are the main sources of saturated fats in most diets. Many bakery products are also sources of saturated fats. The body makes all of the cholesterol it requires. We get additions cholesterol from the foods we eat in the form of dietary cholesterol (animal sources), for example: egg yolks, meat (especially organ meats such as liver), poultry, fish, and higher fat milk products. Many of these foods are also high in saturated fats. Choosing foods with less cholesterol and saturated fat will help lower your blood cholesterol levels. 5. Choose a diet moderate in sugars Sugars are carbohydrates and come in many forms. Dietary carbohydrates also include the complex carbohydrates, starch, and fiber. During digestion all carbohydrates except fiber break down into sugars. Sugars and starches occur naturally in many foods that also supply other nutrients. Examples of these foods include milk, fruits, some vegetables, breads, cereals, and grains. Scientific evidence indicates that diets high in sugars do not cause hyperactivity or diabetes. The most common type of diabetes occurs in overweight adults. Avoiding sugars alone will not correct overweight. To lose weight, reduce the total amount of calories from the food you eat and increase your level of physical activity. Sugars can be an additional source of energy. However, because maintaining a nutritious diet and a healthy weight is very important, sugars should be used in moderation by most healthy people and sparingly by people with low calorie needs. 6. Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium Sodium and salt are found mainly in processed and prepared foods. Sodium and sodium chloride (salt) occur naturally in foods, such as soy sauce, to their food at the table, but most dietary sodium or salt comes from foods to which salt has already been added during processing or preparation. Although many people feel adding salt enhances the taste of foods, their preference may weaken with eating less salt. In the body, sodium plays an essential role in regulation of fluids and blood pressure. Many studies in diverse populations have shown that a high sodium intake is associated with high blood pressure. Most evidence suggest than many people at risk for high blood pressure reduce their chances of developing this condition by consuming less salt or sodium. Some questions remain, partly because other factors may interact with sodium to affect blood pressure. 7. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation Alcoholic beverages supply calories but few or no nutrients. The alcohol in these beverages has effects that are harmful when consumed in excess. These effects of alcohol may alter judgment and can lead to dependency and a great many other serious health problems. Alcoholic beverages have been used to enhance the enjoyment of meals by many societies throughout human history. If adults choose to drink alcoholic beverages, they should consume then only in moderation. Current evidence suggests that moderate drinking is associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease in some individuals. However, higher levels of alcohol intake raise the risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, certain cancers, accidents, violence, suicides, birth defects, and overall mortality. Too much alcohol may cause cirrhosis of the liver, inflammation of the pancreases, and damage to the brain and heart. Heavy drinkers also are at risk of malnutrition because alcohol contains calories that may substitute for those in more nutritious foods. |