With so many different diets out there, each touting miracle weight-loss and health benefits, it can be overwhelming for anyone looking to improve their health by changing their diet. Unfortunately, for many of us that means not making changes at all. For others, it means depriving themselves of certain foods, consuming odd amounts of others, or eliminating food all together during a "cleanse".
Unfortunately, diet fads change just as quickly as clothing styles, but choosing the wrong shoes to go with that new outfit won't have any lasting damage to your body (unless the shoes are heels and you manage to break your ankle while wearing them).
Choosing the wrong diet, however, can.
First of all, we would like to make a distinction. Dieting - eating foods that meet specific criteria at certain times in specified amounts while completely avoiding anything not included in the list - is not good. Why? Well, for several reasons.
Diets are notoriously difficult to follow. Rarely do they allow for any changes in your life including illness, travel, holidays/events, and so on.
The rigidity of the diet makes it unattractive, especially over time. You can only eat so many salads or smoothies before you can't stand to look at another. Plus, they can eliminate one of the most important rules for healthy eating - variety.
They don't necessarily teach you how to eat and instead just tell you what to eat. Think of the old adage - Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life.
So what do we recommend? Changing your diet, of course, but by that we mean the foods you consume and their portions as well as how you eat. That's right.
How you eat is almost as important as what you eat.
If you truly want to change your life by changing your diet, we recommend that you follow these simple steps:
1. Variety! Variety! And More Variety!
Why is variety so important? Think about it. No single food offers all of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that you need to be healthy. The more variety you eat, the more likely you are to get everything your body requires to be healthy.
2. Portions
In recent years, portion sizes have ballooned. What once fed two or even three is now served to just one. This makes it difficult to recognize how much you should be eating. Although you can go ahead and eat as many veggies as you want and that second apple probably won't hurt you, consider these tricks for your entree. Use small serving spoons and then limit yourself to one scoop. Order an appetizer instead of an entree at a restaurant or split the entree between two people. Even better, eat several small meals throughout the day to avoid that "starving" feeling that would encourage you to consume a portion far larger than you need.
3. Plenty of Produce
You should aim for 2 1/2 cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruit a day. To help with this, make sure to have plenty of fruit and veggies available for snacks. Prepare them ahead by cleaning, slicing, and bagging to make it easy to grab and more likely to be eaten.
4. Whole Grains
What's the difference between whole grains and the others? Everything. Whole grains still have the bran and germ that contains most of the nutritional value. Get bread that says 100% Whole Wheat or 100% Whole Grain. Beware of enriched or white flours as they have been processed to the point of removing almost all nutritional value.
5. Avoid Added Sugar
Like refined grains (see #4), refined sugar offers no nutritional value. Unfortunately, it's found in just about everything, even things touted as being healthy. Excess sugar means excess calories, which contributes to weight gain.
6. Fish and Nuts and Vegetable Oils Are Your Friends
These have healthy unsaturated fats, protein, and in the case of fish, omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. While cooking, substitute vegetable oils, like canola or olive, for butter and substitute fish for red meat.
7. Say No to Saturated Fat
That means cutting animal fat out of your diet. Skip the red meat, choose lean cuts of meat, and eat skinless poultry. The fat in animals is high in saturated fats, which can increase your LDL (bad cholesterol).
8. And No to Trans Fat
Thanks to a labeling change back in 2006, trans fat now appears on nutrition labels, which means that more food manufacturers are eliminating it from their foods all together. Where do trans fats come from? They are generally found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (so watch for them in ingredient lists). These fats increase your LDL (bad cholesterol) and actually reduce your HDL (good cholesterol).
9. Dietary Cholesterol isn't the Bad Guy
Go ahead. Eat those eggs. Eat those shrimp. Dietary cholesterol, long thought to affect cholesterol levels in your body, doesn't affect us nearly as much as we previously though. Saturated and trans fats are the big contributors to cholesterol in the body.
10. Help Your Blood Pressure
How? It's easy. Decrease the amount of salt in your diet and increase the amount of potassium. The former is easy, say no to salty foods, don't add salt to foods, and keep your intake to less than 2/3 teaspoon a day. The latter can be achieved by eating bananas, potatoes, yogurt, beans, and citrus fruits.
11. Best Friends - Calcium and Vitamin D
Both of these are required for you bone health. Calcium is fairly straight-forward, but be sure to choose low-fat options when dealing with dairy. As for Vitamin D, most of us can't get enough through diet alone and getting it directly from the sun can be difficult (and dangerous) as well. We recommend a Vitamin D supplement. Talk to your provider to find out what amount is right for you.
12. Don't Rely on Supplements
Other than any doctor recommended supplements, you shouldn't rely on pills to replace food. Many people take their multivitamin in the morning and use that as an excuse to avoid eating their vegetables or to take that extra cookie. More importantly, vitamins and supplements aren't monitored by the FDA, which means that they don't necessarily have the recommended amount of each vitamin per pill or may contain vitamins or minerals that you don't need.
13. Avoid Soda, Sweetened Beverages, and Alcohol
Empty calories. Lots of them. And no real nutritional value. Need we say more?
And last, but certainly not least ...
14. Enjoy your food.
That's right. Take your time. Eat with friends. Enjoy some good conversation with good food. There are many benefits to eating in this manner. Focusing on the food means that you're actively acknowledging what is going into your body. Stopping for conversation means that you let your body register the amount of food it has already accepted, which means that you're less likely to over-eat because the sensation of fullness will register with your mind sooner.
Hopefully these simple steps will help you take control of your diet and take control of your health.
Information given in sections 1-14 gathered from:
"14 Keys to a Healthy Diet." Wellness, Berkley University of California. Remedy Health Media LLC. n.d. Web. 8 August, 2018. http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/food/lists/14-keys-to-a-healthy-diet/slideid_190