What kind of disease are we talking about?
Cardiovascular disease, stroke, type II diabetes, highblood pressure, obesity and cancer…to name a few.
Overall Goal:
- Low/moderate fat intake → 30% total energy from fat, 10% from saturated fat
- Low fat dairy choices
- Decreased high fat snack foods
- Increased intake of vegetables and fruit
- Increase levels of complex carbohydrates
- Read food labels
- Balance activity with weight maintenance
How can I do this?
- Eat only the good fats! This means cutting out as much solid fat as possible. Saturated fat is something that is prevalent in animal products, therefore, get lean cuts of meat. Any cut with “loin” on the end of it is a leaner cut: sirloin, tenderloin, etc. On the other hand, that would mean cuts like “prime” are much higher in fat. Try to use canola oil more than butter or margarine in cooking. Canola oil is great for cooking/baking because they have a high level of those good omega fatty acids you keep hearing about.
- When you’re trying to pick out the best vegetables and fruits what should you look for? Look for variety!! Try to get some of every color, everyday. The darker the color the better (spinach is better than iceberg lettuce). The darker the color the more vitamins and minerals there are in them.
- What are complex carbohydrates? These are carbs that are the most nutrient dense. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes and anything that is a good source of fibre. Try this No Knead Whole Wheat and Quinoa Bread.
- Food labels are very important, but you need to know where to look! Look at the label as well as the ingredient list. The rule of thumb is to have the first 5 ingredients be healthy. If sugar (fructose, sucrose, syrup), salt (sodium), or any other ingredient you can’t pronounce is in the first 5, then it’s probably not your best choice. A good food usually has fewer items on the ingredient list and they should be things that you are familiar with (the things you aren’t familiar with are preservatives, colorings, and other additives that you don’t need).
- Recommendations for physical activity:
- Increased health: 30 minutes per day everyday, accumulated activity (that means you can break it up into 10 or 15 minutes at a time)
- Increased fitness: 20-60 minutes of moderate to high intensity activity, continuous, 3-5x per week
- Resistance training (weights/bands/body weight) is a benefit to most cardiovascular training as well. Muscle burns more calories than fat!
Keep Well…Kristy
