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This Week in BlogTalkRadio, 11/30-12/6
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I am convinced that what we eat and how we eat plays a major role in how we feel and particularly, how well we are. For this reason, I would like as many people as possible to become more aware of what healthy eating involves, and of the extreme benefits that can be found in being conscious of what and how we eat. I know that wellness is about more than what we eat, but healthy eating will be my focus on this site, although we will discuss related aspects of wellness.
Date / Time: 11/18/2009 4:10 PM UTC
An extended family was enjoying a potluck meal that included a variety of tasty dishes to choose from. One young husband and wife were sitting next to each other at the table, and the wife was enjoying a nice serving of vegetable lasagna. She was about half done with her portion, when her husband leaned over and whispered, “That’s VEGETARIAN lasagna, you know!” The wife looked at him in surprise and didn’t touch another bite of the lasagna that she had been eating with such relish only a moment before her husband’s startling revelation. All in good fun
There have been a lot of spoofs done about the subject of vegetarian food, including one involving a jiggling “turkey” made out of tofu, and another where a romantic dinner (with a beautifully prepared roast as the main course) is spoiled by a sobbing vegetarian girlfriend. While it’s fun to laugh at ourselves, and probably even more fun to laugh at the vagaries of others, it seems that there is some real misunderstanding about what constitutes vegetarian food. Varieties of Vegetarians
One of the reasons for this confusion is that there are several types of vegetarians. A number of popular movie stars have popularized the vegan lifestyle, which is a vegetarian who excludes all animal-based products from their diet, and may even avoid clothing and accessories made from animal products. Another type of vegetarian, the lacto-vegetarian, excludes meat and eggs, but includes dairy products in their diet. The most versatile of the vegetarians is the lacto-ovo vegetarians, who exclude meat, but include eggs and dairy products in their diet.
Enough to thankfully stuff?
So what exactly is vegetarian food? Well, you could say that vegetarian food is all the foods that you eat that are not meat or animal based, depending on the type of vegetarian you are. If you consider the typical American Thanksgiving dinner, all of the dishes on the table, with the exception of the turkey, gravy and stuffing, are probably vegetarian foods. That means that the cranberries, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, green bean casserole, Waldorf salad, etc. are all things that can be enjoyed by the vegetarian at the feast. Of course, a vegan will be more restricted in their choices, but even the strictest vegan can probably find enough good food to end up overfull as Thanksgiving tradition dictates. Strangely enough
Vegetarians tend to include a variety of foods in their diet that may be unfamiliar to the average American meat eater. These include things like tofu, Tempeh, soy-based meat analogs, and a variety of beans and lentils. They also may eat a broad range of vegetables and fruits, often including some of the more exotic varieties. Oddly enough, although vegetarians restrict their diet in terms of meat, on average, they tend to eat a much wider variety of foods from all of the other food groups than the average meat eater.
Pick and choose
Having said that, it isn’t necessary for a vegetarian to eat any of these more unusual foods. Many vegetarians don’t like tofu or lentils and don’t eat them. Conversely, a meat-eater may enjoy the taste and nutritional benefits of soybean curd or those tiny legumes, respectively, and include them regularly in their diet. The point is that, while the vegetarian will skip the meat dishes, they can still decide which of all the other myriad of food choices they wish to consume. Likewise, meat eaters may feel free to enjoy foods, both meat-based and otherwise, with equal gustatory pleasure.
Turkey notwithstanding
Every year on Thanksgiving Day, a concerned hostess somewhere will anxiously ask her one vegetarian guest, if he will have enough to eat. The vegetarian guest will let his eyes sweep the beautifully appointed dinner table, resplendent with a dozen or more fragrant and mouth-watering offerings, and assure his hostess that he will indeed have plenty of vegetarian food to eat—more than enough, in fact, to satisfy tradition.
Eat and be well with my warmest regards, Suzy Staywell
Date / Time: 11/12/2009 7:29 PM UTC
Since I have a passion for spreading the word about the benefits of eating healthy, and since I also spend a lot of time talking to friends, family and the occasional stranger at the grocery store or waiting room, I can pretty much tell you most of the reasons so many people are not enjoying the immeasurable benefits of healthy eating. While all of these excuses have some validity, nothing trumps the way you will feel and the improved health you will enjoy if you make eating healthy a priority.
Here is the top ten list of excuses along with some tips on how to overcome them:
Excuse #1 - “Healthy food! Yuck! I don’t even like tofu (whatever that is) or bran muffins!”
There is a myth out there that if a food is healthy, it won’t taste good. When you consider all of the wonderful fruits, vegetables, lean meats, beans, whole grains, etc., it’s difficult to imagine that there aren’t a number of foods in these groups that would taste good. If you don’t like tofu or bran muffins, don’t eat them! But find some healthy foods you do like. If you have accustomed yourself to junk food, you may have to retrain your palate and your thinking a bit, but you may find that healthy foods become your new favorite foods!
Excuse #2 - “I can’t afford to buy healthy food!”
While it is true that some fresh foods are more expensive than some junk foods, this is not always the case. Fast food is generally more expensive than buying groceries. In addition, you will get more nutrition for your food dollars when you buy fresh, whole foods, as opposed to empty calorie soft drinks and snacks. If you have a tight food budget, do the best you can by choosing the best foods you can get for your money. You may also try getting some of your fresh foods locally through a co-op or farmer’s market. When you consider the rising cost of health care, what you really can’t afford is to not eat healthy.
Excuse #3 - “I take vitamins, so I don’t need to eat healthy.”
Many health experts do recommend that you supplement your diet with a good quality vitamin/mineral product. However, keep in mind that supplements cannot take the place of eating good quality, nutritious foods. Fresh, whole foods have components that simply cannot be isolated and put into a pill. There is also much we still don’t know about what your body needs for optimum health, except that fresh, whole foods seem to help provide it. Supplements should live up to their name by merely supplementing the healthy foods you eat.
Excuse #4 - “Are you kidding? With my job and my kids, I don’t have time to prepare healthy foods! Macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper is about my limit!”
Eating healthy may be more time consuming than picking up fast food for dinner, but with a little imagination and planning, you can do it. One idea is to plan some time on the weekend, or whenever you can fit it in, and do some food preparation for the whole week. You can make soup or other healthy recipes and freeze some for later use. You can chop up vegetables for salads and store them in crispers for easy salads and snacks during the week. If you have fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and hard-boiled eggs on hand, there will be nutritious snack foods ready and waiting. You can even substitute more nutritious ingredients in your favorite dishes. Macaroni and cheese made with whole grain noodles and real cheese is not difficult to make and a great replacement for the more processed versions. Take time to be healthy, and think of all the time you will save not going to the doctor!
Excuse #5 - “I don’t have time to shop for healthy foods. Reading labels and choosing healthy foods takes too long! I’m overwhelmed as it is!”
Although it may take a longer to be an informed shopper, once you become label savvy and are accustomed to where the healthy foods are located, it will be just as quick as shopping for convenience foods. You may want to take a little time to plan and make a list, so that you don’t waste time trying to figure out what to buy. Then start reading labels and learn which foods you can rely on to be healthy. With very few exceptions, stay on the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are located. If you don’t waste time strolling past the snack foods section, you won’t be tempted to buy, and you will have more time to devote to the rest of your overwhelming life!
Excuse #6 - “My children won’t eat healthy food. I can’t let them starve to death!”
This is a tough one! If children have been accustomed to eating junk food and processed food, it may take some effort to get them to enjoy more healthy choices. Try to find some fun ways to present healthy foods. Make healthy pancakes in fun shapes, or let the children get involved in the process by making healthy eating into a family project. Suggest one new healthy food a week that everyone will try. Get some recipes for healthier versions of cookies, etc. and start introducing them to your kids. Give positive reinforcement for choosing healthy foods. Most importantly, model healthy eating to your kids and help them associate it with feeling well. You don’t have to do it all at once, but every time your child makes a healthy food choice, you are further down the road to that child becoming a healthy adult.
Excuse #7 - “So, what’s not healthy about a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milkshake?”
For some, it is simply a case of not knowing what is good for them. Take a little time to learn about basic nutrition. Educate yourself about the food supply and the difference between whole and processed foods. A simple place to begin is to eat a variety of fresh, colorful foods each day, including some protein foods, such as meat, fish, beans, peanut butter, nuts, seeds whole grains and dairy products. Eat several servings of fruits or vegetables with each meal, and limit your intake of added sugar and fats.
Excuse #8 - “Healthy food is not any fun!”
For most people, eating is one of life’s pleasures and many of us associate happy times with certain kinds of foods. The goods news is that healthy food can also be part of a good time. Food that is beautifully prepared and presented can be healthy and delicious and provide an enjoyable experience for all. Make a point to look for foods that are both fun and healthy. Dark chocolate, for instance, if not eaten in excess has some good qualities and may enhance your mood! Keep in mind that as long as you are making healthy choices most of the time, an occasional piece of birthday cake or holiday treat will not be an issue for you.
Excuse #9 - “I would like to eat healthy, but I don’t have any will power. The devil made me do it!”
Even if your will power is weak, you can make small steps towards a healthy eating lifestyle. Don’t beat yourself up if you make a bad choice, since that may lead to more bad choices. Each time you make a change in your eating habits for the better, you are closer to feeling great and having vibrant good health. Fill your refrigerator and cupboards with healthy foods that you like to eat, and leave the processed and empty calorie foods at the store. It takes less will power, if the temptation is out of sight. And don’t use your kids as an excuse to buy junk food. It’s not good for them and it’s not good for you either!
Excuse #10 - “Experts can’t even agree on what’s healthy! Every day I hear conflicting information about what’s good for you and what isn’t. For all I know, hot fudge sundaes are health food!”
My friends will tell you that this is the one excuse out of all of them that makes my eyes flash and my teeth clench! I am appalled at all the junk science and junk journalism that is out there causing confusion and mayhem in the culinary world! Some have a vested interest in promoting a certain food or ingredient, and it’s not your good health! On the other hand, most of us know, generally, what foods are healthy. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, legumes, nuts, and dairy products—in other words real foods! So, use common sense and don’t make bad science and poor journalism an excuse to give up on healthy eating!
If any of these excuses is keeping you from enjoying the matchless benefits of healthy eating, I hope you will decide to make a change for the better. You can’t control many of the factors that affect your life, but you can choose to make eating choices that will ensure that you are doing all you can to feel well and be healthy. No excuses.
Eat and be healthy with my warmest regards, Suzy Staywell
Date / Time: 11/6/2009 3:11 PM UTC
Date / Time: 11/6/2009 3:06 PM UTC
As all these thoughts were racing through my mind, I had a sudden epiphany!
All of the recommendations that I was thinking about for her apply to me too—to all of us! The big difference between her and me is that she will need to balance her insulin levels manually, herself, with the help of her doctor, while those of us without diabetes can rely on our bodies to manage that important job for us. We take it for granted that our bodies will keep working in the way we expect, but the truth is, we all need to eat at regular intervals, be aware of the fats, carbs and proteins of all of the foods we eat, get regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight, sleep regularly and manage the stress in our lives.
Because our bodies are miraculous machines, we do have some margin in our lives for neglect, especially when we are young. We can overeat, under sleep, overstress, etc. and our bodies forgive us, make the adjustments, and go on. But only up to a point. Of course, as we age that point gets closer and closer. Eventually, there is little or no margin left, and we have to toe the line or else our bodies will fail. For a person with diabetes, whether due to heredity or lifestyle or a little of both, this moment may arrive sooner.
Having said that, I should point out that one of the grave concerns we have as a culture is that Type II diabetes is no longer a disease of old age. It is happening to people at a younger and younger age. This is partly due to the increased incidence of childhood obesity, and partly due to our food supply and sedentary lifestyles. It was probably easier to maintain balance in our lives when meals were mostly eaten at home, fast food and empty-calorie snacks were not commonplace, and television and video games did not play a large part in our children’s lives.
Just in case you don’t know what Type II diabetes is, here is a simple little primer. When you eat food and it digests, much of it is broken down into glucose, commonly called blood sugar. As the glucose enters your blood and is traveling to the various cells in your body to give you energy, etc., your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin that (among other things) signals your cells to receive the glucose, it goes into your cells, and all is well.
However, if your cells become resistant to the call from the insulin, such as in the case of obesity or family history or both, the glucose cannot get into the cells, and your pancreas will try harder to produce more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas may become exhausted and will not be able to meet even your minimal need for insulin. So now you have cells that are resisting the insulin and, at the same time, not enough insulin to trigger the cells to accept the sugar—a double whammy!
Since it is not getting into the cells, the glucose stays in the blood and some is excreted in the urine. High blood sugar is an unnatural state that can cause damage to all of the systems in your body and, if not treated, can be fatal. This is the reason your blood sugar levels, as well as the presence of “sugar” in your urine, are important indicators of where you are at in this process.
Your body has an amazing ability to compensate and keep you going, even under adverse conditions, but again, only to a point. One of the problems with diabetes is that it may not show any symptoms until much of the damage to your heart, nerves and blood vessels has been done. On the other hand, if you catch it early enough, the problems can be reversible.
There are some classic symptoms of diabetes, such as excessive thirst, excessive hunger, frequent urination, blurry vision, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue that you should be aware of, especially if you have a family history of diabetes. If you have any of these symptoms, it is a simple matter to get your blood sugar checked. Don’t wait for your body to give you a more alarming wake-up call. The sooner you discover that your blood sugar is elevated, the sooner you have a chance to correct it, and avoid the systemic damage this disease can cause.
Getting regular eye exams can also help. Many people have discovered that they have diabetes when visiting their eye doctor to get their glasses or contact lenses checked. They say that your eyes are the “windows of your soul”, but they also can be indicators of elevated blood sugar. In other words, the blurred vision you have been experiencing may not be due to a need for new glasses, but could have a more serious underlying cause.
I should note here that Type I diabetes, also known as "juvenile diabetes," an autoimmune disorder, is not the same as Type II diabetes. Type II diabetes, which is more closely connected to lifestyle, also accounts for more than 90% of the diabetes cases that occur.
So, now we are back to where we started. Whether you or a loved one has been diagnosed with diabetes, whether you have a family history of this disease or not, you can put yourself in the drivers seat of your health. The first step is to educate yourself about healthy eating. Learn enough about the foods you eat to make good choices. Eat regular meals and healthy snacks, made up of fresh, whole foods with proportionate amounts of carbs, proteins and fats. Become label savvy so that you can evaluate whether the products in the store aisles are worth your food dollars and will fit well into your healthy eating lifestyle. Limit or avoid overly processed food, junk food and fast food, and if you don’t know what that is, you are not as smart as I think you are.
If you are already diabetic, talk with a dietitian and let her help you set up a program that meets your particular needs. There are a number of excellent websites that can help you with meal planning and food choices, including the American Diabetes Association site at http://www.diabetes.org.
Please take advantage of all the wonderful resources available online and in your community to make the transition to a healthy lifestyle as easy as possible. You can do it!
Date / Time: 10/30/2009 10:07 PM UTC
Date / Time: 10/30/2009 10:00 PM UTC
However, if we have either a good Offense or a good Defense, but not both, we will probably only be victorious in some of our games. It is only by maintaining reliable strategies on both sides of the ball--Offensively and Defensively--that we will likely achieve what we really want - a winning season.
Even if you are not a gridiron enthusiast, the same principle can be applied to the prevention of one of the most dreaded diseases we face—cancer. I have already lost a number of family and friends to this killer, and I want the rest of my team to have the best healthy eating strategies I know of to win the cancer prevention contest--and win big.
There are two major eating strategies that we know of for helping you prevent cancer. First, you need to develop a good Offense by eating foods that have protective qualities against cancer. Second, you need to have a good Defense by limiting or avoiding foods that seem to cause or promote this dreaded disease.
The Offense – Eat these foods
Protect your body with a strong and sturdy Offensive Line made up of colorful fruits and vegetables (be sure to wash them!), whole grains and legumes. These foods are loaded with fiber, nutrients and phyto-chemicals, which have been shown to protect your body against the substances that cause cancer. Check out some of the super foods, like blueberries, broccoli and turmeric, and include them regularly in your diet. You may also want to increase your intake of Omega-3 fats, found in fish and flaxseed, since these fats seem to have a protective effect.
It’s important for you to remember that healthy eating strategies protect your body in the same way that a tough offensive line protects the quarterback.
The Defense – Avoid these foods
Avoid or limit foods that seem to cause or promote cancer formation. These include fried foods, grilled foods, trans-fats and heavily smoked foods. In addition, there are some health experts that suggest that you avoid excessive intake of processed sugars, red meat and high-fat foods. Others suggest that you try to avoid foods that have been adulterated by dyes, artificial flavorings, hormones and other potentially harmful chemicals.
By choosing to limit or eliminate foods that aid in cancer formation and promote its growth, you are protecting your body in the same way that a solid Defense protects the end zone.
Just like with a football game, you want to begin implementing these healthy eating strategies at the beginning of the game. No team wants their Offense to be fighting to score points in the last two minutes of the game. Instead, they want them to come out fighting and score in the first quarter.
In the same way, no team wants their Defense to cool their heels until they are in the red zone, since their job gets tougher and has a greater chance of failure the closer they get to the end zone.
Don't wait. Start your healthy eating program today.
We all know that nutrition is not the only factor associated with cancer risk, but it is one of the few factors that you can control. A football team can’t control the weather, or injuries, or bad calls, just like you can’t control heredity, environmental factors or the food supply. But each small change you make in your diet, both on the Offense and on the Defense will go a long way toward helping you have a winning season, and just maybe you will send cancer back to the locker room in defeat.
Note: When encouraging people to eat healthy, I often hear the argument that grandma or grandpa ate a certain way—that might now seem unhealthy—and they lived to a ripe old age. The problem with this thinking is that, just as football isn't the same game today that it was 50 years ago, cancer issues are not the same either. Our grandparents grew up in an environment that was less toxic, less stressful and with a food and water supply that was entirely more wholesome than what we experience today.
You probably shouldn’t compare the record of a football player that played in the early days of the sport—before high-tech training methods and medicines--to today’s players. It's not any more useful to compare how your grandparents ate to what is required for you to have a healthy eating lifestyle today.
Eat and be healthy with my best regards, Suzy Staywell
Date / Time: 10/23/2009 8:23 PM UTC
If you follow the news, you have probably heard about leptin, a hormone that controls both appetite and how our bodies use energy. Recently, scientists have discovered a so-called obesity gene, which directs the action of this hormone. In other words, there seems to be a genetic component to how we handle both hunger and fat storage—two major issues in losing weight. Some of us have been waiting all of our life to hear this news. Wow! There actually are such things as fat genes that may lead to fat jeans! Having said that, I am not suggesting that we all hide behind our genetics as an excuse for obesity. Instead, if our genes make it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight, we need to factor that into our individual weight loss equation. After all, no one would say that if our genetic makeup (some call it IQ) makes learning difficult, that we should give up on education. As far as I know, schools are not only for geniuses! In the same way, being healthy in terms of your weight is not just for ectomorphs. If fat runs in your family, you may never be as slim as the current culture dictates, but you can still be at a weight that is healthy for you. I wish that I could tell you that I knew the secret to weight loss that would work for everyone—be it leptin shots or anything else! Believe me, if I did, I would give it away, free of charge. The best that can be said is that, if you eat a variety of fresh, whole foods in moderation, and avoid empty calories and processed foods as much as possible, you will go a long way towards your goal of maintaining a healthy weight. Each positive change that you make helps, especially if it becomes a new habit that lasts a lifetime. Every time you choose a healthy food over junk food, every time you slow down and enjoy each bite, and every time you choose to take a walk instead of sit on the couch in front of the television, you have literally moved yourself closer to your goal of being healthy—regardless of your genetics. One caveat to this story--with all the news stories about leptin and its connection to obesity, many new diets and diet products have sprung up claiming all kinds of weight loss miracles. However, so far there is no evidence that taking leptin pills will help the average overweight person, and even leptin injections only seem to help those rare persons who actually have a genetic deficiency of this hormone and, to date, have been shown to have few advantages for the average person losing weight.
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