You Can’t Eat Right Without White

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – White foods – sugar, white bread, white flour, and white pasta – have gotten a lot of bad press lately. We’re told that they are unhealthy and should be avoided. This leads many to believe that all white foods are poor choices. This is a perfect example of oversimplification of advice. We’re all to blame for this. We want you to hear the healthy message and make use of it, so we bring it down to the simplest terms. Getting too simple can distort otherwise healthy advice – you can’t eat right without white.

White foods are often perceived as those with more calories and fewer nutrients. There is even a diet that suggests eliminating all white foods. Though colorful foods – green broccoli, red pepper, purple cauliflower, and tan whole wheat bread – are healthy choices, there are many healthy white food choices, too. Egg whites, yogurt, milk, mushrooms, onions, cauliflower, bananas, potatoes, rice, white beans, tofu, many fish varieties, pork (the other white meat), chicken breasts, turnips, parsnips and jicama all contribute healthy, nutritious choices. Popcorn is a whole grain, and minus tons of butter, is an excellent snack choice.

The magnificent 12 — a group of vegetables that dramatically reduce and prevent heart disease and cancer – are all part of the cruciferous family. Half of these choices – cauliflower, horseradish, kohlrabi, radish, rutabaga, and turnip are white vegetables. All plants contain phytochemcial compounds that can protect you from disease, but the cruciferous family is particularly rich in disease fighting compounds. For example, cauliflower is rich in indoles which stimulate your body’s natural defenses against carcinogens.

Egg whites, tofu, fish, pork and chicken breasts are all excellent sources of lean protein and lower in saturated fat than beef. Egg whites are almost 100% protein with no fat and many varieties of fish are rich in heart-healthy, omega-3 oils.

Milk and yogurt are excellent sources of calcium and protein, good sources of vitamins A, D, B12 and riboflavin, and the minerals phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and zinc. When you choose lowfat or nonfat varieties you get the same nutrients with little or no fat. That’s why nonfat and lowfat choices are the best buys. Kefir, lassi, buttermilk and cottage cheese are other excellent “white” nutrient-rich, dairy choices. Cream cheese is a “white” food to use more sparingly as it is high in fat and more like butter than milk and yogurt.

Let’s dispel a few myths about white foods. Foods lacking in color are not less nutritious. It is often the pigments in foods that are responsible for their color and potential health benefits, but foods without color also have functional substances that are health protecting. White potatoes are a healthy choice. There is no doubt that their sweet potato cousins are richer in vitamin A, but a medium baked potato is high in antioxidants, an excellent source of potassium, a good source of fiber and provides almost half your daily need for vitamin C. Bananas are called potassium-sticks by athletes because they replace potassium and needed energy in a handy, self-contained package. White bread, though not as nutritious as whole wheat, is not a terrible food. All white bread and white flour is fortified with B vitamins, folic acid and iron. Many of the new varieties of breads and pasta also have added fiber. And, did you know there is whole grain white flour made from a different variety of wheat? It is 100% whole wheat but lighter in color with a milder taste and texture than traditional tan whole wheat flour while being nutritionally equal.

I’m not suggesting that you choose white bread over whole wheat, or white potatoes over sweet potatoes, but I am suggesting that most foods, regardless of their color can and do contribute something of value to your daily food intake. Colorful foods are healthy and should be eaten daily, but white foods also have a lot to offer. Use every color in nature’s palette to set your plate.

© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales of more than 8.5 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Diabetes Counter, 4th Ed., 2011
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to < a href="http://www.TheNutritionExperts.com/">TheNutritionExperts

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