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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Many of us make New Years resolutions, only to find a few months later that they are accumulating dust on our “wish list” pile. As summer revs up, maybe it is time to dust off some of those resolutions and make them your summer health goals.
Want to eat a more healthy diet?
Add fiber and calcium with cookies and milk – Choose graham crackers and nonfat milk for a healthy snack rich in fiber and calcium, low in fat, and moderate in calories. Better than a candy bar when you have the munchies.
Go baked or broiled to protect your heart – If you eat fish regularly to protect your heart, baked or broiled choices are more heart healthy than fried, salted or dried.
Check labels for trans fat-free foods and get added benefits — When major brand names reformulated products to remove trans fat, most of the new recipes ended up with lower amounts of saturated fat and calories, too.
Eat fish and hear better – People who regularly eat fish twice a week were 42% less likely to develop age-related hearing loss. Taking fish oil supplements did not provide hearing-loss benefits.
Fat, what’s good for the heart is also good for the brain – We know saturated fat is not heart healthy, but a new study of 6,000 older women showed eating too much saturated fat can also cause memory decline. Substituting olive oil (monounsaturated fat), for animal fats and butter (saturated fat), is a simple diet change that could preserve memory. Even subtle declines in memory can lead to a higher risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Still attempting to lose weight?
Sprinkle with pepper — Pepperine, the pungent substance that gives black pepper its characteristic taste can also block the formation of new fat cells by setting off a chain reaction in the body that keeps fat cells in check. Extracts of black pepper may have anti-obesity possibilities.
Eating fewer calories can help your brain — Too many calories may muddle the mind. The Mayo Clinic Study on Aging showed that eating too many calories each day raises the risk for memory loss and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in people 70 and older. MCI is the stage between normal memory loss in aging and early Alzheimer’s disease.
Focus more on a good diet after you lose weight — Weight loss is the easy part of dieting. Weight maintenance is hard work. “Weight loss is a relatively brief therapeutic intervention, but trying to keep the weight off requires a lifetime of diligent attention” says Columbia University Professor Michael Rosenbaum.
Want to eat better as a family?
Eat together and eat at home – 40% of the family food budget is spent on meals away from home. Families that eat out often eat fewer fruits and vegetables and drink more soda resulting in more obesity and poorer eating habits.
Parents work at eating better – Becoming parents doesn’t make us eat better, though it should. Remember monkey-see, monkey do. Your little ones are watching and learning from you everyday. Teach them well.
Keep a watchful eye on your teen’s diet – Teenagers today are at greater risk for heart disease at an earlier age and the risk goes up if they are overweight. A recent survey showed that in teens 12 to 19 years old 14% had high blood pressure or prehypertension, 28% had risky cholesterol values, and 15% were prediabetic or had diabetes. What you do in your teens and 20s will reflect on your health 20 years later.
It only takes 64 calories to make your child fat – The daily difference between how many calories children eat and how many they use up each day is known as the energy-gap. Sixty-four calories is average and when it happens day in and day out the result is too many added pounds. Once a child becomes overweight the energy gap gets bigger.
Good health is like sun protection. It is something you need to think about everyday. You get one body and one brain to make this journey through life, take good care of your most precious possession – eat well.
© 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 sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
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 Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: ClickHere
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to:
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