“Let food be your medicine"

Have you ever said to yourself, "It would be so much easier to be healthy if we didn't have to eat right."?  Would you purposely put cheap, gas in your car knowing that it could break down, causing you to spend more money to get it fixed?  Would you purposely overheat your car?  When did our thought process make our cars more important than our bodies?  I know that we need our vehicles to get us and our family to places safely.  But don't we also need a healthy body to be able to do everything else?  So let's talk.... What you eat affects every aspect of your body and your life.  From the way you feel, sleep, think, and work, to your weight, organs, sickness, and disease.  Nutrition is material in the form of food to support or damage our life.

A poor diet usually has an impact on our health causing deficiency diseases such as health-threatening conditions like obesity; and common chronic systemic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  A healthy diet contains not only the proper foods but also an appropriate caloric intake.  Cutting calories from simple carbohydrates and substituting good fats (polyunsaturated) for bad fats (saturated), increasing natural fiber and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables is a good start.  Track your food portions, and instead of eating large volume meals, eat smaller but more frequent meals and healthy snacks.

You may be asking, "How do I know exactly what I need?"  Below is some information that will hopefully educate and help you get on the right track for making small changes that will last a lifetime.

Carbohydrates are broken down by the digestive system into simple sugars.  When these sugars are delivered to your cells, by going through the bloodstream with the help of insulin, they provide energy for you body.  They come in two form:  simple and complex.  Simple carbohydrates are sugars that do not need to be broken down any further so your body can use them for a quick burst of energy.  Honey, maple syrup, soda, cookies, candy, table sugar, and cakes are examples of simple sugars.  Complex carbohydrates are larger, digested more slowly, and provide longer lasting energy.  Foods that you should choose most often are vegetables, beans (legume) and whole-grain like brown rice, high-fiber wheat breads and pastas; 45%-65% of your calories eaten should come from carbohydrates.

Your body needs fat for proper brain development and to absorb certain vitamins.  There are two main types of fat:  saturated and  unsaturated.  Unsaturated fat is found in salmon, tuna, nuts, seeds, avocados, and most vegetable oils.  Most of the fats that you eat should come from these foods.  Saturated fats are found in red meat, butter, cheese, milk (except fat-free), ice cream, coconut and palm oils.  There are also trans-fats which are in most processed foods and formed when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process call hydrogenation, which makes the oils more solid.  You want to try and stay away from trans-fats; 20%-35% of your calories should come from fats.

Protein is what makes up your muscles, skin, and organs.  Your digestive system breaks protein down into amino acids.  Amino acids are what your body uses to build and repair cells and tissues.  You will find protein in meat, milk, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, and soy; 10%-35% of your calories should come from protein.  Even if you are trying to lose weight and drop your calorie intake, women should have at least 60 grams of protein a day and men 75 grams (7-8 grams of protein per ounce of meat).  This will help you feel full and prevent muscle loss.

If you are looking for a tool to help you track how many calories, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins you should have each day, try www.myfitnesspal.com.  It's a free app that you can use on your computer, iPod, iPad, or smart phone.  All you need to do is enter your information and it will do the rest for you!