You are what you eat. That phrase actually has some real meaning to it. What you put in your body can determine your health and feeling of wellness. So, It is a new year and you want to eat healthy. How do I eat healthy? With all of the contradictory studies, it can be difficult to truly find healthy foods to eat. We researched and found useful information and guidelines to follow for you to use so you can put healthy foods in your body and feel great again.
Most health experts recommend eating a balanced, healthy diet to maintain or to lose weight. But exactly what is a healthy diet?
The basic components of a healthy diet include the right amount of:
- Protein (found in fish, meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, nuts, and beans)
- Fat (found in animal and dairy products, nuts, and oils)
- Carbohydrates (found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans and other legumes)
- Vitamins (such as vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K)
- Minerals (such as calcium, potassium, and iron)
- Water
What Are Calories?
Of these six nutrients, only carbohydrates, proteins, and fats provide calories. A calorie is a measurement, just like a teaspoon or an inch. Calories are the amount of energy released when your body breaks down food. The more calories a food has, the more energy it can provide to the body. When you eat more calories than you need, the body stores the extra calories as fat. Even low-carb and fat-free foods can have a lot of calories that can be stored as fat. Alcohol is not a nutrient, yet it also provides calories.
What Are Proteins?
Proteins are nutrients that are essential to the building, maintenance, and repair of body tissue such as the skin, the internal organs, and muscle. They are also the major components of our immune system and hormones.
Proteins are made up of substances called amino acids -- 22 are considered vital for health. Of these, the adult body can make 14; the other eight (called essential amino acids) can only be obtained from what we eat.
Proteins are found in all types of food, but only fish, meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, and other foods from animal sources contain complete proteins, meaning they provide the other eight essential amino acids.
Your daily diet must contain enough protein to replenish these amino acids. Thus, if you are vegetarian and do not eat food from animal sources, you need to eat a variety of plant proteins in combination to ensure that you get enough of the essential amino acids. Examples of foods that provide plant protein include soy, nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables, and whole grains.
The new dietary reference values for protein for adults are 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. This translates to about 0.36 grams of protein per pound.
However, over the course of a day, the average American diet includes almost double the protein needed to help maintain a healthy body. Using the chart below, you can easily calculate how much protein your body needs.
| Adult Weight | Suggested Daily Grams of Protein |
| 100 | 36 |
| 125 | 45 |
| 150 | 54 |
| 175 | 63 |
| 200 | 72 |
| 225 | 81 |
Is Any Fat Healthy?
A certain amount of fat in the diet is good and necessary to be healthy. Adults should get 20%-35% of their calories from fat. However, nutrition experts agree that most Americans should eat less fat than they currently do. Research shows that excessive intake of fat -- especially trans fat and saturated fat -- increases the risk of heart disease. Eating too much fat can cause excess body weight, since a gram of fat has about twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins. (There are 9 calories per gram of fat compared with 4 calories for protein and carbohydrates.)
Fat is made up of compounds called fatty acids or lipids. Depending on their chemical structure, these fatty acids are called monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, or trans fats. Trans fats and saturated fats are the unhealthiest fats to eat. Trans fats are formed when manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats, such as with shortening and hard margarine. Trans fats can also be found in many foods, including crackers (even healthy-sounding ones), cereals, baked goods, snack foods, salad dressings, fried foods, and many other processed foods.
Problems with too much dietary fat can also come when 10% or more of daily calories come from saturated fats such as those found in meats, high-fat dairy products, butter, and foods cooked or made with hydrogenated fats. And consuming trans fats in any amount is also not recommended. These practices may lead to high blood cholesterol levels and heart disease.
What Are Carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates provide fuel for the body in the form of glucose. Glucose is a sugar that is the primary source of energy for all of the body's cells. Adults should get about 45% of their calories from carbohydrates. Most Americans eat too many carbohydrates, especially processed carbs, leading to obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes. Most people consume much more than the recommended amount.
Carbohydrate sources include many foods that are nutrient-rich such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, as well as foods such as candy, pastries, cookies, chips, and flavored beverages (soft drinks and fruit drinks), which provide insignificant amounts of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients.
What Are Vitamins?
Vitamins help with chemical reactions in the body. In general, vitamins must come from the diet; the body doesn't make them.
There are 13 vitamins essential to the body. They are divided into two categories: water-soluble (vitamin C and all the B vitamins) and fat-soluble (vitamins A, D, E, and K). The fat-soluble vitamins are more easily stored by the body. Thus, you do not need large amounts of these vitamins since excess amounts can be toxic and cause a variety of problems.
Because the water-soluble vitamins aren't stored for long in the body, we must consume them daily. And, although taking large doses of these vitamins isn't necessarily dangerous, it may be wasteful as the body eliminates the excess water-soluble vitamins in the urine.
What Are Minerals?
Minerals, like vitamins, must come from the diet; the body doesn't make them. Many minerals are vital to the proper function of the body and must be taken in relatively large amounts (such as calcium, potassium, and iron). Others, like trace minerals (zinc, selenium, and copper), are only needed in small amounts to maintain good health.
How Does Water Promote Health?
Although it has no food value, water is essential to our survival. It keeps the body adequately hydrated. Water is the most plentiful substance in the body, accounting for 55%-65% of body weight, but because the body can't store water, we must constantly replenish it.
What Makes Up a Healthy Diet?
A healthy diet should consist of:
- 45% to 55% carbohydrates.
- 10% to 35% protein.
- 20% to 35% fat, with no more than 10% saturated fat and no trans fat.
MyPlate published by the USDA makes it easy to envision just how much of each food type you should eat.
Each section of the plate represents a food group such as grains, protein, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. The size of the group corresponds to the number of recommended servings.
The plate calls for eating a variety of foods to get all of the nutrients you need, and, at the same time, the right amount of calories to maintain a healthy weight. If you're watching your weight, eat the
minimum number of recommended servings. If you need to gain weight, eat the
maximum number of servings. And, keep in mind as to what constitutes a serving. Most serving sizes are smaller than you think. Be sure to read the food labels carefully to determine the accurate portion size.
Also, try to choose nonfat and lean foods as often as possible. For example, choose nonfat or 1% milk instead of 2% or whole milk; lean meat instead of fatty meat; and breads and cereals that are made with whole grains and are not processed with a lot of fat.
But you don't have to completely avoid all foods that have fat, cholesterol, or sodium. It's your average over a few days, not in a single food or even a single meal that's important. If you eat a high-fat food or meal, balance your intake by choosing low-fat foods the rest of the day or the next day. Read the food labels on everything you eat to help you "budget" fat, cholesterol, and sodium over several days.
This is an invaluable information to use so that you understand nutrition and use these guidelines for eating healthy. Thanks can't even express this information from Web Md. If
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Joseph A. Jones & The WellLife Team
