Health and Nutrtion: A Simple Guide to Healthy Eating

Eating healthy is important. We all know this. If you eat healthy, your skin, hair, and body will look better. You'll have more energy. Your immune system will be in better shape so you'll get sick less. You'll just look and feel better overall. But these days it's hard to eat healthy. Health is not just about low calories and losing weight, it's about nutrition. But in our culture, the two sometimes get confused. Many food products contain unnatural and unhealthy ingredients and additives, even those that are seemingly healthy.

New studies come out all the time, decrying a certain type of food that was praised a few years ago, or vice versa. It's all so confusing. While nutrition can be hard to pinpoint, I've created a guide that is based on my personal beliefs of what is and is not healthy. These beliefs are based on a variety of things: things I've read, learned, and experienced for myself, especially in my experience working at a yoga studio and studying to be a yoga teacher.

These suggestions are just that: suggestions. I cannot claim a monopoly on knowledge of nutrients and healthy eating, and if you've heard or think differently, that's fine. Ultimately, it is you who can decide what is best for yourself. But hopefully this guide will help those of you who need a starting point.

A list of guidelines for healthy eating: Before I begin my list, the biggest thing that I can think of, that pertains to almost all the items on this list, is: Always read the ingredient label. This is very important. The key to eating healthy is knowing what is in (and what's not in) your food. This one is pretty universal.
1.) Eating healthy will help you lose weight, but eating to lose weight is not always healthy. Low fat does not equal healthy. Lots of diet, light, "lite," low-fat, and low-calorie foods are chemically altered to improve the taste. Some use artificial forms of sugar, which are not healthy; in fact, they're generally harmful and should be avoided. 2.) As a general rule, the less ingredients in an item, the healthier it usually is (there are always exceptions). For instance, on a bag of carrots, the ingredient list is: carrots. On the back of a bag of Cheetos, the ingredient list goes on and on...
*Of course, some items contain a large variety of spices or a lot of ingredients in general. Don't be worried about this. Spices are good.
3.) Vitamins are good. Iron is good. Fiber is good. Minerals in general are good. Protein is good. Antioxidants are good.Look for all these things.
* Make sure you check the ingredient list for vitamins that have been added to the food (like absorbic acid -- vitamin C). Although this is not bad for you, it is not as desirable as vitamins actually found in the food naturally. Certain items, such as sugary juices, get most or all of their vitamins from the absorbic acid that has been added to them. Try to find juice (etc.) that has naturally occurring vitamins as opposed to added vitamins.
4.) Artificial flavors are bad. Artificial colors are bad. Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils are bad. Trans fats are bad. Bleached flour is not good. Bleached/refined sugar is not good (other sweeteners, such as evaporated cane juice, are preferable). High fructose corn syrup is bad (start checking labels--you'll be surprised how much food has high fructose corn syrup in it, from salad dressing to ketchup to bread. Just try to find bread without high fructose corn syrup. I dare you.) Chemical sounding ingredients you cannot pronounce are, as a general rule, bad.
*The major exception to this is vitamins or minerals that have been added to the food. For instance, pyridoxine is actually vitamin B6. If you're unsure, check out this web address for lists of vitamins and their chemical names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamins. For minerals, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_mineral. Another great website to check out for food additives is http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm. This website discusses a variety of additives, and gives you a handy visual guide stating which ones are safe, which are safe in moderation, which are iffy, and which should be avoided.
5.) In general, the less processed and more natural food is, the better it will be for you. So potatoes are better for you than potato flakes that can be heated up to create mashed potatoes. Simple, natural foods are usually best, and I know it's been said but it won't hurt to repeat it, fresh fruit, vegetables, and nuts are some of your best choices. Try to eat some of these every day.

*Natural means food that is still in or close to the state it was in when it came from the earth, food that hasn't been tampered with, added to and subtracted from. Natural is good, but not everything natural is good for you. Poison ivy is natural, after all.
6.) Organic food and food found at whole food stores and health stores is generally better for you because the ingredients are often health conscious. The only bread I've ever found that doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup is organic, and it generally costs about the same as regular bread (sometimes cheaper!!). Such food is rarely as over-processed as regular grocery store food, contains more natural vitamins and minerals, uses evaporated cane juice instead of sugar, does not contain hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils, contains no artificial colors or flavors, and is, in general, natural and healthy. The downside to this, of course, is that it is often more expensive than non-organic food or food found at the regular grocery stores.

My advice to someone who cannot afford all organic, health store food is: pick your battles. Buy some things natural/organic, and buy others in the regular form. Use your discretion; I often buy organic bread, pasta, and frozen meals--things that would not necessarily be all that healthy if they were in standard form. But my fruits and veggies are generally not organic. Some may disagree with this and say it is fruits and veggies especially that you should buy organic, so I cannot give you conclusive advice on this topic.

7.) I know it's been said many times before, but it's important: Exchange typical junk food for healthier snack food. If possible, cut out most junk food altogether, such as Cheetos, Fritos, Twinkies, Little Debbies, Funyons...you get the point. Pretty much anything you could buy at a gas station. In fact, never buy food at a gas station unless you are on the road. Gas stations are known for terrible, overly processed, fatty foods lacking any nutritional content whatsoever. Even the sunflower seeds they sell contain partially hydrogenated oils and msg. (Again, why it's ALWAYS important to check labels.) Eat cheese, salted nuts, and other more natural foods. 8.) If you have a sweet tooth, there are better ways to satisfy it then with pre-packaged cupcakes teeming with additives or nutritionally devoid store-bought cookies. Making your own sweets is one way to improve upon it--at least you'll know what's in them! Try sweetening things with something other than white sugar--like molasses, cane juice, honey, fruit juices, rice syrup or date sugar. And look for food that contains these sweeteners as opposed to refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc. Beware brown sugar--it's usually just white sugar with coloring or a touch of molasses. 8.) Look for "natural" on the label. But be careful. There are not strict guidelines as to what constitutes "natural" so many packages will say natural, but that does not mean it is healthy. High fructose corn syrup is considered natural because it is derived from corn, so 7-Up says "all natural" on its label. So beware of this label, but it can be a positive thing, because it alerts you to the fact that there are no artificial colors, flavors, sugars, etc, and sometimes indicates that a company is health conscious. 9.) Add flavor with the help of spices. There are so many great spices out there, so if you think natural food is bland, spice it up! Cayenne pepper is a great hot spice, basil and rosemary are great sweet-ish spices, oregano is good in Italian food, and curry powder is great for adding lots of spice and flavor. 10.) Drink more water. And less soda. If possible, drink no soda. It's amazing how drinking water can help a variety of complaints--sometimes that headache is just dehydration. When you drink a lot of beverages besides water, you're often just putting empty calories into your body and forgetting to drink water while doing so. So make sure you get enough water first--and then drink other beverages. Tea and orange juice (and other pure juices) are recommended. 11.) When it comes to meat, there are some people who will tell you that it's healthiest to give it up altogether. Others will say that you should just cut back. Still others will say that to not eat meat is unhealthy and that you need meat. I am not going to advise on this. You know your body best and if you want to eat meat, then eat it. If you don't want to or feel healthier when you're not eating it, avoid it. But I will say this: It stands to reason that the better an animal is treated and fed, and the healthier it was while alive, the healthier it will be for you. Many animals, chicken, cows, and pigs, are subjected to terrible living conditions in which they stuck in tight quarters where they cannot run around, they're kept in unsanitary conditions, and they are often fed antibiotics to help them grow and to treat diseases. A lot of shady practices go on in the meat industry.

Food treated this way cannot be healthy for you. That's why I recommend free-range meat and organic meat. Look for meat that has not been fed antibiotics and growth hormones. Look for cage-free eggs or eggs from chickens that are grain fed and not given antibiotics. And trade out that burger, ham, or chicken for fish once in a while.High in protein and low in fat, fish is a good substitution for meat every now and then. They're also high in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help prevent heart disease and are not found in many foods. There is some concern about eating fish these days, with mercury and various other water pollutants, so if you're worried, there's a great website called "oceans alive" that has a list of the best (healthiest) and worst (unhealthiest or contaminated) fish to eat. http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=bestandworst

Healthy Substitutions: Change from......to........
1.) white sugar to evaporated cane juice 2.) white rice to brown rice 3.) bleached flour to unbleached wheat flour 4.) (in the same vein as above) white bread to whole wheat bread 5.) sugary juices to orange juice 6.) store-bought salad dressing to oil and vinegar with spices Some Healthy Meal Ideas: 1.) Breakfast: Hard boil some eggs. If you're worried about cholesterol, eat just the whites. Have some fresh fruit on some nutty granola and drink a glass of orange juice.
2.) Lunch: Have a big salad. Spinach is a great, because it has lots of vitamin A and iron, among other vitamins. So use that as your base. Iceberg lettuce does not have much nutritional content. From here, it's up to you to pick what veggies and salad add-ins you like and add them, be it carrots, onions, more leafy greens, broccoli, or mushrooms, or something else. If you like fruits in salad, add mandarin oranges or plums. For protein, you can add hard-boiled eggs. Toppings like slivered almonds, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds are great on salad. For dressing, try olive oil and vinegar or ginger dressing or a vinaigrette. For a little more flavor, add some grated cheese.
3.) Dinner: Cous cous is great because its cheap, quick, and fairly healthy if you take care to get an all natural kind.It doesn't have a lot of vitamins, so you can add various vegetables, like carrots, onions, and mushrooms. Or add nuts, like pine nuts, or lentils. It's great for adding things, and if you buy it in a box you can cook it up really quickly and it'll come with a spice pack.
Or try some soup: You can make healthy soups with a nice base, be it tomato, carrot, broccoli, or butternut squash. You can buy these bases in the grocery store. They're sold in boxes rather than cans and are usually organic and/or all natural. Saute some vegetables to put in it. Add some grated ginger root. Ginger root is great because it increases circulation and helps with digestion.
If you have more time, serve fish, like Haddock, Croaker, or Wild Pacific Salmon. You can bake it or broil it in a garlic lemon butter sauce, and garnish it with vegetables.
Serve dinner with whole wheat bread, soft cheese, and/or fruit that's in season. Try a new fruit to make dinner more interesting.