Get More Energy by Eating Smart

coconut oil is not a "Bad" saturated fat. Please do more searching on this.

Good point by AlzCaregiver. Also, protein from non-animal sources gives more fiber. Fiber is a MUST for good colon health. KUDOS to AGINGCARE.COM for presenting a great article overall on nutrition and healthy lifestyle! Lots of us who are Caregivers have our own health issues which we sometimes neglect with the overwhelming responsibilities we have. Diet and Exercise sure play an important role in maintaining our own health. Thanks! RSuzyJ

I have found that seeds in bread or any that are cooked , can do sme damage to your body[bowel etc] as when cooked they are hard enough to break through anything, so I say leave the seeds to the birds, unless you can grind them into a powder.

I agree the article is a little out of date. The latest research shows, in fact, that there is no correlation between saturated fats in the diet and heart disease and there is a correlation between carb intake and heart disease. This is not to put down healthy carbs - veg, some fruit and some whole grains or the occasional treat. It is the white stuff that is not good for you - sugar, white flour, white rice, white potatoes. It is apparent to me that many people have no idea what a healthy diet is, or what the effects of eating an unhealthy diet are. People are living longer with diseases than were not known years ago and are surviving for various reasons including improvements in medical care. There is an epidemic of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart/artery disease in North America and spreading to Europe and beyond. I think it is clear that this is due to poor eating habits. Exercise is good but eating habits are far more responsible for weight, and, exercise cannot make up for poor nutrition.

This afternoon, before I saw this, I looked up articles related to diet and dementia. It appears that diet does affect the likelihood of developing dementia. Eating properly is not difficult, but the will to learn has to be there. To me, not providing your children, or your seniors, or yourself for that matter, with a proper diet is a form of neglect if not abuse. We are such a pill -oriented society, we look to meds for solutions rather than lifestyle, while lifestyle may well have better solutions, and certainly less costly

.I have taught this at college for years and many students have been introduced to good eating habits and inevitably tell me they feel so much better when they eat properly. When will people wake up???

Good basic nutrition article. However, anyone who thinks this is a few "simple" changes has not seen how caregivers really eat. :)

I wish nutirtionists would tell the truth -- This is going to be hard, but it is worth it.

@jeanne Any change is hard, It is not that eating well is that hard, it is changing habits of a lifetime which is hard. I understand that.

I don't think many nutritionists, dieticians or doctors know as much truth about a healthy diet as we need. I believe that most still go by older standards/recommendations of higher carbs and lower fats. The whole fiasco about saturated fats was an assumption as it turns out and not based on scientific examination. The proof of this is recent. I have suspected it for years.

An example of poor advice - a student of mine was a brittle (meaning having difficulty controlling blood sugar) diabetic - type one - from childhood and was recommended to have a complex carb snack at night. It didn't help. I told her if she trusted me, to try a protein snack at night instead. Her next set of tests showed a well stabilized blood sugar for the period she had the protein snack and the dietician told her to keep doing what she was doing.

jeanne or anyone - If you would like any suggestions/ideas/support in making changes in eating habits I would be glad to be of whatever assistance I can. The fact is that we are what we eat and the body gets its materials for repair and maintenance from the foods we eat, If the nutrients are not there, eventually we will suffer. Our body is a large chemical factory and needs the right materials to function properly at the cellular level,

example of an easy healthy meal
chicken breast sliced into a few pieces, saute in a little coconut oil in a non stick pan, chop up a little sweet pepper ( red, green, yellow or orange, some asparagus and some bok choy and saute with the chicken) could throw in onion and garlic too just didn't this time, or other veggies, season with lemon pepper and a little low sodium soy if you want. I saw a lonely mandarin so chopped it up and threw it in peel and all, Add a little water - or pure orange juice, put the lid on and simmer for a few minutes and it is ready - veggies still nice and crunchy. Done in probably 10-15 minutes while I was putting away the groceries.
To that, depending on your calorie requirements add a whole wheat pasta, (cooks in about the same time) or brown/wild rice mixture (cook in large batches and freeze portions which can be warmed up in the microwave) or a nuked yam. Yams do not cause the blood sugar spikes that white potatoes do - and a white potato is one with white flesh no matter the colour of the skin. Blood sugar spikes are not good for the blood vessels.

and so on...

emjo Yams do not cause the blood sugar spikes for some people that white potatoes do for some people. Which carbs cause spikes is a highly individual thing. Oatmeal, even steel-cut oats, cause me a spike, at least in the morning. I might do better with it in the afternoon. My body laughs at the "complex" carbs in 100% whole grain bread and processes it just as fast as white bread. I can eat white rice in moderation. Other people I know get a spike just looking at it. After countless finger pricks over a couple of months, I am always leary of statements about what carbs do and don't cause spikes.

Eating well is not hard if somebody else does the shopping and cooking and cleaning. Eating easy is picking up something at the deli. :)

Again, the changes listed in this article are not simple -- I know, I've made most of them. I just wish articles like this would tell the truth. It is hard to change life long patterns, and it is best to tackle one item at a time, not everything at once.

And you can keep your brown rice. I don't blow my carb allowance on food I don't like. In fact, I don't use my calories on food I don't like, no matter how healthy it is. The world is full of healthy things to eat. Why do health food advocates push the same ol' things over and over? I do not like brown rice. I will not eat brown rice. I will not eat it here or there, I will not eat it anywhere! (And, yes, I have tried it many, many times, prepared many different ways.) I will not eat it in a box ... I will not eat it with a fox!

(Pass the sweet potatoes, though. Num.)

Hi jeanne - of course there are individual responses, White potatos are very high on the glycemic index and re glycemic load, yams are lower so as a general rule they are a better carb choice. Despite individual variations there still are valid principles that an be followed and then tailored to one's own situation, preferably before having blood sugar problems in order to prevent them. I gather you have a blood sugar problem. Have you tried a protein snack at night? I have managed to keep my blood sugar in a good range through diet and exercise. I have followed low carb for years as I felt it suited me and it does get rid of cravings. I do not tolerate carbs well at all and gain weight slowly if I eat more than about 40 gms a day, So I too choose my carbs very carefully but for their nutritional value mostly from the veg and fruit groups - very few grains. I will be 74 in a week, My BP was 128/67 this morning ( I am not on BP med). My blood sugar has gone slightly over the recommended level a few times from stress (e.g. when my youngest son was killed) and it came down again through proper nutrition and exercise. I am not an exercise or diet freak - don't care for tofu much, though I do like veggies, walk mainly for exercise and do the stairs in my house more often rather than less, walk the aisles in the grocery store whether I need to buy from that aisle or not type of thing.
I was reading this morning that brain health is related to cardiovascular health, and we know that cardiovascular health is related to, amongst other things. obesity and diabetes type 2. It all fits together to me and the solutions lie in lifestyle. I would rather be healthy than eat cake, bread, rice or pasta - simple as that. I myself like brown and wild rice and it is pushed because it is nutritionally a better choice than white rice - not ever talking about the carbs here but that there are more nutrients in brown rice and whole wheat bread than in the white versions. Agreed there are lots of healthy things to eat in this world - unfortunately many do not seem to be chosing to eat them. I do not eat what I don't like either.

a story relating to food and energy

my daughter recently has undergone a lifestyle change which started with changing how she ate. She found that she was eating several peanut buttter sandwiches in a row and was still not satisfied. and was gaining weight, was depressed and tired all the time. She has chosen a "paleo" diet and looks and feels like a new woman. The difference in her is amazing. She is 5'7", 123 lbs, now and looks many years younger than her age. She is 46 with 2 young (6 and 8) and extremely active children, so has a hectic life. She is not depressed any more, has energy and it even doing exercises at home like reverse pull ups. She never had a problem with carbs or weight when she was younger, but finds she has to restrict them now. I am so delighted for her success with her choices. I know that others can make these changes too and receive the same benefits and that is why I sing my song,