Nutrition 101: Back to Basics
Whether or not you’re going back at school this fall, a little education or review can never hurt. There are many nutrition terms we hear about daily, we know they’re good for us but don't know why or how to work them into our diet. Here’s a little refresher course on some nutrition basics that can improve your health in many ways.
- Vitamins - It’s an alphabet soup of vitamin names but there’s more than what’s in that daily multivitamin that you take. Many vitamins that our body requires have yet to be discovered in order for the manufacturers to put into a pill, or on your cereal. To get the widest variety of vitamins, eat a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and protein These whole foods contain the full complement of vitamins that our bodies need.
- Minerals- There are so many minerals that our bodies need and not enough space to list here. Various minerals are needed for our bones (not only calcium), blood and normal cellular function. Eating a varied diet of unrefined foods can improve you intake of important minerals.
- Cholesterol– Pre-formed cholesterol occurs in food such as meat and eggs, and there’s the bad cholesterol (LDL) that the body manufactures, mainly from saturated fat. The latter is the worst for heart disease and other chronic diseases. First and foremost reduce saturated fat in the diet. Foods that are high in saturated fat: fatty cuts of beef, full-fat dairy (cheese, ice cream) and any other meat-based product that is high in fat.
- Essential Fats– The healthy fats that we need in our diet. Our bodies cannot make these fats, thus they are considered “essential." The fats that get the most attention are omega-3’s, they have many anti-inflammatory and healing properties. These fats can lower risk of heart disease, cancer, reduce joint pain and allergy symptoms and improve emotional health. Good sources of omega-3’s are walnuts, almonds, flaxseed, chia seed and fish; especially salmon.
- Antioxidants–These prevent oxidation and quench free radicals which can damage healthy cells. Cumulative oxidative damage has been implicated in aging, heart disease, cancer, macular degeneration and other health issues. Antioxidants are nutrients such as beta-carotene, vitamins A, C, and E, lutein, lycopene and quercetin. Foods high in antioxidants are colorful fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. It's not recommended to use individual supplements for antioxidants, best to get the full complement of nutrients from whole foods.
FITNESS/NUTRITION in the NEWS
What is GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe)?
Generally recognized as safe is a United States Food and Drug Administration designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts under the conditions of its intended use. Many of these ingredients can be food preservatives and flavorings. The "GRAS loophole" in our current food additive regulatory system allows companies to self-certify the safety of new food chemical uses in secret - without sharing any safety data or even notifying the FDA or the public that they are on the market. Currently there is a proposal to close this loophole, watch this space for further updates for improving the transparency of our food systems.
Sheri is a Certified
Nutritionist
with a master's degree in nutrition, with over 15 years of clinical counseling
experience, an ACE-certified Personal
Trainer with advanced certifications in medical exercise, senior fitness and health coaching. All nutrition consultations include exercise guidance, dietary
analysis and meal plans to meet your individual lifestyle, calorie and nutritional needs.
Free introductory 15-minute appointments are also
available.
To schedule an appointment with Sheri Mar, email:
info@EatWellBeFit.com or call or text: 206.789.6440
Do you have a nutrition topic for the month?
Email your suggestions to info@eatwellbefit.com
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