FAMILY NUTRITION, HEALTH AND FITNESS
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family nutrition
- 10 Fantastic Foods for Kids
- Nutrition Tips
- Top 5 foods
- foods that keep you young
- ways to lower your cholesterol
- Lose Weight and Improve your Mood
- De-Stressing Tips
- Get Your Omega 3's!
- Eat Chocolate!
- The Truth About Diets
- Exercise: It's Child's Play
- Milk Drinking
- Soy Happy
- Gut Instinct
- Back to Basics
- Smile & Say Cheese
- Water Shortage
- Honey Buzz
- Legumes
- Preventing Diabetes
- Hand Washing
Foods That Age You
These are foods to avoid, or have in moderation. Watch out for calorie-dense foods.
They make it easy to gain excess weight.
- Saturated and trans fats. These fats contribute to excess bodyfat as well as high blood cholesterol, so keep them to a minimum. Read labels to know for sure what you’re getting. The term partially hydrogenated indicates a trans fat. Many products have been reformulated to remove trans fats. On a 2,200-calorie diet, your saturated fat intake should be no more than 24 grams.
- Sugar. The empty calories of sugar come in solid and liquid form. Watch out for sweet foods and sweet drinks. Sweetened drinks can be especially dangerous, with 150-200 or more calories per drink (more for supersized). Check labels for calorie levels, sugar grams and terms like corn syrup and high-fructose corn sweetener.
- Sodium. Watch out for processed foods, frozen foods, canned food and fast foods. You should aim for 2,400 mg of sodium per day – or less if you’re concerned about hypertension (then 1,500 mg might be your target).
- Cured meats with nitrates. These may contribute to cancer. If you do indulge, don’t do so often, and consume lots of produce as a protective countermeasure.
- White flour – found in any baked goods low in fiber. The processed carbs are digested quickly and can boost blood sugar. They have fewer nutrients and don’t control hunger for very long.
- Soft drinks. These can add hundreds of empty calories to your diet. Even if you choose sugar-free, if soft drinks replace calcium-rich milk, you might be endangering your bone strength.
- Alcohol. A little may be good for you, but too much can lead to disease and aging. One drink a day for a woman, two for a man, should be your limit.
