Healthy Balance

    It seems that every time you turn on the TV or open the newspaper there is a new "healthy" food that is being trumpeted as the solution for everything.  Each new healthy food is better than the last.  First all fat was horrible and would make you fat, then some fat was good for you.  Now it is transfats that are the boogie man.  What is really healthy in all this noise?

    With all the opinions being thrown around, I am going to stick to the lowest common denominator.  First I need to explain a few terms that are required  First, what is a balanced diet?  The first step is to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients required to keep your body in good repair.  This means giving your body nutritious foods, in the combinations that your body wants.  There are several classes of nutrition to be worried about.  There are macro-nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.  The macro-nutrients are the familiar Carbs, protein, and fats. 

Carbs:  Carbs are the bodies main source of energy.  They come in several flavors: Complex, Sugars, and Fiber.  Not enough carbs and your body will be lethargic, dehydrated and you will feel sickly.  Your brain will not be able to process information correctly and your IQ will drop.  Enough carbs and your body will run well.  Too much and all kinds of problems appear:  Diabetes, Insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome.  Too much and you will find that your body crashes easily.  Carbs are the hardest to balance.

Protein:  Protein is the bodies building material.  Cells, enzymes, and all your inner machinery are built out of protein.  Too little protein and your body is unable to repair wounds, grow, make hair, or correctly survive.  Too much protein and you will feel sickly, lethargic, constipated and your metabolism will suffer. 

Fat:  Fat is the body's energy storage medium.  Fat cushions tissues, stores vitamins, and is the main componite of the brain.  Every cell in the body needs fat to survive.  Too much fat in your diet and heart disease develops.

Fiber:  Fiber is part of the carbohydrates, but it is a little bit different.  Fiber cannot be digested by your body.  It is like free food, as it adds volume to food.  It is essential for both digestive and arterial health.  Fiber carries nutrition as well.  Any healthy diet will include lots of fiber

Balancing Act

1.   Sugar tends to be deadly for dieting and weight control.  High fructose syrup (In all pop, most sports drinks, and even most "healthy drinks") has been shown to be particularly bad.  A calorie is a calorie, but sugar makes you hungry.  It messes with your blood sugar levels, and it encourages your body to store energy as fat.  Avoid all food that has added sugar if you want to be successful.

2.  Fiber is everyones best friend with weight control.  It has no calories.  Fibrous food is high in nutrition, makes you full and takes care of your digestive system.  Studies have shown that people who eat lots of fiber tend to be thinner than others.  Almost all health professionals will beg you to eat whole grains and stay away from processed foods.  Whole grains, fruit and vegetables are all loaded with fiber.

3.  Fat is not the boogieman.  Fat is very useful for your body.  Eating moderate amounts of quality fats(like olive oil) has been shown to be better for your heart than low fat diets.  Fat makes you feel full and makes food taste good.  It also carries many vitamins.  The reason fat has such a bad name is that it has around twice as many calories per gram as the other nutrients.  Saturated fats and trans-fats are bad for you, so avoid these (fast foods and processed foods).

4.  Last protein will not make you thin.  A gram of protein has as many calories as a gram of carbs.  Protein only will help you feel full.  However, if you feel lethargic from too much protein, your metabolism will be reduced and you will find it harder to lose weight.  This is the latest fad to take a nutrient out of balance.  When you body goes into ketosis (so little carbs that it starts burn fat incorrectly)  acetone and other ketones will be produced.  That is right, you are bathing your body in so much nail polish remover (acetone) that it will come out of lungs.  Studies have shown that higher protein works just as well as all protein diets.  When it comes to your body, moderation is always the healthiest option.

5.   Find the balance that works for you.  What matters is that you are happy with your diet and the calories are right.  I cannot live without chocolate everyday.  I limit myself as I know that too much will ruin my calories.  My wife needs peanut butter or she is not happy.  To each their own favorite foods.  You need to find a balance that works for your tastes and body, or you will not continue on the diet.    .

What are healthy Foods?

   I will use a little hyperbol here and say that all whole foods are healthy and all processed foods are not.  Now I will qualify that a little.  Whole wheat has tons of nutrition.  Apples, pears, and bananas are full of nutrition.  Dark leafy vegetables are your bodies delight.  Real cheese (not american or processed) is loaded with nutrition.  White bread is enriched, not nutritious.  Some processed food is good for you, but most is just calorie trash.  You have to turn the package over and look at the label to be sure.  Anything that is healthy should have at least 2 grams of fiber and at least a few of the vitamins should be out of the single digits.  If they have to enrich it, it is not healthy. 

    The government has had a food pyramid for quite a while.  It advocates whole grains, fruits, vegetables and small amounts of sugar and fats.  The way my wife and I have found that works best is to have a whole grain breakfast (wth berries usually).  A fruit and vegetable with lunch, and two vegetables with dinner.  This is not quite five of both a day, but we stay well and get lots of our fiber and nutrition this way.  Since we have small children, we all have to eat our fruits and vegetables first. 

    Last, there is no such thing as a miracle food, magic pill or anything else.  There is no conculsive proof that taking vitamins help accept in specific situations (pregnancy, anemia and a few more where a doctor will proscribe pills).  An apple is just as miraculous a fruit as anything coming from asia.  Scientists still have not identified all of the apples wonderful properties.  90% of pills, miracle cures and the rest are snack oil.  The rest is only marginal.  Be careful, as they are taking your money. 

But it tastes bad!

     I was raised on whole grain and vegetables, so I never thought they tasted bad (white bread is disgusting to me), but my wife was raised on processed foods and candy.  She struggles to just drink water.  It was comical to watch her eat vegetables that were not drowned in butter.  It was hard to change.  However, her health was deterioting and she was rapidly gaining weight when we got married.  So she became determined to learn to eat healthy.  Rather than change everything at once, she replaced one bad food at time.  It will take two weeks to get used to the new taste.  Then she moved to the next.  Now my wife likes more types of vegetables than I do and cannot eat white bread anymore.  The beauty of being human is that we can change anything about ourselves if we give it time and effort.

The Plan

     Ok enough information.  What is our healthy balance meal plan.  This plan has two weeks of our favorite healthy foods.  They are balanced to around 1500 calories.  You will have to adjust the portions or exercise to bring the calories to your level.  It uses lots of whole wheat and whole grains for that kick of nutrition and hunger control, but also allows some fun snacks like dark chocolate. This is intended as an example of a healthy diet for you to build your own favorite foods into.  All the recipes are easy to make, so jump right in.

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