DIET AND NUTRITION

DIET AND NUTRITION

DIET AND NUTRITION

T h e r e ’s a lot of truth to the old expression that
“ You are what you eat.”
Over 60 percent of adult American men
a re overw e i g h t .
E v e rything that you eat or drink has an effect on your health and well being,
which is why it’s so important to make eating a balanced, nutritious diet a priority
in your life. Unfortunately, too many of us don’t do that. We tend to eat
portions that are too large, and our diets include too much fat, sugar and salt.

WHAT DOES A GOOD DIET LOOK LIKE?

Take U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Pyramid provides guidance.
The Food Pyramid is divided into six stripes, each of the six stripes represents a
different type of food, and the little guy going up the stairs is a reminder that a
healthy diet and plenty of exercise are both important in maintaining health.
L e t ’s take a closer look at each of the 6 food categories:
1 G R A I N S : Eat at least three ounces of grains—this includes cereals, crackers,
rice, or pasta every day, half of which are made of whole grains. Not sure how
much grain is an ounce? It’s a slice of bread, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, or 1/2
cup of cooked rice, pasta, or cereal. Grains—especially whole grains—are rich in
f i b e r, reduce the risk of heart disease and can help you maintain a healthy weight.

2 V E G E TA B L E S : Eat about 2 to 3 cups of vegetables per day. It doesn’t matter
whether your veggies are fresh, frozen, canned, cooked or dried. The important
thing is to get a good mix of dark green (such as spinach, mustard greens,
and broccoli), orange (such as carrots, pumpkin, and yams), starchy (like corn
and potatoes), beans and peas (includes tofu, black beans, kidney beans), and
any others, such as tomatoes, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Eating a variety of
vegetables every day may reduce the risk of stroke, heart attack, and diabetes,
and may protect you against colorectal and other cancers.
3 F R U I T: Eat 2 cups of fruit every day. Any fruit or 100 percent juice counts.
And you can use fresh, canned, cut or frozen. Count 1/2 cup of dried fruit as a
whole cup, and limit yourself to one cup of fruit juice per day. As with vegetables,
eating a variety of fruits every day may reduce the risk of stroke, heart
attack, and diabetes, and may protect you against colorectal and other cancers.
4 FATS AND OILS: Seven teaspoons of oil per day for men 19-30; 6 teaspoons
for men 31 and older. This includes any kind of liquid oil, as well as nuts, olives,
avocados, mayonnaise and many salad dressings. The yellow stripe is very
narrow to remind you that you should be especially careful with this group. Four
large olives is 1 teaspoon, and a small handful of nuts is three. Limit solid fats
such as shortening, lard, butter, and margarine. When looking at labels, try to
stick with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, and avoid saturated and
trans fats, since they increase your risk of heart disease.
5 D A I RY: Consume three cups of dairy products per day. Milk and yogurt are
measured in cups, 1 - 2 ounces of cheese counts as a cup. Limit dairy products
that have little or no calcium, such as cream cheese and butter, and choose fatfree
or low-fat options whenever possible. If you’re lactose intolerant (meaning
you have a tough time digesting any milk products), lactose-free options are
available. Getting plenty of milk products helps build and strengthen healthy
bones. This is important throughout your life, but especially during adolescence.
6 M E AT, POULT RY, FISH: Eat 5 to 6 ounces of lean meat, poultry, fish, dry
beans, eggs or nuts every day—a little more if you exercise more than 30 minutes.
Each ounce of meat, poultry and fish counts as one ounce. But 1/2 ounce of
seeds or nuts, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1 egg, or 1/4 cup of cooked beans
is the equivalent of an ounce. Broil, grill, or bake meats and poultry instead of
f rying. The foods in this group are important sources of protein, which help
build muscles, bones, skin and blood. They are also an excellent source of
vitamins B and E, and other nutrients, including iron, zinc, magnesium, which
protect your body’s cells, carry oxygen to your blood, and strengthen your
immune system.

DIET AND WEIGHT LOSS

Over 60 percent of American men are overweight or obese. Mexican-American
men are the most likely to be overweight, followed by white men and AfricanAmerican
men. Being overweight causes more than 300,000 premature deaths
e v e ry year, increases the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, stroke and
c a n c e r, and can worsen other conditions such as depression.

Americans spend over $30 billion on diet programs, and it sometimes seems that
you can’t open up a magazine or turn on the television without seeing an ad for
a new miracle diet or program or pill or gadget that will supposedly help you
“lose those extra pounds and keep them off.” Unfortunately, most of these offers
are scams. They don’t work, they’re sometimes dangerous, and the only thing
you’ll lose is money.
Ignore any weight-loss program that claims you can eat all you want and still get
thin, or that you’ll lose weight while you sleep, or that it’s “a new discovery, ”
“miraculous,” “exclusive,” “secret,” “magical,” “easy,” or anything that sounds too
good to be true.
The only truly effective way to
lose weight permanently is to
reduce the number of calories
you eat and get more exerc i s e .
And you’ll have to be patient:
it’ll take you about the same
amount of time to lose the
weight as it did to gain it,
which is about one or two
pounds per week. Losing weight
faster than that isn’t healthy,
and won’t last.
One pound of fat is about 3,500 calories. So if every day you can cut 250 calories
out of your diet (the equivalent of one candy bar) and burn another 250 (by
doing as little as 20 to 30 minutes of walking), you’ll lose a pound a week. Keep
that up for six months and you’ll have lost 25 pounds!
Before starting any weight loss program, check with your doctor.