Coaching You on Eating Healthy
Whether you are using The Real World Diet or just want to read up on eating healthy, these essays will help you understand the overall How and Why of eating healthy in the real world. Each Monday Dr. Harlan will explain another element of eating healthy in simple, easy-to-understand terms that you can apply to your real life. Just read these in order and you'll know how - and why - to eat healthy.
1. What You Should Have for
Breakfast
Why skipping meals is bad for you, breakfast is good for you, and guidelines
on what a good breakfast should be.
2. You Must Make Your Own Lunch
There’s so much good to be said for how much you can change your health
by making your own lunch. Here's why - and what you should eat.
3. Your Dinner Plate
When I was growing up we had the typical diner Blue Plate Special of "a
meat and two veg." This isn't too far from what makes sense for a
healthy dinner. We know that combining protein with carbs helps you to
feel satisfied for longer after a meal. One problem many people have is
that they don't know what to actually put on their plate.
4. How Much Should You Really Weigh?
Folks can often be pretty unrealistic about their health and their
weight. Usually people are shocked when I tell them what an ideal
weight would be for them. Here's what you need to know about
what a healthy weight would be for you.
5. Calories Count
Eating healthy or losing weight is based on knowing the right number of
calories for you.
6. Losing Weight is All About Calories
There has been so much debate about what is the best way to lose weight
that it's no wonder that folks are confused. High fat? Low fat? No carbs?
Some carbs? Good fat? Bad carbs? Low protein? Just what is right?
7. What is Your Motivation?
There are a lot of fantastic reasons to make a change in what and how you
eat. Everyone has their motivation. What's yours?
8. What Are Really Realistic Goals? (Really.)
People can often be pretty unrealistic about their health and their
weight. Usually people are shocked when I
tell them what an ideal weight would be for them. While shock is
their first reaction, folks usually say something like "Oh, I'll
do that, it's easy for me to lose 50 pounds and you'll see when I
come back in three months."
9. How to Set Your Goals in Motion
When I talk to patients about a goal weight they are shocked when I tell
them what an ideal weight should be for them. While shock is their first
reaction, folks usually say something like "Oh, I'll do that, it's
easy for me to lose 50 pounds and you'll see when I come back in three
months."
10. Why You Should Keep A Food Diary
Keeping a food diary has long been the cornerstone of many successful weight
loss programs because it lets you know just how many calories you are eating.
I also believe that it’s a great tool for you to identify where you can
improve the quality of the calories that you are eating.
11. Fats
So many "diet" books focus only on the macronutrients: fats,
carbohydrates and protein and over the last three decades there have
been dozens of competing theories, and over time the message has
become: "All fat is bad." This couldn't be further from the truth.
12. What's the Big Deal with
Saturated Fats?
So we know now that saturated fat is one of the culprits increasing the
risk of not just heart disease and stroke but also some cancers. Unfortunately,
people have gotten the idea that all fat is evil.
13. Is Fat Good For You? (Unsaturated Fats)
It's taken over two decades of controversy, but the research has clearly
proven just how good fat is for you. As with everything you choose to eat,
it is the quality of the fats that's important. We've come to know that
unsaturated fats, especially monounsaturated fats like Omega 3 fats, actually
help prevent disease.
14. Carbohydrates are Good
for You, Too
The best research that we have says that you can lose weight by eating a
low carbohydrate diet. Such diets may be slightly more effective than a
Mediterranean style diet as far as weight loss is concerned. There is some
difference between the two diets as far as the effect they have on blood
sugar and cholesterol, but all in all eating fewer calories has been shown
to help you lose weight no matter how you do it.
15. Fiber Might be the Best of All
We know that fiber can help prevent some cancers, reduce your cholesterol,
help you avoid problems with heart disease and help diabetics control their
blood sugar. Almost every week I read another positive study on how great
high fiber foods are for your health.
16. Reading Food Labels
One of the reasons that I started writing about food
was because there wasn't much information available. At the time the government
didn't require that manufacturers list nutrition information on their packages,
but with all this extra information it helps if you know how to use the
Nutrition Facts box.
17. Menu Planning
So far we've gone over getting your day structured for eating breakfast
and lunch as well as what makes sense for dinner. All of this takes some
planning on your part and I believe that this is the most important part
of eating healthy. The better you plan, the better chance that you will
stick to eating healthy.
18. Hold the Salt
We eat too much salt. It might be hard to believe, but the average person
eats over 6,000 milligrams (mg) of sodium every day. That works out to
about 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt, which is about 2 1/2 times the recommended
amount of 2,400 mg per day.
19. How to Look at Sodium on Food Labels
The government created rules back in the 1980s for nutrition information labeling on packaged foods. Before the regulations were passed, the only information required was a listing of the ingredients in the package, in order from the largest amount to the smallest amount. Other than that, we were pretty much on our own....
20. The Mediterranean Diet: Introduction
Over the last three decades a lot has been written about how the French ate a diet high in fat and didn't have the problems with obesity that America has developed. The so-called French Paradox has been the foundation of a great deal of research, and that reasearch extended well beyond France to almost every country surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
21. The Mediterranean Diet: Vegetables
Getting more veggies in your diet is one of the basics of the Mediterranean Diet. The best part is that it's the one thing you can't get too much of. (You'll never hear your doctor say, "Hmm, my lab tests show that you've been getting too many carrots.")
22. The Mediterranean Diet: Fruit and Nuts
Nuts are great for you. While they do have a lot of calories, these are the best quality calories because they are high in monounsaturated fat. Nuts have been shown to be very satisfying and this makes them a great choice for snacking. Instead of potato chips or crackers, have nuts. There's great research that shows you won't gain weight eating the nuts while eating potato chips is clearly linked with disease.
23. The Mediterranean
Diet: Cereals & Grains
The research about increasing whole grains and cereals in your diet proves
an amazing range of benefits. It is likely that this is the result of
an increased fiber intake for those adding more whole grains to their
diet. In one study men who ate more fiber had a far lower risk of weight
gain: up to 48% lower for the highest intake of fiber. For women, the
effect was not as dramatic, but those eating the most fiber still had
a decreased risk of weight gain of 19%.
24. The Mediterranean
Diet: Legumes
The word legume refers not only to the species of plants, but also to
any fruit that grows seeds lined up in a pod. (I find it interesting
that peas and black beans are actually considered to be fruit.) Also
known as Pulses, legumes include beans, soybeans, lentils, peas, peanuts,
snap beans and edible pods.
25. The Mediterranean Diet: Fish
It's so simple, really, but this is probably the most powerful change that
you can make in your diet. Much of the research on the benefits of fish
stem from research on Inuit natives and their high consumption of salmon
with a correspondingly low rate of heart disease.
26. The Mediterranean Diet: Oils
Most research on Mediterranean style diets shows that the primary fat used
for recipes is olive oil. The Mediterranean cultures do use other vegetable
oils, and most cultures use some butter, but it is generally used sparingly.
27. The Mediterranean Diet: Dairy
Dairy products are one of the nine elements of the traditional Mediterranean
Diet. Even so, dairy products eaten by those in Mediterranean cultures
are usually consumed in the form of processed products like yogurt or
cheeses. Milk is not often drunk as a beverage.
28. The Mediterranean Diet: Meat
It's clear that those in Mediterranean cultures consume less meat and
eat leaner meats than those in Western cultures. Diet studies reveal
that
they consume an average of 4 ounces or less of meat each day, so a lot
of prospective research has been undertaken to focus on the effect of consuming
less meat.
29. The Mediterranean Diet: Alcohol
I get questions from patients almost every day about whether it's safe
or healthy for them drink alcohol. It goes without saying that drinking
too much alcohol is bad for you. Even so, the best research we have now
shows that those drinking between 2 and 3 drinks per day for men or 1
to 2 per day for women live longer and live healthier.
30. Measuring Your Food
I have written about how I like to use butter in recipes. It enhances the
flavor and texture of recipes in a way that few other ingredients can.
Most of the time you don't need much, just a bit works wonders. A chef
friend once commented that he believed it was easy for chefs to hide their
sins by simply adding more fat and salt to a recipe. He would say, "You
can make bad food taste better with more butter or salt, but it's better
to just make great food with the right amount of ingredients." I
believe that he's right and that measuring is key to great food.
31. Snacking is Essential
There's good research about snacking and it seems most of us are one of
two types. We are either sweet snackers or salty snackers. Knowing which
you are can help you manage your weight by making sure you have snacks
on hand that will be satisfying.
32. Portion Size Yourself
In the last few decades portion size has become a major issue, with portions
in restaurants increasing dramatically. Forty years ago a 32 ounce milk
shake with 1,160 calories would have been unusual. There was no such thing
as a Quarter Pounder (let alone a Double Quarter Pounder) and getting
a mountain of nachos would be rare. These huge plates have spilled over
into how people choose their food.
33. Can The Size Of Your Plate Help You Control Calories?
So portion control is clearly critical to losing weight and eating healthy.
There’s study after study to show how well this can work for you. The
natural extension of this might be not just the portion size of your food,
but also the size of your plate. A lot of research has gone into this
very question: does it make a difference whether you use a small or a
large plate in how much you actually eat?
34. Your New Pantry: Get Started
When I am giving talks I always joke that none of my patients ever
eats Oreo cookies. Now, I find this really strange because the aisles
in the grocery store are FULL of cookies (but none of my patients are
buying them). This always gets a big laugh, but I think folks are laughing
at themselves. We aren't always honest with ourselves, and probably even
more often are not completely honest with our doctors (shocking, I know).
35. Your New Pantry: Oil and Fat Choices - The Basics
Time and again you will hear "eat more monounsaturated fat" or "don't
eat too much saturated fat." These are certainly true statements,
and over the last ten years or so we have learned a great deal about just
which fats can be a problem and which are actually good for us. I get
the question all the time at the DrGourmet.com web site about when and
how to use butter, which is the best oil for cooking and how about baking?
35. Your New Pantry: Oil and Fat Choices - The Details
First and foremost, choosing a fat should be based on what you are going
to use it for. I try to use a variety of fats, carefully and where I feel
they will do the most to enhance the flavor of my recipes.
36. Your New Pantry: Starch Choices
Carbohydrates are not your enemy. After years of research we do know
what we have known for a long time – poor quality calories are bad for
you. It doesn't really matter whether the focus is on carbs or fat or
protein, if the quality of the food is great, the food is likely great
for you.
37. Your New Pantry: Poultry Choices
It seems like a simple thing, choosing
poultry. For years folks have thought that eating healthy means more
chicken and fish. I hear that all the time from patients. So what to
choose and how?
38. Your New Pantry: Dairy
Choices
The research on Mediterranean style diet does include good information
on dairy products. The data says that including dairy in your diet is
healthy, but most of the dairy in the Mediterranean Diet is lower in
fat or processed, such as cheese or yogurt.