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Eating for a Lifetime of Health

The plant-based plan

 Eating a plant-based diet means that the bulk of your daily food intake comes from fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as illustrated by MyPyramid, the “new” food pyramid.  Most of us have to change the way we think about daily eating to implement this new lifestyle—proven to maximize health and help prevent diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, and conditions such as high cholesterol, obesity and hypertension that lead to these diseases. Here are some tips you should know that will help make this lifestyle change a little easier.

·        Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are high in fiber, an important component for moving food through the digestive system. At first, you may have soft stools and the need to go to the bathroom more often. You may also have some “digestive rumbling” as things move through. As your body adjusts to eating more high-fiber foods, this will subside.

·        Fruits, vegetables and whole grains CAN be the “main course” of a meal. Try to have 3 meatless days per week. This will help you get more of the important plant-based foods that you need. Some examples of plant-based meals include:

o       Whole wheat pasta with sautéed vegetables and marinara sauce, fruit tossed in yogurt and/or a green salad.

o      Steamed or sautéed vegetables with rice, fruit slices, low fat yogurt or frozen yogurt.

o       Dinner salad with a variety of raw, blanched or grilled vegetables, fruit slices or fruit salad, whole grain French bread with olive oil.

o       Large, baked sweet potato with vanilla yogurt or maple syrup or a small pat of butter (be sure to eat the skin for the extra vitamins and minerals), green salad, and/or steamed vegetables.

o       Vegetarian Chili with whole grain bread or rice. Frozen yogurt with fruit for dessert.

o       Soup such as bean, vegetable, pumpkin, squash, noodle, rice with green vegetable, fruit and whole grain roll.

·        Legumes and nuts are excellent sources of protein and can be substituted for meat. Nuts are also high in calories so limit your daily intake to about ¼ cup.

·        Snacking on nuts such as almonds, walnuts and pecans that are raw or dry-roasted will help you feel full quickly. Again, they are high in fat so limit yourself to about 10 nuts once or twice a day. They are also great in green or fruit salads.

·        When you eat meat, limit your portion to 5 ounces. Choose feathers or fins—turkey, chicken or fish.

·        Fruits come in many ways—fresh, dried, canned and juiced. Be sure to choose “no sugar added” canned fruit or fruit juice. Canned should be packed in juice and not syrup.

·        Milk products are important for calcium and vitamin D. They also contain animal fat which contains cholesterol. Try to get your 3 servings per day eating low or non-fat dairy products such as 1% or skim milk, low fat or non-fat cheese and yogurt. You may also want to take a calcium supplement to assure that you get 1200mg of calcium each day. Being outside for just a short time each day should give you the vitamin D that you need. Most multi-vitamins contain vitamin D.

·        READ FOOD LABELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be conscious of what a serving of that food is, the calorie content and the FAT content. Choose foods lower in fats and those without saturated or trans fats. There is a food label on everything you buy, even water, which contains a bunch of zeros!

·        DRINK WATER!  Get rid of the sugary drinks and diet sodas. They have no nutritional value and are packed with chemicals and junk. For every caffeinated beverage you drink, drink 16 ounces of water. Unsweetened iced tea is a good substitute for water, but it also has caffeine.