What Should I Eat Today?

I am sure that not a day goes by that we haven’t asked this question of ourselves. There was a time when all we had to do was go to the food market, pick out a nice cut of meat, chicken or fish, bring it home and prepare it like all the times before. However, this is not the case now. And why is that?

These days, it is almost impossible to pick up a newspaper, magazine, or turn on the radio or television and not be bombarded with another diet telling us what we should or should not eat. We have been told to increase our proteins and reduce our carbohydrates, or, to increase our carbohydrates and reduce our proteins.

The latest is the low carbohydrate diet, whereby you reduce the carbohydrate intake as much as possible. It seems that nearly every food company has jumped onto this bandwagon. If the label reads a low carbohydrate number, you can be sure you are paying more for this particular food. Just to give you a quick example. I purchased a box of cereal the other day. On the front of the box it proclaimed in large bold printing that it had only 11 gms of carbohydrates. I purchased it, paying $1.10 more for it than the same name cereal that was not low carbohydrate. The next day when opening the box, I paid more attention to the side panel with the values. It did indeed read 11 gms of carbohydrates, however further down it also said “carbohydrates from other sources, 7 gms”. Eating the suggested portion of this cereal gives you 18 Gms instead of the 11 Gms so emblazoned on the front of the package.

For a great many years all the nutritionists, research scientists, and even our government have advocated that we follow the food pyramid method of selecting our foods. You can find this food pyramid on a good many of our food containers. Yet, not much is mentioned of this with all the hoopla of the low carbohydrate diet.

Scientists do know that a diet high in carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates, increases the glucose levels in the blood, and in turn can increase the production of insulin. An over production of insulin interferes with the body’s ability to cope with the glucose uptake and can cause a condition known as hyperinsulinemia. This in turn can lead to many more problems and each problem will graduate into another problem. These can be problems such as high cholesterol, arterial disease, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and several types of cancer.

You can see how important it is to eat a proper diet. We all know that. So, what is a person supposed to do with all the information being thrown at us? Eating healthy being the number one priority leaves each and everyone of us to make these decisions as to what these foods are going to be. Knowing what the healthy foods are will give you a starting point in the way you will eat.

We are not discussing weight loss diets, but a diet that will maintain a slim normal weight and still have the proper nutrition to maintain a healthy vigorous body and lifestyle. You should know how many calories it will take to keep your body in good health. And here as well you will get conflicting recommendations as to how many calories you should have daily. This of course will be on an individualized basis. Determining your correct amount of daily calories is just a matter of using a simple formula.

FOR WOMEN:

Sedentary: Weight times 12..
Light Activities: Weight times 13.
Moderate Activities: Weight times 14.
Moderate to Heavy Activities: Weight times 15.
Heavy Activities: Weight times 16.

FOR MEN:

Sedentary: Weight times 13.
Light Activities: Weight times 14.
Moderate Activities: Weight times 15.25.
Moderate to Heavy Activities: Weight times 16.5.
Heavy Activities: Weight times 18.

NOTE: Activities refers to all daily activities, exercise, sports, etc.

To achieve weight loss, reduce the calorie intake by 500 calories daily. At the beginning this can result in one pound of weight loss per week. Once the body metabolism is stabilized the weight loss will not be as much but there will be some. This will ensure that the weight loss attained will prove healthful and will be maintained. Once you have attained the desired weight, recalculate your weight with the above calculations and stay on that calorie daily intake.

The foods you eat will be of the utmost importance. Be sure that you are getting the necessary vitamins and minerals that contain the antioxidants and amino acids that are needed to maintain a healthy body. Staying in a food pyramid of 40% carbohydrates, 40 % proteins, 30 % fats, and 30 to 40 % fiber, will keep you in the ballpark. Of course the foods eaten will determine the health benefits. The carbohydrates should not be of the refined type. They should be from fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and legumes. Proteins should come from lean cuts of meat with all fat removed, as well as poultry and fish. The fats will be derived from the proteins. Fiber will be derived from the grains, fruits and vegetables. The fruits and vegetables will also supply the needed antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

A further recommendation is to add a good multivitamin and mineral supplement on a daily basis. This will ensure that you are getting these extremely necessary vitamins and minerals in the event there are not enough in the foods you eat. There will be days that this scenario is not only possible, but also, extremely probable. Finally, we should not become slaves to a particular diet, we need to use a modicum of common sense and just eat the healthiest foods available.