Welcome Visitor

Overview
Overweight and obesity rates of American adults and children reveal that too many people are eating too much and not burning enough calories. The fact that heart disease is directly related to overweight and obesity also suggests the importance of healthy eating. Eating foods that are high in fat and calories results in significant increase in chances of having heart disease.

Effects of Fat
Foods high in fat also are often higher in cholesterol. Although everyone has some cholesterol, excessive amounts of cholesterol in the blood will lead to deposits of plaque in the arteries. This restricts and often blocks blood flow resulting in heart attack or stroke. As you choose foods to eat or prepare, make sure to limit the amount of fat.

Just because you eat foods that have little to no fat does not mean you will not gain body fat. The bottom line is that if caloric intake is higher than caloric expenditure, a person will gain body fat. Foods high in fat typically have more calories, however, many candies have no fat but are loaded with calories. Your body will change the calories that are not expended into body fat! Make sure to watch what you eat. It helps to check food labels.

Food Labels
Watch out, labels can be very deceiving! The percentages listed on food labels are based on someone whose daily recommended amount of calories is 2,000. Make sure to check out how many calories are in each serving and how many calories are from fat. One of the most important things to look for is the number of servings in a package. Size can be deceiving, so make sure how many calories are in each serving and how many servings are in a bag or container.

Food Guide Pyramid
The four food groups are now a thing of the past and have been replaced with the food guide pyramid. Daily recommendations are to consume:

• 6-11 servings of breads, cereals, rice and grains
• 2-4 servings of vegetables
• 3-5 servings of fruits
• 2-3 servings of dairy
• 2-3 servings of meat and/or poultry
• Minimal fats and sweets

Drinks
One of the easiest way to cut a lot of calories from your diet is to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. This will often result in drinking less soda. One can of soda may contain the same amount of calories as a candy bar. If you drink soda, choose diet soda. 100% fruit juice is a good choice due to all of the nutrients from fruit, however, limit yourself to 1-2 glasses a day because juice is also packed with calories, almost as much as a non-diet soft drink. Milk is also a very healthy choice, but make sure to drink 2% or better yet, non-fat, to reduce the fat and calories consumed. Water is always the healthiest choice.

Nutrition Tips

Eat Breakfast – Start the day off right with a healthy and nutritious breakfast. This will curb cravings all day long and give you the energy you need. Make sure to have some fruit!

Healthy Drinks –Carry a bottle of water with you as a way to stay hydrated and reduce cravings.

Carry Fresh Fruit – Fruit is a very healthy snack. Always keep an apple, pear, or banana in your bag to eat when you get the munchies. You should eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables every day. Watch out for dried fruits. They are very healthy, but eating 5 pieces of dried apricots gives you the same calories as eating five apricots!

Highlight the vegetables – The centerpiece of many dinner or lunch menus is often meat. Meat is great in moderation, but place as much, if not more, of an emphasis on vegetables. Make it a point to have vegetables with every meal. Vegetables should cover more of your plate than the meat does. Remember, 5 a day!

Reduce oil – Replace each tablespoon of oil in recipes with 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons of apple sauce. This works great in cakes and other baked goods and cuts out a lot of fat!

Cut out the sugar – significantly reduce calories by using ¾ of the recommended amount of sugar in recipes. You probably will never notice a difference in taste.

Top with Fruit – Instead of using other sauces and dressings, try topping waffles and pancakes with fruit. Adding fruit to a salad adds lots of flavor and can help reduce the amount of dressing you might need.

Snacks – To save time, purchase bags of baby carrots or prepared celery. These are much more convenient as snacks. It is cheaper to purchase and peel your own if you’ve got the time.

Resources

Healthy eating tips from the CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/heal_eat.htm

Nutrition Topics from the CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition.htm

Zorba's Heart Healthy Recipes
http://www.wpr.org/zorba/recipe.html

Healthy Recipe Links
http://nutrition.about.com/cs/healthyrecipes/