Simple Diet Tip
Carolyn Classick-Kohn,MS,RD
Can making simple changes to your diet
really make a difference? Just ask the participants of the Lyon Diet
Heart Study. Over 600 men and women who had already suffered a heart
attack participated in this four-year study on the effects of diet.
For the half who saw a
dietitian and received diet instructions six
times in the four year period, there was a 76% reduction in risk of
cardiovascular death and heart attack.
Here’s the
5 things the
participants were asked to do in the Lyon Heart Study:
1. Eat more bread. 2. Eat more root vegetables
(potatoes, yams, carrots, etc.) & eat more green vegetables. 3. Eat fruit every day. 4. Eat more fish and chicken, eat
less red meat. 5. Use canola margarine and use
canola or olive oil.
Does this look
familiar?
These five instructions are a part of
your
PersonalDiets™
plan. However, for weight loss, the advice to “eat
more bread” is modified. You do need to stay within the
calorie guidelines that will cause you to lose weight, so if you
already eat quite a bit of bread and starchy foods, you may not need
to increase these foods. In this study, many things were done
to change the diet, not just one or two, so it is difficult to say
which of these habits had the greatest impact. But let’s look at
the impact that each of these simple changes can make.
Eat more bread
When people eat more bread, this
means they are increasing carbohydrates, and generally, replacing
fat calories with these foods. In this diet study, the difference
was a 4% reduction in fat intake, ( 30% fat compared to 34% fat in
the control group ). Your PersonalDiets™ plan is based upon a 30% fat
diet for most of you, matching the Lyon Diet Study.
For some of you, your
eating
guidelines may give you more carbohydrates than you are used to
eating, especially if you have been avoiding them lately. For
others, you may be eating less carbohydrate because all quantities
of foods have been reduced for weight loss. But, the total intake of
all of the foods you eat is what determines energy balance and
determines whether or not you lose or maintain a healthy body
weight.
Eat more root vegetables and green
vegetables
Not only are these foods excellent
sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, vegetables
(especially green leafy types) are low in calories and high in fiber
content. These foods are filling, nutritious and low calorie, an
excellent choice for people trying to achieve a healthier body
weight. Mom was right: eat your vegetables - she didn’t need a
scientific study to prove it!
Eating more vegetables is such a
powerful change that I think if most people were to just concentrate
on eating at least 4 servings of a variety of vegetables, that this
could be enough to cause weight loss in some people. Keep track of
your own vegetable consumption and work on this habit first.
Eat fruit every day
Once again, this is a food group that
is very high in vitamins and minerals, high in water content and
fiber. In addition, fruit is sweet and can satisfy the need to feed
your sweet tooth. If you can replace regular desserts with fruit at
least half the time, it can make a big difference. Eat fruit as a
snack, and add a fresh fruit salad at dinner, especially if you eat
a lot of packaged dinners or convenience foods. This can give a
boost to the nutritional quality of your meal.
Eat more fish and chicken, eat
less red meat.
By practicing this habit, you are
reducing the saturated fat in your diet. Eating a lot of saturated
fat, often found in animal foods, is strongly linked to
atherosclerosis and heart disease. In addition, meats that are high
in fat are high in calories. When you think you need protein, choose
very lean meats - skinless poultry, wild game, fish.
By eating more fish, not only do you
reduce saturated fat, you increase the omega-3 fatty acids in the
diet, another substance linked to good heart health. Fish is the
best source of these types of fats, and you don’t have to eat fish
every day to get a good benefit.
When you eat more foods that contain
omega-3 fatty acids, you improve the balance of essential fats in
your diet. There are several studies that suggest that we eat too
many foods with omega-6 fats and not enough foods containing omega-3
fats. This is because so many packaged foods contain vegetable oils
that contain mostly omega-6 fats. Fish, canola oil, soy products,
and walnuts are good sources of omega-3 fats.
Use canola margarine and canola or
olive oil
By doing this, you will be eating fat
that is monounsaturated rather than saturated or polyunsaturated.
This habit increases the more beneficial fats in the diet and
decreases the saturated fats and trans fats.
It’s no mistake. When you look at
your custom diet plan and the goals and strategies suggested for
different food groups, they really follow the instructions the
people in Lyon Diet Heart Study were given. These are good habits to
work on, and when you put them all together, add up to huge health
benefits.
Learn more
about your diet needs,
take
a FREE DIET ANALYSIS:
