SALT LAKE CITY: As spring approaches, the sun begins to shine a little more each day, the grass looks a little greener, flower buds begin to appear and people begin to clutter their homes and patios .
Spring cleaning is a great way to freshen up your home and your life, so why not do some spring cleaning with your diet as well?
I don’t mean doing an unrealistic fad diet and only giving temporary results. Instead, I recommend clearing the spring diet starting slowly, choosing one or two of the following tips to work on at the same time. Once you’ve made a habit, choose another one to work on.
You may be working on these goals longer than spring lasts, but it will definitely be worth it in the long run. By decreasing some foods in your diet and increasing others, you can establish healthy habits that will benefit you for life.
Decrease the sweets
Excessive consumption of added sugars has been associated with health problems such as dental caries (or caries), as well as weight gain, heart disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Added sugars do not include naturally occurring sugars, such as fruit or milk sugars, and are introduced into our diet in a variety of ways.
Some are pretty obvious, such as sweets like cakes, cookies, ice cream, sweets, pastries, jams, jellies, and other sweets. Other sources can be a little more surprising, such as sauces, marinades, marinades, sweetened yogurts, cold cereals, cookies, granola bars, and more.
One of the biggest culprits is not what we eat, but what we drink. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sugar-sweetened beverages are the number 1 source of sugars added to the American diet. These include, among others, regular soft drinks, fruit drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavored waters and sweetened coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages. Going from drinking sugar-sweetened drinks to water is a great way to lower the sugars added to your diet.
You don’t have to go cold turkey and cut out all the sweets from your diet overnight or completely. Enjoying a gift every so often is okay. The main goal is to enjoy them in moderation, keeping sugars added to less than 10% of total daily calories, as recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Eat fat: the healthiest
Fats have been a controversial topic for decades. Do we eat them or avoid them? Instead of the “all or nothing” approach, the answer depends on the type of fat. Dietary guidelines for Americans recommend limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10% of daily calories and trans fat intake should be as low as possible. These types of fats can raise “bad” LDL cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found naturally in foods of animal origin, such as red meats, poultry, and dairy foods. They are also commonly found in other snacks and treats such as chips, cakes, cookies, pastries, fries and ice cream.
As important as reducing saturated and trans fats is what you replace them with. Studies have shown that when these less healthy fats are replaced with carbohydrates, the risk of heart disease does not decrease. However, replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats can reduce the risk of heart disease.
Unsaturated fats include polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. They are found naturally in many plant foods such as nuts, seeds, avocados, soy and oils made from these foods. They are also found in fish and other seafood. Include these healthy fats in your diet by snacking on a handful of nuts, cooking with avocado or olive oil, incorporating fish into your weekly meal plan, or covering your toast or avocado salads.
You don’t have to go cold turkey and cut out all the sweets from your diet overnight or completely. Enjoying a gift every so often is okay. The main goal is to enjoy it in moderation.
– Brittany Poulson, registered dietitian
Pile of vegetables
The only food group that most people admit to falling short is vegetables. In fact, according to the CDC, only 1 in ten Americans eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily. Vegetables contain beneficial nutrients and studies continue to show the benefits of consuming them daily. However, they are still missing from the average American diet.
The first step to including more vegetables in your diet is to have them available at home. When you bring vegetables home from the store, don’t just put them in the cleanest drawer in the fridge to forget about. Make them easily accessible by cutting carrots, broccoli, celery and cauliflower into sticks or bite-sized pieces. Then put them in bags and store them on a shelf in the fridge at eye level.
Store bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer for easy grabbing and tossing into a soup or casserole, mixing in a pasta dish, or heating as a convenience. Add variety by cooking the vegetables in different ways, such as steaming, roasting, grilling, stir-frying or stir-frying. Stack the vegetables on top of your sandwich, burger, taco and pizza. You can also mix the eggs with some sautéed vegetables, add roasted vegetables to the whole grain power bowl or mix some raw vegetables to the morning smoothie.
Go bananas
Not just bananas, but berries, grapes, oranges, apples and more. Including fruit as part of your diet will provide you with nutrients such as antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Whether fresh, frozen, dried or canned, all fruit can be good for you. If you choose canned food, opt for canned food with 100% juice or water. For frozen or dried fruits, make sure the fruit is the only ingredient that has no added sugars.
Fruit juice can be a sweet addition to your day, but be sure to look at portion sizes (adults should be limited to 8 ounces) and always choose 100% juice. I usually recommend eating whole fruit instead of drinking juice, as the juice usually lacks the fiber that contains all the fruit. Eating an orange will help you feel fuller and fuller than drinking a glass of orange juice.
Go meatless once a week
High consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, has been linked to several chronic health problems, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Although red meat contains several important nutrients, such as essential protein, vitamin B12, iron, and zinc, it may not be a good idea to consume high amounts of iron and zinc.
The World Cancer Research Fund recommends reducing red meats, especially processed meats such as salami, hot dogs, ham, bacon, dried meat, beef and some sausages, to a maximum of three servings per week.
Setting a goal to lose meat one day a week will surely help you meet that recommendation. Check your protein needs by eating vegetable proteins such as nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, tofu and whole grains. Choose any day of the week you want for meatless meals and make it a habit every week. Monday is a popular choice, initiated by the Meatless Monday movement.
Try sloppy lentil joes, three-sister chili, crispy baked tofu tacos or loaded sweet potatoes for a delicious meatless meal. With all the ways to enjoy vegetable protein, you may not even lose your meat once a week.
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