10 Healthy Foods for Less

Over the next 9 days I'll be giving you a food a day that is a healthy choice that is not so expensive. You can use these foods to improve your health and save money doing it.

The first food is beans. Raw beans or legumes are a great source of fiber and protein. You can use them in a variety of ways, as a main course or added to salads. Canned beans are not quite as good because some of the nutrients may have been cooked out of them. So buy them raw which are less expensive and cook them yourself. The broth in which they cook is great for soups and is nutrient rich.

Some Healthy Foods You May Not Like

Over the next few days, I'm going to be talking about some healthy foods that you may view as inedible or yucky! These foods deserve another try because of their nutrient value.

The first one I'm going to talk about is sardines. I know the first thing you might say is they are too fishy! Maybe, but consider this. Sardines are high in vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids in addition to providing lots of protein, calcium and selenium. All of these things help protect your heart and your brain.

Because sardines are low on the food chain, they do not accumulate toxins such as mercury. They are also inexpensive and you don't have to wory about refrigeration until you open them.

Be sure to avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil. This kind of defeats their good qualities.

Some Do's To Help You Stay Trim

As we move into the holiday season, people are always looking for ways to not gain another 10, 15 or 20 pounds during the holidays. Over the next couple of days, I'm going to give you some suggestions to help you not over eat and go crazy with food over the holidays.

My first suggestion is to eat more fiber. Fiber mixed with protein will give you a feeling of fullness much more quickly than if you are eating rice, pasta or breads. A good choice is to eat beans such as lentils, pinto, kidney, black, navy, or garbanzo beans. Beans naturally contain protein and fiber which slows mealtime digestion, so it takes fewer calories to fill you up.

Keep in mind that as you eat, you are actually "full" long before your brain tells you that you are full.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #2

The second important nutrient for your body to hum along in good shape is protein. Proteins are the primary building blocks of the blood, skin, hair, nails, organs, and muscles. We require 22 different amino acids, eight of which our bodies cannot produce and we must ingest these in order to have them available in our systems.

Proteins are essential for growth, body building and tissue repair. We also use proteins for fuel when carbs and fat supplies are inadequate. Proteins are what help us maintain and repair muscles and bones.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #1

There are seven major nutrient groups that are necessary for your body to run in good condition. Most of these you know, but hopefully you will learn a little from this.

The first group is carbohydrates. Yes, you do need them. Carbs are the chief source of energy for the body. You really need them for muscle activity and they help in the regulation of fat and protein metabolism.

Carbs are broken down in the body to form glucose which is converted by the cells into energy. This glucose can be stored as glycogen in the muscle or it can continue to circulate in the blood stream. Diabetics tend to have a lot circulating in the blood stream because they are not able to get it into the cells. Once the glucose is in the cells, it must combine with oxygen to become energy.

The biggest problem we have today is that our American diet incorporates way to many carbs in the form of grains, ie pasta, bread, etc. Your greatest and best source of carbs should be coming from fruits and vegetable.

Eggs - Bad Rap

Eggs have gotten a bad rap for years as a maker of "high cholesterol" and we should not eat them. NOT! Knowing the facts about eggs will make them seem like a much healthier food, which they are.

I want to just give you some facts about eggs. Of course, the best are the ones from free range chickens and are organic. The organic part has to do with what the chickens are eating or being fed. Obviously, free range chickens are eating more natural food instead of just the food given them with all kinds of things to make the eggs bigger and the hens to produce more eggs.

SO what's in an egg nutritionally. There are about 70 calories in a large egg. Eggs are a great protein source, containing about 6 grams of protein mostly found in the white of the egg. There are about 5 grams of fat with 2 of those grams being saturated fats and this is all found in the yolk. One of the things that I often recommend to people is to do 1 whole egg and 1 egg white to make a small omelet. If you want a slightly larger omelet, just add another egg white.

More on eggs tomorrow.

Exercise Muscle and Fat

So if you stop exercising does muscle turn into fat? Understand that muscle and fat are two entirely different tissues and one cannot become the other. What does happen when you stop exercising is that the caloric intake of food that is not needed to sustain the current demand for energy is stored in the fat cells. Muscles that are not worked regularly, will begin to atrophy or decrease in size, requiring less calories to maintain them.

Your goal is to maintain a higher ratio of muscle to fat. To do this, you need regular activity or exercise that is consistent and has an intensity to maintain the muscle mass. To increase intensity, increase the work load, the number of repetitions or the speed of the movement. You can also try some new type of activity. Most important is to find an activity or exercise that you enjoy, or you will not stay motivated to do it.

From a diet perspective, eat more fruits and vegetables. These are ususally the lacking components in most diets. Remember to get some protein with every meal, but really increase fruits and vegetables.

Manage Your Insulin for Antiaging

One of the most important things you can do to help manage the aging process is to manage your insulin levels. You may think because you are not a diabetic that you don't need to worry about insulin levels. But in fact, you do need to worry about insulin levels.

When insulin levels are balanced, you will see a reduction of blood pressure, a decrease in cholesterol levels, and a reduction in the risk for development of Type II Diabetes. Now you may ask how do I manage my insulin levels.

First, you should be eating protein at every meal. The minute that you smell or see food, the pancreas begins to set up proinsulin which is the precursor of insulin. In other words, the pancreas is getting ready for you to eat. That first bite that you take signals the pancreas to begin production of insulin. Proteins help burn the carbs that you eat, so your first bite should be a bite of protein. Then you can eat whatever you want, well maybe not whatever you want, but you can vary the next bite to something other than protein.

The other way to help manage your insulin levels is to eat complex carbs, ie those found in fruits and vegetables. Limit the number of simple carbs, those found in grains. Be sure that you stick to good fats also.

Good Breakfast Protein

Here's something different for breakfast to get your protein source in if you tired of eggs or don't like them. Try scrambling some tofu. Add some chopped vegetables, turmeric and other seasonings to give the dish some color and flavor.

If you're on the go and don't have time to stir up some tofu, mix some fruit with soy milk for a drink on the run. This will also give you a source of protein.

Another Good Nut

Another good nut to use as a snack. Pistachios are a great snack. Research has shown that they actually reduced the bad cholesterol (LDL) so there may be some beneficial cardiovascular effect. There are also studies that show that Pistachios raise the good cholesterol (HDL).

They also raise antioxidant levels, so they help the immune system fight off disease. They are also a good source of protein and fiber. The great thing about pistachios is that a serving size rather than 6-8 is a small handful of about 30. These are a great snack for kids as well.

Energy Drinks or Water

There has been a huge rise in the number of energy drinks available these days. Along with this has come an increase in tooth decay. Dental studies have shown that these energy drinks actually erode tooth enamel more than soda does. Rather than drinking an energy drink, find a good protein bar that you can eat if you're needing fuel for the system for a workout. To just drink the energy drinks during the day because you're feeling like you need to is not a good idea.

Far better is to drink water. It always boggles my mind when I hear people say they don't like the taste of water. Water should be tasteless, although I know there are some places where the chemical additives to water do give it a pretty yucky taste. So drink purified water. It's refreshing and tasteless. Try to avid the flavored waters as you're just getting useless sugar in those.

Soy

You may not have grown up eating soy, but there are lots of products in the stores these days made from soy. And as usual there is controversy over whether soy is good or bad. So today I will go over some of the positive things about soy and tomorrow I will hit some of the bad things about soy.

Probably the best thing about soy is that it is an excellent low fat protein source. But this is just one of it's features. Soy also contains minerals like iron, zinc and calcium. The true health benefit of soy is in the isoflavons it contains. Isoflavons are similar in chemical structure to our own estrogen.

Isoflavons help women combat the symptoms of memopause, as well as improve bone health, decrease heart disease risk, reduce cancer risk, and protect against prostate problems.

Building Muscle

To build muscle you need to be eating some protein. The form of the protein is not as important as you just getting the protein. For example, a great source of protein is eggs, especially eggs from free range chickens. This particular source of protein contains conjugated linoleic acid(CLA) which is necessary for the body to form good muscle.

I know I've written about this before, but I think it never hurts to hear it again. If you are beginning an exercise routine, then be sure that you are getting adequate amounts of protein which contains CLA. The best source for supplemental CLA is here.

Eventhough you may take a supplemental CLA, it is still important to eat protein. This doesn't have to be beef, but be sure that you have a good source.

So Where Is Lysine?

There are multiple sources of lysine. I mentioned quinoa the other day, which can be eaten like oatmeal.

Other sources are lysine are proteins such as meats, (this includes red meat, pork and chicken), fish (especially cod and sardines), eggs, parmesan cheese, nuts, and soy (this includes tofu, and soy flour). Remember that lysine is an essential amino acid and is usually in proteins. Many of the grains do not contain lysine because the protein in grains is not complete.

Quinoa - Super Grain?

Actually quinoa is not a grain at all, although many believe it to be one. Quinoa is the the seed from a leafy plant that is distantly related to spinach. What quinoa contains that most grains do not is the amino acid lysine. Lysine is an essential amino acid, however, we are dependent upon getting it from our food as the body is unable to produce it.

Lysine helps the body convert fatty acids into energy by helping to produce carnitine in the body. You can immediately get the point that if you have too little lysine, you don't produce enough carnitine and you can become fatigued. This is usually not a problem unless you are not eating any protein sources in your diet.

Back to quinoa, this seed contains lots of good nutrients like potassium, riboflavin, manganese, magnesium, vitamin B6, niacin, thiamin, folate, zinc and copper. This is an excellent protein source as well.

Diet Tip #3

One of the most important things in eating healthy and dieting is to eat some protein with every meal. This includes breakfast!! Eggs are a great protein source for breakfast, but you could also use something like peanut butter or a few nuts.

The reason this is so important is that the carbohydrates that you eat at a meal will actually burn in the flame of the protein and they won't all go to storage in the fat pads. This is also why you want to start your meal with a bite of protein first. This sets up the pre-insulin from the pancreas and assists you body in producing insulin which is necessary to move the nutrients into cells to nourish them.

So be sure to eat protein at every meal and take a bite of it first!

Dieting Tip #2

Now that you have cleaned out your refrigerator and cupboards, go shopping for the healthy foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are what you are looking for along with some healthy choices of protein like meat, fish, nuts, white cheese, and legumes.

Have a least 1-2 servings of fruit each day. Remember, a serving is 1/2 cup. I use fruits as desserts because of the sweetness. Some of the best fruit for dieting is apples, berries, pears and plums. Lose the juices, they contain too much sugar. If you have to have orange juice, eat an orange. Far better for you than the orange juice.

Fresh vegetable should include enough for 4-5 servings a day or more. Dark greens, yams, and any colorful vegetables. You may need to supplement here with frozen vegetables which is OK. Try to avoid the canned vegetables as they have lost some of their nutrient value in the canning process.

Walnuts

Walnuts are another super food with many benefits. Of course most of you probably know that walnuts are rich in omega 3, but there are many other benefits to walnuts. They are also a wonderful source of fiber. How many people out there do not eat nuts because they are "high in fat"? That is not the issue here. The fat in walnuts is good fat, omega 3. In addition, if you eat a handful or so a week it will help with constipation, one the biggest complaints of people over the age of 65. Walnuts are both a soluble and insoluble source of fiber. They bind with fatty acids, decrease the stomach emptying time and thereby decrease the speed at which sugar is absorbed into the blood stream. Diabetics out there, can you see how this might help you?

Walnuts are also a rich plant source of protein and besides the omega 3s, they are also have B vitamins and Vitamin E.

Walnuts have been shown to help protect against heart disease and they also have been shown to decrease C-Reactive protein. See my notes about C-Reactive protein on 11/20/08. This leads me right into my thoughts about anti-inflammatories which is the key to many diseases.

Pumpkin

Since Thanksgiving is upon us, I thought I would talk a little about pumpkin. Of course, we're all looking forward to pumpkin pie in a few days. But there are benefits to pumpkin that you may not be aware of.

If you have grown a pumpkin or buy a fresh whole pumpkin, when you take out the seeds, save them. These are an excellent treat just dry roasted in the oven on low heat. Pumpkin seeds are a great source of protein, phytosterols, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus. The protein source in pumpkin seeds contains more tryptophan than milk. For more on tryptophan, see my posts starting on October 23. Just the seeds alone are great to boost the immune system and can also benefit the liver.

The pumpkin itself is rich in antioxidants. This will also boost the immune system. So that pumpkin pie you have on Thanksgiving is not bad. It has lots of great nutritional value!