Healthy Foodie Principles: How to be a Healthy Foodie
You can love food—eating, cooking, dining out—while also keeping your health tip-top, and controlling your weight, too. Becoming a Healthy Foodie isn’t all that complicated, if you make a few crucial changes. Here are the Healthy Foodie’s most important principles for living healthfully. Our current and future articles and recipes will expand upon these core ideas—and we certainly will add others if warranted by convincing scientific research—and share strategies for putting them into practice.
§ 1. Be active—exercise or physical activity really is the key, because the more you exercise, the more you can eat!
Since nature built us to gain weight and lose muscle as we age, it takes a lot of effort to counteract that unfortunate reality. Another sad reality in our culture is that we have invented so many “modern conveniences” that we hardly have to lift a finger, let alone a leg, to get comfortably through our lives. Too comfortably—we’re getting fatter and less fit all the time, on average at least.
But you already knew that. The question is, what to do about it?
Pama and Mary Ann each have different answers to that one. While Mary Ann loves to play tennis and hike in the great outdoors, she mostly does the tennis on weekends and the hikes on vacation—in other words, she’s not a daily exerciser.
Dr. Mary Ann Barnes says: Exercise is critical to maintaining a long and healthy life. Recent research shows that you don't have to be a marathoner in order to achieve that benefit (which is great news for me!). Moderate exercise accounts for the vast majority of mortality reduction in every age group, meaning you should do the get-your-heart- pumping exercise for 30 minutes three to four times a week. More aggressive regimens add little, if any, additional benefit to longevity. And the group that profits the most from exercise is persons aged 65+
On the other hand, Pama has been an active gym member for close to 25 years and rarely lets a day pass without at least 45 minutes of exercise. Doing that much exercise isn’t just about cardiovascular health, Pama says. It also helps with weight control. So I’ll say it again: The more you exercise, the more you can eat!
§ 2. Minimize (or eliminate) junk foods, especially trans fats and saturated fats.
The author of the best-selling French Women Don’t Get Fat, Mireille Guilano, has compared our American diet with that of her own country. She concludes that one of the big differences between us is the mass quantity of processed—that is, junk—foods that we Americans eat. She believes that the average American’s consumption of too much non-nutritious food goes a long way in explaining why we carry so much extra weight.
Knowing that whole foods are so much better for us, the Healthy Foodie spends most of her supermarket time on the perimeter of the store, where she finds fresh produce, seafood and meats, dairy products and bread. She’s figured out how to find healthful snacks and avoid the temptations of fast food, wherever they may pop up.
Speaking of avoidance, it’s important to always read labels and steer clear of red-flag ingredients. Any food product that includes trans fats or “partially hydrogenated” oils—especially high in the ingredients list—should be left on the shelf. The Healthy Foodie is also increasingly unlikely to buy something with “high fructose corn syrup” as a prominent ingredient, and she is vigilant about high sodium content in canned and frozen foods.
§ 3. Eat fruits and veggies at all meals and for most snacks.
As you probably know, the federal government’s 2005 dietary guidelines have bumped the number of recommended daily fruit-and-veggie servings from five to nine. While a “serving” is only about a half a cup, that’s still a tall order for most of us. So we’ve gotten into the habit of eating produce not only at every meal but also between meals. And we’re committed to helping readers get into the same good-for-you habit. Remember, the more you fill up on these wonderful foods, the less likely you are to overindulge in less healthful foods.
§ 4. Practice portion control.
It takes a lot of vigilance these days to avoid gigantic portions, especially in restaurants. A few strategies to keep quantities you consume within reason include: say no to second helpings; at restaurants, split appetizers, entrees and desserts with a dining companion; at fast-food joints, order the “small” size if given the choice.
Dr. Barnes says: One significant factor in our current obesity epidemic is the swelling of portion sizes. Our servings, plates and stomachs have been over-filled. It’s time to recognize that an important key to maintenance of a healthy weight is to reduce the amount of food that we consume, day in and day out. As the amount of food is dropped, the quality of the food eaten becomes more and more important. Every bite eaten should be eyed with a ‘what is it going to do for me?’ or ‘is it worth the calories?’ assessment.
Unfortunately, most desserts and pre-packaged foods aren’t worth the calories. Whole grains (not whole wheat – it’s still refined with the loss of significant nutrients) and berries have the highest number of antioxidants per calorie. Fresh fruits and vegetables are also significant sources of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Fats have a lot of calories, but good fats are really important to the heart and cholesterol. And don’t forget good quality protein to help your immune system work.