It’s time to talk again about the difference between dieting to lose weight and eating right to live a longer, pain-free, and healthy life.
The “diet” consists of following a plan that usually results in weight loss. That weight loss, however, is often short-term. In other words, when you go back to your normal eating habits, you gain the weight back. The latest craze in diets (there will always be a “latest craze” to try) might be a pill to help you lose weight or a diet system promoted by late night infomercials. Often these diets are also unhealthy.
I have never been a big fan of following a diet. Many people feel they can just purchase diet foods and all will be well. Unfortunately, these diet foods (usually found in a box, can or wrapper) often contain ingredients that are not healthy for you; examples are partially hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, sodium in excess of recommended allowances, and a host of other ingredients that sound like things from your tenth-grade chemistry class. That being said, some of the popular weight loss systems such as Weight Watchers do provide a wonderful foundation towards a healthier lifestyle.
Knowing what to eat or which diet system to follow can be very confusing, especially if you listen to all the experts, authors, infomercials, and the guy down at the gym.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article comparing three diets: low-fat, restricted-calorie; Mediterranean, restricted-calorie; and low-carbohydrate, non-restricted calorie. Interestingly enough, the weight loss was minimal on all three diets over a period of two years. The groups participating in the low-carbohydrate diet did the best since their markers for levels of elevated inflammation improved (i.e. they had less inflammation in the body), their triglycerides were lowered, and HDL levels (the good cholesterol) were increased.
Therefore one should eat foods that are low in carbohydrates. In other words, avoid pastas, rice, breads, cookies, and cakes. Your carbohydrates should come from vegetables, fruit and limited grains. Center your eating on higher levels of protein and consume less carbohydrates and fats. Fats should come from olive oils, nuts, and avocados instead of from low quality (fast-food) red meat, chicken, fish, fried foods, etc. Personally, I have not eaten red meat for over 20 years now. I believe that eating red meat/animal meat is fine, but one should consider eating a higher quality of animal meat such as organic, free-range, or naturally grown.
When I evaluate a client who has hired me to coach him or her towards a healthier life, I consider genetic predisposition (what does or did mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma suffer with and how long did they live?), age, current health status, and future health goals. I look at levels of iron, Vitamin D, Vitamins B6 and B12, and C-Reactive Protein (the marker for inflammation) as determined by blood work. I make recommendations based on this information to help the client achieve an optimum nutritional lifestyle.
If you are considering (and I hope you are) embracing a nutritional lifestyle system to create a healthier life, think higher protein, lower carbohydrates, and good fats. Think quality and portion control. And don’t forget that exercise is an important part of a nutritional and healthy lifestyle.
Take care of yourself and if you would like to learn more about my Nutritional Lifestyle Coaching, please feel free to e-mail me at Michael@frompaintopersonalgain.com.
To your Health, Wealth & Happiness!
Dr. Michael J. Kaye
Knowledge, Action, Results
P.S. To learn more on how to create a life of health, wealth, and happiness log on to http://tinyurl.com/2hqf44
Monday, August 4, 2008
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1 comments:
Eating has become a crazy game. I haven't eaten beef or pork in over three years and I don't drink milk and that works for me. Besides wanting to be healthier I didn't want to be a hypocrite. I can't see myself killing a cow or pig so I'm not going to eat them. Same with my cats; I don't feed them beef because unless all four of them ganged up on a lonely cow in a pasture one day...even so I think the cow would swat them with its tail and go about chewing on some grass.
My biggest diet help came from the book Foods That Heal by Dr. Bernard Jenson. He believed in the teachings of Hippocrates who said that we should treat the person not the disease. Basically, what works for one may not work for another and I strongly fall into that category. People who don't understand that what they eat affects them are ignorant. Same goes for those who think our current environment is benign. I think instead of listening to the hype more people should be listening to themselves about what their body needs. It is a shame that society has put out so many distractions and made people believe that their own voice is not worth trusting. I have worked some helping the elderly and not so elderly in their homes but have found that I am not really helping them. I was told to keep them comfortable and not try to change their routine. So a person that I knew would benefit from going outdoors and taking a short walk and eating fresh fruits and vegetables I instead had to let sit and serve them up four cups of coffee loaded with sugar followed by a super-sized sticky bun smothered in butter. I left thinking to myself; I am just putting them in the grave.
Food has become like the entertainment industry, oversized and out of control. It is yet another distraction so that people can forget how miserable they are in this so called advanced society we have created for ourselves. Even with all this technology and all our knowledge; all for the sake of freeing up time and living better lives we are not happy as a whole. We are instead competing against our own creations. I think we are failing miserably and soon all the colors and flashy names they give to foods won’t be enough of a distraction anymore.
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