Why should I try to have a healthy diet?
Having a healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to help your overall health. Along with physical activity, your diet is the key factor that affects your weight. Having a healthy weight for your height is important. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, breathing problems, arthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea (breathing problems while sleeping), osteoarthritis, and some cancers. You can find out if you're overweight or obese by figuring out your body mass index (BMI). Women with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight, whereas women with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese. All adults (aged 18 years or older) who have a BMI of 25 or more are considered at risk for premature death and disability from being overweight or obese. These health risks increase as the BMI rises. Your health care provider can help you figure out your body mass, or you can go to www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm.
How can I start planning a healthy diet for me and my family?
You can start planning a healthy diet by looking at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The best way to give your body the balanced nutrition it needs is by eating a variety of nutrient-packed foods every day. Just be sure to stay within your daily calorie needs.
www.4woman.gov/faq/diet.htm
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www.symptomat.com
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Focus on fruits. Eat a variety of fruits – whether fresh, frozen, canned or dried – rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. For a 2,000 calorie diet, you will need 2 cups of fruit each day (for example, 1 small banana, 1 large orange, and 1/4 cup of dried apricots or peaches).
Vegetables Vary your veggies. Eat more dark green veggies, such as broccoli, kale, and other dark leafy greens; orange veggies, such as carrots, sweetpotatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash; and beans and peas, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, split peas and lentils.
Calcium-rich foods Get your calcium-rich foods. Get 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk – or an equivalent amount of low-fat yogurt and/or low-fat cheese (1 1/2 ounces of cheese equals one cup of milk) – every day. For kids aged 2 to 8, it's 2 cups of milk. If you don't or can't consume milk, choose lactose-free milk products and/or calcium-fortified foods and beverages.
Whole-grain foods Make half your grains whole. Eat at least 3 ounces of whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta every day. One ounce is about 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of breakfast cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta. Look to see that grains such as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are referred to as 'whole' in the list of ingredients.
Foods high in protein Go lean with protein. Choose lean meats and poultry. Bake it, broil it, or grill it. And vary your protein choices – with more fish, beans, peas, nuts and seeds.
2006-06-10 21:56:59
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answer #1
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answered by MEdExp,MD 2
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POTATOES!
I love potatoes.
Let me recommend a recipe^_^
It's something I concocted myself and I call it "Potato Volcano"^_^
See you take a few large potatoes boil 'em, peel em(or you can leave the skin on I like the skin too^_^), and then mash em up with LOTS and LOTS of butter(or margerine) and then add to that some "herb or garlic flavoured" cream cheese and mash it some more until it's a nice smooth "mash potato" consistency.
And then you plop it onto your bowl and pour hot sauce over it and add to it "Flaming Hot Cheetos"(MUST be flaming hot cheetos, nothing else goes as nicely!) and then ENJOY with Coca-cola or Pepsi(whichever you prefer^_^)
2006-06-11 05:03:39
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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homemade pizza with pepperoni, suasage, ham, ground beef, mushrooms, olives, and pineapple topped off with shredded cheese and provalone.
2006-06-11 04:39:51
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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