9781422269909

Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet Eating Healthier as a Family Eating Whole Foods, Minimally Processed Foods for Peak Fitness Fruits and Vegetables for Health

How to Eat a Balanced Diet Eating in Moderation and Intermittent Fasting Lean Protein for Health Nuts and Seeds for Health What’s in a Label?

How to Eat a Balanced Diet

By Patricia Waldygo

MASON CREST M i a m i

Mason Crest PO Box 221876, Hollywood, FL 33022 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free) • www.masoncrest.com

Copyright © 2024 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Series hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4823-2

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4829-4 Series ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-6984-8 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-6990-9 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress Developed and Produced by Print Matters Productions, Inc Cover and Interior Design by Torque Advertising+Design

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KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase readers’ understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send readers back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase readers’ ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field. Chapter 1: Choose a Balanced Diet for Lifelong Health.....7 Chapter 2: Fine-Tuning a Balanced Diet.........................25 Chapter 3: Dangers in Modern Foods.............................39 Chapter 4: The Quest for a Perfect Instabody................57 Chapter 5: Staying Motivated.......................................73 Series Glossary of Key Terms......................................88 Further Reading & Internet Resources..........................92 Index.................................................................... 94 Author’s Biography & Credits.......................................96

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

Metabolic syndrome: A medical condition that includes elevated blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and extra fat around the waist. Metabolize: To use chemical processes in the body to digest food and convert it to energy. Omnivore: Someone who eats both plant-based and animal sources of foods. Triglycerides: A type of fat in the blood.

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A balanced diet helps people stay healthy during their entire lives. It decreases their chances of developing chronic health problems, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. People who have a poor diet may feel exhausted for no reason, have brain fog, and be unable to perform at their peak. They might frequently get infections, colds, and viruses because their immune system is run down. What’s Wrong with the Standard American Diet (SAD)? SAD is a perfect acronym for the “standard American diet.” It refers to the diet of most Americans: high in sodium, unhealthy types of fat, refined carbohydrates (starch and sugar), red meat and processed meats, ultra-processed foods, and artificial chemicals. It’s no wonder that people eventually become SAD after years of eating this way: sad about their lack of energy and optimism, and sad about their weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and more. Choose a Balanced Diet for Lifelong Health

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Explore the risks and long term health effects of the standard American diet.

What Is a Balanced Diet? A balanced diet contains a variety of foods that supply enough calories, vitamins and minerals, proteins, and other nutrients for optimal health. A balanced diet should also provide bioactive phytochemicals such as antioxidants, as well as dietary fiber. The USDA’s MyPlate versus Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate? The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that people follow a diet based on portions of the food groups in its MyPlate. In contrast, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health created the Healthy Eating Plate to correct the limitations of MyPlate’s nutrition advice. Harvard bases its

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How to Eat a Balanced Diet

A balanced diet contains a variety of foods that supply enough calories, vitamins and minerals, proteins, and other nutrients for optimal health.

Name the Main Food Groups

They are: • Vegetables and Legumes (beans) • Fruits • Grains and Cereals • Proteins: lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, legumes (beans), tofu, wheat gluten, tempeh, nuts, seeds • Dairy: milk, cheese, yogurt, kefir, or alternatives • Fats and Oils

Chapter 1: Choose a Balanced Diet for Lifelong Health

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Healthy Eating Plate on the most recent scientific studies and is not influenced by food industry lobbyists.

Q: What do food industry lobbyists do? A: They try to influence the US Congress to pass laws and regulations favorable to the industries they represent. Sometimes there is a revolving door between former members of Congress and the industries they are supposed to regulate, with industries hiring them after their congressional term is up. Then, when they leave those jobs, they often run for Congress again.

Why Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate Is a Superior Nutrition Guide In 2011, nutrition experts at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and editors at Harvard Health Publications created the Healthy Eating Plate to address deficiencies in the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) MyPlate. The following paragraphs highlight the advantages of the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate. Whole grains are one-fourth of the plate. Choose whole wheat, barley, wheat berries, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and foods made with them, such as whole wheat pasta. Avoid white bread, white rice, and other refined grains that metabolize quickly, raise blood sugar, and cause spikes in insulin, which can lead to heart disease and diabetes. Healthy proteins are one-fourth of the plate. Choose fish, poultry, beans, or nuts—sources of protein with other beneficial

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How to Eat a Balanced Diet

nutrients. Eat very little red meat and no processed meats, because even small amounts contribute to heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, and weight gain. Fruits and vegetables are one-half of the plate. Eat many types of colorful vegetables, but limit potatoes, which are quickly digested and raise the blood sugar, just as refined grains and sweets do. Eat a variety of colorful fruits. Healthy oils. Use olive, canola, and other plant oils in cooking, on salads, and at the table, because they reduce

Fruits and vegetables should be one half of the plate. Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.

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cholesterol and benefit the heart. Choose avocado, olive, soy, canola, corn, sunflower, peanut, and other oils, and do without partially hydrogenated oils that have trans fats. Also limit butter. Harvard’s plan does not dictate how many calories people should get from healthy types of fat. Water, coffee, or tea. Drink water, which is naturally calorie free, or coffee and tea with little or no sugar. Avoid sugary drinks. Limit milk and dairy to one or two servings a day, because eating too much dairy leads to a higher risk of developing prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer. Limit juice, even 100 percent fruit juice, to one small glass a day, as it has as much sugar as soda. Stay active. Staying active, combined with a healthy diet of modest portions, is the secret to controlling one’s weight. How the USDA’s MyPlate Falls Short The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate sought to address the shortcomings of the USDA MyPlate. These flaws include the following: Treats all proteins equally. The USDA’s MyPlate allows any type of protein, even hamburgers and hot dogs. It was revised to recommend that adults eat at least 8 ounces of cooked seafood each week, but it still doesn’t warn that red and processed meat are harmful to one’s health. Includes potatoes with other vegetables. MyPlate includes potatoes in the same category as other vegetables, despite potatoes causing spikes in blood sugar. Doesn’t distinguish between healthy and unhealthy fats. For decades, the USDA recommended low-fat meals and said nothing about unhealthy types of fat or the dangers of low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets, which contribute to weight gain and increase blood cholesterol.

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The USDA’s MyPlate doesn’t mention the importance of exercise in a healthy lifestyle.

Overprescribes dairy and fruit juice. MyPlate suggests dairy at every meal. Yet there is little evidence proving that dairy consumption prevents osteoporosis, and some studies have found a high intake to be harmful. As for sweet drinks, MyPlate considers 100 percent fruit juice to be part of the Fruit Group. No mention of exercise. The USDA’s MyPlate doesn’t mention

the importance of exercise in a healthy lifestyle. Don’t Obsess about Calories

Instead of stressing out over calories, people should choose high-quality foods that have the greatest nutritional value. These foods should contain vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates,

Chapter 1: Choose a Balanced Diet for Lifelong Health

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Learn how to create a Healthy Eating Plate.

Q: How can lack of sleep slow your metabolism and the rate at which you burn calories?

A: According to a joint study by Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin, people who normally slept only five hours a night had an increase in the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin by 14.9 percent and a decrease in the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin by 15.5 percent. This means they are driven to eat more than they need, and they gain weight as a result.

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How to Eat a Balanced Diet

healthy fats, antioxidants, and fiber. In contrast, foods with “empty calories” cause weight gain and deprive the body of nutrients. And yet these foods fill American supermarket shelves. Many are highly processed, such as frozen dinners and side dishes, bacon, sausage, and deli meats. The snack aisles feature white flour pastries, cookies, cakes, and pies, as well as ice cream, candy, chips of every type, and drinks sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. Sugar is addictive and can contribute to major health problems, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome . Eating too much salt (sodium) causes high blood pressure and an increased risk of stroke and heart disease. Drinking alcohol in excess raises levels of cholesterol, insulin, and triglycerides (a type of fat in

Empty calorie snacks include white flour pastries, cookies, cakes, and pies, as well as ice cream, candy, chips of every type, and drinks sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.

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the blood) and can cause liver damage, high blood pressure, and even some types of cancer. It’s hard to restrict or give up all of these foods and beverages when friends and family enjoy them and eat them daily. Yet once people embark on a path of healthy eating, they usually feel so much better that they can manage their cravings and limit junk foods to occasional treats.

Q: Why can some people eat lots of junk food but stay thin and look healthy? A: Certain people, due to their genetics, youth, a fast metabolism, or lots of exercise, don’t feel any bad health effects immediately. Yet eating junk foods for many years will usually take a toll on their health. A 15-year study of women ages 50 to 79 found that those who ate junk food during that time had a greater risk of developing cancer even if they were thin.

Why Is It So Hard to Have a Healthy Attitude toward Food?

When people hear the word diet , they don’t automatically think of a daily plan to eat the most nutritious foods. Instead, diet means starving themselves, restricting their meals to tiny portions, and avoiding the delicious foods they love. It seems as if half of the US population is dieting or struggling with weight problems. Obesity has tripled in the United States in the last 50 years. Other developed countries are in a similar situation. As a result, many diets are designed mainly to help people lose

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How to Eat a Balanced Diet