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patient handout (integrative)
Healthy Diet
Integrative Therapies
Definition
A healthy diet is more than just to satisfy the needs of your body. Good memory, pleasant thoughts, and your ability to cope with stressful or emotional situations are all affected by the foods you eat or the foods that are absent from your diet.
The basic principles of a healthy diet are:
1. Eat a variety of foods.
2. Use unrefined foods.
3. Avoid chemicals and additives.
4. Eat foods low in sugar, fats, and salt and HIGH in complex carbohydrates, protein, and fiber.
5. Avoid drugs and stimulants, such as alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco.
Please note that different diseases may require modification of those principles.
WHY VARIETY?
Each type of food is rich in some nutrients but poor in others, so eating a wide variety of foods assures a diet adequate in nutrients.
If you're used to having exactly the same foods each morning for breakfast and a limited selection of foods every day for lunch and dinner, you may want to consider some exchanges or additions.
ABOUT REFINING
A healthy diet is rich in natural and unprocessed foods. Including foods in as close to the natural state as possible, helps you to avoid the loss of nutrients that occurs with refining, storage, and overcooking. During processing, these foods lose trace minerals and vitamins, which are needed for metabolism by the body. These depleted foods can bring about food cravings, especially for more sweets and junk foods. These are also a major cause of a whole host of diseases present in modern civilization such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and others.
Chemicals and artificial additives commonly found in prepackaged foods have been repeatedly shown to cause a variety of health problems. Sulfites, for example, are added to beer and wines and many times sprayed over salad bars to maintain freshness. Headaches and asthma attacks are two of the complaints that can be brought on by sulfites. Red and yellow colorings, added to foods, have been associated with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders in kids, as well as skin rashes in both children and adults.
The list is almost endless. A good rule to remember is: READ LABELS and look for the claim of NO ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS OR PRESERVATIVES.
ABOUT SUGAR
Most Americans consume enormous amounts of sugar on a daily basis. Do you? Candies, pastries, ice creams, and sodas tend to be loaded with it. Unfortunately, the initial quick gratification of eating candy and having a "sugar rush," can give way to a drop in your body's energy level, to mood swings, and further sugar cravings.
Sugar acts similarly to a drug and is often addictive. You can replace candies with fruits and nuts.
ABOUT FATS
Much has been said about fats. Only 20 percent of our total calories need to be from fat. Most of us consume double or triple that amount.
It is important to avoid, as much as possible, saturated fats that come mainly from animal products. A good way to get beneficial non-saturated fats into your diet is by using cold-pressed vegetable oils as a base for salad dressings. Use any oil that starts with "S" such as safflower, sesame, sunflower, or soy.
Try to avoid overheating oils. High heat changes their chemical structures and forms certain toxic chemicals. Olive oil is probably the best one to cook with.
In general, avoid fried foods; they are not well tolerated by the body.
REGARDING SALT
Salt, in moderation, is generally safe to use. Learn to use different spices in cooking to flavor your foods, and depend less on salt.
ABOUT PROTEIN
The amounts of protein needed by our bodies in grams is 1/2 our weight in pounds. So, a person weighing 140 pounds needs to eat 70 grams of protein daily. The need is higher during childhood and pregnancy. Some examples are:
An 8-ounce sirloin steak contains 35 grams of protein
1/2 of a chicken breast
30 grams
8 ounces of cod contains
40 grams
1/2 cup of almonds
20 grams
Although red meats have a higher percentage of protein than vegetables, also consider the fact that they contain more fats.
Fish, on the other hand, is low in saturated fat and high in protein.
CONCERNING COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
Complex carbohydrates are an excellent form of nourishment. They are found in whole grains such as brown rice, rye, millet, whole oats, and whole wheat.
Although table sugar is considered a carbohydrate, it is absorbed too quickly into the body and does not supply a sustained source of energy. COMPLEX carbohydrates do, and they also contain vitamins and minerals.
ABOUT FIBER
Fiber is, perhaps, the most important addition to a healthy diet. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (all which contain fiber) can help protect against a wide variety of diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, obesity, and diabetes, to name a few.
AND FINALLY ABOUT CAFFEINE, TOBACCO, AND ALCOHOL
Overuse of caffeine drinks has been linked to a wide variety of health problems. Similarly, alcohol and tobacco are obvious health hazards.
IN SUMMARY
Obviously, there is nothing complicated about a good basic diet. The "musts" are fresh and cooked vegetables, fresh and dried fruits, the proteins from dairy products, eggs, some meats, fish, fowl, and whole grain breads and cereals. These are the "protective foods" in terms of nutrition. For those of us who live sedentary lives (and that includes most of us), the energy foods, such as starches, sugars, and fats, should be eaten in extreme moderation.
A good step is to first determine the quality of your diet by keeping a diet diary for a week. Writing down the foods that you consume will give you an accurate account of your diet. After you have recorded this for a week, you can compare your eating habits with the ideas for a healthy diet given in this program.
Common Sense and a Healthy Attitude are of utmost importance in making any change in your diet. Eat a nourishing diet, but don't adhere to such rigid principles that food and nutrition become a preoccupation or cause for fear. A piece of white bread on occasion will probably not hurt you as much as worrying about what might happen to you if you eat it.
Know that the food you eat will be good for you and will make you healthy.
Footnotes
BarShalom R, Soileau J. (eds.) Natural Health Hotline. Beaverton, OR: Integrative Medical Arts, 1991-1999.