3 Easy Rules of Nutrition

Organic, saturated fat, salt, paleo, gluten free, cholesterol, vitamins, low carb, eggs. Every week, it seems information on these topics changes and becomes more confusing. The good news is that you can ignore the noise and focus on three simple-to-follow nutrition rules that have held the test of time.

Rule number one: Eat more fiber. If a carbohydrate rich food is high in fiber, it is healthy; if it has no or little fiber, it is unhealthy, with almost no exceptions. When a plant-based food is processed, the fiber is removed, as is the case with white bread and white rice. The average American consumes only 15 grams of fiber a day; the FDA recommends 25g a day for women and 38g for men. Fiber itself has many health benefits such as maintaining bowel health, controlling blood sugar, aiding in weight loss, reducing blood pressure, controlling appetite, even preventing heart disease and cancer. In addition to this, since all healthy carbs are high in fiber, it is a quick and easy indicator of the healthfulness of a carbohydrate rich food. Foods that are highest in fiber are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. Using fiber to choose the healthiest carbohydrates not only gives you the fiber, but also many other health benefits that come along with these nutritious foods.

Rule number two: Eat more protein. After water, protein is the second most abundant substance in the human body. It is an important component of every cell in the body. Many Americans, especially older women, are not getting an adequate amount of quality protein in their diet. Not only is protein important for healthy and strong muscles (muscle is mostly protein and water) it has many other health benefits. These include stronger bones, a boost in metabolism, reduced cravings (especially late at night), weight loss, proper hormone production injury recovery and prevention of sarcopenia (muscle loss with aging). Foods that are a good source of quality protein are meat, eggs, yogurt, poultry, fish, beans, and cheese. Protein intake should consist of 15-25% of your total caloric intake for a day. An easy rule of thumb for total protein is divide your body weight in half and strive for that many grams of protein daily. For example a 150 lb man would want around 75g of protein every day.

Rule number three: Eat less sugar. A high sugar diet is a contributing factor to a large number of major health problems. These include diabetes, cancer, metabolic syndrome, obesity, fatty liver and even high cholesterol and heart disease (recent studies have shown sugar is a larger factor in raising bad cholesterol and increased the risk of heart disease more than saturated fat). Sugar that comes from natural sources such as fruits, vegetables and dairy (lactose) are much less harmful than pure added sugar. Added sugar contains no other nutrients and no fiber to slow down digestion, thus it digests quickly causing little satiety and a spike in insulin levels. Cutting back on added sugar is one of the best ways to maintain proper body weight and increase overall health.