Handful a Day does Not = Healthy

Handful a Day does Not = Healthy

Hello everyone and thanks for coming to our little talk today. Im Karen Ziegler and Im a Senior Nutrition Advisor and today were not selling vitamins. On the contrary. Were going to talk about ways to get rid of some. Many of you are taking a handful of vitamins, or supplements, on a daily basis. How did this get started? For many of us we saw some advertisement, or maybe the Dr. Oz Show and we had to have the latest fix it pill. And every week there was a new pill designed to fix another symptom that we realized we had. For many we dont remember when the madness started!

Lets begin today by talking about some of the pills were taking. Anyone taking D3? Calcium? B ? Any C takers? Great! Good supplements for those who need it. Surely were missing something in our diet. But how do we know, that we personally need, what supplements we are taking? Isnt it true that we start to take them because we just want to make sure were covering the bases. When was the last time you had your labs done and the report showed you what you were missing in your nutrition? Maybe you arent missing anything at all? Well the internet says.. The book says... What do your labs say? What does your body tell you? Weve been sold a handful a day and thats supposed to give us good health. I dont know about you but I used to get a stomach ache after taking my handful a day. 1Its Not What You Think

There are many multi-vitamins and its easy to find one that says its the best one for you. WelI, I havent seen a bottle yet that scratched the surface of a well balanced multi-vitamin. Any reputable resource will tell you that the best nutrition comes from food. Thats the secret. You get to eat food. Its ok to eat food. The supplemental industry isnt heavily regulated. The FDA, because supplements are considered food, will intervene if a problem arises with safety compliance, (DSHEA) but they dont have anything to say about what is really in that bottle. I believe most supplements are a waste of money. There is danger of side effects from taking certain combinations, many combinations interfere with absorption of food and they also are known to interfere with the absorption of many medications (ods, 2013). This information, this warning, comes directly from the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Dietary Supplement Health And Education Act of 1994 2Supplementation Needed!

Lets get into the basics of what the experts tell us we need, as seniors. Because us seniors do have different needs than the younger population and an important one is Vitamin D3 because those of us who are over 50 dont absorb it from the sun like we used to. If we dont absorb our D3 we cant convert our Calcium. Thats a big deal! If our body doesnt have Calcium guess where it gets it? From our bones! Vitamin D repairs cells that are damaged and if the cells cant be repaired it instructs the cell to destroy itself. We all need our D3 for clean up. So take a D supplement so that when youre eating food that supplies plenty of calcium youll be able to absorb it. But we also need to make sure you are getting the dose you need.

D3 is often overlooked when ordering lab results. 20 minutes/day in the sun would normally supply plenty of this important vitamin (pro-hormone) however, since we dont tend to absorb it over 50, we need to supplement even if we spend time in the sun. Multi-vitamins normally have the 400 I.U. recommended daily amount of D3 for the younger population. I personally take 5000 I.U. daily. I know I need that because my labs tell me that. I have a good friend, 10 years older than me, yet she only needs 1000/day. My point is you dont know what you need without having your labs done. Now whats nice about this product is even if you are found to only need 1000 I.U./day you can still take one little gel capsule and cover many days in one dose because Vitamin D is fat soluble it stores in your fat so you can take a larger sum and skip days if you choose. Again, those recommended dosages on those vitamin bottles are generally not for seniors so get your lab work done and know how much you should be taking. All milk in the United States is fortified with vitamin D3 but seniors generally need more than they can get from food alone.

As for the other vitamin needs, if you have a good appetite, you can generally get enough of your vitamins from your food.

Vitamin D video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtUgi9wZGXU

3Food Changes and Benefits for SeniorsSoybeans now have higher protein. Golden rice is enhanced with vitamin A beta-carotene for better eyesight. Some beans have more essential amino acids.Were growing many vegetables and fruits with no pesticides. Our cattle arent drinking water that has run off from pesticides.Farm raised Salmon get larger faster.Some cattle are given hormones to increase muscularity. muscle = meat to eatMilk cows are producing 15% more milk and its being fortified with Calcium & D3. Chickens are developing larger breasts.

Is that chicken drinking my milk?

Im not condoning Genetic Engineering, as its controversial at this point, but there has been some changes in the production of our food supply as you can see with this slide. Food is still the best place to get all the vitamins and minerals you need to run your body with efficiency. Unless there is an underlying medical issue that keeps you from absorbing those nutrients we can learn to eat healthy and cover much of the bases.Nutritionists will tell you that its important to eat a variety of foods to get all the vitamins you need. What does that mean? As we age were often challenged with the ability to make a meal with all this variety and sometimes lose the desire to eat altogether because of a loss of taste and smell. Sometimes our bodies dont absorb the vitamins due to menopause or medications or maybe due to a complication with an illness. Many of the reasons our bodies dont get what they need is beyond our control. We think were eating right but we dont feel healthy. Or maybe were eating good but losing weight. Maybe were eating modest sums but were gaining weight. I understand that there are circumstances that get in the way but today were going to try and make this really simple. 4Choosemyplate.org

Im for saving money on vitamins and buying good food because eating is one of my favorite things to do. So let talk about how to get our nutrition from our food. Many of you are probably familiar with the Food Pyramid, shown here on the left, which has frankly confused people for years. Well the pyramid has been replaced with MyPlate and there is even a MyPlate specifically for Seniors. This is still quite a complicated busy picture but if you look at it carefully you can get a good idea what you should be eating to satisfy all your nutrient needs. Although calorie needs decline with age due to a slow-down in metabolism, and we also tend to get less physical activity, nutritional requirements remain the same or in some cases increase. For example Senior women need 1200 mg/day of Calcium as opposed to 1000 mg/day for Senior men and the younger crowd. To get that Calcium we need 3 cups of dairy per day. And we already talked about our D3 requirement that we simply cant get from the sun anymore. Lets take a closer look to see how we can get the general requirements and serving sizes by how we place it on our plates. 5MyPlate for Older Adults

Here is a more simple version of the MyPlate model. So lets start with a 9-10 diameter plate. You can visualize that size if you have larger plates. Dont worry, youre not going to starve. I want you to enjoy your food and concentrate on your meal. Dont eat and watch T.V. Taste it, chew it, savor the flavor. Taking your time also allows your brain to detect when you are full before youve eaten too much.

Make half your plate fruits and mostly vegetables. And use lots of color. Red, yellow, dark green as these provide different nutrients so variety throughout the week is key. Make one quarter of your plate grains and seeds like quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, farro, couscous, these are all grains. They give you your fiber. Fiber cleans out your gut, keeps your bowels moving and keeps you regular, with the help of vegetables. See me if you need Gluten Free and well modify this with some simple omissions and substitutions.

The last quarter of your plate is proteins. Lets start with meat. Red meat is one of the most nutrient dense foods (WebMD, 2013). Beef is where we get our heme iron which is the easiest to absorb. Vegetarians need to supplement because they dont eat red meat. This last quarter of your plate can also contain fish (2x/wk), chicken as often as you like, cheeses, nuts, eggs and beans. There are lots of choices. Youre going to be full because you are giving your body nutrition. Your body will be satisfied with enough nutrition. If you eat a donut in the morning youll soon be hungry and craving some more since there is no nutrition there and your body will be looking for another sugar fix.

Lets talk about drinks. Youve heard about the suggested 8 glasses of water/day but milk has water, coffee counts, soup has water, fruits and vegetables even have high water content. So if youre thirsty drink water but if you cant fit it in you may have already retained it from your food choices.

Some simple rules include eliminating sugar drinks, cut the salt, cut the processed foods out, add spices. Unlimited spices! Also, use good fats like olive oil, coconut oil and butter. Avoid margarine, lard, shortening and any processed oils. They are not healthy. My favorite oils are infused olive oils. They come in many flavors like garlic, lemon or rosemary to name a few. I even have a hot chili olive oil. Olive oil actually lowers your oxidized LDL cholesterol (Mayo Clinic, 2013). So increase your fiber, eat fatty fish, eat nuts like walnuts and almonds and like I mentioned before, use olive oil. Flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar is great on vegetables and salads. And you need fats in your diet to store that Vitamin D3 until you need it. And vitamins A, E and K are also stored in your fat. Let me add one more thing about Calcium since seniors fear broken bones. We need 1000-1200 mg of Calcium/day. If youre taking a Calcium supplement and eating like Im suggesting you may have too much calcium. Thats why Im advocating dropping the calcium. Too much calcium leads to kidney stones (ods, 2013). 1200 m.g. total if youre over 50 and 1000 m.g. below 50 (ods, 2013). Remember that were looking for 3 cups/day of dairy but were not talking about whole milk or ice cream. Were talking about 1% or non-fat milk, yogurt, pudding or some cheeses. Almond milk is also fortified with calcium. Visualizing your plate or bowl with these guidelines take much of the guess work out of the equation. Also, watch out for empty calories that add calories without nutrition. This would be candy, alcohol, ice cream, chips, stuff like that. There isnt room for these extra calories and you might as well eat nutritious snacks, as well, since sugar will cause cholesterol to oxidize which we all want to avoid. 6Physical activity: Walking, Stretching, Chores or Hobbies

Now that the nutrition is covered, and some of you may have some questions, but I need to talk about physical activity. Exercise is a scheduled workout session like going to the gym or jogging or maybe Curves. If you participate in a schedule like that.. Great! If you dont and never want to start then listen up. There are many great ways that we can keep your strength and flexibility as we age so that we dont get hurt. And thats the goal.. To not get hurt. Maybe you drop your keys and your back goes out. You bend over to pull out a cookie sheet from a low cabinet and you tweak something. You notice your sciatica pain is getting worse and suddenly realize youve gained 10 lbs. If we dont challenge our bones and muscles they will get weak. Just the pounding as we walk across a parking lot signals our bones to get stronger. Using our muscles strengthens our muscles. So even if you arent into an exercise routine take the extra time to take another lap around the store, park further across the parking lot, take the stairs, carry your own groceries into the house, do some yard work or play with the grandkids. But make sure you dont get hurt by being prepared and stretching every day. Walk every day. Take the time to sit and breath deep every day. Know your body, listen to your body, keep limber and if youve lost it make small changes to get that flexibility back. Exercise bands are a great start and you can sit in a chair, wrap the band around your back and get a grip of each end and row. This is called resistance training. As you push out it tenses and as you come back it stays tensed. Start with five or ten rows and after a week increase your rowing. Maybe sit on the floor and spread your legs so you can stretch forward. Then side to side to grab each ankle. Simple stretching to start with. These motions will help you be safe when performing your usual chores. Also, its ok to start with only 10 minutes of walking. You might do it daily for three times/week, whatever your commitment is just make a goal to move. 7ComplementaryAlternativeMedicine..AnythingGoes

We should all know that health is more than just nutrition and physical activity. Health is the combination of your body, mind and spirit. If youre eating good and exercising but youre stressed out from something, then youre not in balance. Complementary Alternative Medicine is a field that I like to describe as anything goes. Your health is a snapshot of the balance in your life and some days are better than others but this snapshot has to include many areas and all areas really. You have your doctor for labs and checkups and you are eating nutritiously so you know your vitamin intake is good since you feel good. But are you sleeping good too? Have you taken the time to meditate and relax in silence or with soft music? What works for you to have peace in your life? The goal is to feel at peace and in balance and in good health. Im not telling you to try and find something wrong with yourself but to know that there are many alternatives to how to deal with our aches and pains as we age. There are many ways to relax. There are many ways to cope with this world we live in. My husband has his granddaughter massage lotion onto his feet! Chamomile tea or maybe a glass of warm milk helps many get to sleep. Keep an open mind and try alternatives. Massages work well to relax and free up muscle knots and spasms. Acupuncture is another alternative that works for many. Tai Chi is an excellent addition to a seniors program of fitness. Taichiforseniorsvideo.com has some great demonstrations to get started. The beginning video simply has you stand with your legs shoulder width and you twist at the waste and let your arms relax and flop front to back. This loosens you up, squeezes your interior organs and is quite safe as it teaches you balance. If you find this too boring the videos definitely step up the pace. Whatever you find out there that helps you get motivated to move, like music or the weather, or helps you deep breathe like the smell of the forest or an ocean breeze, or the warmth of the sun on your face. Whatever helps you in your quest to be healthy, whatever works for you.. Do it. 8The Internet says.. The internet is always right.. Right? NOT!

NCCAM.NIH.govWebMD.comMayoClinic.comNIH.govLivestrongHelpguide.orgHelp.govEatright.orgFitday.comMyfitnesspal.com

And at last, use reputable websites. This can be really confusing but one of the fastest ways to eliminate a site is if they are selling the product they are recommending. Acaiberry.com is selling Mona-vie which is Acai berry. They claim its good for weight loss and its an antioxidant. Its a fruit. Of course its an antioxidant like many other fruits and vegetable. But its $37/bottle! According to NCCAM there is no scientific evidence to support the use of acai berry for any health-related purpose. No independent studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals to substantiate claims and in fact, researchers who investigated the safety profile of an acai-fortified juice in animals observed no body weight changes in rats given the juice (NCCAM, 2013). This is just one example but watch your ads. Inquire using reputable sources. Keep it simple. Fresh fruits and vegetables when possible. Canned fruits and vegetables in light juice. And I drink the juice because much of the vitamins leach out into that juice. Grains are fiber and they keep too. If you have left overs sprinkle them over a salad. Add them to a soup. Put them in an omelet. Beans work well too. Left over beans can be placed in a salad, soup or omelet too. Change up your meals. Dont get bored. There are lots of fun ways to spice up your life. 9ChooseMyPlate, (2013). Retrieved from http://choosemyplate.orgGerson Institute, (2013). Retrieved from http://gerson.org/gerpress/trans-fats-banned-by-fda/Mayo Clinic, (2013). Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002/NSECTIONGROUP=2NCCAM, (2013). Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acai/ataglance.htmOffice of Dietary Supplements. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH (2011). Dietary supplements: What you need to know. Retrieved from http://ods.od.nih.gov/HealthInformation/DS_WhatYouNeedToKnow.aspxOffice of Dietary Supplements. Retrieved from http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/Tai Chi for Seniors Video, (2013). Retrieved from http://www.taichiforseniorsvideo.com/?gclid=CI3qi4X_-LoCFdFcfgod9wQANgTufts University, (2013). Retrieved from http://nutrition.tufts.edu/research/myplate-older-adultsWebMD, (2013). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-red-meat?page=2Wieczorek, Ania. (2003). Use of Biotechnology in AgricultureBenefits and Risks retrieved from http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/BIO-3.pdf

References

This information is not intended as medical advice to replace what your physician is prescribing for you. Everyone is different and my generic presentation does not take into account your specific medical condition so take suggestions with caution always. Thank You. 10