Top Ten Healthy Eating HabitsCarleton University Healthy Workplace Lunch and Learn

Tuesday March 4, 2014

Cindy Sass, Registered Dietitian

Eating has become complicated!

Messages about eating and food•Doctors/Health Professionals•Diet books•Media accounts of the latest findings•Friends/relatives•Health claims on food

Nutrition is a relatively young science•Not always straightforward

•Many areas of grey

•Someday hopefully we will have definitive answers

What we do know...• “Western Diet”

▫Processed foods, meats, lots of added sugar and fat, lots of refined grain, lots of everything except vegetables

▫High rates of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancers

What we do know...• Populations eating a

remarkably wide range of traditional diets generally don’t suffer from these chronic diseases

• Very high fat ( seal blubber)

• High carbohydrate ( corn and beans)

• High protein (Masai in Africa – cattle blood, meat and milk)

There is hope...• People who get off the

Western style diet see dramatic improvements in their health!

• The effects of this poor quality diet can be rolled back, relatively quickly!

Evil nutrients• Focus has been on the

“evil nutrients” to put the blame

• • The food industry likes it

that way, tweak the food and make more money

• The more processed the food the more money it makes

• Confusion is good business!

What to eat?•Eat food.•Not too much.•Mostly plants.

Michael Pollan

Modest Change will make a difference! “The potential for disease prevention by

modest dietary and lifestyle changes that are readily compatible with life in the 21st century is enormous.”

Walter Willet, MD, Chair, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

Top Ten Healthy Eating TipsMove away from the Western Diet!

Eat more vegetables!• Eat food, not too much,

mostly plants!

• Aim for at least 4 servings a day (1/2 cup raw, cooked or 1 cup leafy greens).

• Eat a variety of vegetables and colors.

• Fill half your plate or container with vegetables.

Eat more plant proteins• Plant proteins include:

▫ pulse and legumes like lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, soy beans.

▫ nuts and seeds and their butters

High in fibre, satisfying, low glycemic index carbohydrate, sustainable, cheap.

Eat more fish• Don’t overlook the oily

little fish.

• Mackeral, sardines, anchovies are very nutritions species and fish stocks are abundant.

• Aim for 2 fish meals a week.

Eat whole grain foods• Choose unrefined grains

like quinoa, brown rice, whole grain seedy breads.

• “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead”, Michael Pollan Food Rules

Drink water• Avoid sweetened drinks or

sodas, even fruit juice.

• Drink water for thirst.

• And...• Coffee and tea without

added sugar, sweetners and just a little milk if desired.

• Low fat milk without added sugar/ flavours.

Limit Eating Out • Aim for no more than

once a week.

• Restaurant food is full of salt, fat, sugar and calories.

• Portions are huge.

• Up sell –end up buying the beverage, dessert, appetizer.

Reduce your intake of processed food• “highly processed foodlike

substances.”

• Sugar, salt, fat, additives like preservatives, food coloring etc..

• Look at ingredient list, the more ingredients in a packaged food, likely the more processed it is.

Eat Less Sugar• Eat sweet foods as you

would find them in nature – whole fruit.

• Reduce intake of sweetened beverages: coffees, juices, sodas.

• Avoid foods that have some form of sugar listed among the top 3 ingredients.

• Organic sugar is sugar too!

Eat Less Salt• Avoid using the salt

shaker.

• Use less process foods.

• Eat out less.

• Sodium 101 Guidelines• Per serving

▫ 0-200 mg Go ahead▫ 200-400 mg Watch out▫ 400 mg + Too much

Eat Less• Stop eating before you are

full

• Eat slowly

• Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored

• Eat slowly

• Buy smaller plates and glasses.

“All things in moderation”“Including moderation”

Oscar Wilde