Word: diets
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...worsening trends, health experts have unleashed a flood of nutritional advice for consumers--much of it contradictory. One expert says red meat is bad. Another says bacon keeps you trim. Someone says skip the potatoes, and someone else says eat the skin. And let's face it, controversy sells. Diet books and magazine articles try to grab our attention by telling us everything we thought we knew was wrong...
...truth is that nutritionists have a fairly good idea about what constitutes a healthy diet as well as plenty of solid evidence to back that up. As a rule, they tell us, we should eat lots of fruits and vegetables, favor whole grains over highly processed cereals and make red meat an occasional treat rather than the daily centerpiece of our evening meal. And we shouldn't eat any more than our body needs...
...rewards are worth the effort. Studies show that as much as 80% of heart disease and 90% of diabetes can be tied to unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits. Doctors have proved that a diet emphasizing fruits and vegetables as well as small amounts of nuts and dairy products can lower blood pressure and "bad" cholesterol as effectively as many medications. And evidence is growing that adding fiber to your diet and avoiding highly refined foods can help prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes...
Good fats do more than help protect the heart. They also seem to delay hunger pangs. "People on these high-starch, low-fat diets are often hungry soon after they eat. They would be more satisfied eating nuts or a salad with a full-fat dressing," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and author of Eat, Drink and Be Healthy (Fireside; 2001). "And longer-term studies are showing that people tend to be able to control their weight better over the long run on a moderate or higher...
Just remember that there's a smart way to include fat in your diet and lots of unhealthy ones. Good fats contain double the calories (9 calories per gram) of either proteins or carbohydrates (4 calories per gram). So there's little room for error. If you eat nuts, you're going to have to eat less of something else...