52 Hot Nutrition Tips
Published in IMPACT Magazine
The Healthy Professor's tips for Health & Nutrition 101
- Never diet. Most diets fail. Develop healthy eating habits. I am a fan of the 40 per cent of calories from complex carbohydrates, 30 per cent from lean protein and 30 per cent from fat. It is known as 40-30-30 eating. It is both anti-inflammatory and controls insulin.
- Control insulin. Insulin is the fat-storage hormone and eating too many carbohydrates causes the insulin to remain high and encourages fat storage and discourages fat-burning.
- Calories count, but don’t count calories. Pay more attention to protein grams. Protein means “to come first.” The ideal ratio of protein to carbohydrate calories is 0.75.
- Eat protein in every meal and snack — No exceptions. This will moderate the rise in blood sugar and control insulin.
- Always eat some protein first. Protein and fat slows digestion, helps control the rise in blood sugar and controls appetite.
- Calculate your protein requirements first, then build your meal or snack plan around these requirements.
- Eat good fat in every meal. You need the essential fats to burn fat and create the super hormones of the body. Use nuts, seeds, (raw not roasted) avocados, fish oil and supplements.
- Always eat before you are hungry. Plan ahead so you eat approximately every three hours. Shop with a list.
- Exercise will help you control insulin. Approximately 4 hours per week of “conversational-intensity” exercise should be a minimum. (Preferably not all on the same day).
- Supplementation is not optional if you wish optimum results and optimum health.
- Drink water. (Weight in pounds ÷ 2 = ounces of water per day). Coffee, tea, pop and booze don’t count. They all have a diuretic effect.
- Never separate egg yolks from whites. This is a tremendous waste of a natural resource. The cholesterol in your diet has nothing to do with the cholesterol in your blood.
- Only weigh yourself once per month. Monitor your progress by how your clothes fit and the mirror test.
- Never skip breakfast. It is your first opportunity to set the blood-sugar pattern straight. Coffee alone will raise the blood sugar by stimulating its release from the liver.
- Missing meals is a prescription for disaster. The two quickest ways to slow your metabolism are not eating and not exercising.
- Eat more small meals and snacks. Try three meals and two to three snacks per day.
- Eat low glycemic index fruits and vegetables. (Glycemic index is a relative rate of the rise in blood sugar.) Low GI foods have higher nutritional density and more fibre.
- Avoid high-GI fruits and vegetables such as white potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, rice, pasta, popcorn, breads, rice cakes, bananas, dried fruits and juices.
- Avoid boxed cereals and anything instant. Use large-flake rolled oats or other unprocessed whole grains for cereals and pancakes.
- Beans and lentils are mainly carbohydrates and nuts and peanut butter are mainly fat so treat them accordingly.
- Take vitamin D3 supplements.
- Never use cheap oils, deep -fried grease or margarine. Avoid all fried foods. They are too high in trans fatty acids.
- If you must sweeten, use small amounts of natural honey.
- Add 3 Tbsp. (14-16g) protein supplement to milk or soymilk on cereal.
- 40-30-30 shakes made with 2 per cent milk, organic soy milk or water: 3 Tbsp. protein supplement and 9-12g carbohydrate from low GI fruit are convenient and easily balanced meals.
- If you eat too many carbohydrates, exercise as soon as possible to lower insulin.
- Omega 3 fatty acids from fish or supplements are anti-inflammatory, help to burn fat and produce super hormones.
- Control caffeine. Caffeine stimulates the liver to release sugar into the blood, which raises insulin.
- Make your own mayonnaise. All you need is a blender, cold press oil and eggs.
- Eat high mono-unsaturated fats such as almonds, macadamia nuts, avocados, olives, olive oil.
- Soy products such as tofu, tempeh, soy protein isolate supplements, are very high in isoflavones — protectors of the heart, eyes and preventers of cancer.
- Choose lean red meats. They are high in branched chain amino acids — the muscle builders that aid in burning fat.
- Muscle is active tissue, which metabolizes fat. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn.
- Cook a whole turkey, chicken, or roast. Slice and freeze in snack size and meal size. Great for on-the-go eating.
- Meal-size protein portions cover the palm of the hand, the thickness of the hand.
- Try wheat-free eating if you have a hard time losing weight.
- Undercook pasta and rice to lower the glycemic index.
- If you plateau in your weight loss and still want to lose more, become diligent in gram counting and ratio calculating. You may need to move toward 35-35-30 or 30-40-30.
- There are only two kinds of bad fat: transfats and rancid fats.
- Never eat fat-free nor low-fat anything. They are not natural.
When Eating Out
- Select your protein first, then your vegetables. Good choices include chicken or steak or shrimp or crab on a Caesar salad.
- Be aware of starch on your plate (root vegetables, corn, bread, rice, pasta, muffins). Only have one per meal.
- Chicken fajita with no rice or beans is a good choice.
- Always choose thin-crust pizza with extra-low glycemic index vegetables and extra cheese.
- Precede all alcohol with a protein appetizer. Shrimp, chicken, pate, crab, cheese, smoked salmon. (Nuts, if nothing else is available.)
- A latte or cappuccino is a good treat.
- Open-faced sandwiches using rye sour dough or real whole-grain bread is a good way to control carbohydrates. Eat only one slice with lots of fish, chicken, hamburger, etc. and vegetables.
- Want dessert? Don’t eat starch in the main course.
- Avoid all high-carbohydrate beverages (pop and juice). They raise blood sugar too fast.
- Once you have trained your hands and eyes to the appropriate portions, you will find that close is good enough.
- Whenever possible, buy organic. The nutrient density is much higher.
- Never shop hungry. Eat half a meal-replacement bar if you have to shop just before you eat.
Further Reading
What Should Children Eat? An increased awareness of the incidence and perils of childhood obesity has many parents asking the question – so what should my child eat?
Best Foods and Worst Foods What are the best or healthiest foods? Although I doubt there is one “Best” food, there are “better” choices and the following lists of “best” and “worst” may encourage you to shop and stock your kitchen wisely.
Healthy Eating in the Fast Lane The term “fast food” has become synonymous with “franchises” and “unhealthy eating”.
Anti-inflammatory Eating - These are a few guidelines for healthy diet.
Nutrition Coaching - Nutrition coaching is my passion. If sports endurance performance or recovery, weight loss, better health and more energy, stress management, sport nutrition are your passion(s), then I can help.