Prevention is the Key to Good Health

Synthetic foods or drugs can never outweigh the health benefits of natural, pure and whole foods. Some foods are worthless and many are worthwhile – do you know the difference? Rule of thumb is if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.

Your nutritional program should be enjoyable and fit your lifestyle and not make a “dis-ease” out of trying to create a balanced lifestyle. What does your body need to stay healthy? What are good sources of these foods? What portions should you incorporate in your daily diet?

LET’S GO SHOPPING…

READING FOOD LABELS
Food labels tell you the facts about food so that you can understand what you are buying, whether it is good value for money and whether it is healthy. So pick up a can or anything with a food label and evaluate as you read this article.

Ingredients

The label must display all the ingredients in order of weight. The list allows you to screen for ingredients that you want to avoid and it also allows you to understand the proportion of ingredients in the products. So if fat or sugar is at the top of the list, the product contains a high fat or sugar content.
The Nutrition Facts food label gives you information about which nutrients are in the food. Your body needs the right combination of nutrients, such as vitamins, to work properly. The Nutrition Facts food label is printed somewhere on the outside of packaged food. Fresh food that doesn't come prepackaged sometimes has nutrition facts, too. Most nutrients are measured in grams, also written as g. Some nutrients are measured in milligrams, or mg. Other information on the label is given in percentages. These numbers are based on eating 2,000 calories in a day, the amount that an average person eats. A calorie is a unit of energy, a way of expressing how much energy you would get by eating a certain food.
We'll start at the top of the label and work our way down.

Serving Size - the nutrition label always lists a serving size, which is an amount of food, such as 1 cup of cereal. The nutrition label tells you how many nutrients are in that amount of food. Serving sizes also help people understand how much they're eating. If you ate one cup of cereal it would be one serving.
Servings per Container or PackageThe label also tells you how many servings are contained in that package of food. Then you know if you can feed yourself of the neighborhood.

Calories and Calories From Fat - the number of calories in a single serving of the food are listed on the left of the label. This number tells you the amount of energy in the food. People pay attention to calories because if you eat more calories than your body uses, you might gain weight.
Another important part of the label is the number of calories that come from fat. People check this because it is good to limit fat intake and it's good to know if they are good or bad fats. The calories in a food can come from fat, protein, or carbohydrate.

Percent Daily Value - you'll see percentages on food labels that are based on recommended daily allowances - meaning the amount of something a person should get each day. For instance, there's a recommended daily allowance for fat, so the food label might say that one serving of this food meets 10% of the daily value. The daily values are based on an adult's needs, not a children needs. These are often similar, but children may need more or less of certain nutrients, depending on their age and size.
Some percent daily values are based on the amount of calories and energy a person needs. These include carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. Other percent daily values - like those for sodium, potassium, vitamins, and minerals - stay the same no matter how many calories a person eats.

Total Fat -the total fat is the number of fat grams contained in one serving of the food. Fat is an important nutrient that your body uses for growth and development, but you don't want to eat too much. The different kinds of fat, such as saturated, unsaturated, and trans fat, may be listed separately on the label.

Cholesterol and Sodium - these numbers tell you how much cholesterol and sodium (salt) are in a single serving of the food. They are included on the label because some people need to limit cholesterol or salt in their diets. Cholesterol and sodium are usually measured in milligrams.

Total Carbohydrate -this number tells you how many carbohydrate grams are in one serving of food. Carbohydrates are your body's primary source of energy. This total is broken down into grams of sugar and grams of dietary fiber.

Protein - this number tells you how much protein you get from a single serving of the food. Your body needs protein to build and repair essential parts of the body, such as muscles, blood, and organs. Protein is often measured in grams.

Vitamin A and Vitamin C - these list the amounts of vitamin A and vitamin C, two especially important vitamins, in a serving of the food. Each amount is given as a percent daily value. If a food provides 20% of the RDA (recommended daily allowance) for vitamin A, that one serving of food gives an adult one fifth of the vitamin A needed for the day.

Calcium and Iron - these list the percentages of calcium and iron, two especially important minerals that are in a serving of the food. Again, each amount is given as a percent daily value. If a food has 4% of iron, you're getting 4% of the iron you need for the whole day from that serving.

Calories per Gram - these numbers show how many calories are in one gram of fat, carbohydrate, and protein. This information is the same for every food and is printed on the food label for reference.

Dietary Fiber - these numbers represent a percentage of fibre recommended daily.
Now that you know a little more about food labels, you can read up on what you're eating! Have fun shopping!

For more information on food planning or complete nutritional assessments contact Charlotte at charlottel@nb.aibn.com.

Disclaimer: The advice detailed in this article assumes that you are a normally healthy adult. The author, publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage suffered by individuals as a result of following advice in this article.

“Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food”- Hippocrates

We live in a modern world with modern issues. Our air is polluted; our farmlands are being treated with chemicals, which run off in our drinking water supplies. Our food supply is being laced with chemical additives, preservatives, synthetic hormones or being genetically modified. Even common household cleaning products, plastics, carpeting and paints contain chemicals that can be toxic.

Unless we go back to basics and start protecting, cleansing and maintaining our bodies, living an active lifestyle with less stress we will be inviting modern disease. Lack of energy, asthma, allergies, lowered immunity, infertility, ADHD, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, just to name a few.

Nutritional deficiencies and toxicities are at the root of most health problems. Some modern “Band-Aid solutions” may result in drug-induced nutritional deficiencies and unwanted, even dangerous side effects. It has become common to take another drug to alleviate the side effects of the first one. The magic pill of the day may provide temporary relief, but at what cost? People face struggles in achieving optimal health.

Fortunately we have options. We can look back to basics for answers.
· Environmental factors: clean air, pure water, wholesome nutritious food, sunlight, healthy environment at home and at work
· Mental attitude: perception of seeing things positive or negative
· Lifestyle: passive or active

These are the basic elements, when used as primary health care, will build strong and healthy bodies. Doing what we know we should do is the most difficult aspect of achieving our health goals, be they physical, nutritional or emotional. Remember the iceberg that sunk the Titanic? Because nine-tenths of it was submerged under water, the ship’s crew didn’t notice it until it was too late. In the same way, the things that prevent us from getting to where we want to be in life are often the things we refuse to do or we can’t see. When we learn to address these stumbling blocks, we become capable of executing that which we know we should do. Achieving proper nutrition as well as proper digestion requires taking responsibility.

It means:
· taking the time to drink pure water
· eating wholesome foods with plenty of fibre
· choosing the right fats
· making sure proteins intake is adequate to support our bodies thousands of normal
functions.

Other factors as chewing, stomach function, intestinal flora and adequate elimination all help the body remain in a healthy state. Our environment and stress has a big influence as to how our body functions and what we absorb.

Designed with accessibility in mind, Health Coaching programs are available as group sessions and one-on-one session. For more information on health coaching contact Charlotte at charlottel@nb.aibn.com

Disclaimer: The advice detailed in this article assumes that you are a normally healthy adult. The author, publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage suffered by individuals as a result of following advice in this article.