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Dietary Musings for 2024
Year endings and beginnings, send food and diet blogs into a whirlwind of hyperactivity. Food forecasters spin different versions of what the future could hold in store. The elephant in the room is that uneasy feeling of being overwhelmed,confused and asphyxiated around the swirl of dietary advice being churned out.
Take a deep breath and focus your thoughts on some core food directions to set your sights upon, come 2017.
Diet Flavors
Truth is, there is no single perfect diet. They’re always contextual to your metabolism and a load of other factors.
A good place to start are global guidelines, which advocate eating fruits, veggies and whole grains; while reversing from salt, added sugars and saturated fats.
Take a deep breath and focus your thoughts on some core food directions to set your sights upon, come 2017.
Diet Flavors
Truth is, there is no single perfect diet. They’re always contextual to your metabolism and a load of other factors.
A good place to start are global guidelines, which advocate eating fruits, veggies and whole grains; while reversing from salt, added sugars and saturated fats.
Vegetarianism
Depending on your goals, going vegetarian may be good for your body; however adding some protein in the form of meat, is great, if you can keep overindulgence in check.
Diet a la Mediterranean Diet Flavors
The Mediterranean diet has won more accolades than perhaps any other. Being rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil and fish, the Mediterranean diet has been linked to several health benefits by its advocates; including reduction of cancers, prevention of diabetes, lower fracture risks in women, brain enhancement, and more.
Other great diets
Other healthy diets to evaluate include: The American Heart Association’s ‘ ASH’ diet (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension), a great heart-healthy diet, that’s also good for losing weight, and the Japanese diet’ that’s been linked to longer life.
Sugar, bitter-sweet truth
Recent research now shows that sugar, and specifically, added sugar, — is damaging to health. Too much of it can raise the risk for both Type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease. Go easy on sugar, is the best diet policy.
Fats – the good, the bad
While not all dietary fat is bad, Indeed, increasing evidence and studies suggest that unsaturated fats can be beneficial to health. Trans fats are considered dangerous, which led to them being banned by the US FDA in 2015.
Salt, not more than a pinch.
While our bodies need salt to function,too much of it raises blood pressure.This in turn can lead to heart problems and heart disease. Its less the salt that’s sprinkled on salads or added to recipes; it’s more the sodium invested from processed foods.
Even labels often don’t mean what they say. Often ‘reduced sodium’ on a pack just means it has 25% less salt than a ‘regular’ version of the product. Words like ‘natural, or ‘organic’, also may not mean anything at all.
If you’ve noticed, irrespective of dietary fads, facts and fantasies, the basics haven’t changed at all. Sticking to them can help clear the air, around what food directions you can take for the year ahead. Healthy eating to you and your family in 2017.