by kelsey | May 2, 2013 | Diet, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
You have heard me say it many times, but once again, a diet rich in a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables does aid in good health and this specifically applies to our digestive health as well! The digestive tract is a very important part of our body and as many of you know, when somethings a bit off with it, you suffer! Eating healthy is truly going to make a positive impact on your digestive health and below are a few tips to focus on.
- Get Active! Activity speeds up the digestion process and can stimulate muscles within the GI tract helping your organs work more efficiently and effectively. Engaging in at least 30 minutes of activity most days of the week is helpful to your heart, weight, muscles, and your digestive tract. Yes, this is just another reason why we recommend daily activity so get up and get moving!
- Increase your fiber intake: Adequate fiber intake (25-35g/day) keeps everything moving smoothly. It slows down digestion and absorption and aids in better blood sugar control. Fiber keeps the intestinal walls healthy and functioning appropriately and it also acts as a scavenger and breaks up the bad cholesterol in our vessels, thus having a reduction on our risk for heart disease. Fiber is found in fruits and vegetables (the outer layers so be sure to eat the skins!), whole grains, beans, and lentils. If you aren’t getting much through your diet, you could try a fiber supplement such as Benefiber, Metamucil, or even flaxseed.
- Get plenty of water: When you increase your fiber intake, you need to make sure you are getting adequate water intake. Not drinking enough water can slow down your digestive tract and contribute to constipation. Getting at least 8 glasses of water a day is very helpful!
- Limit fats: Fats are harder to break down and digest and can slow down your digestive system. Limiting saturated and trans fats…and your total amount of fat will help improve your digestive tract, keep things moving appropriately, and aid in a healthy heart and waist line. Choose low fat or fat free dairy products, lean meats, and healthy oils such as canola oil or olive oil.
- Practice Mindful Eating: take your time when you’re eating and really focus on your fullness factors. It takes 20 minutes for our stomach to tell our brain we’re full and most of us are done eating by then and are stuffed. Slow the process down and savor each bite. You will be more apt to recognize your fullness and hunger factors while allowing your body to fully breakdown and absorb the nutrients. Mindful eating also promotes a healthy weight which is very important as well!
- Probiotics: probiotics are the good bacteria typically found in yogurt and are used to prevent and improve a variety of conditions that affect the GI tract. Activia yogurt as a greater amount of probiotics than the regular yogurt so you may try having 1-2 tubs/day depending on your condition. You can also find probiotics in the supplement form.
- Limit sodium: limiting sodium will help reduce bloating and swelling. It will also help improve your heart health. Aim for keeping your sodium intake to less than 2400mg/day.
Many of these tips you have heard me discuss before in relationship to other diseases, weight management, or overall health. Healthy eating truly affects all parts of the body, thus it’s very important to limit the junk foods and stick to a well balanced, healthy diet to keep your body and in particular your digestive tract healthy!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | May 1, 2013 | Wellness/Health
I have received some excellent blog requests so far–thank you to all who have emailed or contacted me! The invite is always there so if there is something you want me to discuss or cover, please let me know!
Today’s topic is nutrition for vision. That saying, “you are what you eat” really does apply to all aspects of keeping your body healthy and it certainly does with keeping your eyes healthy and strong. There is strong evidence that antioxidants such as zinc, vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene can reduce risk for developing advanced age related macular degeneration. The carotenoids lutein and zeanthin (also antioxidants) may also protect against macular degeneration and cataracts. Foods rich in antioxidants are the colorful fruits and vegetables, especially those red, yellow, and green fruits and veggies. Omega 3 fatty acids, predominantly found in fatty fish and fish oil can also provide some benefit to our eyes in preventing age related vision issues like cataracts and macular degeneration. We recommend eating at least 2 servings (3 oz) of fatty fish (salmon, herring, trout, tuna, seabass, and mackerel) a week to get adequate amounts of these essential fatty acids.
Many of these can be found in supplement form and there are multivitamin supplements just for eyes, but please keep in mind that the natural source is always best and there is limited data indicating the supplements are just as beneficial as the real food. Soo….this is just another reason to eat your 5 a day fruits and veggies and eat a colorful diet. You will not only aid in a healthy waistline, but you will keep your eyes healthy and strong. 🙂
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Apr 30, 2013 | Etc.
I have a request for our readers…I am in need of blog topics! If there’s anything you have been wondering about, want to learn more about, or want me to discuss, please let me know! You can submit your request by commenting on this post, emailing strive2survive@brownclinic.org, or writing us on Facebook. It can be anything related to food, nutrition, health, or wellness. If you have an activity question I will forward that on to Dr. Dan to discuss. This is a free way to get your questions answered by experts in the field, so please take advantage of it! I look forward to hearing from you!
-Kelsey
by Dan | Apr 28, 2013 | Exercise, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
Finally! We have a good weekend. Warm out, and you can all see how many people have been outside this weekend. We are either doing some yard work, out walking, riding, running…whatever! We just want to be outside. It has been too long of a Winter, and we were all anxious to get outside and enjoying things again. The snow, other than a few snow piles that had been really high, it now melted.
Even Buddy is outside in his kennel and just taking it all in. He can look around, and watch everything much easier from the outside than in the house. He has been on some walks too, and is definitely happy about it. So everybody, take advantage of this weather now, and get out, and get moving! This is exactly what this doctor ordered! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2041
by kelsey | Apr 25, 2013 | Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Eating healthy can be challenging. Some struggle with selecting the right choices, some struggle with the cost of fresh produce, others struggle figuring out how to plan and make a meal…especially when you’re in a hurry when you get home from work, others struggle eating healthy for 1-2, etc, etc, etc…there are all kinds of struggles and challenges to eating healthy but in reality they are just EXCUSES! You have a choice, you can let these challenges get in the way of you achieving a healthy lifestyle and in turn struggle with your weight and have increased risk for disease or you can face these challenges head on and work towards overcoming them. Even though I am a dietitian and this is my chosen profession, I sometimes struggle with this, just like you do…however I constantly work towards overcoming these barriers to make healthy eating a lifestyle. I am a firm believer in the concept “practice what you preach”…if I wasn’t trying to eat healthy, then why would anyone want to listen to what I have to say! I also believe that finding the balance in your life to eat healthy and make it work for your lifestyle is truly key to success.
Planning and time management are the best ways to overcome these challenges. Every Sunday I take a look at my freezer and my fridge and decide what meals I’m going to make for the week. I take the meat out of the freezer and make sure I have the appropriate ingredients for each dish. I will often times use the same meat in a few different meals to make things go smoothly…and example of this is I will take out a 2lb package of lean hamburger and brown half of it. I will use it in tacos, bbqs, pizza, spaghetti, etc. I can use the other half or meatloaf or meatballs, etc. Another easy way to prep your food is to put several skinless, boneless, chicken breasts in the crockpot on low and cook for a few hours…you can then use them in a variety of other dishes. The next step is to think like MyPlate and get the rest of the food groups included in your meal. You will need a veggie, fruit, and whole grain. Keep these items on hand and re-stock weekly. If you don’t have them, you won’t eat them! It’s also important to think about timing. We recommend a consistent intake of several small meals and snacks a day, which helps keep your blood sugars stable and aid in weight management. Eating late is common in my household due to the demands of ranching and farming. I recommend having a snack/light meal around 4-5 to tide you over until supper time. It may feel like you are eating more, but in reality, you will eat less when that supper time comes around at9pm because you won’t be as hungry! Eating a big meal late at night and then going to bed is not helpful…spread it throughout your day, but planning is the only way to make this happen!
When you don’t have a plan, it’s easy to resort to packaged, boxed foods that are high in sodium, fat, and calories and/or eat out. Since it’s just my husband and I, I will often cut my recipes in half so that we don’t have excess leftovers and we only eat what’s there which helps us use proper portion control.
Eating healthy does NOT have to be challenging. Change your way of thinking and attitude about it and then put it into action. You truly can be successful!
-Kelsey
