What to eat?

Apr 17, 2008 at 4:01 PM
11 comments

I have had some trouble figuring out what, if anything, is actually good for a person to eat. When we consulted a dietician a couple months ago, I asked her directly, and she did not name one food. Not one!

But, then later in the conversation, she did seem to put in a plug for beans, and for chili, the latter perhaps particularly if made with turkey, rather than beef. (My wife does make a very fine chicken chili, which probably counts, too).

The South Beach diet, we know, approves of a number of things, most particularly including eggs (which surprised me) and also low-fat string cheese.

And actually I guess almost everyone approves of vegetables. (Although potatoes, we learned, are not a vegetable, but a starch, and therefore "bad.")

So I have been pleased to see that the magazine "Men's Health" does recommend unequivocally twelve "power-foods" (their term) and saying you (men I guess, but I suppose perhaps also women) should have at least six of them in your diet each day.

Those 12 are: almonds, beans, green vegetables (such as spinach), dairy, oatmeal (instant is fine), eggs, turkey (or other lean meats), peanut butter (now there is a surprise!), whole grains, protein powder (like whey), and berries (such as raspberries and others).

Today I have had: oatmeal, turkey, asparagus, yogurt (low-fat), blackberries, and whole grain bread. Later I can certainly have some almonds: I keep a jar of them near the TV. So that is seven of the powerful 12.

red wine and dark chocolate

Also, I do like to add in red wine (1/2 glass) and dark chocolate, both of which do get a fair amount of good press.

I would like to find a more comprehensive list of what is good for you to eat, and not just what is "bad" because it has too many calories, too many carbs, too much sodium or fat, etc. Sort of the "power of positive thinking" applied to food!

But, anyhow, the PowerFood 12 are a start. If you are interested, you can get more information.

11 comments

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The DASH diet is a good place to start: NIH - DASH.

[this is good]

And the Mediterranean Diet is another good way to eat. My doctor seems to
think my exercise is as important as my diet....while I am limited to calories, he told me to eat a balanced diet and walk, walk, walk. My bp is lower, and my energy is up.

I agree! Lets talk more about what we can eat. I'm about to decide that everything, within reason, is okay. I don't want to get sick, but I don't necessarily want to live to be 100 either. I want to have a little enjoyment along the way, and not have to think about it so much. I want to eat to live. I used to live to eat!

[this is good]

Hi! Sounds like you are on the right track! I gotta have some chocolate every now and then too.

I'm 13 weeks into a weight training program and the Power Food 12 you listed are the foods in my coach's meal plan (high protein/low carb)... only thing I'd add to your list would be salmon / tuna. I eat every 2 to 3 hours -- 3 meals and 2 snacks. Bkfst: 5 egg white + 1 C oatmeal Snack 1 protein shake w/ almonds or spoon of peanut butter Lunch: whole wheat chicken sandwich (no mayo or cheese) Snack 2 same protein/nuts Dinner: 3 oz Salmon, salad and veggies Lots of water to help your body process all the protein!

Protein shakes (MaxPro) and vitamins (EFA & VitaCell) from Max Muscle

I feel better than I have in years. I'm consistently losing approx 2-3 lbs of fat each week.

I found another list of "10 healthy foods that pack a wallop." Perhaps it is worth looking at, too.

What I haven't decided in my own mind is if it is okay to add up together everything on any "good food" list, or perhaps to have some standard like a food needs to be mentioned by more than one source, more than one doctor.

Another thing on the "don't eat" lists that surprised me was grapefruit and grapefruit juice. Apparently it interferes with some medications (hearth medications, I believe, of which I take several).

Salmon definitely is a "plus" food on many lists. (Sadly, they are having to quit fishing for it off of California this year, though--apparently the species is becoming endangered).

But we had salmon as a part of our dinner tonight. "No Name" salmon, which Connie got at Jewel. Really excellent!

Might I suggest you take a look at Spark People?

The site is large, has tons of information about food and exercise, as well as health articles. Also, a very big community of people who encourage and uplift each other. It's a very motivating web site. You can track your meals and exercise, if you like, and use that to lose weight. Or you can just 'meet' people and form some friendships, much like Vox. And it's all FREE.

As a general rule, since last year I eat: almonds, and walnuts, eat multi-grain bread, drink soymilk (flavored type) eat whole grain cereal, brown rice, lots of fruits and veggies and also, Whey Protein Powder mixed into my soymilk after every workout I do.

My cholesterol is "perfect" (my doc's words) my good and bad cholesterol is also very good. Triglycerides: 170. So, this shows that the 'power foods' work. I don't eat a lot of red meat. I try to keep it down to 2 x's a week. Sometimes I've been known to have a salad and yogurt for dinner, just to avoid the meat that my husband likes.

Yes, I do have goodies, but just low-cal ones. I like Skinny Cow and Weight Watchers Ice Cream and also frozen fruit (in the bags at the store). Defrost the fruit and you can make smoothies or just have it plain. I don't feel deprived in the least! I'm full all day long with three meals and two snacks and lots of fluids.

It works! (Sorry if I sound like I'm bragging.)

No food is inherenty good or bad i suppose, though i tend to agree wth he nutritionist about beans...I love me some beans.

When I was dieting I used nutridiary.com to track intake and to make sure that i was actually getting the nutrients i am supposed to be getting. I was very very surprised at how much better i started to feel when I cut out the diet sodas, and started to be sure to get enough protien and etc. its very similar to Spark people. I just couldn;t bear Spark people because they would send me email after email of "motivational" junk which was frankly annoing. So I stick to nutridiary and am pleased to never get email from them. :) Prt of the problem i think ith those sites for me is that I am not trying to make a lifestyle change anymore, I just am maintaining and tweaking, so most of thier recipes at Spark people actually contain more fat than i'd ever care to eat. But my mom uses the spark people recipes, and likes them....

Ad i do have goodies, all sort of calorie laden ones. I find once you are where you want to be an occasioanl treat doesn't really do as much damage as we think it will...

I believe the emails from Spark People can be turned off. I never make the recipes from Spark People members. They don't know enough about nutrition to know what makes a good low-cal, low-fat recipe. I ignore the recipes and eat according to information contained in the book 'The Spectrum' by Doctor Dean Ornish as well as nutritional information on the Beachbody.com web site forums. Beachbody makes the 'Power 90' and 'Slim in Six' infomercials.) I have never felt so good.

There's a book in my reading pile called In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollin. It looks to be mostly about dietary trends in western cultures, but I like his nutritional advice: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I've simplified my diet plans to go by that philosophy. I like things to be simple.

I do try to avoid eating things with ingredients I would never use in my kitchen and I try to eat as much produce as possible, but aside from that, I don't worry too much about it. I do believe the more you stress over your eating habits, the more likely they are to be a problem for you.

I do think that is pretty good advice. One of the problems is that "the world" out there, certainly including doctors, don't believe it! And also, it sure is true that having fries, a milkshake, and a big mac every day is not good for you.

Another item that seems to me to be on nearly everyone's list of "healthy" foods is olive oil. Today we had some twice.

What to eat?

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