CHAPTER 4
Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, and Vegetables
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates
represent a major component of many people’s diets. You consume
them when you eat bread, pasta, grains, and fruit. There are both simple
and complex carbohydrates. The simple ones are found in glucose and alcohol,
the complex ones in some of the nuts and grains. Carbohydrates in and
of themselves are not bad. In fact, there is no food that is truly bad;
all foods have their place. There are some situations in which you may
not want to get as many calories from one type of food such as carbohydrates.
The carbohydrates usually taste good but they don’t stay with you
long. That can be a problem when, after eating a meal that is high in
carbohydrates, you find yourself hungry again, not long afterwards.
So why eat
them? Well, they do taste good and they are an excellent source of quick
energy. If you exercise and do what is known as a cardiovascular workout
such as running on a treadmill or using a cross trainer, then you will
burn up a lot of your stored carbohydrates and you should replace them
if you have done more then 1-2 hours of exercise. If you do a two-hour
run, swim, or bike ride then your carbohydrates will be depleted. That
is why people who run marathons drink sports drinks along the way or eat
food bars that are high in carbohydrates. If your legs do not have the
fuel to run then you will “hit the wall,” and your legs will
tell you that you have to walk or that you have to stop. People will frequently
have a pasta party the night before a marathon to try to load their muscles
with carbohydrates before the run so that their legs will work better.
There is a lot of controversy as to whether or not that works. The general
belief is that if you regularly eat carbohydrates after a long run, then
you probably have good stores built up and the pasta party will not do
a lot from a medical perspective. It may do a lot from a psychological
point of view, and that is also critical when it comes to running a marathon.
It is not unusual for the brain to make the body stop long before the
muscles tell it to stop. When you do a long run, it becomes a psychological
game because your brain will say “I am tired”, “Let’s
quit”, “I have done enough”; your legs could keep going
for a few more miles or hours, but the brain is the weak one.
If you work
out with weights, do you need as many carbohydrates as the marathon runner?
No. If you are using weights, though, you will need more protein in your
diet. Your body needs the protein to help rebuild the muscles that you
damage when you work out. The runner who has sore legs after a long run
may also need to add more protein to his or her diet to allow for muscle
healing. Someone who works out with weights will not use as many carbohydrates
from the muscles unless they are doing a several hour workout. When you
use weights, there is frequently a break between sets where you rest and
let the muscles recover. Therefore, those who work out with weights may
drink some sports drinks that are low in carbohydrates and higher in protein.
There are
some carbohydrates that most of us need to limit or avoid. I generally
do not recommend avoiding any type of food, but some people have such
trouble with them that it may be best to avoid it all together. Soft drinks
are one of these. It has always been interesting to me that people see
others with a large beer gut and recognize it for what it is. Yet when
they see someone with a large soft drink gut, they don’t understand
where it came from. Some people know that a beer has 140 calories in a
12-ounce bottle and soft drinks have 140 to 160 in a 12-ounce can but
for some reason they can’t quite put it together. They don’t
realize that empty calories are the same whether they come from sugar
or fermented sugar called alcohol. Calories are still calories. I have
some patients who will drink 4 to 6 liters of soft drinks a day and can’t
quite figure out why they weigh 290 pounds. They are consuming 1600 to
2400 calories a day in soft drinks. If they did not eat anything, they
would be taking in more calories then most people need in a day. Some
will try to get around that by consuming diet drinks, but using artificial
sweeteners may make you crave sweets, so that you eat things that you
might not have otherwise. Drinks that are high in sugars affect other
things as well, causing tooth decay. If you bathe your teeth in sugar
all day the bacteria in your mouth will be happy, but your smile won’t
be. Because people are not drinking as much water, they also have less
fluoride in their body and likewise have more cavities.
Beer, soft
drinks and candy represent what has generally been referred to as “empty
calories.” That means they contain calories but no significant nutritional
benefit. They won’t help you build muscles, bones, or tissues other
than fat cells. The sugar and alcohol that are not used will be stored
as fat to be consumed later when you need them. The empty calories may
be important if you have just played a long game of football and you are
completely exhausted; then the quick sugars may be what your body needs
to rejuvenate. However, that is usually not the case for most people.
Are you addicted
to carbohydrates? This depends on how you define “addicted.”
In the true definition of the word, I suspect the answer is no. Addiction
implies that you will do antisocial things to get the carbohydrates. You
will rob a bank, steal, or murder. I don’t think that there are
many people who would fit into this category. But you could, nonetheless,
ignore family and friends, work and social obligations. Alcohol is a carbohydrate,
so in that sense an alcoholic is addicted to carbohydrates. It is possible
that your body may be dependent on them so that if you go without, you
do not feel your best and need a “hit” of a carbohydrate.
For instance, after you have the sticky bun you wanted, you feel better.
That is more of a physical dependence than an addiction. Generally you
will not commit antisocial acts to get the thing that you wanted. Coffee
has a similar effect on people. They are not addicted; they can withdraw
from coffee and may have a headache for a couple days, but that will pass
and then they are off caffeine. They have a physical dependence but not
an addiction. Many times people get the two concepts mixed up, but they
are very different.
People wonder
if you can lose weight on a high carbohydrate diet as well as a low carbohydrate
diet--and the answer is yes, you can. If you are willing to watch the
total calories that you take in and the total calories that you burn,
then it does not matter which type of diet you choose. It turns out that
the low carbohydrate diet may be easier in some respects, although both
will work. A low carbohydrate diet can be easier, in that you are replacing
some of the calories that you are taking in with protein and fat. Both
of these tend to stay in the stomach longer, so people feel full or satisfied
longer. In contrast, those on a high carbohydrate diet will find that
a few hours after a meal, they are getting hungry. If they are not willing
to deal with this sensation of hunger, then they will do better with a
low carbohydrate diet. If you are going to lose weight, you will have
to be willing to put up with hunger pangs. We all have them and we have
to decide what we are going to do about them. We can choose to go out
and get some food or we can choose to grab a large glass of water and
keep on going. Why a glass of water? Well, it turns out that 10 to 20
ounces of water will put something in your stomach and help calm your
hunger. The stomach is not smart enough to know if you are putting water
down it instead of food; it takes it a little time to register. So if
you take a couple glasses of water you can get rid of the hunger sensation
and yet not be taking in calories that will only add to the fat burden.
Then you can wait until it is time to eat and you did not cheat and eat
something in-between meals. The same thing will work at night if you wake
up hungry: drink 1 or 2 glasses of water and crawl back into bed.
So how many
carbohydrates should you eat a day? That depends on what kind of foods
you like. As long as you understand the concepts, it doesn’t matter
if you eat a lot or a few. You should try to get a balanced diet with
enough protein and fats to let your body function properly. If you pay
attention to the calories then you will do okay.
How can you
deal with the problem of cheating when you are hungry? The first thing
is don’t beat yourself up. If you strayed a little, just realize
that you are human and you strayed. You have to tell the little devil
that was sitting on your shoulder that you will try to do better next
time. There are some simple things to do that will work. When you go to
the grocery store, try not to go when you are hungry because you will
buy things that you really don’t need. If you find that you have
foods in the house that you should not have, then get rid of them. Take
them to a shelter or food kitchen and give them away or put them in the
trash. If people bring foods to your house that are not good for you,
then you need to be willing to tell them that you appreciate their kindness
and thoughtfulness but that you will need to send it back home with them.
If they will not take no for an answer, then put it in the trash or give
it away when they leave. You do not have to eat it. I find it easier to
pass the ice cream section of the grocery store then to keep from eating
it when I am at home. If I do not have it in the house, then I can’t
eat it. The same will probably be true for you; the type of food may be
different, but the response will be the same. We all know what our weaknesses
are. Get your weaknesses out of the house. You will eat them even when
you are not hungry. When you really crave one of your weaknesses, go to
the store and get it, eat it there and do not bring it home. Keep it out
of the house.
One trick
that also works well for patients who are on a high carbohydrate diet
who do not want to deal with the hunger pangs is to eat a smaller amount
but do it more frequently. For example, have ½ cup of cereal in
the morning with a 6-ounce juice and ¼ cup milk or yogurt. Then
at 10 a.m., have a piece of fruit such as an apple, pear, or peach. At
lunch, eat your largest meal such as pasta, and soup or salad. Then at
3 p.m., have a piece of fruit again, and at supper have a small meal such
as a ham and cheese sandwich or a 6-inch submarine sandwich. Of course
you will be drinking water during the day, and perhaps a cup or two of
coffee or tea.
Certain foods
tend to make you hungry, including coffee and tea. The chemicals in coffee
and tea tend to make the stomach growl and cause you to want to eat something
to make it feel better. So if you drink a lot of coffee or tea, consider
cutting back on the quantity and substituting more water instead. Try
not to do things that will cause you to fail. Coffee and tea can be among
those things.
When you choose
to eat carbohydrates and they come from flour, in general you will do
better if you choose breads with whole grains. You can find them in your
grocery store. Pasta is the same, only you will not find whole grain,
but you could find pasta made from wheat. That does not mean that you
cannot have white bread. Just keep it under control and don’t overindulge.
Use moderation.
Protein
Protein
is important because all your muscles are made of it. You can find protein
in many forms--although most people associate it with meat, which is one
of the major sources of protein in people’s diets. However, you
do not have to eat meat to have a diet that is adequate in protein. Vegetarians
are able to eat a well balanced diet, but it takes more ingenuity to do
it. Nuts contain a lot of protein, as do grains or seeds, for example.
Proteins are
made up of amino acids. Some amino acids are non-essential, meaning that
we have the ability to convert other amino acids to that one if we do
not have enough of it in our diet. Others, in contrast, are essential,
meaning that we have to take them in our diet in that form. Meats have
all the essential and non-essential amino acids, so animal products are
complete in that they give you what you need to build your muscles and
keep them healthy. You can get the building blocks you need in meat, eggs
and dairy products, including ice cream, milk, and cheese. If you are
vegetarian, then you need to refer to a vegetarian text to make sure that
you are getting all the amino acids that you need. Vegetarians have to
be certain that their diet is diverse enough to include all of the essential
amino acids.
Generally,
Americans get more protein than they need in their diet. Is this a problem?
Yes and no. Meat, which is typically the major source of protein in our
diet, may contain a lot of fat and that may not be good for your heart
and is associated with increased urate load that can be associated with
gout. However, you will also find that meat tends to stay in the stomach
longer and to fill you up so that you feel less hunger. The excess protein
in our diet will not hurt us per se, but if you are prone to an elevated
cholesterol it could aggravate that problem. On the other hand, if you
are very overweight then eating a high protein diet has been associated
with weight loss over the short term, which in turn lowers people’s
cholesterol over the short term. The problem with a high protein diet
for the long term is that it gets boring. People have trouble sticking
with the diet, because they want some of the other things that their diet
does not allow. So what do you do? If you are going on a high protein
diet, realize that you will eventually have to integrate other foods into
it and that will require care so that you do not lose the benefits that
you have gained.
What about
liquid protein diets? They were the craze several years ago, and knowing
how concepts return to vogue, I feel certain that they will come back
into style again. One serious problem with the liquid protein diets is
that they were associated with an increased incidence of sudden death.
Not exactly what you were looking for in a diet! It seems that the liquid
proteins may have had an adverse effect on the heart, thus leading to
sudden death. People were using the liquid diets as their main source
of food and were probably overloading their systems. However, I don’t
think there’s a problem with using a liquid protein drink when you
do a workout lifting weights. When you are involved in a muscle-building
program, you will need more protein so that you can develop the muscles
that you want to.
How much protein
do we need? It is generally believed that you need .8 to 1 milligram (mg)
of protein per kilogram (kg) of your body weight each day. This would
amount to between 45 and 70 grams of protein a day for the average 160-pound
person. So how much is that? One Kg or 1000 grams is 2.2 lbs.; 100 grams
is .22 pounds, so 45 to 70 grams would be approximately .1 to .15 pounds
or 2 to 3 ounces of meat a day. Your average single hamburger at the fast
food store is .25 pounds--the “quarter pounder” as it is called.
The triple burger has three patties and therefore is .75 pound. Many people
will use 2 ounces of meat on a deli sandwich. So as you can see we get
plenty of meat each day. We could cut back if we wanted to. Again, you
must weigh the pros and cons. So as long as you are eating a quarter pound
a day you are doing fine; now if you are weightlifting and in competition,
you will need more than that in your diet.
How might
you deal with the hunger issue, if you choose to cut back on meat? Sometimes
you may be able to deal with the feeling of hunger and other times you
won’t. When you find that you have the hollow feeling in your gut
and you want to get rid of it, consider trying a couple ounces of low
fat turkey or other meat and see if that does not take care of it. This
will probably give you the relief you are looking for without all the
calories. This obviously gives you protein but not the same amount as
a triple burger, nor the calories if you were to add fries and a large
soft drink.
We’ve
talked about the fact that there are different types of protein, but which
is best? The answer is fairly simple: there is not one that is best. It
all depends on you and what you are looking for. If you are vegetarian,
then meat is not for you. If you eat meat, then any of the options are
available to you. In my opinion, you should eat the kinds of foods that
have protein you like, and don’t eat the foods you don’t like.
I am reminded of a patient named Liz who had cancer of the pancreas she
went on a diet because her husband wanted her to. She lived in Goldsboro,
North Carolina, but they had a chef brought in from New York to cook for
them. Despite his gourmet macrobiotic cookery, she hated every bite of
the food that she ate. I don’t think the diet did her much good.
You have to like the foods that you eat. Life is too short not to enjoy
all the different foods that we have been given.
Exercise is
very important to develop strong muscles. Now I am not talking about being
Mr. Universe; I am talking about building muscles so that you can get
out and do the things that you want to do. If your goal is to compete
for body building that is great, but most of us won’t be doing that.
Our goals are simpler; we want to have sufficient strength so that we
can go where we want to go and do what we want to do. Most of us are not
going to run marathons or participate in an Ironman competition. Given
this reality, walking is the exercise that most of us can do and that
is great. Walking is an excellent form of exercise and will confer many
benefits, such as lowering your blood pressure, reducing your cholesterol,
decreasing your risk for a heart attack and even helping prevent senility.
As you start your walking program, you need to be certain that you get
enough protein so you will be able to use your muscles to do the things
that you want to do. With a diet adequate in protein, combined with exercise,
you should be able to tone up your muscles and develop the strength you
want.
Does eating
red meat cause cancer? This is an interesting question for which we have
many opinions but no facts. There have been observational studies that
looked at populations and examined what they ate to see if something in
their diet was associated with the incidence of cancer. Some studies show
a relationship between people who eat red meat at least 5 times a week
and an increased incidence of colon cancer. But we can’t take the
leap of faith from that and conclude that because they ate red meat, it
caused colon cancer. It may have been something else in their diet, if
in fact diet has anything to do with it. It may have something to do with
their environment or genetics.
So what do
you do with this information? That’s a good question. If you happen
to be using a high protein diet to lose weight, don’t worry about
it. Lose the weight because you are at a much higher risk of dying because
you are overweight than you have of getting colon cancer. When you get
your weight down to the goal that you have set for yourself, then you
will be faced with a dilemma. Do you continue eating a high protein diet,
with lots of red meat? Or, do you change the diet to a lower protein or
a lower red meat diet? There is no right or wrong answer. My advice is
if you want to keep the protein level up in your diet, try to eat more
fish and white meats. Otherwise cut your total protein in the diet to
a lower level and try to reduce consumption of red meats to three servings
or less a week.
Remember that
you do not have to eat a 16-ounce steak for every meal. What your body
would require is ¼ of that a day. When you go out for a filet mingion
you can get the 6 oz and realize that you have more then taken care of
the body’s needs for the day, and tomorrow too. The important thing
with all foods is to learn portion control. Don’t be the person
who will go to Amarillo, Texas and eat the 72-oz steak. Let someone else
do it. When you go out to eat order the smaller size steak, not the larger
one unless you are very hungry.
Fats
Most
of us are interested in the word “fat.” We are concerned that
the fats in our blood--such as triglicerides and cholesterol--may be too
high; that our percentage of body fat may not be where we want it to be;
that we may simply be too fat; or that there may be excessive or harmful
fats in our food. First, let’s deal with the fats in our blood.
There are four components to consider: namely, genetics, exercise, weight
and diet.
Our ability
to handle lipids or fats is genetically regulated, so you inherited this
from your parents. Some families have very high lipid levels. Mine are,
for example: I have both an elevated trigliceride level and cholesterol
level. So do some of my siblings, and this is just a part of life. The
good thing is that there are medicines for these problems that do a good
job of lowering lipids. Many Americans are on medicines that will help
keep their lipids under control. This is a problem that will require them
to take medicines for the rest of their lives. Some people think they
can simply take a pill for a few months once to bring their cholesterol
and triglicerides into control, and then stop. Not so unless you have
also changed your biologic parents. I wish I could stop my pills because
I hate to take medicines. But the idea of a stroke or a heart attack is
a worse problem. Therefore, I choose to take the pill and stay as healthy
as possible.
It has been
shown many times that exercise will lower cholesterol levels. I was able
to lower mine by approximately 40 points with the addition of exercise.
Generally you can expect a 20 to 60 point decrease in cholesterol with
exercise. In addition, exercise increases the HDL or “good”
cholesterol. So your total cholesterol may drop and at the same time your
good cholesterol may go up 5 or 10 points; the combination of a total
drop in your cholesterol and an increase in the good cholesterol will
magnify the overall benefits in preventing heart attacks and strokes.
Even if your total cholesterol is normal, those with very low HDL levels
have an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. This is probably
genetic. Medicine may be helpful, although this is something that you
need to discuss with your physician. An alcoholic drink may increase your
HDL, but it’s also been found that a glass of red wine may decrease
your risk of heart disease. So you have many issues to consider as you
decide how to lose weight. Alcohol contains a lot of empty calories. You
may have to decide if you want to save some of your calories for a glass
of wine with supper. Alcohol will lower your blood sugar and that may
make you want to eat more. The best way around that problem is to drink
the glass of red wine with your meal. That way you are trying to prevent
the drop in blood sugar with the food, yet also trying to increase the
HDL. Now if one glass is good that does not mean that a bottle is better.
Alcohol will also increase your triglicerides, so moderation is the key.
The third
component is weight. The more you weigh, the higher your cholesterol and
triglicerides will be. Therefore if you lose weight you may be able to
modify the numbers. With the right diet, I was able to lower my cholesterol
by 40 points. So when you add the benefits of exercise to weight loss,
then you can begin to see 80 to 100 point drops in the total cholesterol.
This is significant. The triglicerides are most sensitive to weight and
the best treatment for an elevated trigliceride is to get your weight
down to the ideal. Weight reduction can drop the triglicerides by up to
several hundred points depending on where your starting point was. Now
if your cholesterol and triglicerides were normal to begin with, you will
not see as much of a drop from exercise and weight loss as you would see
in someone with elevated levels. If your cholesterol and triglicerides
were normal to begin with, then you were lucky enough to have parents
with good genetics for lipids.
The last component
is diet. (Note that these four components are not listed in order of importance,
as individuals may vary and one component may have more of an impact than
another for a specific person.) The old saying that “You are what
you eat” is important. If you eat a diet that is high in fat, it
will affect the fat levels in your blood. By modifying your diet, you
can drop your cholesterol by 20 to 60 points. If there is a lot of animal
fat in your diet, such as the fat on steaks, chicken or pork, you will
tend to see more of an impact on your cholesterol level. Alcohol, on the
other hand, will tend to increase triglicerides. Most Americans consume
a diet with at least 40% of the calories derived from fat. Most of us
do not think that we eat that much fat but we do. If the fats that we
eat increase our cholesterol, then why does a high fat diet like the Robert
Atkins diet, work in helping to bring down cholesterol? The answer to
the question is still unknown; however, I suspect that it is related to
a multitude of other factors. Namely: how much weight the person has lost;
what their exercise level is; and whether they have stimulated the system
in the body to help catabolize or utilize the fats that are present. That
is an interesting paradox, because the general belief is that a high fat
diet will increase lipids. Possibly, in people who are overweight the
fat content is not the dominant control factor in the metabolism of cholesterol,
but in people with a relatively normal weight it may play a much larger
role. These are interesting questions that will be elucidated over the
next couple of decades.
Many people
recommend that you try to keep animal fat to a minimum. In general I think
that is reasonable advice. Animal fats have a lot of cholesterol, which
is not good for many people. Some people who choose to be on a high fat
diet consume a diet that is high in animal fat. It is important for those
who are concerned about their health--and on a specific diet--to consider
having their lipids checked. If they are elevated or if you are going
to be on a high fat diet, check them periodically while on the diet to
be certain that your levels are within the range that you and your doctor
desire.
Are fats good?
Yes, they have beneficial effects. We need fats in our diet and our body
to do different things. If you did not have any fats, then you would also
not have any sex hormones. If women become too thin, then many stop having
menstrual periods and therefore cannot become pregnant-- easily a problem
for some dancers and models. Fats are also important in that they tend
to delay the gastric emptying or dumping of food from the stomach to the
small intestines. This is important because if food is in the stomach,
then you will feel more satiated and you will not feel hunger pangs. Therefore,
you will not be looking for food to satisfy your hunger as quickly. You
may still seek out food because of boredom or other issues but not from
hunger.
Most experts
feel that you cannot get people to eat a diet for a long period of time
that has less than 20% of the calories derived from fat. This is because
fat is very important in adding flavor to foods. Very low-fat food is
unappetizing to many people. Depending on the diet plan that you use,
you may be on different types of fats. The general view is that polyunsaturated
fats are better for you than saturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats frequently
come from vegetables, whereas saturated fats generally originate from
animal products.
Fats or oils
that come from olives are used much more in this country now then they
were 20 years ago. Olive oil is considered one of the healthy oils or
fats and we see it used a lot in the Mediterranean. Fifty years ago the
oils that were used were saturated fats and sold as lard. You can still
get lard in the stores and many people still buy it for cooking. Some
parts of the country use it more frequently than others. Most recommend
that we get away from using lard and switch to the polyunsaturated fats
such as olive oil.
To summarize
about the fats in your blood, you do need to have some for your body to
work properly. They are good, but this doesn’t mean that too much
is better. This is not the case. You need the basic amount, but levels
that are too high are lethal. If your cholesterol and triglicerides levels
are elevated because of your weight problem, then as you get your weight
under control, you will not need to take medicine. Some people may be
able to come off their cholesterol pills and save some money by losing
weight. Ideally, if you also combine exercise, watch what you eat and
have your glass of red wine with supper, you may be able to keep your
cholesterol and HDL where you want them to be.
What about
your percent body fat? We will be discussing this more in the book, but
in general men should try to have their percent body fat less then 20%
and greater then 14% while with women it should be less then 25% and greater
than 18%. I recommend that you buy a set of scales that will tell you
what your body fat is. They are not very expensive and it is an important
piece of information that you need to know. You can find them in many
large department stores, as well as in catalogues that cater to athletes.
Vegetables
Why
are they important in your diet? Because vegetables can provide you with
a lot of fiber that is beneficial for your bowels. They also provide a
good source of vitamins and minerals. Some people do not like to eat vegetables.
In response, there are companies that sell capsules that contain some
of the materials you find in vegetables. They are suggesting that this
is a good way to get the value of vegetables without eating them. If all
we needed were pills, then you would go to a machine and put your money
in and out would pop a pill that would be your meal—much as I remember
seeing on cartoons when I was growing up. That is not reality, however.
Our society would love to have a magic pill, but we all know that it is
not real. If you hate vegetables, then perhaps the pills are better than
nothing. For the rest of us, there is a wonderful world of vegetables
out there to explore, many of which you may have never tried.
It may be
that if you don’t like vegetables, you have never had them prepared
well. You may want to try going to different types of restaurants and
trying what they have and see if you like them served in one way or another.
I know some people who complain bitterly if they have vegetables that
are not cooked to the point of mush. They say, “If I wanted the
vegetables raw, I would have ordered a salad.” Others want them
crunchy because they have more flavor and vitamin and mineral value. One
method is not better than another, but you may prefer one more than the
other. If you have only eaten the vegetables when they were very crunchy,
you may prefer them cooked more so that they are softer. You may prefer
to have the vegetables cooked with different spices that will impart different
flavors. The important thing is to experiment with different vegetables
prepared in different ways.
Some people
have found that juicing vegetables is the way to make a healthy drink--and
one that confers the benefits of the vegetables except for all the fiber.
As with anything you can overdo it. I know of people who have gotten into
carrot juice to the point that they turned orange. Then when they stop
drinking the carrot juice, their color returned to normal. Moderation
continues to be the key. If you love carrots, then eat or drink them.
If you don’t like them, then try other vegetables and see if you
find one that you like. Just keep an open mind. Don’t be close-minded
about vegetables or life. Be receptive to ideas that may seem strange
to you. You never know: you may like it.
So what vegetables
are the best ones to eat? That is easy; it depends on what you like. I
do not think that there is any one vegetable that is critical to your
health. I do believe that vegetables in general are good for you. However,
if you find that something does not agree with your metabolism or your
intestinal tract, then listen to your body and eat the ones that you enjoy.
Some may cause you to have gas, such as the cabbage family. Everyone is
different so try them all.
If you find
that you enjoy vegetables, then having them frequently is a good idea.
Some people will have a meal of just vegetables. That is fine. You need
to vary what you eat. In general, if left to your own devices, you will
pick a fairly well balanced diet. The problem that people frequently have
is volume and portion control--not so much the type of food they eat.
One problem
that arises from time to time is that patients think just because they
are eating vegetables or salads, they can eat as much as they want. This
is not true. You still have to remember that calories are calories. The
body does not care if the calories come from vegetable for your salads
or ice cream. Some patients can load so much food in a salad that they
have a 2000-calorie meal just with vegetables. So people think that they
are fine because they are eating a salad. That may be true and it may
be false. It all depends on what you have put on your plate. You might
wonder how vegetables could have that many calories; the answer is that
it depends on how it is prepared. Is there a lot of fat on the vegetables,
is it smothered in a Hollandaise sauce, or is it steamed and served only
with a seasoning salt? The caloric content of the different sauces and
dressings varies a lot. With a salad from a salad bar you may have olives,
chopped turkey, pickles, relish, anchovies, lettuce, carrots, and cheese
of different types. You may have different cold pasta salads to add to
your plate. You then may top it off with a dressing that has 400 to 500
calories by itself. The amount of dressing you use will also significantly
affect the caloric content of the food. The size of the plate that they
gave you to use is probably twice the size of a salad plate that they
would serve you a house salad on. If you want to know what a normal portion
might be, see how much salad is put on a house salad at different restaurants.
So how many
vegetables should you eat? Simply use moderation. How often should you
eat them? As often as you wish. How should they be prepared? The way you
like to eat them. But remember that calories count. Most diets are not
followed for very long. The reasons are many. One is that the diet gets
old and boring. This is one reason I don’t think that any food should
be eliminated from your diet. Instead, moderation is the key. In many
research studies at least half the people quit the diet within 6 months.
Weight control is a life-long journey. You need a plan that you can live
with for the rest of your life not for six months.
Chapter 5 >
|
