There are two words that are central to healthy living, but which are the most boring words ever – balance and moderation.  In this world of high tech, sensory overload, balance and moderation are definitely not on trend.  But living by these two words can make all the difference when it comes to health.

Take moderation.  The big dinner on Thanksgiving isn’t what leads to obesity.  The enjoyment of the most indulgent ice cream on a steamy summer day isn’t what clogs your arteries.  The taking a day off of exercise because you’re sick won’t spike your blood pressure.  What will derail your health in the long run is indulging every day, living in the extreme every day – the exact opposite of moderation.  Enjoy the turkey dinner and then on Friday, get back to lean eating habits full of fruits and vegetables.  Order a single scoop or “child’s size” of ice cream.  Be active every day of the week, except when you’re sick.  This is moderation – avoiding the extremes. 

Then there’s balance.  Grains provide many nutrients the human body needs, but tipping the scales to far towards grains can cause weight gain and impact triglyceride levels.  Some meat, especially, lean meats provide nutrients that are hard to get naturally in other food groups (think iron), but shifting the balance to all meat can raise the consumption of saturated fat and increase heart disease risk.  Too much of one thing isn’t the right answer, it’s finding the balance between all the foods.  The same can be said for exercise.  Too much of one thing can cause injury in the long run. 

Living a life of moderation and balance isn’t the most glamorous or trendy (or rad, phat, or gnarly depending on your generation), but it will ensure quality and quantity in the years of your life. 

Visit www.nuval.com for high scoring foods to choose in your life of balance and moderation.

The thing I love about musicians that were great in the 1980’s is that they had staying power.  Bruce Springsteen, now in his 60s, can still rock the stage.  Bon Jovi is still selling millions of records worldwide.  The “Safety Dance,” released in 1982 is played in football stadiums across the country when a team gets a safety.  Staying power. 

The same can be said for good nutrition advice.  As a senior in college in 1987 (yes, I realize you can now figure out how old I actually am), I read the book How to Get Your Kids to Eat, But Not too Much by Ellyn Satter, MS, RD, LCSW, BCD which had just been published.  I didn’t have kids back then, but was reading it for a college class assignment.  I was blown away by what Ellyn had to say.  As an impressionable, aspiring dietitian, I was wowed by how right she was in her advice for feeding kids.

Twenty-four years later, her message is still the best advice there is for raising kids with healthy eating habits.  In Ellyn’s own words. . .

Feeding demands a division of responsibility. Parents are responsible for the what, when and where of feeding; Children are responsible for the how much and whether of eating.

It’s a parent or caregiver’s responsibility to ensure a variety of nutrient-dense foods from the various food groups are offered to kids throughout the day.  It’s the kids’ responsibility to decide if they are hungry or not at any given time, how hungry they are, and how much of the food offered will satisfy that hunger.

Every parent wants what’s best for their kids, and following this decades-old, time tested advice can definitely help get them there.

Visit www.nuval.com to choose higher scoring foods for the “what.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about chewing lately.  I know, it sounds weird, but it’s true.  I think the reason I’ve been thinking about chewing a lot lately is that in general we don’t think about chewing often enough.

The human body is an amazing vessel.  The varying parts are connected in ways we don’t often think about, and this is definitely true of chewing.  The process of chewing food, and as a part of this, slowing down the process of eating, connects to our stomachs and our brains, where the satiety (think feeling full) center is located.

Think about apple juice vs. a whole apple.  You don’t feel nearly as full after you drink ½ cup of apple juice as you do when you eat an apple.  Part of the reason is chewing.  With juice, you never chew.  But with the apple, the food form forces extensive chewing.  The simple act of chewing the apple sends signals to your brain.  Additionally, the time it takes to chew gives your whole mouth the experience with the apple – the texture of it, the flavor of it, the temperature of the apple.  All this sensory stimulation to your mouth also affects your satiety center.  Then there’s the fact that chewing slows down the eating process, and the time it takes to consume a snack or a meal.  This impacts sensors in your stomach, which also send messages to your brain.  A slower eating process makes you feel full sooner, leading you to consume less food and fewer calories overall. 

The bottom line?  Chewing food well and choosing foods that require more chewing are key parts of weight maintenance.  Some research by the Wrigley Science Institute even suggests that chewing sugar free gum may help stop cravings.  So the next time you’re hungry, focus on chewing and see the difference it can make.

Visit www.nuval.com to chew on foods with higher overall nutrition quality, another component of managing weight.

A study just released by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) indicates that more than 50% of consumers take a vitamin-mineral supplement of some type.  More women than men take them, and the most common type used is the multi-vitamin.  The study brings to mind some good discussion topics about supplements – Are they always a good idea?  Are there certain nutrients where supplements are recommended?  Are they ever harmful?  Nutrients from food vs. supplements: does it matter where they come from?

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other national nutrition guidance definitely suggest the preferred way to get all the nutrients you need is through food, and I tend to agree.  There are a host of nutrients in foods which our bodies need to stay healthy, many of which have not yet been defined or discovered.  Additionally, there are interactions between nutrients.  Vitamin C for example helps with the absorption of iron.  Certain nutrients (like vitamin D) are fat soluble, and so you must have some fat in your stomach and intestinal system for them to be absorbed.  Food in your stomach slows digestion, and allows for more of the vitamins and minerals to get absorbed.  I think the point, too, about choosing food first as your source of nutrients is that foods that tend to be high in vitamins and minerals are also high in other nutrients your body needs to stay fit and strong.  Vegetables, fruits and whole grains, for example, are sources of nutrients you get in supplements, but also have fiber, flavinoids, polyphenols, carotenoids, and a host of other beneficial nutrients not in that multvitamin.

If you’re a supplement user, the question you have to ask yourself is whether you’re taking them and believing that it means you don’t have to worry about what you eat.  The role of food is to sustain us – with energy, of course, but also all the other nutrients we need.  We need to respect this role of food and respect our bodies by feeding them what they need.

Another point to consider is that many foods in the grocery store, today, are fortified with vitamins and minerals.  Cereal, breads, pastas, energy drinks, and many other categories have nutrients added to them.  Use of these products should be factored in to whether or not you use supplements.

There are situations, though, where supplements might be warranted, to ensure you get the right levels of the various nutrients.  If you have a strong family history of macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older adults, you may want to take lutein.  Pregnant women, including those trying to get pregnant, should take folic acid, as it can reduce the risk of spina bifida in your child.  Omega-3 fatty acids are the one supplement I take as I’ve had a bad experience with salmon (no more details than that will be shared!) and don’t tend to get enough fatty fish (I do, however, add flax seed meal to all baked goods I make!).  You should, of course, always follow your medical professional’s advice when it comes to supplementation.

As I write this, I realize my opinion is even stronger than I thought in favor of food over supplements.  My objective here, really, is to get you to critically evaluate your own use of supplements, and their cost-benefit in your daily life.

Visit www.nuval.com, where natural sources of vitamins and minerals increase a score of a food’s overall nutrition quality.

We are creatures of habit.  No matter our age or gender, there is a pattern to our lives which we tend to fall into.  Of course, some of us are more spontaneous than others and may have less rhythm to the habits, but overall, there is a pattern to our habits which keeps us moving forward and grounded.

Habits can be good, bad or neutral.  This may be an oversimplification, but you get the point.  Once you have an established habit, there are benefits and pitfalls.  For example, the fact that I work out in the morning or evening is neutral, but the fact that I have a workout routine is a good thing for my overall health. 

The trick is that once you have the pattern, the rhythm, it can be difficult to change it.  In my life, my son has suggested that my husband and I both give up pop/soda.  It’s not a bad idea, but now I just need to figure out how to do it.  I start every morning with a Diet Mountain Dew, and I have to think about a new way to start my morning.  Is it tea?  Is it nothing?  I’m also still struggling with whether I want to change or not.  One diet pop a day seems like a small vice, but I also would prefer that my son grow up knowing that pop is not a recommended daily food item. 

To change any habit, there are a variety of steps we need to go through.  First, we need to acknowledge that we have some habits that may need changing and have the desire to change them.  Then we need to seriously think through how to change that habit.  The planning is often just as important as the doing.  Will you give yourself rewards along the way?  Is there a person in your life who can support you through the change or who will make the change with you?  Is there a new habit you need to form instead of getting rid of an existing habit?  And then at some point, we need to act, to actually make the change.

I once heard that it takes 21 days or times or occurrences to change an old habit or build a new one.  But doing it in increments can take the pressure away.  Just do it today.  Then tomorrow, wake up and do it again.  And then the next day.  Pretty soon, you won’t even know what the old habit was.

Visit www.nuval.com and make using NuVal™ Scores to find more nutritious foods a new habit.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of farmers’ markets. I love the idea of knowing where my food comes from, buying seasonally when foods simply taste their best, and supporting local farmers. I love the sensory stimulation of the market, all the colors and textures, the vendors and the buyers.

This year, I’m thinking of stepping up my game by joining a CSA. If you’re not familiar with CSAs, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. At the beginning of the growing season, you buy a “share” or “half share.” Then each week, you get a box of fresh-picked produce – whatever is ripe and ready to go that week. Where I live, a season lasts about 18-20 weeks, and you get to enjoy the best of the season at its peak. Often times with CSAs, you’ll get recipes on how to use the produce. Some CSAs require that you volunteer at the farm.

In looking at CSAs in my area, there are a variety of options to choose from:

• A full share of half share. A full share is usually the right amount for a family of four and a half share is enough for 1-2 people. My niece Angi wants in, and my sister Vera lives nearby, so I may opt for the full share, and share.

• Veggies and/or fruit. Some CSAs in my area only offer vegetables while others also offer some fruits like strawberries and watermelon, which can be grown in Minnesota. Others offer a weekly flower share (I love the idea of having fresh flowers in the house every week) and some offer a locally-raised meat option as well.

• Delivery day. This is a tricky one. Do you want the delivery on Monday or Thursday or Friday. Most CSAs deliver to a particular area on a particular day, so the choice may not really be up to me.

• Location. This is a big consideration for me as I want the pick-up location to be fairly close to home. This may drive decisions for me in some of the other areas.
In my area, CSAs tend to fill up fast, so I need to get moving on this if I plan to get in on one this year. If you’re interested in checking out CSA options near you, visit http://www.localharvest.org/csa/.

At nuval.com, you’ll see that many of the great options offered through CSAs have high overall nutrition quality.

A colleague asked an interesting question – has the fashion and cultural trend towards looser fitting clothes contributed to the skyrocketing rates of overweight people in our country?

I don’t know the answer, don’t know of research specifically related to this topic, but find it an interesting point.  Rarely anymore does anyone tuck in a shirt.  Leggings are back in style (but now called jeggings) and elastic waist sweatpants or sports pants are commonplace.  Companies have moved to “business casual” policies and people in general dress up less frequently.  Dress clothes have historically tended to be more fitted, so it’s logical that as we’ve gone more casual, everyone is wearing less fitted clothing.  Shari Steinbach, a dietitian for Meijer grocery stores, told me this morning that her husband found “flex waist” khaki pants on a recent shopping trip, designed to give you that extra inch of room when you need it. 

My sense is that wearing loose fitting clothes most days of the week does make it more difficult to monitor weight and know if something is fitting tighter than it used to.  Long gone are the days of corsets, which made you feel every pound you gained.

It’s an interesting and compelling idea to use tailored, fitted clothes as a weight management strategy.  Why not find that pair of tailored pants that fit perfectly at a healthy weight, and keep them in your closet no matter if they’re still in style.  Put them on once a week just to make sure they still fit how you expect them to.

Visit www.nuval.com for high scoring, nutrient dense foods that can help you fit into those pants for years to come.