Eating Better: Part Two
Evaluating Your Diet

By Stephanie Hembree

This is the second article in the series Eating Better for the New Millennium. This article is about evaluating your diet. In the first article Getting Started I gave you some web sites dealing with making resolutions and eating better. I also pointed out that there are stages to change and that it is important to know where you are and work from there. I explained that there are two parts to eating.

The first the nutrients you need in large quantities fat, protein and carbohydrates. The second the nutrients you need in small quantities vitamins and minerals. In addition to these nutrients water and fiber are very important components of you diet. Recently phytonutrients have been grabbing the headlines. Phytonutients simply means chemicals or nutrients found in plants. These are the compounds that protect plants from bacteria, viruses and other natural enemies, but as luck should have it these seem to protect us too. Hopefully if you are making good choices in eating fat, protein and carbohydrates the rest will taken care of. In the last article I asked you to take some time, keep tract of what you eat and look at your diet. The last thing I want you to have to do is to weigh everything you it. However, in the beginning it helps to know what you are eating.

So take a look at your diet and answer the following questions:

• Are you getting enough water? You probably don't get enough. Chronic low fluid intake is common. You need to get at least six to eight glasses every day. Try filling a container with eight glasses of water and drinking a glass every couple hours. Not only will it help with every aspect of your health but it will curb your appetite also. If you don't like the taste try different types of bottle water. The different minerals in water make it taste different. You can also try adding some lemon or lime to it.
• Are you getting enough fiber? Dietary fiber is the tough parts of fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains that we can't digest. There are two types of fiber soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in your intestines to form a sticky gel that acts as a protective coating trapping harmful substances like cholesterol and chemicals in the environment and passes them out of the body. It also helps you feel more full so you eat less. Insoluble fiber is incredible absorbent and soaks up much more than its weight in water this fiber helps with constipation and other digestive complaints. The Daily Value is 25 grams of total fiber, but some experts recommend 35 grams a day. To get this amount of fiber you need to get lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. One half cup of beans provides 7 grams of fiber. One cup of oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber. An added benefit to all these fruits and vegetable is a healthy serving of phytonutrients. For a list of some high fiber fruits and vegetables, visit Dole 5 A Day.
• Are you getting enough calcium? Calcium has been shown to lower hypertension, reduce the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, prevent osteoporosis. The average American women gets only 450 milligrams of calcium a day, far short of the 1,000 to 1,500 recommended. One cup of milk or yogurt and 2 ounces of cheese provide 9 grams of protein and about 1/3 of your daily calcium. If you do not eat dairy you probably need to supplement with calcium and magnesium.
• Are you getting enough protein, iron and zinc? Meat and legumes provide the bulk of your protein needs as well as iron and zinc and the B vitamins. A serving size of 1 ½ cup of beans, 3 ounces of beef, pork or chicken or 4 ounces of fish provides 21 grams of protein. These are also good sources of iron and zinc. If you a vegetarian who does not eat dairy and cheese you need to evaluate your protein intake to make sure you are getting enough.
• Okay, do you need to take supplements? To date there have been 13 vitamins and 10 minerals that have been deemed essential (this means your body can not make them, or not in sufficient amounts, so they must be supplied by the diet). The National Academy of Sciences' Food and Nutrition Board has set the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs). These are the amounts of nutrients required to avoid specific deficiencies. If you are eating the recommended number of servings from each of the food groups in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid you should be receiving all the vitamins and minerals you need. Having said this, most of us fail to meet these standards. Some surveys have shown that only 1 in 10 people consume enough fruits and vegetables. Take a look at your diet if there are some gapping holes you need to either add some foods or take some supplements. Carefully chosen supplements can enhance a good diet but they can't make up for a bad diet.
• What supplements do you need? A safe bet is simple multiple vitamin and mineral supplement. There are deficiencies that result when too much of one vitamin is taken alone. A good example is the B vitamins often work together, so supplementing with just one is unlikely to help. Look for one that provides around 100% of the RDA. If the supplement provides more than 300% of the RDA it is too much. If you don't have at least 3 servings of dairy you probably need to take a separate calcium and magnesium tablet along with your multi-vitamin.

So by following the food guide pyramid and making good choices by selecting lean meat and dairy along with whole grains you can have a healthy diet. For extra insurance you can add a balanced multi-vitamin. Here is a Food Guide Pyramid that will answer most of you questions about healthy eating.

The third and final article in this series will be about meal planning and tying up some loose ends.

About the Author:

I currently spend my time doing nutritional consulting and freelance writing. My degree is in nutrition and dietetics from the University of California at Davis. My hobbies are cooking, gardening, reading, sewing and trying to simplify my life. I love helping people to evaluate their eating and lifestyle choices.

Article courtesy of Suite101.com.