Back to Basics: Nutrition Rule #6

Rule #6: Eat Your Vegetables.

This is often, it seems, the hardest thing for people to do; but, it needs to be done.

Why:

-Vegetables provide an important source of complex carbohydrates that fill you up and keep you full, with very few calories.

-The fiber content in vegetables helps stabilize blood sugar, helping to protect you from insulin resistance and diabetes.

-The fiber also keep the digestive system moving along, and can protect against some cancers.

-Vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are important for your immune system, skin, brain, and pretty much every other part of your body.

-Many vegetables contain protein. Now, there’s no actual protein shortage here in the US, but it does mean veggies are a good stand-in for meat proteins if quality meats aren’t available or too expensive.

How:

No one wants to eat a gray, floppy mess on a plate. Vegetables can and should be appetizing, and the most important thing to do is to learn how to cook them well. Choose fresh, crisp vegetables with bright colors, and mix them up.

-Roast. I don’t think I’ve met a vegetable that doesn’t roast well, even leafy greens. And, it’s easy: just toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper (add other spices if you want), lay in single layer on a cookie sheet or baking pan, and put into a hot oven (I usually use about 375o F) until done. Roasting caramelizes a vegetable’s sugar, rendering it yummy, and retaining most of the nutrients!

-Blanch. This is good for broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, edamame, etc. Plunge into boiling water for just a minute or two, then plunge into cold water. Eat cold as a salad, or as munchies.

-Kabob & grill. Cut into kebab-size pieces, toss with olive oil and teriyaki sauce if you like, skewer, and grill.

There are many other ways to do veggies; raw, sauteed, seared, ribboned instead of noodles, etc. Just don’t boil them, and don’t over steam. Don’t buy them pre-cooked and smothered in sauce, either. Fresh, whole, vegetables, and cook them at home.

.-Start by adding a vegetable to each dinner, either as side dish or incorporated into the main dish, or as a dinner salad.  Once you’ve mastered that, add them to lunches, and even breakfasts (eggs on a bed of tomatoes and wilted spinach is divine!).

The general rule is you can eat as many vegetable as you want (dietary restrictions such as diabetes notwithstanding). Even Weight Watchers is giving most of them zero points now. The exception to this is corn, which is technically not a vegetable except under the broadest definition. It’s a grain, and contains a lot of starch and sugar, so it needs to be eaten in moderation.

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Monday Healthy Eating, Nov. 22

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Stop eating refined sugars. Right now. Cold Turkey. For at least a week.

Why? Because sugar is addictive. The blood sugar spikes it causes in your body become self-perpetuating cycles that cause hunger even when your body does not need food. I hear lots of excuses why someone can’t do this, but the most common is they “just can’t,” and they’ll “cut down.” Here’s the truth:

This doesn’t work.

Every time you eat sugar, you start the cycle again, so you need to go through the withdrawl before you add any sugar back in, otherwise it’s very difficult for most people to actually kick the habit, just like it is with smoking, caffeine, or ay other addiction. It sucks. You’re going to crave sugars, badly, for several days, and you’re going to want to eat every chocolate bar, cinnamon roll, and blob of ice cream you see. How do you deal with this? Well, the reality is you’re mostly going to have to use your willpower, but there are some things that can help you keep your resolve:

-Remove temptation.  No one cares if you’re strong enough to resist that Snickers bar you’ve got in the freezer. No one is going to be all “Oh my goodness, so-and-so is such a great person for having tempting treats all over and having the willpower to not eat them!” And, if they do, they’re ridiculous. Recovering alcoholics aren’t given kudos for going into bars when they’re first sobering up. Just get rid of the stuff.

-Buy some berries and apples. The still have sugar, but it’s chemical configuration helps keep it from spiking your blood sugar in the same way as processed sugars do. Eat these when you get a sugar craving. Really, it’s unlikely you’re going to eat enough of either of these things to equal the piece of cake sitting in the break room.

-Eat real, nutritious food at reasonable times. Letting yourself get hungry is a recipe for disaster, so keep some munchies like roasted almonds (or pecans, or roasted soybeans) and hard cheese on hand, but make sure you’re also eating real meals. This includes breakfast–no skipping!

-Be active. Activity can decrease your desire for sweets, so go outside and take a walk, or get thee to a gym and pump some iron.

-Drink water. Flushing out your body is important when breaking any addiction.

After a week, try for two. I know, it sounds impossible, but it’s not. Once you’ve done that, you’ll likely find you don’t really crave sweets anymore. You can add a treat you really like back into your diet–but keep it a treat, not a regular thing.

Why should you do this at all? Well, there’s myriad reasons, really. Sugars, especially refined sugars, aren’t particularly good for us. They raise the chances of many health problems, including insulin resistance leading to diabetes, obesity, some cancers, contributes to psychological issues such as ADD and sleep deprivation, and a host of other things. However, the biggest reason is also the simplest: they’re empty calories, and we eat far too much of it.  Cutting out the sugar helps get us on track to a healthy weight and lifestyle.

Related Articles

• Dr. Frank Lipman: No Sugar: 19 Tips to Overcome Sugar Addiction (huffingtonpost.com)