March, December, Easy Steps to Plan for Healthy Eating With summer vacations in the rearview mirror and children heading back t September, Health Numbers That Actually Matter and a Few… When it comes to diet and exercise, there are a lot of recommendations t They develop unattract Shop for fresh fruit. There was a time when margarine was considered the healthy alternative to butter. However, the truth is that some margarine contains a lot of trans fats. Trans fats are considered to be unhealthier than any other fat, including saturated fats.
Trans fats increase low-density lipoprotein LDL , or bad cholesterol. This can lead to heart disease and stroke. Although the link between trans fatty acids and cancer is unclear, Johns Hopkins Medicine is just one institution that recommends that people with cancer lower their intake of trans fats. A closer look: A quick glance at the nutrition label for a carton of margarine may shock you. Just one pat contains 4 g of fat and 38 mg of sodium. Try this instead: There are a few good substitutes for the smooth consistency of margarine.
One is mashed avocado. Its oily richness makes it useful as a spread. When cooking or baking, some nut milks and yogurts can be also used instead of margarine. Shop for avocados , nut milks , and yogurt. While a little dollop of ketchup is fine, the amounts we slather onto our burgers and fries is problematic, as is the frequency.
The tomatoes in ketchup are so diluted by sugar and salt that they offer no nutritional value. With most of the calories in ketchup coming from sugar, you might as well sprinkle your fries with sugar! A closer look: There are nearly 2 g of sugar in every packet of ketchup. Try this instead: One way to get around using store-bought ketchup is to make it yourself. A cup of tomato paste with a teaspoon of vinegar is what creates the consistency.
You can then flavor the mixture to taste with sugar or salt. Shop for tomato paste and vinegar. Most college students have had the experience of powering through finals week fueled only by instant ramen and cheap coffee. Better yet, stop now. The high amounts of salt boost your blood pressure. With simple carbohydrates making up most of the other ingredients, ramen provides almost zero nutritional support.
You should also check out the amount of fat in ramen noodles. Who knew so many unhealthy things could come in such a small package! As a healthy meal, instant ramen gets a failing grade. A closer look: A packet of ramen can contain 14 g of fat and over 1, mg of sodium. People in South Korea eat more instant ramen than almost any other group in the world. Recent studies have proposed a link between ramen consumption and health problems such as obesity and metabolic syndrome , for women in particular.
More conclusive research is needed. However, one thing we know for certain is that this instant meal contains too many carbs and too much salt. Try this instead: Zucchini noodles would be a better option. In fact, these noodles can be used in place of virtually any traditional pasta. Making zucchini noodles is as easy as creating spirals or strips with a simple kitchen device. Shop for zucchini noodles and a spiralizer.
However, classic frozen dinners are often packed with sugars, fat, and sodium. Regularly consuming an excess of added sugar can lead to compulsive overeating.
It is also linked with health conditions such as obesity, metabolic syndrome , type 2 diabetes , and inflammatory diseases. Processed foods and beverages are among the major sources of added sugar in the diet. Sweetened beverages are a particularly significant source; people tend to consume much more sugar than they realize in soft drinks. Cutting down on added sugar — by drinking sparkling water instead of soda, for example — is a quick and effective way to make the diet more healthful.
The ingredients list on the back of processed food packaging is often full of unrecognizable substances. Some are artificial chemicals that the manufacturer has added to make the food more palatable. Also, processed foods can contain dozens of additional chemicals that are not listed on their labels. Manufacturers do not have to disclose exactly what it means, and it is usually a combination of chemicals.
Official organizations have tested most food additives for safety, though the use of these chemicals remains controversial among doctors and researchers.
Carbohydrates are an essential component of any diet. However, carbs from whole foods provide far greater health benefits than refined carbohydrates.
The body breaks down refined, or simple, carbohydrates quickly, leading to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. When these levels then drop, a person may experience food cravings and low energy. Because refined carbs cause frequent increases and decreases in blood sugar, consuming them is linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Healthful sources of carbohydrates include:. Ultra-processed foods are very low in essential nutrients, compared with whole or minimally processed foods. In some cases, manufacturers add synthetic vitamins and minerals to replace nutrients lost during processing.
However, whole foods provide additional healthful compounds that ultra-processed foods do not. Fruits, vegetables, and grains, for example, contain healthful plant compounds with antioxidant , anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic effects. These include flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins, and carotenoids. The best way to get the full range of essential nutrients is to eat whole, unprocessed, or minimally processed foods. Coca-Cola says the drink never contained cocaine, which can be derived from coca leaves.
As customers demanded the same, consistent taste, smells and colours, and as rules and regulations outlawed certain ingredients, food manufacturers had to adapt their products. Could the taste and texture of a product be recreated with an extract instead of a whole ingredient?
Advances in chemistry was making it possible. And, it could make food cheaper. Usually, they contain little to no proportion of real foods. Food is more than the sum of the nutrients they contain. There are no antioxidants and phytochemicals that we find in whole foods if they are stripped out in processing. If you check the ingredients list of a modern Coca-Cola you will find only "natural flavours", the identity of which are a protected secret.
Coca-Cola still contained extracts from the coca leaf until at least , even if the cocaine was removed much earlier. The drink became successful because of its coca flavour, not because of its "tonic" effect. Sulu says that some modern food processing is done for aesthetic reasons and not the original reason, which might have become redundant. Like soft drinks, modern chocolate is far removed from its original iteration. Chocolate originates from ancient Mesoamerica where cacao beans were brewed as a bitter-tasting hot drink.
We know broadly how these hot chocolate drinks were prepared by analysing layers of residues absorbed on the insides of Ancient Maya pottery from AD the cacao beans were ground, but not to a dry powder as we might expect today, instead to an oily pulp.
After brewing, the oils would sit on top of the drink and the bean grit would sink to the bottom creating layers on the inside of cups. Depictions of hot chocolate drinkers in Ancient Maya artworks also reveal that hot chocolate might have been intended for communal use in ceremonies.
Should we be swapping more refined sugars for those that occur naturally, such as the fructose found in fruit? The Aztecs made the next chocolate innovation, choosing to drink their chocolate cold and spiced. Separating the butterfat, grinding and roasting the dry bean mass to produce a cocoa powder was an innovation that came later, and might have made it easier to store or transport.
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