Nutritional Baby Steps

I had lunch with my good friend the other day. I hadn’t seen her since before the holidays, and it was her birthday. We chatted and caught up on all the news as we enjoyed our salads and our time together. When the server came by to refill our tea glasses, Karen ordered her choice of dessert and reached for a yellow packet of white powder for her iced tea. What’s wrong with this picture?

I love my friend and I knew she wouldn’t think I was butting in TOO much. I dug around in the bottom of my purse and pulled out a packet of sweetener, not sugar, and not artificial. She said she’d try it. Despite her sweet tooth, I was actually more concerned about the chemicals she was about to pour into her tea glass than the sugar in that gooey-looking piece of cake.

It can be difficult. Most of us want to eat well. We write New Year’s resolutions about our diets, we buy cookbooks that promise good taste and good health, and we scour the internet in search of the next big thing in nutraceuticals and health cures. It’s actually what we do consistently, over a long period of time, that has more impact on our health than the occasional sugary treat or fried food item.

Depending on where you are with your nutrition plan, it’s possible that just three little changes can make a world of difference in your diet and in your health. These changes take a little vigilance, some label reading and maybe a few questions about the menu items from your favorite restaurant.

Number 1: Avoid trans fats and replace them with high quality nutritious oils and fats in the same form that nature made them. Use virgin olive oil, organic butter, and solid coconut oil (for cooking at high temperatures). Trans fats are formed when the food industry heats oils and fats under great pressure, forming a fat with unlimited shelf life and absolutely no nutritional value. They create harmful free radicals in the body, which cause great physiologic stress. Trans fats have also been shown to be carcinogenic. It’s probably best to avoid fried foods in food establishments when you can’t verify the oil used. Healthy oils provide essential fatty acids that are crucial for hormone production and for the health of our internal organs, among other things!

Number 2: Avoid high fructose corn syrup. It’s rampant in prepared packaged foods, beverages and condiments! Read labels and become familiar with this ingredient and search for different brands if your favorite happens to contain this. High fructose corn syrup is like sugar on steroids! This isn’t a naturally occurring food item. It takes many, many mechanical and chemical processes to make this non-food item from corn. This causes the most dramatic effect on blood sugar levels and it’s very hard to digest. Eat corn, hopefully organic, when you want to have corn. Choose natural sugars, including honey or molasses, if you want sugar.

Number 3: If you would like to limit or eliminate sugar from your diet, please consider avoiding aspartame, Sucralose and other artificial sweeteners. There are a few natural sugar alternatives that will give you that sweet taste without negatively affecting your health. Look for stevia (liquid or powder), agave nectar, and erythritol. These healthier alternatives are safe for diabetics, and are produced by nature and not by chemical industries or pharmaceutical companies. They will satisfy your sweet tooth without poisoning your body.

For some people, these three steps will seem like baby steps. But if you’re regularly eating these non-food items, you might be amazed at how well you feel with a simple substitution.

And don’t worry, I promise that if we have lunch together some day, I’ll keep my nutrition opinions to myself!