by Dr Matt Kenny,
Consistent exercise and eating healthy have been passions of mine since my early 20’s. I continue to learn new and better ways to help people improve their health and nutrition. These nutritional tips can be quickly adapted and have proven to help patients over the years:
- Read the labels. Every year, more foods are loaded with chemicals, preservatives and unhealthy ingredients. If you read a label and don’t recognize it, neither will your body. As an example, when selecting a peanut butter choose one that has only peanuts as the ingredient (and salt if you like it). It’s not a complicated recipe, if you see that your peanut butter contains hydrogenated oils, sugar or anything else than discard it.
- Beware of bad beverages. An extremely common culprit for weight gain and poor health are drinks with high amounts of sugar. Soda, energy drinks and even fruit juice provide large amounts of sugar and calories. Stick to water, seltzer, teas and other natural beverages and watch what you put into your coffee. Also keep in mind that alcohol brings your body’s metabolism to a halt and thus should be limited as well.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners. When your body is exposed to a toxin it creates a fat cell to surround it and then stores it as far from the vital organs as possible (often in the hips, butt and thighs). Artificial sweeteners such as Sweet N Low (saccharine), Equal (aspartame), Splenda (sucralose) and acesulfame-K are common artificial sweeteners and though we often want to avoid sugar, these are not the answer. Not only do they actually CAUSE weight gain but come with a variety of neurological issues as well. I encourage you to Google these products and learn more, you won’t be happy. I myself used these products for many years until I learned about them in greater detail.
- Eat more fruits and vegetables. For optimum health it is recommended that we eat between 7-13 serving of fruits and vegetables a day, the average American gets 1-2! This is problematic because so much of defense against cancer and other disease, not to mention the proper function of our bodies comes from the phytonutrients found in fruits and veggies. I recommend beginning to add more raw fruits and vegetables overall and definitely try to have at least 1 serving with each meal (a serving is about the size of your fist). For convenience you can also use products such as Juice Plus or green drinks that provide multiple fruit and vegetable servings instantly.
- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Foods that have an expiration date are best for us. The next time you go to your grocery store target the foods that are located around the outside areas of the store instead of the inside aisles. If you focus on shopping the perimeter you’ll end up eating more produce, meats, dairy, nuts and seeds as opposed to boxed or canned foods loaded with sugar, preservatives and artificial ingredients.
- Learn to prepare 8-10 healthy meals. We are creatures of habit and thus when it comes to the foods we eat we often consume the same things repeatedly. If you can learn to prepare 8-10 healthy meals for yourself you will find that you’ll be able to eat well without getting bored.
For more information or to schedule an appointment please visit www.newbodychiro.com, find us on Facebook (New Body Chiropractic & Wellness Center) or call (303) 347-9906.