Healthy Eating Laura McCulloch, Health Educator Boone County – Columbia Health Department

Healthy eating tips Make a grocery list Meal planning Buy in bulk Read the labels Choose generic Make enough to freeze Plan on leftovers Choose lean and healthy proteins Compare fresh to frozen fruits/veggies Buy fresh produce when it’s in season Make your own snacks *Pass out my plate on a budget handouts *What other tips do you guys have?

Choose good fats “Good” fat vs “Bad” fat? Good for you: Unsaturated Vegetable oils Avocados Peanut butter Fatty fish Nuts and seeds Bad for you: Saturated and Trans fats Foods with “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” ingredients Fatty meats Milk and cheese made with whole milk Fried foods Shortening Cookies and pastries Limit the amount of saturated fats you eat They raise your bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise your risk of heart disease and stroke. Processed foods sometimes have trans fats. You should try to avoid these completely. They not only raise LDL and risk of heart disease and stroke, but also lower your good (HDL) cholesterol Unsaturated fats Lower “bad” (LDL) cholesterol Lower risk of heart disease and stroke Provide fats your body needs like Omega-3 fatty acids (for brain and heart health)

Choose whole grains What is a whole grain? Whole seed or kernel: the bran, germ, and endosperm Have B-vitamins, antioxidants, proteins, minerals, healthy fats What is a “Refined grain”? Missing one or more of the three parts Read the Ingredients to find whole grains! Whole, Whole grain, buckwheat, bulgur, millet, oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice Don’t be fooled by “wheat” or “multigrain” on the front!

Reduce sugar How much is too much? Maximum of 6 tsp for women daily Maximum of 8 tsp for men daily Look at the Nutrition Facts label to see grams of sugar. Do a little math: Divide Grams of Sugar by 4 = number of teaspoons of sugar Example: 20 grams of sugar/4 = 5 teaspoons of sugar Yogurt and milk have natural sugar, but can also have added sugar, so look at the ingredient list! We just discussed what to look for in your label and ingredient lists. The best way to make sure you’re not getting too much sugar is to read the label. We know we want to reduce sugar, but how much sugar is too much? 6 tsp women, 8 tsp men. *Pass out sugar Shocker handout The only way to know if a food has natural or added sugars is to look for sugar in the ingredient list Ingredients appear in order of most common to least common. If it’s one of the first ingredients, then there’s quite a bit of it. It may not say the word “sugar”. Other names for sugar include: High fructose corn syrup, honey, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, fruit juice concentrate, corn syrup, maltose, glucose, cane juice, and syrup Let’s look at a couple examples! Do sugar shocker activity

Read the label You want more: You want less: LET’S PRACTICE! Dietary Fiber Vitamin D Calcium Iron Potassium Whole Grains You want less: Fat Sodium Cholesterol Added Sugars LET’S PRACTICE! Pass out reading food label handouts and food labels Discuss overall fat vs saturated fat and trans fat Discuss sugar vs added sugars Discuss refined grains vs whole grains Was anything surprising about the labels?

Follow Myplate guidelines https://www.choosemyplate.gov

Meal planning Helps you eat healthy all week Aim for meals that use at least 3 of the 5 food groups MyPlate Plan meals that use foods you already have Buy foods that can be used in more than one meal Plan for leftovers so you’re less likely to eat out Saves time and money Let’s practice making a meal plan! *Pass out meal planning templates so they can write down the ideas as we write them on a large sticky

Dinner for one week Day of the Week Dinner Plan Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Ideas?

Myplate recipes and resources https://www.choosemyplate.gov

Myplate serving sizes To see serving size information on myplate, from homepage, www.choosemyplate.gov, click on the food group and then click on “View Food Gallery”. Then click, “All about the….”