Let’s look at some of the latest health and fitness headlines and see how we can apply them.
1. PUT HEALTHY FOODS IN FRONT OF YOU — YOU’LL EAT BETTER
Overview: A review of already existing studies conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark found that what you buy for your snack or meal depends on the order in which the foods are presented to you and how easy it is to get to them.
The researchers found it is possible to change your behavior with relation to food choices simply by presenting the foods in a different order, or by making it more difficult to reach unhealthy food.
How to apply: If you can influence healthy choices in a supermarket or restaurant, you can also do it in your home. Here are a few suggestions:
— Don’t hide your fruits and vegetables. Make sure they’re visible and not hidden in the back of the fridge or in a fridge drawer.
— Put fruits out in a bowl and at various places in your home.
— Cut up vegetables such as peppers, celery and carrot sticks and have them available in the fridge.
— Throw away unhealthy foods such as chocolate, cookies, potato chips and cakes, or at the very least get them out of your sight.
— When you eat out or go to the supermarket, keep in mind that you will be tempted to buy unhealthy foods. At the supermarket, stick to a shopping list and try to shop around the perimeter of the store — that’s where most of the healthier foods are located.
2. AT RESTAURANTS, TRY TO LOOK AT MENUS ONLINE BEFORE YOU GET THERE. PLACE YOUR FOOD ORDER IN ADVANCE AND SAVE CALORIES
Overview: Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University showed that people choose higher-calorie meals when ordering immediately before eating and lower-calorie meals when orders are placed an hour or more in advance.
How to apply: Want to cut calories and make healthier meal choices? Try avoiding unhealthy impulse purchases by ordering meals at least an hour before eating. Here are a few tips:
— Create a standing order at a local restaurant for lunch or dinner. You can set up an email, fax or online order and have the restaurant deliver to you. If delivery is not possible, make sure that when you arrive at the restaurant the staff knows your “regular” order.
— If you don’t like the idea of a standing order or eating the same thing every day, how about picking three or four healthy choices from the restaurants you frequent. Make sure to write them down and put them on your phone or computer. At least an hour before your meal, pick one of the “approved” healthy choices.
— At the very least, make sure to review the menu online before you go to any restaurant.
— Make sure you choose your drink beforehand, as well.
3. GET SOME Z’S
To reduce risk of future obesity, get kids to bed early.
Overview: According to researchers at The Ohio State University College of Public Health, preschoolers who are in bed sleeping by 8 p.m. are far less likely to become obese teenagers than young children who go to sleep later in the evening. In fact, the study found that bedtimes after 9 p.m. appeared to double the likelihood of obesity later in life.
How to apply: Getting children to sleep is no easy task. A few tips might help.
— Establish a regular bedtime with few or no exceptions, including weekends and holidays.
— Create a bedtime routine such as a bath or shower, putting on pajamas, story time, closing bedroom shades, and consider a sound machine.
— Don’t have a TV in the bedroom.
— Make sure children get plenty of daytime activity
— Keep your child calm at night — not too much excitement right before bed.
— No electronic devices before bedtime.
— No eating before bed, especially sugary foods.
4. ANIMAL PROTEIN AND UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE — A LETHAL COMBO
Overview: There has been much research into the health risks of eating saturated fat. However, there is also a plethora of evidence pointing toward animal protein as increasing health risk.
A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit showed that for people with at least one lifestyle risk factor — such as being either obese or underweight, heavy alcohol consumption, a history of smoking or physical inactivity — there is an increased death risk primarily associated with eating red meats, eggs and dairy.
According to the researchers, “the association disappeared in participants with a healthy lifestyle. Analysis based on specific sources of protein indicated that the animal-protein-associated mortality risk applied primarily to processed and unprocessed red meats, which include both beef and pork products, and not to protein from fish or poultry.”
How to apply: Eat more plant proteins than animal proteins (e.g. tofu, black beans, lima beans, peanut butter, chick peas, almonds and other nuts, oatmeal and spinach). When you do choose sources of animal protein, make it mostly fish and chicken.
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