NUTRITIOUS TABLE

Linda Farr RD/LD  210-735-2402

Serving San Antonio and South Texas
with personalized nutrition counseling,
customized for health, nutrition and fitness needs.

What is a Healthy Diet?

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"
Virginia Woolf

A healthy diet is one that includes a variety of foods that provide the proper amount of nutrients to meet the nutritional requirements for your particular age, state of health, and food preferences or tolerances. It should include foods that taste good, are colorful and appealing to the senses and reduce your chances for chronic disease. It should contain foods that are affordable, readily available and can be stored and prepared without difficulty.

Your state of health can affect your nutritional needs. Because of growing knowledge about the relationship between diet and disease, such as heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer, your requirements for certain nutrients may be more or less than the same age person with different health concerns.

There are three (3) sets of tools that form the base of current scientific knowledge about nutritional health in America.

Tool #1 - Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are a series of scientific reports released by the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board. The report expands on the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) to establish not only the recommended nutrient intake to help prevent nutritional deficiencies but also to reduce the risks of chronic disease. Also included for the first time are recommendations for upper limits of nutrients to avoid harm from taking too much. Over the next few years, the DRIs will eventually replace the RDAs in an effort to emphasize decreasing the risks for chronic disease, not just the prevention of deficiencies.

The DRIs are meant to help guide food and nutrition professionals, researchers and policy makers as they convey and implement messages about healthful eating and diets to groups of healthy consumers. These guidelines recognize that people are not all alike, and that one size does not fill all when it comes to planning and achieving a healthy diet. Linda Farr and other Registered Dietitians are professionally trained to translate these guidelines into personalized meal plans to meet your individual needs.

If you want specific information on the Macronutrient (Carbohydrate, Protein, Fat and Fiber) guidelines click on this link:
http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/7/300/0.pdf

Tool #2 - 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were last revised in 1992. They are intended to help Americans make wise choices about food and physical activity so that they can live healthier lives. These guidelines are used to set the agenda for all nutrition education and research. Recommendations are based on the general population and some specific populations such as pregnant women, children and the elderly. It is not intended to provide specific individual nutrition advice.

Key Recommendations for the General Population include:

1. Consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods and beverages within your calorie needs.
2. Maintain body weight in a healthy range.
3. Engage in regular physical activity and reduce sedentary activities.
1. To reduce chronic disease: 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (above usual activity) on most days of the week
2. To prevent weight gain: 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity activity most days of the week while not exceeding calorie needs
3. To sustain weight loss: 60-90 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week while not exceeding calorie needs
4. Increase these food groups: Fruits (choose at least 2 cups per day), Vegetables (choose at least 2 ½ cups per day), Whole Grain Products (half of all choices per day should be whole grain), Fat-Free or Low Fat Dairy (choose at least 3 cups per day).
5. Limit fats to 20-35% of your calories and less than 300 mg /day of cholesterol. Limit saturated and trans fatty acids.
6. Choose fiber-rich carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains).
7. Consume less than 2300 mg sodium (about 1 teaspoon of salt) per day.
8. If you drink alcohol, do so sensibly and in moderation. Moderation is defined as one drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men.
9. To avoid microbial foodborne illnesses, wash hands between touching raw and cooked foods, cook foods to safe temperatures, store foods at proper temperatures, and avoid unpasteurized juices, milk and dairy, raw eggs, undercooked meat and poultry, and raw sprouts.

Tool #3 - My Pyramid-Food Guidance System

The USDA My Pyramid-Food Guidance System is a visual representation of the Dietary Guidelines and is intended to be an educational tool that helps consumers follow its key food and activity recommendations. The www.MyPyramid.gov website has been built to be interactive so each adult and child can find the kinds and amount of foods he or she should eat each day. Check it out! It is fun and informative.