Proper nutrition – coupled with exercise – is the best tool in prevention of age-related diseases. Although most of us lack any formal nutrition education, common sense approaches go a long way towards making healthy choices. However, it’s clearly not enough when the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. (second only to smoking) is due to poor diet and lack of exercise. It’s time to consider fresh approaches and look beyond diets, starting with the basics of education and support. While policy makers battle out healthcare reform, we can focus on our preventative health strategies and reform our personal healthcare to chart a new course for quality aging.
Adjustments in diet can positively impact many of the areas that decline as we age – skin, hair, sleep, mood, weight, bones, heart health, and more. So nutrition education is a good place to start for your personalized healthcare reform plan. Mindful eating habits based on nutritional quality will always be more impactful than those based solely on calories.
Strive for Nutritional Density and Diversity
Focus on nutritional density and variety in your diet by reducing empty calorie foods and increasing the percentage of your daily diet containing items packed with a wide variety of nutrients. Nutrient-dense foods are those that provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals with relatively few calories.
Vegetarian cookbooks are a great source for quality recipes and usually include a great diversity of nutrient dense foods. As a start, integrate a variety of grains such as millet, quinoa, and barley. For example, barley, containing protein, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and selenium lowers your risk of cancer and reduces cholesterol levels. See Eat-Taste-Heal for a simple, quick barley kitchari.
The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen includes salads made with millet, barley, quinoa, and wild rice.
Get Primed Coach tweets will provide support in the form of daily reminders and tips to keep your personalized healthcare reform plan top of mind.
