Eating a good diet is not difficult. There are several principles that are easy to apply. The same diet that is good for preventing heart disease is also good for reducing the risk to high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and osteoporosis. Here they are! Now you can evaluate all the advice you get in the magazines and television with the sense that these simple principles constitute 95% of what is important in terms of good diet.

Low Fat Eating

The characteristics of a low fat diet are fairly simple.

• No more than three servings of red meat per week. This includes meat served on a sandwich at lunch, (such as a roast beef or ham sandwich), or meat served as a main course at dinner. In general it is best to purchase meat that is raised organically and free range, (not feed lot fed). The quality is better. There are fewer chemicals, (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics) in organic products, and the type of fat in the animal is healthier for you.
   

• No more than three servings of poultry per week. Emphasize the white meat portions. Again, emphasize free range, organically grown animals. Avoid fried chicken. Avoid the skin, (very high in fat)
   

• You can have two to four servings of seafood per week. I am happy to tell you that the cholesterol in shrimp and crab will not be a problem. Shellfish have nutrients in them that inhibit the absorption of the cholesterol in them and they are fine for you to eat. Once again avoid the fried preparations. Certain types of fish may have excess mercury and other pollutants. Tuna fish, sword fish, and fish from highly polluted bodies of water should be severely limited or avoided.
   

• You can have one to two servings of low fat or no fat dairy products per day, (emphasize organically raised animal sources). This includes low fat yogurts, cheeses and ice creams.
   

• Avoid foods high in fat such as fried foods, creamy soups and salad dressings, dairy desserts such as custard or ice cream that are not low fat, and packaged goods. In general packaged goods such as potato chips, Doritos, and crackers are very high in fat. Read the labels!

Reading labels is the key to avoiding foods that are high in fat. Current labeling practice is to tell you the grams of fat in a total serving. This is intentionally misleading. You want to know the percent of fat in any serving. Ideally, you would like to limit fat intake to no more than 20% of total calories. Every gram of fat has 9 calories. A label may state that the total calories in a serving are 100 calories and there are 4 grams of fat. The total calories from fat would be, (9x4=36), 36. Fat would make up 36% of the calories. This would be a high fat food.

A reasonable amount of fat that is either mono unsaturated or poly unsaturated is good for us. Non animal sources of fat such as olive oil, nuts and seeds can be very health enhancing. The fat from deep sea fish is also considered very health enhancing.

High Fiber Eating

A high fiber diet is characterized by one to two servings of salad per day, one to two servings of fruit, cooked or raw vegetables, and whole grain breads or cereals daily. The greater your intake of fruits and vegetables the better your health will be; aim for 4-6 servings per day.

Avoid Empty Calorie Foods

Foods with empty calories include:

• Foods with refined sugar; candies, soft drinks, dairy desserts, etc.

• Foods with excess fats; high fat red meats, dark poultry meats, packaged goods, (potato chips, etc.), high fat dairy desserts, (ice cream), high fat baked goods, creamed soups and salad dressings.

• Alcoholic beverages.

Do not get caught in the high starch food trap!

People feel that if they only avoid fats they can eat all the other foods they want: particularly starchy foods. The common high starch foods are grain products such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and corn. Depending on your body size and your need to lose weight or control the tendency to gain weight you will need to limit servings of high starch foods to one to four per day. A serving size is one slice of bread, one cup of pasta, one ice cream scoop of rice or a baked potato with the inner third scooped out. Avoid starches that are processed, (potato chips, corn chips, Doritos, pretzels, cheese crackers, party mix).


When To Use Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

The World Health Organization states that starvation begins, (for an average adult), when total daily calorie intake is less than 2,100 calories per day. People who eat refined/processed foods have some degree of malnutrition at any calorie intake level. People with underlying health problems often have special needs for certain nutritional components. At different times in our lives we have different nutritional needs, (periconception, pregnancy, lactation, old age.

1. To prevent osteoporosis take 1000-1500 mgs. of calcium daily. The preferred form of Calcium is Calcium Citrate. It is best used in a capsule form as tabletized products can be harder to absorb. In addition take a total of 1,200 units of Vitamin D daily. This can come from multivitamins and a separated Vitamin D supplement.
    

2. Vitamin C in a dose of 500 to 1000 mgs. taken two times daily may help prevent arteriosclerosis, (heart disease and stroke). For some people Vitamin C will improve their resistance to infectious diseases.
    

3. Vitamin E in a dose of 400-800 units daily may help prevent arteriosclerosis and cancer.
    

4. A good multi vitamin forms a base that will cover any nutritional inadequacies. I vary my recommendation based on age, sex and underlying health conditions. When recommending a vitamin product I am interested in the quality control in production, post-production testing of the product to insure that the contents are accurate and bioavailabilty.

The multivitamin I currently recommend is called Sevak. The dose is two capsules at breakfast and two at dinner. This is an “antioxidant multivitamin”. The reason it is best taken twice daily is that the anti oxidant effect wears off after 12 hours. A twice daily dosing maximizes the anti oxidant effect. It does not contain “pro oxidant trace mineral such as copper, manganese, and iron. It contains a balanced amount of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Vitamin A.

Price of multivitamins are variable. You get what you pay for. There is no point in taking a cheap “One-A-Day that has inadequate amounts of conditionally essential nutrients, may have nutrients that you do not need and are not easily absorbable.

5. I generally recommend fish oil, (EPA/DHA), in a dose of one 1000 mg capsule taken twice daily with breakfast and dinner. There is evidence that taking this product will reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 30%. 1 of 12 people will develop this problem by age 65. 1 or 3 people will be afflicted by age 85.
   
   We have an excellent staff at our Wellness Center Apothecary who can be of help in developing a healthful and affordable supplement regimen.
   
   Having said that, it is important to emphasize that good dietary practices are more important then the supplements you take.