Building a Healthy Lifestyle

Being physically active can help you attain or maintain a healthy weight. And there are other benefits, too. Being more active can:

• Help prevent heart disease.
• Help control cholesterol levels and diabetes.
• Slow bone loss associated with advancing age.
• Lower the risk of certain cancers.
• Help reduce anxiety and depression.
• Overweight and Obesity

Over half of adults in the United States are overweight or obese-and today, obesity in children is rapidly becoming a major health crisis. Why is weight control so important? It's a health issue. Overweight and obesity are associated with heart disease, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, arthritis, breathing problems, and psychological disorders. Choosing healthier foods and exercising regularly will help.

It's easy to get 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables into your diet every day. Just remember to think color!

• Toss fruit into your green salad for extra flavor, variety, color, and crunch.
• Expand your palate and your palette with green, red, orange, yellow, and purple peppers.
• Think frozen! Frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as fresh, and they're ready when you need them.
• Save time with pre-cut vegetables and salad mixes.
• Add apples, raisins, or pineapple chunks to deli salads like chicken, tuna, or pasta.
• Add frozen mixed vegetables to canned or dried soups.
• Make a quick smoothie using frozen fruit.
• Keep an easy-to-grab, pre-washed bowl of fruit on the counter.

Healthier Choices

Here are some smart substitutions to keep in mind when dining at home or at a restaurant:

When You're At Home...

• Choose 100% juice instead of soda or coffee
• Dried fruit or veggie snacks instead of chips, candy, or cookies
• ½ cup applesauce for baking instead of ½ cup oil
• Fruit sorbet inestead of ice cream

When You're Eating Out...

• Choose portobello mushroom burger instead of ground beef burger
• Plain baked potato instead of french fries
• Leafy green salad instead of pasta salad
• Fruit-based desserts instead of cakes or sweets

What's a serving?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid recommends 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. And getting 5 to 9 servings is easier than you may think.

A serving size is:

• One medium-size fruit.
• 1/2 cup raw, cooked, frozen or canned fruits (in 100% juice) or vegetables.
• 3/4 cup (6 oz.) 100% fruit or vegetable juice.
• 1/2 cup cooked, canned or frozen legumes (beans and peas).
• 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables.
• 1/4 cup dried fruit.

Wondering how many servings you really need each day?

• Children (2-6 yrs.), women, and others who typically need about 1,600 calories to reach or maintain a healthy weight: 5 servings-2 fruits, 3 vegetables
• Older children, teen girls, active women, and most men who typically need about 2,200 calories to reach or maintain a healthy weight: 7 servings-3 fruits, 4 vegetables
• Teen boys and active men, who typically need about 2,800 calories to reach or maintain a healthy weight: 9 servings-4 fruits, 5 vegetables

Variety, Color, and Phytochemicals

"It's hard to go wrong if you fortify your diet with colorful foods. Almost every one of them is loaded with disease-proofing compounds." ( The Color Code, James A Joseph, Ph.D., Daniel A. Nadeau, M.D., and Anne Underwood)

Mom always said "eat your greens." Now, we're learning that blues, reds, yellows, oranges, purples, and even whites are good for you, too. The reason lies in the very substances that give fruits and vegetables their colors: phytochemicals. These natural plant compounds not only protect plants, but also may provide important disease protection to humans. From cancer to anti-aging, heart disease to eyesight, scientists are focusing on a wide range of potential health benefits.

The "Whole Foods" Way

Because colorful fruits and vegetables contain hundreds of different phytochemicals, no one color group does it all. By eating regularly from each color group, you're giving yourself the widest health protection possible. Phytochemicals work together naturally in ways that supplements simply can't duplicate. For healthy results, whole foods are best.

"By eating fruits and vegetables from each color group, you will benefit from the unique array of phytochemicals, as well as essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that each color group has to offer." (Dr. Lorelei DiSogra, National Cancer Institute, 5 A Day Program)

Source

Source: Five A Day the Color Way. (n.d.). Building a healthy lifestyle. Retrieved November 8, 2005, from Produce for a Better Health Foundation, 5 A Day Program: http://www.5aday.org/html/consumers/buildhealth.php

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For over 25 years MINES & Associates has been a nationally recognized business psychology firm that provides a variety of services to corporate employers including employee assistance programs (EAP), managed mental healthcare, organizational development and psychology services, wellness programs, behavioral risk management, disease management, PPO services, and a number of other technology based services. MINES & Associates is divided into two main divisions, Organizational Psychology and Health Psychology, and currently serves a diverse portfolio of clients in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, and the UK.

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