Better Eating for Better Aging – 10 Steps to Healthy Eating!

Listen to the Experts

The key to healthy eating is balance, variety and moderation. That means eating a wide variety of foods without getting too many calories or too much of any one nutrient. These 10 tips can help you follow that advice while still enjoying the foods you eat.

1. Eat a Variety of Foods

•You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all.
•Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods.

2. Whole Grains, Fruits & Vegetables

•Most Americans don’t eat enough of these foods.
•Eat 6-11 servings from the bread, rice, cereal and pasta group, 3 of which should be whole grains.
•Eat 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables.

3. Maintain a Healthy Weight

•The weight that’s right for you depends on many factors including your sex, height, age and heredity.
•Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer and other illnesses.
•But being too thin can increase your risk for osteoporosis, menstrual irregularities and other health problems.

4. Eat Moderate Portions

•When you keep portion sizes reasonable, it’s easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy.
•The recommended serving of cooked meat is 3 ounces, similar in size to a deck of playing cards?
•A medium piece of fruit is 1 serving and a cup of pasta equals 2 servings.

5. Eat Regular Meals

•Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating.
•When you’re very hungry, it’s also tempting to forget about good nutrition.
•Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don’t eat so much that your snack becomes an entire meal.

6. Reduce, Don’t Eliminate Certain Foods

•Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition.
•If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderating how much of these foods you eat and how often you eat them.
•Identify major sources of these ingredients in your diet and make changes, if necessary.

7. Balance Your Food Choices Over Time

•Not every food has to be “perfect.”
•When eating a food high in fat, salt or sugar, select other foods that are low in these ingredients.
•If you miss out on any food group one day, make up for it the next.
•Your food choices over several days should fit together into a healthy pattern.

8. Know Your Diet Pitfalls

•To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what’s wrong with them.
•Write down everything you eat for three days.
•Then check your list according to the rest of these tips.

9. Make Changes Gradually

•Just as there are no “superfoods” or easy answers to a healthy diet, don’t expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight.
•Changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success.
•Begin to remedy excesses or deficiencies with modest changes that can add up to positive, lifelong eating habits.

10. Foods Are Not Good or Bad

•Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is “good” or “bad.”
•Don’t feel guilty if you love foods such as apple pie, potato chips, candy bars or ice cream.
•Eat them in moderation, and choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.

Your Nervous System & Digestion – Your brain communicates with every cell in your body through the miles of nerve fibers that make up your nervous system. When this communication is interrupted, problems can occur. All of your body’s functions are regulated by your nervous system. It causes the heart to beat, lungs to breathe, muscles to contract, stomach to digest, and glands to secrete.

Your Spinal Column – The brain is protected by the skull. The spinal cord, which connects the brain to the body, has a unique protection. It is protected by a combination of twenty-four bony segments, called vertebra, and soft tissue. The soft tissues give the spine the ability to bend while maintaining its protective alignment.

Vertebral Subluxations –  Spinal distortions interfere with nerve function and are called subluxations. When the spine becomes distorted or misaligned, the contents of the spinal canal are compressed, twisted, and stretched. This action damages sensitive nerve fibers and interferes with their function of carrying impulses between the brain and the body.

Nerve Interference –  A major obstacle that stands in the way of becoming healthier is interference in the nervous system caused by a subluxation. Chiropractic assists the body in removing that interference.  By following our recommendations for your care, you have the potential to reach an optimal state of health and not just be symptom free.

Your Posture Affects Your Health –  What would happen if you held a bowling ball with your arm straight out in front of you all day? Carrying your head in front of your shoulders all day is just like carrying a 12-pound bowling ball that way. How long could you do that before your arm started to fatigue, cramp and be painful?

Pair Up With Your Partner & Check

•From the Front: Are the points between the eyes, chin, breastbone, pubic area and midpoint between the ankles aligned?
•Are the shoulders, hips and  knees of equal height?
•Is the head held straight, and  not tilted or turned to one side?
•From the side: Can you easily  see the three natural curves in the back?
•From the back: Are the little bumps on the spine in a straight line down the center of the back?

Kids, Parents & Posture – Standing up straight is important for everyone, but at no time is it more crucial to develop the habits of good posture than in childhood. Many adults with chronic back pain can trace the problem to years of bad posture habits or injuries in childhood. Because they are growing and more active, children may be at even greater risk for injury to the back and spine. Check your friends and family when you return home and go to work tomorrow.