Beyond
Walking

By Ronda Gates, MS

Ronda Gates, MS, is a pharmacy grad who traded her white coat for a pair of athletic shoes and never looked back. Her health promotion business, LIFESTYLES, provides motivational speaking, program development, and fitness assessment services to support people making a lifestyle change. She has developed health promotion programs for many organizations nationwide.
Visit www.rondagates.com for a complimentary subscription to Ronda’s weekly email newsletter.

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

— Henry David
Thoreau

Power Up with These Nutrition Stars

Our diets have come under such scrutiny in recent years you may find yourself confused by the changing information regarding what foods you should eat and which you should avoid. Weight loss diet trends that come and go don’t help. There are, however, some power foods that have stood the test of time. How many of these seven nutritional stars are in your diet?

Blueberries: Sweet and delicious blueberries have 40 times more disease-fighting antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetable. They can provide the same cholesterol lowering effects of statins without the side effects. Multiple studies at Tufts University’s USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging added to blueberries star power when multiple studies showed berry-fed rats learned faster, remembered better, and had better coordination and balance than other rats. Since motor dexterity declines rapidly with age these results are significant for an aging population. Now we know cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, and citrus fruits also offer health advantages. Aim for at least a cup a day.

Broccoli/Cruciferous Vegetables: If you add only one power food to your diet, go for broccoli. This high fiber, rich-in-antioxidant “crudité” is an excellent source of most vitamins and minerals. It is also a superb source of bone-building calcium. Broccoli is high in cancer-fighting antioxidants that trigger the suicide of cancer cells (especially breast cancer cells). Its high folate content decreases blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that has been linked to increased premature coronary heart disease, stroke, and blood clots. One serving is the size of a light bulb.

Green Leafy Vegetables: Like broccoli, “greens” (kale, spinach, mustard, swiss chard, and collard greens) are high in almost every vitamin and mineral. They also contain two specific antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin that powerfully protect eye cells from macular degeneration and cataracts caused by ultraviolet sun radiation. Two cups of raw greens cook down to a nutrient-rich serving.

The Facts About Fruits and Veggies: Every national nutrition survey since 1960 reports Americans avoid produce like the plague. More than half don’t eat fruit at all and one in five don’t include even one veggie on any day. Consider how much we could power up our bodies if we’d increase our fruit and vegetable intake.

Salmon: Scientists learned about salmon by studying Inuit Eskimos who, despite a high fat diet, had a much lower incidence of heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and psoriasis than their European counterparts. These fishermen eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s –– called essential fatty acids (EFAs) because the body cannot make them on its own — are pivotal in preventing high blood pressure and heart disease by decreasing the stickiness of blood platelets that can clump and cause clots. They also decrease blood triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. Fish is also powerful brain food that appears to help the body resist depression, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s at the same time it helps keep skin healthy. Finally, the body converts omega-3 fatty acids into anti-inflammatory substances that help decrease inflammation and pain of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Raynaud’s disease. When you go fishin’ for omega-3 fatty salmon, remember that a serving is the size of a deck of cards. Aim for two servings a week.

Note: Many folks avoid eating farmed salmon because of reports of PCBs in our fish supply. According to the American Cancer Society, the benefits of eating farm-raised salmon outweigh any risks. However, if you want to be sure, buy wild salmon.

Tomatoes, Peppers, Carrots, and Other Colorful Vegetables: For dietary excitement, “go red.” Tomatoes received their first good press when several studies showed a diet high in tomatoes reduced the risk of prostate cancer. Now we know that tomatoes have more than 10,000 phytochemicals (plant chemicals), especially cancer preventing lycopenes. Essentially if a vegetable is bright in color, it’s also high in nutrients that fight disease. So load up on tomatoes, colorful peppers, carrots.

Bring on the Soup: Slip veggies into your diet with soups. Soup before a meal curbs the appetite. It’s a great weight loss strategy. Add beans or peas for a low-fat source of protein and fiber.

Walnuts: A power-food diet includes “going nuts” — especially over walnuts. They contain arginine, an amino acid that helps relax constricted blood vessels and improves blood flow to give skin a healthy glow. Walnuts also contain antioxidants and are the best plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. Limit your intake to these high-in-fat treats to one handful a day to reap the benefits without too many calories.

Whole Grains: The vitamins and minerals in whole grains protect us against heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. However, their star power comes from the two kinds of fiber that make this a food that reaps benefits without triggering blood sugar highs and lows. Soluble fiber forms a gel-like material in the intestines that prevents cholesterol and saturated fats from entering the bloodstream and also stabilizes blood sugar. Insoluble fiber keeps you regular, so carcinogens pass more quickly through your intestines, which may prevent colorectal cancer. Moreover, data from the National Weight Control Registry, an ongoing evaluation of people who have lost and kept off at least 30 pounds for a year, reveals that 80% of the successful participants ate a whole grain oriented breakfast. Read the labels on products marketed as whole grain to be sure the whole grains are listed in the first two ingredients.

Finding Fiber: The folks at Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie, OR, www.bobsredmill.com have kept their nose to the grindstone with the “no grain, no gain” motto. They package, and distribute nationally, an astounding array of unique cereals, pancake and waffle mixes, machine and hand-made bread mixes, quick bread mixes, gluten-free mixes, and specialty grain products that can assure your diet meets its daily requirement of 15 to 30 grams of fiber.

It takes about 90 days of practice, persistence, and perspiration to fully integrate a new habit into your lifestyle. So keep walking and add these nutritional stars to your diet. You’ll experience increased energy and a healthier lease on life. In turn, you’ll be ready to power through the upcoming holiday season.

Protect Arteries from Free Radicals: Many valuable tools and toys we own break down after long use. The same is true of the cells in our body. As cells age and break down, they naturally produce unstable chemicals called free (oxygen) radicals that can damage cell membranes, DNA, and other delicate internal machinery unless their oxidative stress properties are stabilized. Our body has a natural antioxidant mechanism that helps protect tissues from injury by neutralizing the effects of free radicals before they do damage. However, as we age, the ability to produce enough antioxidants is challenged as we are also confronted with stress and environmental factors such as exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, excessive sunlight, some drugs, and, ironically, too much exercise. Fortunately, you can overcome some of the potential damage of free radicals with thousands of antioxidant substances in food. Ironically supplements don’t work nearly as well.