Well, the easiest and perhaps most useful guide to basic nutrition is called the New Four Food Groups, introduced by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in 1991.
Let’s briefly review its guidelines and then, we will see how the guidelines turn into actual meals.
Generally, The New Four Food Groups are:
1) Vegetables,
2) Legumes - Such as Beans, Peans and Lentils
3) Fruits, and
4) Whole grains.
The idea is to build your diet by choosing a variety from each of these groups. Here are suggestions for the number of servings from each group:
1) Vegetables - 3 or more servings per day
2) Legumes - 2 or more servings per day
3) Fruits - 3 or more servings per day
4) Whole grains - 5 or more servings per day
and ADD any common multiple vitamin to ensure adequate intake of vitamin B.
Those above suggested serving numbers are just suggestions to get you started. but you can free to vary your proportions as you like.
For example, using the New Four Food Groups which follows a traditional Asian pattern,such as rice or noodles (whole grains), with smaller amounts of vegetables
and bean dishes, and finally reserving fruit for dessert.
However, it is just as acceptable to emphasize more vegetables and fewer grain products. Some people who gravitate toward raw foods will increase fruits. You can get complete and healthful nutrition using essentially any pattern that uses each of the four groups.
For optimal nutrition, you will want to avoid meat (red meat, poultry, and fish), dairy products, eggs, added oils, and high-fat foodssuch as potato chips, olives, nuts and nut butters, seeds, and avocados. Steer clear of fried foods and any oily or fatty toppings like margarine or typical salad dressings (non-fat dressings are fine).
You need to know that avoiding fatty foods helps your taste buds to reduce their preference for greasy tastes. When you select breads,cereals, or other grain products, favor those that retain their normal fiber (e.g., brown rice rather than white rice).
So how does all this translate into actual meals? The foods you’ll now focus on are not really so different from what you already eat. Breakfast might be a big bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins(but skip the milk).
If you like, add some cantaloupe or whole-grain toast. Lunch might be a bowl of split pea soup or perhaps a plate of baked beans with crackers.
Dinner could be minestrone followed by angel hair pasta with marinara sauce or perhaps an autumn stew of vegetables, beans,and hearty grains.
Here some Recommended Recipes that might can help you:
1) Hummus
2) Easy Bean Salad
3) Easy Stir-Fry
4) Breakfast Shakes
Post a Comment