By Carolyn Newberry, MD, as advised to Alexandra Benisek
Within the WebMD webinar
“Eating for a Healthy Weight,”
Carolyn Newberry, MD, of Weill Cornell Drugs of Cornell College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Middle, answered viewer questions on the way to create a nutritious diet for weight administration.
What do you concentrate on margarine, low-fat butter-like spreads, and actual butter? Which is finest?
Plenty of this relies on your private well being historical past. For someone who does not have a historical past of coronary heart illness or coronary artery illness, it’s OK and even probably higher to eat
butter
that’s much less processed, even when it’s increased in fats. You simply need to watch your parts. Consuming slightly little bit of contemporary, farm-made butter on a chunk of whole-grain toast is totally superb.
Some merchandise could seem more healthy if they’ve a
“low fat”
or “low sugar” label. However while you actually dive into the meals labels, these have a number of components, synthetic sweeteners, or different substances that aren’t within the pure meals product. This stuff might result in different well being points. There’s additionally information that reveals that extra
artificial sweeteners and other artificial ingredients can cause digestive health problems.
Overall, for the average person who doesn’t have specific health problems, it’s better to have more natural and less-processed food with fewer ingredients.
What about the number of eggs in a healthy diet for people with high cholesterol, and for people who don’t have any cholesterol issues?
In general, if you don’t have very high cholesterol or some other reason you need to limit cholesterol in your diet, then I think
eggs actually are a really good source of protein.
You want to eat both the egg white and the yolk because it’s a little more of a complete food, with protein, too. If you eat a bowl of egg whites, it’s very hard to feel satisfied afterward. But with the yolk in it, even though it has more calories, you may eat a smaller portion of food, and you’re going to get more nutrients.
Some more recent research says maybe it’s not dietary cholesterol that’s raising our cholesterol levels. Maybe it’s more of the saturated fat, like whole milk products, red meat, or processed meats. Those are probably more likely to cause rises in cholesterol, coronary artery disease, and heart disease than dietary cholesterol from an egg.
What’s the best way to balance between cardiac and diabetic diets?
It’s common to have both because they go hand-in-hand. These diets don’t have to be entirely different.
With diabetes, you have to watch your simple sugar intake. These are the sugars that are broken down really quickly and raise your blood sugar quickly. But carbohydrates are still an important part of the diet. So it’s important to eat carbohydrates that have a higher amount of fiber in them instead of sugar or added sugar. And a lower-processed sugar, higher-fiber diet also helps lower your heart disease risk.
With heart disease, you’ll also want to watch your saturated fat intake. Somebody with diabetes is at a higher risk of heart disease. So they also should also watch their saturated fat intake.
The diet that’s best for cardiovascular health is the
Mediterranean-style diet
. It has extra fruits, greens, and entire grains. This eating regimen is excessive in fiber, and a number of its protein comes from crops, nuts, or legumes. There’s additionally some seafood in there for omega-3s.
Do you assume natural meals are finest?
They are usually much more costly, so I do not know if the
organic
choice is all the time higher than the non-organic choice. But it surely’s good to stay to less-processed meals which have fewer substances.
It is not practical for most individuals to purchase all natural. You can too purchase a bag of frozen fruits or greens. They’re frozen on the time that they’re contemporary, so that they nonetheless have quite a bit, if not all, of their nutrient content material. That’s only a less expensive strategy to devour meals.
Can a nutritious diet embrace alcohol? If that’s the case, what are the perfect tips?
It relies on your medical historical past. In case you have sure well being circumstances, alcohol ought to be prevented. However a modest quantity of
alcohol in your diet is usually fine for most people.
The Mediterranean diet does contain a small amount of red wine. If you’re choosing alcoholic beverages, a glass of wine might be a better option than a mixed cocktail. Those often have a lot of added sugar.
It’s not that you can never have a cocktail. But you need to find the right balance for making good decisions. Make sure you don’t have a sugary cocktail every day. But on a Saturday night, if you’re celebrating with your friends, it’s OK to have a cocktail. Then for the rest of the week, make sure to limit alcohol or choose a better option.
Is too much fruit a problem when trying to lose weight? What about lowering your A1c?
Fresh or frozen fruit – as long as it’s not in a syrup or in the form of a dessert – has a lot of good vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Plus, it tastes good.
When you eat fruit, you shouldn’t worry. Fruit isn’t added sugar, it’s natural sugar. What could be an issue is processed fruits like fruit juice. People may think it’s healthy, but if you think about the number of oranges you need to squeeze for a glass of orange juice, it’s a lot. When you use a juicer, you take out all the fiber from the fruit and you’re left with only the natural sugars. Then you drink those natural sugars at a really high level. You can still have fruit juice from time to time, but it’s not as good for you as a whole fruit.
I advise people to make a smoothie instead. This way, you grind up the whole fruit and still have all the fiber to make it more filling, And it’s much more nutritious that way.
If your diabetes is very poorly controlled, your hemoglobin A1c is really high, or your blood sugars are really high, you may have to cut back on certain fruits that have higher natural sugars like watermelon or berries. But most people do totally fine with fruit.
Is it healthy to drink your calories?
Most liquid calories are not going to have a lot of health benefits. There are a lot of products on the market now that have a lot of added sugar or artificial sweeteners. In a perfect world, everyone would drink water to hydrate. But coffee is fine in reasonable amounts. Sometimes having fruit juice – like a glass of fresh orange juice with your breakfast – is totally fine. But just understand that most liquid calories are not really doing a lot for your health, even though it’s safe to drink them. Just think of it as a dessert.
Are any foods safe and healthy to eat all you want?
In general, it’s best to keep your diet balanced and realistic. It’s unlikely that somebody will sit down and just eat kale all day. It’s a great source of fiber, but you’re not getting a lot of protein, you’re not getting fat, and all these things are also important parts of the diet.
This is also why I’m hesitant to suggest fad diets, very low fat diets, or really low carbohydrate diets. They’re very restrictive. Some people with certain health problems may need to go that route. But the vast majority of people should look for diets with balanced macronutrients.
So there’s no food that you can just eat all day, every day, as much as you want. That’s not the way we should think about food.
Should multivitamins or other supplements be taken when dieting for weight loss?
Usually, if you’re cutting your calories, a once-a-day multivitamin can be a good idea, but it may not be necessary. Hopefully, you’re getting the nutrition you need as part of your diet.
Some groups of people may benefit from other
supplements
. For instance, people who find themselves postmenopausal may have calcium and vitamin D dietary supplements. An absence of iron can be frequent, particularly if you happen to’re on a plant-based eating regimen. So it’s possible you’ll want an iron complement. However there are a number of good plant sources of iron as effectively like spinach, inexperienced beans, or legumes. Simply be sure you eat sufficient to get the correct quantity of iron.
If you happen to’re vegan, you want a B12 complement as a result of B12 is just in animal merchandise.
What are some examples of pure urge for food suppressants?
Truthfully, there is not a number of data that helps something to naturally decelerate or
suppress your appetite.
No complement is FDA regulated, so that you by no means actually know what you are getting.
It’s not that dietary supplements don’t work; most simply haven’t been researched sufficient.
I can’t counsel a complement that’s been proven to decrease urge for food. However you are able to do issues to really feel extra full: eat balanced meals; have snacks which have carbs, fats, and protein to really feel full all day; eat a number of fiber; and drink a glass of water earlier than each meal.
I’d undoubtedly urge individuals to speak to their medical doctors after they begin any dietary supplements, since none of them are regulated.
You talked about social assist teams for serving to with weight reduction success. What’s one of the simplest ways to search out these teams?
There are numerous nationwide applications like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. These might assist with accountability, assist regulate what you eat, and in addition provide you with a assist system.
There are additionally medically supervised weight-management applications if you happen to qualify for them. Often that you must have a specific amount of additional weight to lose to be in a program like that. A BMI larger than 30 often could make you eligible for issues like medicines and procedures to make use of with eating regimen and train modifications.
I undoubtedly urge individuals to get skilled assist as a result of weight problems is a power illness and might be handled identical to some other long-term illness.
What are the professionals and cons of intermittent fasting?
Many individuals do effectively with small meals eaten typically in the course of the day. Intermittent
fasting is a different approach, where you eat during a very short time window, and then you fast, or don’t eat. There are certainly health benefits for some people. You may find it easier, or it might help you eat fewer calories during the day if you need a lower-calorie diet.
Some studies show that it could help people who are insulin resistant, have elevated blood sugar level problems, or have other metabolic syndrome history. I think it totally depends on you. The best diet plan is the one you can follow.
What are some examples of micronutrients and macronutrients?
Macronutrients are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Those are the basic things that foods are made out of. Then micronutrients are all your vitamins and minerals. There are a number of trace metals as well, like copper, selenium, zinc, and iron.
How much water should someone drink each day? Is sparkling water as hydrating as still water? Is tap water as good as bottled?
Hydration is really important. Eight glasses of water a day is roughly a good number.
Yes, sparkling water is just as hydrating. It’s water, it just has bubbles in it. But what you have to watch for with sparkling water is the extra bloat. If you’re somebody who’s sensitive to that, adding a lot of gas bubbles to your digestive system can be uncomfortable. If it doesn’t cause symptoms, you’re fine to drink it. But just be aware that a lot of sparkling waters do add sweeteners or flavorings, which can add calories or sugars.
For tap water, it depends on where you live. Some tap water also has fluoride, which can be very good for your teeth. There are some places where the water isn’t safe to drink or isn’t as processed. But you would probably know if you’re in an area like that.
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