Good Nutrition

By:
National Women's Health Resource Center

It may be a cliche, but a balanced diet is the key to good nutrition and good health. Yet women often feel too busy to eat right. Tending to children, senior parents, making time for partners, pursuing careers and engaging in volunteer efforts all create a time crunch.

It's often easier to pick up fast food than to prepare a healthy meal at home. But fast food is usually high in fat and calories and low in other nutrients, which can seriously affect your health. At the other extreme, there is a multimillion dollar industry focused on telling women that being fit means being thin and that dieting is part of good nutrition.

Between our busy lives and the messages we hear from society, it's no wonder that many women suffer from poor nutrition.

Good nutrition means eating a balanced diet. Poor nutrition is just the opposite, and it can lead to a myriad of health problems. It's important to learn how to eat right, which means including the right amounts of the right kinds of food.

Nutritious eating isn't that difficult - in theory. It comes down to basics you probably already know. Eat a varied diet that includes plenty of grain products, vegetables and fruits, but limit your intake of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugars and salt. Drink enough water, at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily - more if you exercise frequently.

And eat regularly. Skip breakfast and eat lunch on the run, and you will be ravenous in the afternoon. Some experts advise planning healthy snacks - fruit, yogurt - to stave off the munchies.

Here are the basics of a good diet:

• The bulk of your diet should come from the grain group - this includes bread, cereal, rice and pasta (six to 11 servings daily); the vegetable group (three to five servings); and the fruit group (two to four servings).
• Select smaller amounts of foods from the milk group (two to three servings) and the meat and beans group (two to three servings).
• Eat few foods that are high in fat and sugars and low in other nutrients.

The number of servings you choose depends on your level of activity and the number of calories you consume. The smaller number of servings in each range is for people who consume about 1,600 calories a day, and are less active. The larger number of servings is for those who consume about 2,800 calories a day and are more active.

Be careful about what you call a serving. The government recommendations aren't the same as the serving size indicated on a package label. A USDA-defined serving from the grain group may include one slice of bread, while the serving listed on the package would be two slices. Below are serving sizes for major foods, to be used in interpreting the food pyramid recommendations:

Grain Products Group (bread, cereal, rice, and pasta)

• 1 slice of bread
• 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal
• 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta

Vegetable Group

• 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
• 1/2 cup of other vegetables - cooked or chopped raw
• 3/4 cup of vegetable juice

Fruit Group

• 1 medium apple, banana, orange
• 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit *
• 3/4 cup of fruit juice

Milk Group (milk, yogurt, and cheese)

• 1 cup of milk or yogurt
• 1-1/2 ounces of natural cheese
• 2 ounces of processed cheese

Meat and Beans Group (meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts) *

• 2-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish
• 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans or 1 egg counts as 1 ounce of lean meat. Two tablespoons of peanut butter or 1/3 cup of nuts count as 1 ounce of meat.

Notice that alcohol isn't included in a food group. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Alcohol offers little nutritional value and used in excess, it can cause serious damage such as distorted vision, judgement, hearing and coordination, emotional changes, bad breath, and hangovers.

Long-term effects can include liver and stomach damage, vitamin deficiencies, impotence, heart and central-nervous system damage and memory loss. Abuse can lead to alcohol poisoning, coma and death. Pregnant and nursing women should never drink: it can lead to birth defects. According to the March of Dimes, more than 50,000 babies are born each year with alcohol-related damage. Even light and moderate drinking can hurt your fetus.