Two out of every three Americans want to live to be 100 years old and they expect science to help them achieve that goal. According to a 2001 survey on attitudes toward aging and longevity conducted for the Alliance for Aging Research, survey respondents believed that personal actions—such as keeping a positive outlook, exercising regularly, eating nutritious foods, and keeping stress to a minimum—were important to remaining healthy as they aged. According to an article about the survey on SeniorJournal.com. “Most Americans want to hit the century mark, but don’t view living longer as an end in itself. They want to live with health and vitality and benefit from the many scientific breakthroughs now on the horizon.”
Despite having the desire for longevity and good health, many Americans, unfortunately, do not practice good nutrition nor fitness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in its report, The State of Aging and Health in America 2007, that the three lifestyle factors of poor nutrition, inactivity, and smoking were the root causes of more than a third of all deaths in the United States, and that these factors underlie the development of some of the nation’s most prevalent chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. The CDC also found that the majority of Americans simply do not eat-right
When you eat less than your body needs for survival, your metabolism goes into a hibernation mode that increases fat storage, causes water loss, and breaks down muscle and organ tissue. This is not a good long-term strategy for health—or even for achieving or maintaining a healthy weight! That is why you need to maintain a balanced diet that includes sufficient sources of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat sources. Balancing these three vital classes of nutrients sustains your energy throughout the day and helps stabilize glucose (sugar) levels, which contributes to preventing and controlling heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
We begin with the carbohydrate food sources (fruit, starchy vegetables, “true” vegetables, grains, and most dairy) because they provide our bodies’ primary fuel—glucose. The bottom line is this: Eliminating food groups is not a healthy choice. Our brain, muscles, and organs all require glucose to function, and carbohydrates are the best place to get it. Although many popular weight-loss diets are based on cutting carbohydrates, this macronutrient is essential for optimal metabolism and health. When the body does not get enough carbohydrates from food, it has to convert protein into glucose, which is a very inefficient process. This requires a lot of water, which can lead to dehydration if you don’t drink extra to compensate. It also releases excess nitrogen, which the liver and kidneys must work overtime to process and excrete. A diet that’s too low in carbohydrates can contribute to fatigue and put stress on the liver and kidneys.
Protein foods are the sustainers—they provide the materials to rebuild muscles and organs, sustaining us in the long run. Because they are absorbed more slowly than carbohydrate foods, they help provide sustained energy throughout the day. For example, fruit takes about an hour to digest, whereas cheese or nuts, with their higher fat and protein content, take three to four hours to digest. For sustained energy, have cheese or nuts along with your fruit or other carbs. The fruit will keep you from being hungry again in an hour, while the protein foods will stretch your energy out over the next three to four hours—definitely a more efficient use of your eating time!
A good rule of thumb regarding protein foods is to choose predominantly vegetarian protein sources. A number of studies have shown a strong correlation between vegetarian and semi-vegetarian diets and a reduced risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, age-related ocular macular degeneration, colonic diverticula, and gallstones. Aim to limit meat consumption so that animal protein plays a central role in, at most, one meal a day. If you eat a turkey sandwich at lunch, try to have a vegetable protein source at dinner. (Although fish is an animal protein, many types of fish are low in saturated fat and are such a great source of omega-3 fatty acids that I do not count them against the meat total for the day.)
Fats are our satisfier. The third macronutrient in our balancing act, fat is the most slowly digested, keeping us satisfied longer and slowing the absorption of the glucose in carbohydrate foods. Dietary fat is essential for hormonal balance, insulation of our skin and nerves, and healthy skin and hair. These dietary fats must include essential fatty acids, which help lower cholesterol, increase high-density lipoproteins (HDL) or “good” cholesterol, and lower triglycerides.
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