Link to Article

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN
Friday, January 2, 2004 Posted: 2:44 PM EST (1944 GMT)

CNN) -- Instead of making a New Year's resolution for a diet overhaul, how about making some simple eating choices that improve health in the long run?

Here are some picks that can be easily worked into diets. Most people probably haven't even thought about these foods as being super healthy.

Whole wheat products
Many try to cut down on the intake of carbohydrates, staying away from pasta and refined sugars. But the next time you're at the supermarket, eliminate pasta from that guilty-pleasure list by choosing whole wheat pasta, which is high in fiber.

Choosing whole wheat pasta contributes to a lowered risk of heart disease, reduced complications linked to diabetes, a lower likelihood of having cancer and better gastrointestinal health because of more fiber.

For snacking, pick out a whole wheat pretzel or whole wheat tortillas instead of white. Other good choices? Having a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast or trying whole grain crackers such as Triscuits instead of regular saltier, buttery choices.

Salmon and beans
Another favorite food of 2004 has to be salmon. It contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce the risk of heart attacks and help lower blood cholesterol. Its vitamin A and carotenoids may also prevent cancer. And there's much less saturated fat in salmon than in equal amounts of just about any meat or poultry protein source.

Beans and other legumes such as lentils and peas are inexpensive to buy, but they are rich in protein, iron and folic acid and fiber. Unlike other vegetables, they can step in for meat, poultry, eggs or other protein foods, cutting down on the risk for heart disease and cancers that some of those meats might have.

Another winning choice is a cup of chili, containing only about two grams of saturated fat. Choosing bean dip or hummus over cheese or cream-based dips can also be a healthy alternative. Or how about throwing some garbanzo beans into a salad?

Sweet potatoes
The sweet potato has been ranked continuously as the most nutritious vegetable source around. They're loaded with four times the recommended daily allowance of beta carotene, which is critical for healthy vision, bone growth, tooth development and good skin and hair.

And for Atkins dieters who are cutting down on sugars and carbs, sweet potatoes are on the safe list as a great substitute for other starches such as rice, potatoes and corn.

So instead of vaguely resolving to eat healthy, take some simple, but specific steps such as learning to recognize good fat over bad fat and good carbs over bad carbs. Pay attention to the calories but also know which foods stand out for their high nutritional content.

Overall a good article for those that are looking to make simple changes that benefit their overall health, but I have a bit of a problem with the above statement that beans and other legumes such as lentils and peas are an equal substitute for animal proteins. Plant proteins, with the exception of soy, are incomplete proteins and while they are less expensive, they also leave you deficient in essential amino acids when they are substituted wholly for animal protein unless they are correcty combined and few people know how to do that correctly. There has also been no conclusive link between eating meat and cancer shown and here they present it as a definite risk.



Whole wheat pasta, while higher in fiber, isn't significantly lower in GI than regular pasta so the only benefit you're getting is an increased fiber intake.

IMO, whole wheat pasta eliminates pasta from the pleasure list, period! I'd rather do without pasta altogether than eat WW pasta.

I used to love whole wheat pasta with fat free cheese and some diced tomatoes and fresh basil.

I used to think it was so healthy too.

I still have 5 boxes of whole wheat pasta in my pantry
along with about 5 boxes of Kashi GoLean and GoLean Crunch. High fiber cereal loaded with sugar (though was soooooo yummy at the time)

Heh - yeah, and don't forget All Bran, which contains high fructose corn syrup. Isn't that false advertising? It isn't "all bran".

More drivel from the fiber camp.

Whole wheat pasta = refined pasta with sawdust added. Glycemic index is virtually the same as regular pasta. (And incidentally, any country regularly eating pasta won't touch whole-wheat pasta. Tastes like cattle feed.)

Or this nonsense:

"trying whole grain crackers such as Triscuits instead of regular saltier, buttery choices."

Triscuits are LOADED with partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Trans fats. Whole grain or not, it's STUPID to eat them. Of course butter, which humans have eated for about 10,000 years, is to be shunned. Dumb advice.

Isn't it amazing what people still think? For decades the experts have been telling us to cut down on the fat, vegetarianism is soooo healty, load up on whole grains and eliminate butter and cheesy/creamy/decadent sauces - Well it seems like most have followed their advice because North America keeps getting FATTER!!!

I'm glad to have finally found a plan that not only works ( ), but also has wonderful flavourful food!!!!