Seven Tips For Better Health (John Hopkins News Letter)

Here are 7 Well & Wise tips to get you started on the path to better nutrition.

1. Keep a food log. Whether you use the old fashioned approach of paper and pencil or a new smartphone app like My Fitness Pal, record everything you eat and drink for at least five days. This will give you great insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your diet and help you create a plan for eating more nutritiously in the future.
2. Breakfast- the most important meal of the day. You’ve heard this before, but not only will eating breakfast help you consume less calories throughout the day, it will kickstart your metabolism, improve your mental focus and give you energy.
3. Put down the sugary drinks. Drink water. Today, one in four Maryland children is overweight or obese. Sugary drinks are estimated to account for 20 percent of the nation’s overweight problem and are the number one source of empty calories in children’s diets.
4. Rock the Wok! Learn to make quick, easy and tasteful stir fry recipes. A great way to get more veggies into your diet.
5. Lose the Salt. 9 out of 10 Americans eat too much salt. Don’t blame it all on the shaker, though- sixty-five percent of salt consumption comes from food sold in stores. Check out this grocery store tour by a Johns Hopkins dietitian for more information.
6. Portion Control is key to healthy eating. Our judgment of portion size is skewed. Learn to estimate serving size more accurately by using visual cues. (A 3 oz serving of fish is approximately the size of a deck of cards. A tsp of butter is about the size of a single die. One serving of dry cereal is the size of a hockey puck.- not a medium-sized mixing bowl!)
7. Nuts! Reach for these great sources of healthy monounsaturated fats. Nuts are one of the best sources of omega 3- a heart healthy fatty acid. In addition to omega 3, nuts contain the amino acid, L-arginine. L-arginine may relax blood vessels making them more flexible and less prone to blood clots. Arginine has also been shown to promote wound healing, and boost immune function.