Friday, August 2, 2013

Choose the Right Calories for Life



If you’re trying to cut calories to lose weight and get healthier, are you confident you are cutting the right calories? In our last blog we discussed a type of sugar, fructose, and how the overconsumption of this poison is contributing to increasing levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in America. Cutting out or at least cutting way back on foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup is a great start.

But in your quest to drop pounds, you may be cutting out important calories that will actually help to speed up your metabolism and keep your insides healthy.

Glucose is another type of sugar, but this is actually an important energy source for life. Glucose comes from the carbohydrates we eat. We burn glucose to produce energy.

Protein requires twice as much energy output to process than carbohydrates do. This means that your body will work harder to move these types of foods through the body. Protein also helps keep hunger at bay, but make sure you’re choosing lean proteins or you’ll be working against yourself again.

Fiber is necessary to keep your bowels in healthy working order, lower cholesterol levels and control blood sugar. Men under age 50 need 38 grams of fiber each day; women need 25 grams. Fiber from some foods, like almonds, will delay absorption of a portion of the calories into your bloodstream so they are delivered into the intestines and eliminated. Fiber also helps to satisfy hunger without overeating.

Fats come in different forms: Trans fats can clog your arteries while omega-3 fatty acids are essential to our overall health. We need healthy fats in our diet; without them our bodies won’t work as effectively. You can get these good fats by consuming foods like fish, nuts, olive oil and flax in moderation.

The bottom line is that you need to be smart in your food choices, whether or not you are trying to lose weight. For more tips on how to eat healthier, contact Dr. Marilyn Kutzscher in San Francisco at 415-923-3560 or marilynkmd.com.