9 Steps to a Healthier Family Diet Part #1

Here is another great nutrition article to help you get the most you can from your families diet. This week we have really focused hard on the nutrition aspect. To me this is where great life choices and habits is most important for our youth. Understanding the importance of the foods we eat and how it can positively or negatively impact our bodies is crucial as we develop. I am constantly trying to stress this to the athletes that I coach.

Here is the first part of a great article by Dr William Sears. Enjoy!

Dr. William Sears knows a lot about nutrition. He’s been a practicing pediatrician for more than 35 years, and he and wife Martha have co-authored more than 30 books on parenting and childcare. His advice columns appear in both Parenting and Baby Talk magazines.

“We have a nutritional crisis in America,” Sears warns,“and we pediatricians are seeing the consequences – things like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood cho-lesterol – earlier and earlier in children.” Sears believes that we need to make a healthy diet less threatening to people. “I’ve reduced what I’ve learned about nutrition into Nine Simple Steps designed to help families break through the clutter of nutritional information that’s out there.”

Step One: Shape young tastes.

“There are mothers in my practice that I call ‘pure moms,’” Sears continues. “They never let a morsel of junk food enter their children’s mouths. I followed these children over the years and noticed that they weren’t sick as often, and didn’t have as many school and attention problems. And when these ‘pure’ children went out into the real world of birthday parties and junk food, they didn’t over- dose. 

“They had actually developed a taste for real, wholesome food.” “You don’t have to be perfect,” Sears assures. “The occasional junk food is okay. But the more you can start programming your children toward healthier eating in the early years, the healthier they will be.” 

Step Two:  Feed your family the right carbohydrates.

“Carbohydrates are not bad things,” according to Dr. Sears. “We all need healthy carbs – young children especially. At least 50 percent of a child’s diet should be in the form of healthy carbs – even more if they’re very active. “Adults need plenty of healthy carbs, too. “The key is to get good carbs, not bad ones,” Sears elaborates. Good carbs are packaged by nature: fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Bad carbs come from the factory. The worst carbs are sweetened beverages.” meals,” he explains. 

Step Three:  Feed your family the right fats. 

Dr. Sears adds that fats are not bad, either. “People of all ages need a right fat diet, not necessarily a lowfat diet,” he advises. Sears believes that we don’t get enough right fats in our diets. “The two main nutritional deficiencies that exist at all ages are: 1) fruits and vegetables and 2) omega-3 fats.” He confirms that the best fats are found in seafood, especially wild salmon; in healthy oils, such as flax oil and olive oil; in nuts and nut butters; in seeds, such as sesame seeds and sunflower seeds; and, in avocados. 

“The less healthy fats come from animal fats,” he explains. “The worst fats of all are hydrogenated fats and oils. These fats come from the factory, where they have been processed and chemically changed to make the food last longer.”