Ten Dietary Principles To Live By

Source: Natural Solutions for Common Health Concerns, Fall 2006

Reverse Metabolic Syndrome is a nutritional disease, the most straightforward way to prevent or reverse it is by improving your eating habits. This may call for a wholesale revision of your diet, and that may present a challenge to your willpower. But if you tackle each change a step or two at a time, you’ll find yourself on the way to better health in a few weeks.

1. Emphasize fresh foods and condiments. Fresh is better than frozen, but frozen foods are better than packaged foods (e.g., those sold in boxes, bottles, jars, or bags).

2. Stick with healthy proteins, such as fish, chicken and turkey. Small amounts of legumes are all right, but they’re high in carbohydrate calories.

3. Eat a lot of high-fiber, nonstarchy vegetables, such as salads, broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach. Similarly, stick to nonstarchy fruits, such as raspberries, blueberries, and kiwi.

4. When cooking, use olive, macadamia, or avocado oils. Occasional use of canola oil is fine.

5. Drink mineral waters and herbal iced teas instead of soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, or alcoholic beverages.

6. Reduce portion sizes. Large amounts of foods, particularly carbohydrates, have a greater impact on glucose tolerance.

7. Limit your intake of whole-grain carbohydrates, but some colored rice (brown, red, or purple) and an occasional yam are probably all right for most people.

8. Avoid foods made with refined sugars and simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, pasta, pizza, sugary soft drinks, and desserts.

9. Avoid corn, soybean, and safflower oils, as well as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

10. When snacking include a little protein, such as chicken, hard cheese, or home-made trail mix.

Finally, know that except in severe cases the cure for metabolic syndrome rests with you and you alone. Your health care provider can help you, but only you can get yourself back on the road to good health.