Q: I love ice cream, frozen yogurt, and basically every frozen treat (especially in summer). Are some choices better than others, nutritionally speaking?
A: What do you love about ice cream or frozen yogurt or summer treats — the smoothness, the coldness, the sweetness? Whenever you pick a summer dessert or sweet eating occasion, think about what will satisfy you the most. I recently tasted a greens and avocado popsicle — yes, it had greens, green apple, and avocado puréed and made into a homemade popsicle — and it was so yummy that it blew me away. I’ve had coconut water granitas which I loved because they hydrated me and provided a mellow, not-too-sweet flavor. But I’ve also enjoyed peanut butter chocolate coconut ice cream and said, “there’s nothing better than this!”
So the first rule for making a good decision about a dessert or summer sweet is to figure out what you really want/need.
The second rule should be obvious: portion control. If you practice portion control, you really can have your favorite summer dessert and eat it, too.
And third, keep in mind that quality matters a lot in terms of how your body absorbs nutrients and how “bad” or “good” something is for you nutritionally. Your body knows what to do with food, but chemicals can confuse it — so stick with organic ingredients without GMOs, pesticides, artificial colorings, and no hormones or antibiotics used.
Q: I see grapefruit and celery featured in a lot of diet guides. Can they really help me burn fat and lose weight?
A: We can lose weight in a lot of ways — and many of them are not healthy or sustainable for our bodies. You make a good distinction in your question between “burning fat” and weight loss; pounds on a scale don’t necessarily equate to change in your body composition (loss of fat coupled with development of lean body mass). If you’re trying to lose weight, some of each pound lost should come from fat, and some, inevitably, will come from lean body mass and water.
The keys to optimal fat burning lie in making healthy changes to your diet as well as increasing your activities, including strength training, cardiovascular training, and stretching. Both grapefruit and celery provide water, vitamin C, and fiber, which help us feel full, support our immune systems, and hydrate our cells — all of which can help you lose weight, tone your body, and improve your overall health.
Grapefruit also provides carbohydrate (as fructose, or fruit sugar) for energy and contains detoxifying agents that help your liver clear toxins from your body. So enjoy both of these organic options as part of your healthy diet (and weight loss regimen).
Q: What’s so good about fiber in my diet?
A: Dietary fiber is critical to a healthy diet and the proper functioning of our bodies. It helps us feel full; it aids digestion both by adding bulk to stool and by scraping the lining of the digestive tract (our built-in “cleaning system”); it aids heart health; and as a prebiotic (a material that helps good bacteria to grow and flourish), it promotes a hospitable environment for probiotics (the good bacteria that help our digestion and support our immune system).
You’ll find fiber in the skins of fruits and vegetables (like arugula), legumes, sprouts, and grains (especially whole grains). It helps to moderate the body’s absorption of sugars. For example, that’s why I usually recommend eating whole fruit instead of drinking fruit juice; in the absence of fiber, the sugar in juice is absorbed very quickly, so portion control is important.
Unfortunately, our consumption of highly processed foods and non-water beverages has decreased the average amount of fiber in our diets; as a result, numerous synthetic fibers are sold as supplements and added into food products. While these additives may add bulk and provide some of fiber’s benefits, they don’t necessarily include the phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals found in Nature’s fiber sources. I recommend adding whole foods into your diet first, and then carefully incorporating fiber-added products only as needed.
For optimal nutrition and satisfaction, try to include some fiber at every meal. If you have food allergies or intolerances, it’s important for you to include other natural sources of fiber (rice bran, chia bran, and flax seeds are excellent sources of fiber) to make up for the fiber in the foods you avoid.
Getting enough fiber is really important — but you can also get too much of a good thing. When you increase the fiber in your diet, you also need to maintain adequate hydration (drinking water, eating foods containing potassium) to ensure that it passes through your digestive system properly. If you’re taking a fiber supplement or eating a food fortified with a high amount of fiber, be sure to follow product directions. Pay attention to how your body responds, and get specific advice from your healthcare practitioner.
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