The Lifestyle Chronicles - First, Eat The Right Foods

The August issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource offers its top 10 picks for healthy foods:
Apples
Almonds
Broccoli
Blueberries
Red beans
Salmon
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Vegetable juice
Wheat germ

Adding and increasing the amounts of vegetables and fruits in the diet supplies more of the nutrients necessary for normal metabolism. Some vitamins are fat soluble and require fat in the diet for their absorption. This should not be saturated fat or fat that is chemically altered. Nuts supply useful forms of vitamin E and the calories can be controlled by mixing nuts with vegetables or fruit. Vegetables and fruit can promote weight loss because they contain important nutrients and their bulk is filling to satisfy appetite. Hopefully, this would replace high calorie, nutrition poor foods.

There are many nutrients necessary for normal metabolism. It would be impossible to obtain all of these by taking supplements. Supplements do not satisfy appetite and nutrients work in conjunction with each other. Humans long ago adapted to deriving essential nutrients from whole foods.

Are you eating enough vegetables and fruits? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Cancer Institute, only 40 percent of Americans are eating at least five or more servings of vegetables and fruits daily.

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