Dessert Aisle or Yogurt Aisle
Wow it has been weeks since the last blog post. but don't worry I've got a stream of material coming your way. So no reason to wait any longer here's a good article in NPR.
This article is discussing the growing concern that a favorite health food, yogurt, has become more of a dessert option than a health food option.
Is this true? Below are some examples of good quality brand that I was able to find at our local grocery store. It looks like the article has a lot of truth. The whole yogurt section was very similar just different flavors and brand with very similar nutrition contents. However, the health food section had a few good options.
Here are a few examples that can be found in the regular yogurt section:
- Yoplait (150g container= 5oz serving)
o whips low-fat option: peanut butter chocolate:
- 4g fat, 26g carb (22g sugar), 5 g protein, fiber 0g
o light option: peach:
- carb 16g (10g sugar), protein 5g, fat 0, fiber 0g
o regular: pumpkin pie:
- fat 2g, carb 26g (19g sugar), protein 6g, fiber 0g
o Greek protein: black cherry:
- carb 11g, (7g sugar), protein 14g, fat 0g, fiber 0g
- Noosa (150g container= 5oz serving)Pina colada:
- fat 6g, carb 14g (13g sugar), protein 5g, fiber 0g
- Kalona (6oz. serving)
o low-fat organic 2%: Vanilla:
- fat 3g, carb 18g (18g sugar), fiber 0g, protein 6g
Here are some examples in the health market or health sections:
- Kalona (8oz. serving)
o whole milk Greek: plain:
- fat 24g, carb 6g (6g sugar), fiber 0g, protein 18g
- Fage (7oz. serving)
o total 5%: plain:
- fat 10g, carb 6g (6g sugar), fiber 0g, protein 18g
How to make little changes to improve your health?
Are you struggling with your health? Have you had that talk with you doctor, spouse, or family about needing to make a change? But you're just not convinced that you are ready to make a change and if this change can provide enough improvement for your health to make it worth it. I challenge you to make a small experiment to see what change can bring.
Start by cutting out all sweetened beverages that contain carbohydrates for 1 month. This means avoiding all of the drinks that contain carbohydrates including but not limited to: alcohol, soda, sport drinks, milk and sweetened alternate milks, fruit and vegetable juices
>After on month see what benefits you notice, these benefits might include: improved blood sugar control, foods cost savings, weight loss, less head fog
Second, try a month of cutting out the sweets in addition to cutting out the sweetened beverages. That's right get all the sweets out of your diet for a full month, including but not limited to: cookie, candies, chocolates, pastries, ice cream, donuts, cakes, hard candies, licorice
Third and final step of the experiment, try adding salt junk foods to the list of foods you have cut out. These include but are not limited to potato chips, doritos, rice cakes, pita chips, corn chips, pretzels, and pop corn.
Now that it has been three months reflect on how these changes have effected your health. Imagine how these foods that you have cut out from your diet over the past 3 months fit into your diet. Were these foods vitally important to your health? Were these foods vital parts of well rounded meals? After this challenge think about how often you snack between meals and how much nicer it would be if you didn't feel hungry between meals. There are huge benefits to adopting a low carb lifestyle, no more feeling hungry, improved blood sugar levels, weight loss, improved blood lipids, less head fog, improved energy, and increased intake in vitamins and minerals.
If you make it through the experiment then you have made a huge step in the right direction to adopting a low carb lifestyle. The next step is fading out the cereals, oatmeal, bread, pasta, pizza, potato, rice, and corn. Make a diet centered around vegetables with a moderate amount of protein and large amount of fat. Eat based on your hunger cues and start to pay attention to the feeling of fullness.
These little changes in diet can greatly effect someones health for the better.