Healthy Eating: A Guide to the New Nutrition

Source: Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School

Forget your preconceived notions about healthy eating. A new nutrition story has emerged. This new story, based on evidence from rigorous scientific studies, is not about denying yourself the foods you love or following a rigid diet plan. It's a set of principles you can use to select from among the foods you enjoy. Research from the last decade or so shows beyond all doubt that you can lower your risk for the most serious diseases of our time by following a healthy diet. Healthy eating, based on this new science, can ward off 25% of all cancers and, combined with exercising regularly and not smoking, can prevent possibly 90% of cases of type 2 diabetes. It can also cut your risk for heart disease, by 90% and prevent hypertension, osteoporosis, and many other conditions.

We've known for years that certain foods are healthy - especially fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. But now we know why they're healthy. For the first time, scientists can point to specific nutrients and other substances in foods that fight disease, including vitamins, minerals, and plant chemicals. But while "eat your vegetables" is a well-known refrain, it may surprise you to know that you should eat fat, too. It's news to many people that some of the healthiest foods are fats. Maligned for many years as the bane of a healthy diet, some types of fat - mainly those from plants and fish-have been shown to keep arteries clear and hearts beating normally and possibly to inhibit some forms of cancer.

This mounting evidence triggered a wholesale revision of the government¹s nutritional recommendations in 2002 with the introduction of the new dietary reference intakes (DRIs) for protein, carbohydrates, fat, and fiber. The following pages explain these DRIs and give practical advice on how you can use them. You¹ll find out how to separate the truths from the half-truths on a food label to size up a food¹s disease-fighting (or disease-promoting) properties. You¹ll learn the science behind the latest food trends, such as low-carbohydrate diets and soy. You¹ll also learn why some low-fat versions of foods can improve your diet while others are little more than marketing gimmicks.

Choosing healthy foods goes beyond nutrition. One of the biggest challenges to healthy eating today is choosing foods that are safe as well as nutritious. Contamination from bacteria and other germs has become the biggest threat to food safety in recent years. Residues of toxic pesticides used in farming and shipping also pose risks to human health.

This report supplies the information you¹ll need to choose safe, nutritious foods. Although junk food beckons from every store shelf and restaurant menu, there¹s also a bounteous supply of healthful options. Perhaps best of all, healthy eating doesn¹t demand that you give up great-tasting meals and snacks. You may need to adjust your tastes a bit, but there are plenty of delicious, convenient, nutritious choices under the broad umbrella of healthy eating.