January 16, 2008

Keep Your Eyes (and Mouth) on Healthy Eating Priorities

Bravo! I applaud Sally Squires’ (Lean Plate Club, Washington Post) balanced synopsis of the pros and cons of using glycemic index as a tool for healthier eating After 30 years, Glycemic Index Still Fights for Acceptance.

With equivocal results for GI, it’s time for people who want to eat healthier and/or to prevent or manage type 2 diabetes to stop waiting for THE magic diet bullet. The sooner people bite (and swallow) the bullet that eating healthy in our world today is one tough job, the quicker they’ll realize that the one small step at a time approach is the way to healthier eating habits for good.

To ease this challenge, keep your eyes (and mouth) on key healthy eating priorities—arrived at through unequivocal research.
- eat five (or more) servings of fruits and vegetables a day
- eat more whole grains (at least half your servings of grains and starches)
- drink/eat two servings (~1 cup) low fat dairy foods/day
- reduce the amount of added sugars from regularly sweetened hot and cold beverages, desserts, and candy
- lighten up on saturated and trans fat and use unsaturated sources of fats and oils

Take note, Americans, in general, are falling short of these healthy eating priorities, which are much simpler to follow than the complexities of the GI eating plan. You’ll find more about the pros and cons of GI and how to eat healthier to prevent and/or manage type 2 diabetes in my book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy.