Most people recognize, to varying extents of course, that what they eat (or don't eat) impacts their overall health. And, because of this recognition, many people try to eat more fruits and vegetables as well as less saturated fat and cholesterol while also cutting out junk foods.
However, it is important to remember that what you drink (or don't drink) also impacts your health. If you are careful to eat well, but drink excessive amounts of soda, fruit beverages, coffee, and/or alcoholic beverages you may not be as healthy as you could be. That is because such beverages contain a variety of substances that, when consumed in excess, are not health-giving. These substances include refined or artificial sweeteners, artificial flavorings, artificial colorings, synthetic preservatives, caffeine, and alcohol. In order to keep your beverage choices at the same peak nourishment level as your food choices, here are my recommendations:
Water: You can't go wrong with high-quality water. This beverage is not only at the top of my list, it is in a category all its own. While your water intake needs will vary from day to day, in its Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations, the National Academy of Sciences recommends about 13 cups of water each day for men and 9 cups for women. Space your intake throughout the day, make sure to rehydrate during and after exercise, and steer clear of excess water drinking during meal times if you find that practice to be personally helpful. For the highest quality water, I recommend
attaching a high-quality filter to your tap water supply and drinking this filtered tap water as your primary source of water. To give yourself plenty of easy access to home-filtered waters, you may want to purchase an easy-to-carry water bottle and refill it whenever you are home so that you can have water with you when you are on the go. Look for glass or stainless steel ones. If you’re getting a hard plastic (polycarbonate) bottle, be sure to purchase a "BPA-free" one.
(BPA stands for bisphenol A, a problematic toxin that has often been added to polycarbonate plastics.)
100% fruit juices: Fruit juice can be healthy when it is 100% fruit juice, with no added sweeteners. But, keep in mind, that juice can pack a powerful punch in terms of calories and sugar, so it may not be wise to consume a lot of juice, even 100% fruit juice, if you are trying to lose weight or have blood sugar regulation concerns. To take full advantage of the nutrients available in the fruit, press or juice the fruit at home and consume it immediately. If you want to buy fruit juice at a grocery store, keep in mind that 100% fruit juice is harder to find than you might think as many fruit beverages sold in supermarkets contain only a small percentage (usually less than 10%) of actual fruit juice. For a special occasion, instead of serving soda, make a refreshing and healthy punch by combining sparkling water with 100% cranberry juice, ice, and orange slices in a large bowl. (Remember though that while 100% fruit juice may be a healthful beverage, it shouldn’t be thought of as a substitute for whole fresh fruit.)
Iced herbal tea: Instead of regular iced tea, treat yourself to a cool drink of herbal iced tea. Many herbs are rich in powerful antioxidants, which support the immune system and overall health. Brew the tea stronger than you would if you were planning to serve the tea hot and then add ice and a sprig of mint or a slice of lemon. Peppermint tea is wonderful when served cold. Or, try a combination of various herbs: chamomile, hibiscus flower, lemon grass, orange peel, rose hips, and strawberry leaf.
Practical Tips for Continued Healthy Weight Loss
Healthier Lifestyle Tea: Healthier Lifestyle Tea is the name I have given to a delicious and health-supporting beverage made of one cup of green tea and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Green tea is not only delicious but is renowned for its health-promoting properties.
These have been linked to its high concentration of catechin phy- tonutrients, which have a wide variety of protective benefits, many related to their potent ability to fight free radicals. Adding 1 tsp of lemon juice per cup of green tea not only gives it a refreshing taste but additional benefits. Lemon juice is a concentrated source of vitamin C, and hot water and lemon is a very cleansing and energizing beverage. If you are sensitive to caffeine, you can drink decaf- feinated green tea. Green tea is best enjoyed hot without sweeten- ers, however if you want to sweeten your green tea, stevia, agave nectar, or honey are your best choices.
Red wine: Red wine has been associated with health-promoting benefits. Always drink the wine with meals. Current recommendations are 1 glass for women and 2 glasses for men per day. If you cannot tolerate alcohol or choose not to include it in your diet, you can benefit from the resveratrol found in alcohol by enjoying alcohol- free red wine or purple grape juice.
CHAPTER 13
The Healthiest Way of Cooking
From the time that I was five years old, cooking has been my passion.
I studied at some of the greatest schools in the world including La Varenne in Paris, Guiliano Bugialli’s cooking school in Florence, and Gourmet’s Oxford in England. My experience cooking as well as in food development (when I ran Health Valley Foods) inspired my determination to create recipes and preparation techniques that enhanced the health benefits of foods. I call this style the Healthiest Way of Cooking.
In addition to choosing the World’s Healthiest Foods as mainstays of your Healthiest Way of Eating, it is important to cook them in ways that conserve their nutrient-richness. That’s because the difference in nutritional quality between a food (let’s say a vegetable, for ex- ample) that is cooked enough for it to have enhanced taste and tex- ture compared to one that is overcooked is vastly different.
If you want to enjoy the full benefits that the World’s Healthiest Foods offer, it’s important to cook them for minimal amounts of time in order to preserve their health-promoting compounds. That’s why you’ll notice that most of the Healthiest Way of Cooking recom- mendations for the vegetables in my book, The World’s Healthiest Foods: Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating(and those I featured in the Healthy Weight Loss Eating Plan) entail only five or so minutes. In this short period of time you can cook vegetables al dente—tender on the outside, crisp on the inside—so that they have a delightful texture and vibrant flavor while maintaining so many more nutrients than if you cooked them for longer. Following my recommendations for the best cooking method and cooking time for each of the World’s Healthiest Foods, as outlined in The World’s
Healthiest Foodsbook and the recipes included in this e-book, will ensure you’ll enjoy great tasting foods that will provide you with great nutrition.
In addition to preserving nutrients during cooking it’s important to cook foods using methods that don’t create harmful compounds. For example, cooking with oil can oxidize their fats and cause lipid per- oxidation products that can cause problems in the body and increase the risk of atherosclerosis. Instead of cooking with oil, I have come up with a healthy cooking method called Healthy Sauté that uses veg- etable or chicken broth.
Healthy Sauté is a very special way of preparing foods because it has the benefits of three methods in one. It is a sauté that uses veg- etable or chicken broth in place of heated oils; I am particularly con- scious of creating recipes that do not use heated oils because they can potentially have negative effects on your health. It is like stir-fry because it brings out the robust flavor of foods but cooks them at a lower temperature. It is like steaming because there is enough mois- ture to soften the cellulose and hemicellulose, which aids di- gestibility. Healthy Sauté requires just a small amount of liquid to make the vegetables moist and tender. Vegetables such as cauli- flower and asparagus, which only require a small amount of liquid to tenderize them, are especially good candidates for Healthy Sauté because steaming and boiling will dilute their flavor.
Healthy Sauté, Step-by-Step
• Heat 3-5 tablespoons broth in a stainless steel skillet.
• When broth begins to steam, add vegetables.
• Cover if necessary and sauté for recommended period of time.
In addition to reducing your exposure to oxidized oils, there is another great benefit of Healthy Sauté inherently important to healthy weight loss—the reduced consumption of calories. Just think…typically you may use a few tablespoons of oil when you sauté vegetables. All you are really getting from the oil is the texture and oftentimes you don’t really get much flavor. But two tablespoons of oil can add more than
The Healthiest Way of Cooking
200 calories to your meal. By using broth instead of oil to sauté, you can save yourself most of these calories. You probably don’t disagree that that’s a lot of calories, that can be used in a better way.
One more note about oil: as you’ll notice, extra virgin olive oil is a key component of the Mediterranean diet, and it is also one of the foods (and the only oil) included as a World’s Healthiest Food. But I don’t suggest cooking with it because its monounsaturated fats and polyphenol antioxidants can become damaged. Instead I suggest using it in salads and dressings, and drizzled on vegetables, fish, and chicken. (The highest heat I think it can take would be in the making of sauces.)