DIET AND SNACKS

Healthy food choices can help to reduce many of the diseases that plague modern society, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and, of course, tooth decay. 

Here a some helpful Do’s and Don’ts:

DO:

• Drink water and/or seltzer without added sweeteners.
• Drink diet sodas instead of sugar containing sodas. While diet sodas do not contain any nutrition, and have chemicals, at least they do not contain sugar.
• Drink plain, wholesome milk.
• Eat non-sugar snack foods, such as cheese, popcorn, raw vegetables, nuts, cottage cheese, or yogurt.
• Eat lean meats, such as chicken or turkey. Vary your choices. Try more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds.
• Color your plate with all kinds of great tasting fruits and vegetables.
  
• Be sure to read nutrition labels to check for sugars and eliminate foods that have sugar listed as one of the first ingredients. Note that most packaged food is high in sugar and sodium and low in nutrition.
  

• Drink soft drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened iced teas.
• Drink fruit-based drinks most of the time.
• Eat foods that contain sugar, especially between meals.
  
• Eat foods with fats more than 35% of total calories (excluding nuts, seeds, and peanut or other nut butters)
• Eat foods with sugars more than 35% (added sugars) by weight. Added sugars exclude naturally occurring sugars from fruit, vegetable, and dairy ingredients.

A great source for practical and useful information about a healthy diet can be found at the website of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.  www.cspinet.org/