Eating healthier doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your favorite foods, according to an expert from the University of Virginia.
Sibylle Kranz, an associate professor and registered dietitian, said there are dietary guidelines that Americans are recommended to follow. It has taken on many different variations, such as a pyramid or plate, and considers how many servings of meat, fruits and grains people should be consuming.
But, Kranz said, “because it’s a one-size-fits-all approach, it doesn’t really work the for the individual person.”
“There’s a lot of knowledge of what we should be doing for healthy eating,” she said. “The problem lies in the translation for that.”
For one, Kranz said, there are clear guidelines about avoiding foods with excess sugar and saturated fat, but it’s likely unrealistic to expect someone who enjoys dessert foods to skip dessert.
Instead, Kranz said, people should consider what types of foods they enjoy and what about them they like. Then, if it’s clear that the diet isn’t healthy, “What am I willing to add to that? Or what am I willing to give up?” she said.
That could result in a list of suggestions. Instead of sacrificing a food, Kranz said it’s helpful to consider, “Am I really hungry? Am I sitting down right now to eat because I’m bored or upset, or I’m in a social setting and it feels like I should be eating something?”
Another helpful perspective is considering whether the food item meets the goal for a healthier lifestyle.
“Not every meal has to be very high on the list of, ‘Yes, this is perfect for my body,’” Kranz said. “It can be kind of like trading in for the things you crave, the things you really like, that may not be top of the list on the healthy foods, but also bringing in some of those healthier foods; so that the individual is in the driver’s seat and can figure out for themselves, ‘Why do I like the things I like, and what can I substitute it with?'”
Chewing slowly and avoiding technology while eating could also be helpful, she said.
“The 20-minute meal has come up several times lately,” Kranz said. “That might just be too fast for these signals to even be processed in the brain, to reach the brain and then being processed. So, overeating can happen.”
Broadly, Kranz said, any diet or change that “requires a huge amount of discipline or not meeting one’s own needs for what food means in their life and what’s important for them around eating is always going to be a short-term solution.”
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