Most fruits are high in vitamin C. Vitamin C is important for wound healing and for preventing colds and other infectious illnesses. Vitamin C is good for the immune system. Fruits especially high in vitamin c are melons, including cantaloupe and watermelon, mango and papaya, all citrus fruits, including lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit, berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries), and pineapple.
Whole Fruit is a good source of fiber. Since most kids will eat fruit, this is an easy way to increase fiber intake and help to prevent digestion issues such as constipation. Fruits highest in fiber include unpeeled pears, apples, figs, dates, apricots, raisins, and plums/prunes.
Fruit is an excellent way to add water/fluid to your diet without having to actually drink water. It can be difficult to get kids to drink enough water, especially in the winter. Eating whole fruits will help to prevent dehydration. Fruits especially high in fluids are melons and grapes.
Because fruit is sweet, it can help curb a sweet tooth. Thus, you are less likely to give in to the less healthy sweets such as cookies and candy. If you're having a sweet tooth, pretty much any fruit will help you satisfy that craving.
Fruit is an excellent source of folate. Folate is important for healthy blood and a healthy baby. Strawberries, oranges, papaya, bananas and grapefruit are excellent sources of folate.
As some of you already know, I've been keeping track of my calorie (and nutrient) intake on and off for years. One of the things I have more recently discovered while doing this is that I hardly ever hit the 3500 mg goal. This is true even on days when I've eaten cantaloupe, bananas, grapes, and oranges.
So, what do I do to make sure I'm eating fruits every day? I find it helpful to wash fruit and put it into a bowl as soon as I get it home from the grocery store. This makes it much more likely that I will eat the fruit instead of some less healthy alternative.
I've also worked to reduce the amount of “other less healthy alternatives” available in the house. Since, I don't live alone, I find that putting the fruits on the counter in the kitchen, on the dinner table, or in front in the refrigerator (and hiding the other stuff!) also encourages more fruit eating for everyone.
Here is a list of other ideas to help encourage more WHOLE fruit intake (as opposed to juice)
Remember that when fresh fruits are in season, not only are they less expensive, but they usually taste better. So, this is a good time to try something new
It's okay to purchase fruits that are dried, frozen, and canned (in water or 100% juice) as well as fresh, especially since fresh may not be available.
Whole fruit is higher in fiber and contains nutrients that are stripped during the juicing process. So, although some juice is okay, whole fruit is much better for you.
At breakfast, add your favorite fruits such as bananas, peaches, strawberries and blueberries to cereal, pancakes or waffles.
Try to always drink 100% juice. if it doesn't say, “100% Juice” on the label, It isn't.
Add fruit to your yogurt, and remember that favorite fruits make great snacks.
Add your favorite fruit to lunch boxes. If you don't have time or don't enjoy cutting fruit, use individual containers of fruits like peaches or applesauce are easy to carry and convenient for lunch.
At dinner, add crushed pineapple to coleslaw or include orange sections, dried cranberries, or grapes in a tossed salad. Try fruit salsa on top of fish.
During the summer, have a canning party to preserve favorite fruits that aren't available during the colder months. For example, we have jarred peaches that we canned in the summer. They are delicious!
Make fruit breads and fruit pies using fresh fruit, for example we just made “Gluten-Free Blueberry Banana Bread.” We used 3 bananas and 1 cup blueberries in the recipe, and it was delicious!
Here is a delicious recipe I have been making for years:
This delicious, colorful fruit salad is sure to win the hearts of many including your kids.Though the original recipe is for everything to be mixed together, it's okay to serve fruits in separate bowls/plates for children with sensory issues or for toddlers and other young children.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time5 minutesmins
Total Time25 minutesmins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: healthy, kid friendly recipes, recipes kids love
Servings: 4Servings
Calories: 172kcal
Author: Betty Crocker
Ingredients
4cupsCut up fruit4 different colors is best
2 tbspLime JuiceFresh is best
2 tbspHoney
1/4 teaspoonpoppy seedFound in Spice Aisle of most grocery stores
1teaspooncorn starch
Instructions
Just before adding dressing:Cut up 4 (four) cups of desired fruits.To make Dressing:Mix lime juice, honey, cornstarch and poppy seed in small saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Usually no more than 5 minutes. Cool 5 minutes.Toss dressing with fruit and serve. Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
Notes
Fruit Combination ideas:Red apples, bananas, oranges, green grapesBlueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberriesKiwifruit, bananas, red grapes, pineappleStrawberries, blueberries, apricots, peachesNectarines, peaches, plums, strawberriesRaspberries, peaches, bananas, kiwifruit
Now that you know which foods are essential to good health (see previous post here), you can start thinking in terms of healthy recipe makeovers. You've heard the resident health nut or dieting junkie blasting traditional comfort food favorites like mac and cheese and bacon cheeseburgers as being “bad for you”.
It's not that these types of meals are unhealthy. It's more likely that the portion size is out of control, much more than we really need to satisfy our hunger and nourish our bodies. And it's also much more likely that the comfort foods that get a bad rap only do so because they contain filler ingredients — like whey protein and weird additives in your processed cheese. Or, like an enriched white bun, that packs on lots of empty calories, spikes blood sugar and causes your body to gain fat.
For decades, people who were looking to lose weight simply reduced fat in their diets. That seemed easy enough, but it overlooked the fact that certain fats really are good for you and essential to a healthy and well-functioning body. Nowadays we know better.
If you get enough good fat in your diet, you can minimize the health risks that come from eating saturated fat.
So doing something like indulging in a couple slices of salami can be counterbalanced with a side of healthy fat and some really good healthy veggies. A green salad splashed with olive oil vinaigrette, topped with ripe tomatoes can hold its own with a few slices of salami and some aged cheese chunks. Sprinkle on your healthy fat – nuts – for the ultimate healthy and delicious lunch!
Okay so now that we are a little bit more aware of what constitutes a balanced and nutritious meal, let's explore the general process for giving a healthy makeover to your favorite dishes.
Reduce saturated fat or replace half saturated fat with healthy fat.
You can go by the numbers in your diet plan if that helps you. However, we are talking in generalities today. So, if you're looking to cut fat, really start thinking about where you can replace things like butter, whole milk cheese, whole milk ice cream, whipped cream, full fat dressings from a bottle, and mayonnaise with healthy substitutes that contain less fat.
Let's think of an example. Butter is a saturated fat. You are used to putting butter on your toast or bagel in the morning.
A serving of pancakes or waffles, according to your traditional breakfast standards, gets a pat or two of butter. But you have plenty of healthier options to either eliminate or completely replace reduce or completely replace the serving of butter in your morning meal.
Here are some ideas:
Replace the butter in your oatmeal with a tablespoon of coconut oil.
Replace your buttered toast with avocado toast.
Instead of buttering your waffle, give it a smear of coconut oil.
Cook your scrambled eggs in olive oil instead of butter for a change of pace.
These ideas should get you going on the possibilities as far as looking to reduce or eliminate saturated fats such as butter in your diet.
What about meat? Americans are notorious for eating too much meat.
A serving size of protein that you would typically have at a meal should fit inside the palm of your hand. For a lot of people, a food scale helps them portion out their protein. But when you don't have a scale, it's easy enough to use your hand as a gauge.
So, let's say you have a fresh salad all ready and you'd like to top your salad with chicken for protein. Your normal serving of a protein, if you're looking to lose weight or maintain weight already lost, would be a section of chicken breast that can fit into your palm.
You can enjoy that salad with even less chicken and replace the missing protein with plant-based protein such as a handful of chopped nuts, a few cheese cubes, or a sprinkle of edamame or chickpeas.
Fun fact: plant-based proteins assimilate better when eaten together. In the old days, they called beans combined with dairy like cheese or yogurt, a “complete protein.” No one says that anymore, but it still applies.
This way you can still get your allotted portion of protein that's needed to fill you up and nourish your body. But instead, you get to enjoy a wider variety of food which means a broader array of vitamins and minerals in your diet.
What about eliminating and reducing carbs? As mentioned, lots of people are going low carb or no carb. Some have blazed into full-blown keto, completely replacing glucose in their diet as the main form of fuel for energy with fat.
To reduce your carb intake without jumping on the keto bandwagon, here are some meal makeover strategies to try.
Replace white enriched white pasta with whole grain pasta
You'll find lots of white pasta alternatives on your grocery store shelves. You might try brown rice pasta, spelt pasta, buckwheat pasta, whole wheat pasta and other types of noodles.
Lots of people who live low carb swear by shirataki noodles
While they lack the consistency of regular white pasta noodles that you may be used to, these do provide an exceptionally low carb alternative to help you sop up your sauces and provide a nice contrast with your protein-based meals.
Cut the amount of carbs you ingest
In your eating travels there will be those times that you just can't connect with a source for that whole grain carb… and that's okay. Example, you just got sushi from the grocery store, and it came with white rice. Some prepackaged sushi meals go heavy on the rice. That throws off the proper ratio of fish protein to starch.
No one said you had to eat all those little rice rolls that come with your pre-packaged sushi
Instead, you can reassemble your sushi so that one slice of fish goes on top of half a rice roll. Toss the other half of the rice roll; you don't need the extra carbs. This will seem more appealing because you're getting more of the fish in every bite, and you won't be overdoing it on the carbohydrate servings.
Choose whole grain breakfast foods
Grains are perennially popular for breakfast. This is true whether you have been aware of whole grains or just eating traditional carbohydrate meals like cereals made from white flour.
Carbohydrates give you a boost of energy to start your day although whether or not you choose to eat a carb-based breakfast like cereal or muffins is your own personal preference. You may in fact shy away from that if you're trying to lose weight.
But that doesn't mean that you can't have ANY carbs with your breakfast. You just have to choose the right ones. Feeling like muffins? Get into the habit of making these from scratch using whole grains as the basis of the recipe.
Your healthy morning muffins might include leftover whole grain brown rice, leftover oatmeal made from whole rolled oats, whole wheat flour, oat flour, brown rice flour, cornmeal and other greens that will provide fiber. While you're at it, add fruit like banana as a sugar replacement, and choose a healthy oil like coconut for the fat component.
Stay tuned to my next post which includes a recipe makeover (and recipe) for Chicken Parmesan!
You may have heard that weight loss works better when you lower carb intake. This may be true to some extent but know that your body needs carbohydrates. Children burn off a lot of energy doing things like growing, running around, mastering new skills, and developing their brains. Then they reach childbearing age and still need an energy source, to raise kids and then to run after them for a while. Read on to learn more about the importance of carbohydrates and fats when considering recipe makeovers.
During our later years of life, we need less carbohydrates, but we still do need them in moderation because carbohydrates help us to digest our food. As you age, your tummy doesn't work as efficiently as it once did, so fiber is necessary…never mind what some misinformed members of the low carb crowd may be telling you!
Fun fact: protein on its own does not pass through the digestive system without help from carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are made of plant matter which contains fiber. Think potatoes, rice, corn, oats, and any veggie such as broccoli, celery, carrots. Plant fiber is “undigestible” and that's why it works to clear our digestive system. This might sound gross, but it's the reason fiber helps you digest more efficiently and weigh less.
The fiber from plants you eat attracts water, bloats up and fills our intestinal tract. This activates peristalsis or pooping and it's how we pass waste from our bodies.
A body that's clear of waste is a healthy, happy body.
Forms of carbohydrates that have not been processed to death include all fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains. Many so-called experts advocate a low-carb diet. You can still do low carb the healthy way as long as you're heavy-handed with the dark, leafy, and cruciferous veggies. But if going to that extreme just isn't your cup of tea, or you'd prefer to stick with a balanced plate at every meal… you can simply modify the type and amount of carbohydrates you eat.
Take some time to rethink carbs.
Instead of processed flour, go for whole grains
Instead of filling half your plate with a starchy side, go with 1/4 greens and 1/4 whole grain such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta on your plate.
With time and practice, you'll eventually gain a new perspective on what's a healthy amount of carbs –which is much less than you have been conditioned to eat daily.
Know Your Lipids for Weight Loss and Good Health
If you think your body doesn't need fat, you're wrong. Fat is also an essential component of a well-balanced diet.
If you've ever been fed intravenously in the hospital, you may have noticed that a bag of lipids is included free with your overnight stay. Fat is that important to our body function. But as far as healthy eating goes, you don't want just any fat. You want the good kind that helps your hormones function and clears out the toxins in your blood.
Good fats come in many forms. And this includes fat from fruits like
Saturated fat, which is the more-harmful-less-healthy kind, shows up in
meat
dairy products
Full-fat dairy has the most saturated fat
sour cream
butter
cheese
whipping cream
While saturated fat is an essential nutrient that your body needs, too much is harmful and can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease. So it's important to balance it with other vital nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
A Great Example is the Mediterranean diet
Now that we know the building blocks of your healthy diet, let's explore how some simple changes help you enjoy your favorite foods but healthy them up. What you prepare in the way of daily meals can make all the difference in your health and in your size, shape and how much you weigh.
For decades, people who were looking to lose weight simply reduced fat in their diets.
That was the trend. The concept seemed easy enough, but it overlooked the fact that certain fats really are good for you and essential to a healthy and well-functioning body. Just think of how your skin and hair look when you include olive oil and avocado in your diet. That's just two examples…healthy fat is especially GOOD for aging people.
Nowadays, when it comes to fat, we know better. If you get enough good fat in your diet, you can minimize the health risks that come from eating bad fat aka saturated fat from animal products.
So doing something like indulging in a couple of bacon slices can be counterbalanced with a side of healthy fat, like avocado, along with a healthy dark green veggie, like spinach or kale. Add in a protein source – boiled egg- to round out the meal.
This is an example of a well-balanced lunch that is good for your health, and you get to enjoy a small portion of saturated fat!
In my next post, we will discuss the basics of a healthy recipe makeover.
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