*Preventing Health Problems with Food*

Like most women I'm concerned about my health.  In America we're seeing a growing trend in health problems like diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Sometimes I look at food as the enemy ( the evil donut) when I need to look at it as friend.  Most of the health concerns that I have can be prevented or lessened by eating a balanced healthy diet.  This week I took some time to read about how to prevent health problems with food and I'd like to share with you some of what I learned.

How to prevent diabetes with food (source: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-prevent-diabetes

-No Carbs- bread, pasta, white rice, and potatoes
-Eat less meat- eat low fat meats and fish if you don't want to cut meat out all together
-Eat more fruits and vegetables- try to buy them fresh but if you can't use reduced sodium canned or frozen
-Eat food high in fiber- beans, oatmeal, and whole grains are effective at lowering blood sugar levels.

The article also suggested non-food ways to prevent diabetes like regular exercise and reducing stress.

How to prevent cancer with food (source: http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/02/21/10-foods-to-prevent-cancer/)

-Garlic- garlic has compounds that can help protect against cancer and it taste great.
-Dark Leafy Greens-are rich in antioxideants.
-Grapes- they also have antioxidants which prevent cell damage
-Green Tea- has a compound that helps to slow or prevent the development of certain cancers
-Tomatoes- have lcopene can prevent certain cancers.
-Blueberries- are beneficial in preventing all types of cancers.
 Other beneficial foods mentioned are flaxseeds. mushrooms, broccoli, brussels srpouts, and whole grains.

This article also suggests a healthy diet and regular exercie.

How to Prevent Heart disease with food (source: http://www.foodandlife.com/foodh.html)

Many of the foods suggested in the above cancer and diabetes prevention also show up in this article so ones not previously mentioned are...

-Sweet potatoes
-Carrots
-pumpkin
-onions
-peanuts, walnuts, and almonds.
-olive oil and canola oil
-grapefruit
-cantaloupe
-avocados
-fat free yogurt
-low fat turkey
-honey
This list also comes with foods to avoid...
-1%, 2% and Whole Milk
-Red meats (and other high fat meats)
-Hydrogenated oils (ex: stick margarine) and foods with high
 butter fats (ex: cheese, full fat yogurt, and sauces)
-Hot dogs, hamburgers, and anything deep fried.
Other foods to avoid would be sugar, icecream, salt, candy, baked goods, and high fat snacks.

Many of these articles overlap with advice so I think I'm going to take a bit of information from each article and make some changes in my diet in order to stay healthy.  Without taking it to the extreme starting today I will try to eat more fish and less red meat, more fruits and veggies and less processed white carbs, and also reduce my dairy consumption.  Hopefully this will help me to stay healthy and happy for years to come :)