4. FOOD SENSE— YOU OWE IT L E S S O N 4 TO YOURSElf CONTENTS (of this packet) OBJECTIVES Lesson 4 Complete this lesson and you will be able to: Objectives • describe MyPyramid Food Sense • explain how eating saturated and trans fats affects Recipe Notes blood glucose and blood cholesterol levels; Using MyPyramid • explain how eating fiber affects blood glucose and Fiber Facts blood cholesterol levels; Set Your Wellness Goals, But Start Slowly Information Sheet: Some Common Questions and • name the two types of dietary fiber; Their Answers • state the recommended fiber intake for healthy Fiber supplements; fiber and nutrient adults deficiencies; fiber and losing weight; • calculate your daily fiber intake; oat bran and cholesterol; insoluble fiber; • identify two ways to eat more fiber. starches and the risk for diabetes; Mediterranean diet FOOD SENSE Worksheet: Fiber Counter Experts give lots of advice about food these days. Fact Sheet 1: Finding Foods with Less Saturated and Some of it can be difficult to follow. It is hard to do Trans Fats all at once. You can begin by choosing foods with Fact Sheet 2: Finding Foods with Fiber less saturated and trans fats and with more fiber. To Recipes: Fiber help you meet these goals, we show you how to use Bannock Bread MyPyramid and the Nutrition Facts panel on food Honey Basil Carrots labels. Vegetarian Sloppy Joes Foolproof Whole Wheat Bread RECIPE NOTES Lesson 4 offers recipes that help you follow this healthful eating rule: Choose fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains often. YOU R W E ll N E S S R O A D M AP: LESSON 4 The recipe ingredients have lots of fiber—carrots, of the food groups show their importance. All of us oats, beans, and whole wheat flour. The last ingredi- should eat more of the groups with wider bands and ent might surprise you. A cup of whole wheat flour less of those with narrower bands. contains lots of fiber, while a slice of whole wheat • The grains, vegetables, and fruits groups are made bread contains much less. Bread is an important fiber up of plant foods. We all need to eat more each source because most people eat several slices a day. day from these three groups. • Oils are fats that are liquid at room temperature. USING MYPyrAMID We only need to eat a small amount of foods con- Alice quickly became a regular exerciser. She had taining oils each day. always gotten up early, so she walks before going to • The milk and meat and beans groups contain work. When I suggested that the next step was food mostly foods from animals. The meat group also choices, she groaned. She feels most nutrition advice includes nuts and beans. We should eat foods is too confusing. It also keeps changing. She wanted from these two groups a few times each day. something simple to use. The amount of food you need from each group I introduced Alice to MyPyramid. Each vertical depends on the number of calories you should eat. band on MyPyramid represents a food group. From If you have Internet access, you can find out your left to right the food groups are grains, vegetables, calorie level by filling in your age, gender, and level fruits, oils, milk, and meat and beans. The widths YOU R W E ll N E S S R O A D M AP: LESSON 4 of physical activity at www.MyPyramid.gov. It will Eat more plant-based foods to eat less saturated and trans then show you how much from each food group is fats recommended for you to eat. For instance, if you eat Harry and Pat found it hard to exercise regularly. about 2,000 calories, your daily recommendations Setting aside time to walk didn’t work. They finally are found in the table below. joined a health club for 3 months. Harry couldn’t stand to waste the membership money, so they used the time at the health club as their twice-a-week date. Food Group Recommended Daily Amount Grains—6 ounce-equivalents one ounce equivalent = 1 slice of bread Eating more plant-based foods was easier for them. (at least 3 should be whole grain) 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal They were both concerned about blood cholesterol. ½ cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta They decided to have one meatless meal a week. They Vegetables—2½ cups one cup = 1 cup of raw or cooked also began trying different bean and grain dishes vegetables or vegetable juice once a week. 2 cups of raw leafy greens Fruits—2 cups one cup = 1 cup of fruit or 100% fruit juice Eating more from the grain, vegetable, and fruit ½ cup of dried fruit groups will help Harry and Pat eat less saturated Oils—6 teaspoons Includes: and trans fats. Of all the fats in foods, saturated fat oil used in cooking has the most influence on risk for heart disease and, mayonnaise indirectly, on high blood pressure and diabetes. Eat- salad dressings ing too much saturated fat raises blood cholesterol, soft margarine especially LDL, the “bad blood cholesterol.” Trans fat foods naturally high in oil like oily fish, nuts, olives, and avocados also raises LDL and, if eaten in large amounts, lowers Milk—3 cups one cup = 1 cup of milk or yogurt HDL, the “good blood cholesterol.” These effects on 1½ ounces of natural cheese blood cholesterol increase our risk for heart disease. 2 ounces of processed cheese Saturated and trans fats don’t affect blood glucose Meat and Beans— one ounce equivalent = levels or blood pressure directly, but they do cause a 5½ ounce-equivalents 1 ounce of meat, poultry, or fish ¼ cup cooked dry beans narrowing of the arteries. And this, in turn, raises the 1 egg risk for high blood pressure. The changes saturated 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and trans fats cause in blood cholesterol make it ½ ounce of nuts or seeds more likely you will have heart problems if you do develop diabetes. Saturated fat is found in animal foods, like dairy and meat products. Small amounts also are found in liquid vegetable oils. Coconut and palm kernel oil contain more saturated fat than most other vegetable oils. Liquid vegetable oils can be made more satu- rated by a process called hydrogenation. So crackers made with hydrogenated vegetable oil may contain some saturated fat. YOU R W E ll N E S S R O A D M AP: LESSON 4 Hydrogenation can also produce trans fat. The fruits and vegetables lowered their blood pressure. major source of trans fat is processed foods such as The effect on blood pressure was even greater if the manufactured baked goods, solid margarines, snack diet was also low in fat. Some scientists argue that foods, shortening, and salad dressing. Some trans high-fiber diets have this effect because they also are fats are also made naturally. Bacteria in the stom- low in fat. Even so, eating more fiber should be part ach of cows and sheep produce trans fats that are of your wellness plan. stored in that animal’s body fat. So, eating beef or mutton fat can add trans fat to your diet. Most high-fiber foods are found in the grains, veg- etables, and fruits groups, with one exception. The Adults should not eat more than 10 percent of their meat group contains dry beans and peas, both good daily calories as saturated fat. This amounts to 20 sources of fiber. Include them in your efforts to eat grams for those needing 2,000 calories a day. There more fiber. is no Daily Value for trans fat. Medical experts recommend keeping our daily intake of trans fat FIBER FACTS as low as possible. Choose low-fat dairy, meat, and Fiber is the part of fruits, vegetables, beans, and other processed foods. The new food labels make grains that your digestive system cannot break this easier to do. Use the Nutrition Facts panel to down. Fiber passes through and comes out in the compare the amounts of saturated and trans fats in stool. Eating more fiber helps keep you “regular.” similar foods. Choose foods that have low amounts of both saturated and trans fats. For more details, There are two types of fiber, insoluble and soluble. see the fact sheet “Finding Foods with Less Saturated Insoluble fiber is found in vegetables, wheat, and and Trans Fats.” grains (To learn more, see Common Question #5). Soluble fiber is the most important for reducing Alice asked me about a report she heard on the ra- risks of heart disease and diabetes. It is found in dio. It said that eating too much rice, potatoes, and oats, beans, peas, seeds, and fruits. Soluble fibers white bread can increase your risk of diabetes. I told hold water and form gels. This makes the stool her the study suggested this was possible, but it did softer and easier to pass. Eating soluble fiber lowers not prove that eating these low-fiber foods increases blood cholesterol and blood glucose levels. When diabetes risk. You can read the full answer to Alice’s people with high blood cholesterol eat more oat query in Common Question #6. But a wise reaction bran or beans (sources of soluble fiber), their blood to this report is to eat more fiber-rich foods. cholesterol levels can drop by 15 percent. Eat more plant-based foods to eat more fiber Eating foods with soluble fiber slows the movement There is a connection between fiber-rich diets and of glucose from the intestine to the bloodstream.