When it comes to preventing or managing obesity, heart disease, cancer and many other health problems, good food is often your best medicine. Recent medical research has shown that what you eat affects how you feel, how you look and how healthy you'll be as you age. For example, there's some evidence to suggest that some fats are actually good for us, while too many bagels actually do more harm than good.
As you make decisions about what you eat every day, here are 10 dietary rules you should take seriously. Naturally, the extent to which you heed them may depend on your particular risk factors, but in general these guidelines work for all of us. (Special occasions like birthday parties are exceptions: On these occasions, it may be appropriate, and arguably even therapeutic, to see how many of these rules you can break at one sitting.)
In general, if you avoid the “food” groups listed above, pretty much everything else is good for you. Specifically, here are five rules to eat by:
Overall, think fiber, freshness and friendly fats.
Eat at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. That's a minimum – the more, the better!
Eat whole grains and beans in abundance! Switch to unprocessed whole grains (such as minimally sweetened muesli or granola, or cooked whole-grain cereal, such as oatmeal) instead of refined, cold breakfast cereals, which are not nearly as beneficial, despite their “high fiber” claims. Good 100 percent whole-grain bread is available if you search, but it can be expensive; consider making your own.
Eat small amounts of healthy fats, such as extra-virgin olive oil, ground flax seeds, avocados, oily fish, raw seeds and raw nuts that you crack yourself.
Eat plenty of fish and modest amounts of white or red meat. Remember that eggs, cheese and tofu are also good sources of protein.
