Phil Parham (9 page)

A little over 30 years ago, the typical plate size was around 9 inches. Today it has ballooned to around 12 inches. Because our cupboards and restaurant shelves are full of big plates, we tend to eat more. One of my favorite books on this subject is
The 9-inch “Diet”: Exposing the Big Conspiracy in America
by Alex Bogusky and Chuck Porter. They explain how our portions have drastically increased over the years and what we can do about it. I suggest you read it.

Here's a challenge for you. Look in your cabinet and measure the dinner plates you're currently using. How big are they? Are you surprised?

You may have noticed too that restaurants have bloated portion sizes. Have you seen a pasta dish at your favorite eatery lately? You could feed three of your family members with one dish! If you want to eat the correct portion and save money (what a great combination!), the next time your family is at a restaurant, share your entrée with your spouse or your children. Or as soon as the meal comes, ask for a take-out box and save half your meal for lunch the next day.

Here's another piece of advice: read labels (I'll talk more about that next) to find out the size of a single serving of chips, cereal, ice cream, and so on. Then compare that amount with how much you are feeding your family. I suspect you'll notice a drastic difference.

To help our family stay within a single-portion limit, we keep measuring cups and a food scale within reach in the kitchen. These are great tools to educate you into what a single portion looks like. Because I have a tendency to overeat, I always watch my portions, so I rely on these kitchen gadgets a lot.

Read Labels

Most people do not read food labels, but those labels are your best source of information for how many calories are in a food, what the ingredients are, and how nutritious it is. There are six basic items you need to look for when reading a label:

Ingredients
—If the ingredients list includes words I can't pronounce or I know are not good for me (such as high-fructose corn syrup or added sugar), I don't buy it.

Serving size
—This helps me determine how much of a product I should eat.

Calories
—I always pay attention to the number of calories in a serving size. As a general rule of thumb:

• 40 calories per serving is low in calories

• 100 calories per serving is moderate in calories

• 400 calories or more per serving is high in calories

These numbers will vary for children. Our suggestion is simply to stick with eating whole, natural foods and limit processed foods and junk food so your kids don't have to count calories.

Sugar
—We always choose foods that are low in sugar. Our family avoids eating anything with added sugar. (More on the dangers of sugar later.)

Sodium
—We choose only foods that are low in salt. (More on this topic later.)

Fiber
—Choose high-fiber foods with at least three grams of fiber per serving.

The Trade Game

Substitution is the name of the game. Eating healthy doesn't mean you have to sacrifice taste. We eat a lot of different foods that our kids enjoy, such as healthy fried chicken, pizza, and burgers. The key is to substitute unhealthy ingredients with healthy ones. In appendix B, you'll find a list of the top ten recipes we regularly make that kids just love!

Below are some examples of how you can create a healthy meal plan for your family by replacing unhealthy ingredients with healthy ones.

 

Sneak It In

Sometimes what our kids don't know won't hurt them. In fact, it could make them healthier. Have you found it challenging to feed your kids vegetables? Do they fake-vomit at the sight of broccoli and brussels sprouts? Amy and I have figured out how to be strategic in keeping our kids healthy by sneaking in fruits, veggies, and other good things into their meals. They can't tell the difference. The food is delicious and healthy. Here are some ideas:

• Add wheat germ or flaxseed to cereals and oatmeal.

• Add pureed vegetables such as sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, and cauliflower to muffin and cake mixes.

• Add fruits such as apples, blueberries, and peaches and protein yogurt to waffle and pancake mixes.

• Add vegetables such as peppers, onions, spinach, and mushrooms to eggs.

• Mix green veggies in all of your favorite lasagna, spaghetti, and other casserole dishes.

• Make quinoa pasta instead of oatmeal for breakfast to add extra protein and iron.

Sugar

Most Americans consume too much sugar, perhaps even to the point of being addicted to it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average American consumes anywhere between
150 to 170 pounds
of simple sugars, also known as refined sugars (this includes glucose, fructose, and sucrose) or simple carbohydrates, in one year! Compare this number to the 4 pounds of sugar the average American consumed less than a hundred years ago. That's a lot of sugar in our system!

Perhaps 150–170 pounds of sugar seems like an astronomical number to you, but think about this. A typical 12-ounce can of soda contains 40 grams, or 10 teaspoons, of sugar. If you drink two Cokes a day, by the end of the week you will have consumed 140 teaspoons of sugar. Let's not forget all the sugar found in doughnuts, cookies, cake, and ice cream, and the hidden sugar (sugar by different names such as high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, and sorbitol) found in salad dressings, hot dogs, canned soups, and bread.

I'm sure you know what happens when your kids eat too many sugary snacks and beverages. They act a little crazy, don't they? Kathleen DesMaisons is the president and CEO of Radiant Recovery, a nutrition-based addiction recovery program and the author of the book
Little Sugar Addicts.
She has studied the relationship between sugar, health, and behavior and confirms that too much sugar changes our children (and not in a good way). Not only can excess sugar transform your cute, happy child into a teary-eyed monster, but it can also:

• increase the likelihood of cavities

• cause weight gain, because sugar-laden foods are typically high in calories

• increase the chance of your child getting diabetes

• suppress your child's immune system

• promote sugar highs (and related lows)

• promote cravings, because too much sugar raises your blood glucose level, which triggers a spike in insulin

Soda is one of the biggest culprits in the battle against poor health because it contains so much sugar. Public health officials call these drinks liquid candy. Most boys get 15 teaspoons of refined sugar daily, and most girls about 10 teaspoons, from sweetened beverages. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, this is the maximum amount of sugar kids should be getting from foods in a day.

According to the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA), consumption of soft drinks is now over 600 12-ounce servings per person per year. Since 1978, soda consumption in the U.S. has tripled for boys and doubled for girls. Soft-drink producers understand the desire kids have for soda, so they amp up their marketing campaigns, often spending billions of dollars to advertise and promote soft drinks.

It's time we rallied against these companies and stopped buying sweetened beverages. Remember, you are in charge of what food and drink comes into your home. Instead of soda, drink water. Make it a priority. Keep fresh water easily accessible to your kids. Buy a water cooler or keep a pitcher of water in your fridge. Carry a water bottle around, and make your kids do the same.

While you may not need to eliminate sugar completely from your family's diet, the key is to eat very few processed foods, sugary snacks, and beverages laden with sugar. Here are some ways to curb the sugar habit in your child's diet:

• Dilute fruit juice with water or drink only 100 percent fruit juice.

• Replace sugary snacks such as cookies and crackers with fruit.

• Eat more natural foods instead of processed and packaged meals and snacks.

• Cook more homemade meals so you can control how much sugar is in each meal.

• Throw out all sugary snacks and treats and replace them with healthier alternatives such as yogurt and protein bars.

Salt

Too much salt is just as bad as too much sugar. The average American consumes 3½ pounds of sodium in a year. That's about 10 times more than the human body requires, which is about 500 milligrams of sodium per day. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that most adults should not consume more than 2,300 mg of sodium. If you are over 40, have high blood pressure, you should lower that to 1,500 mg. The amount is even less for children. The Mayo Clinic submits that kids 4 to 8 years old should consume no more than 1,200 mg of sodium per day. Children 9 years and older can stick with 1,500 mg per day.

Why is excess salt so bad? It can lead to high blood pressure, kidney failure, and strokes. It increases the number of fat cells in your body and makes the ones you already have larger. It makes you more hungry and thirsty, and it slows down your metabolism. Those are just a few reasons to shake the salt from your diet!

In the Parham household, we have seen how easy it is to consume too much salt. This is one reason why we read labels and buy low-salt versions of popular foods. When we reduced our salt intake, our taste buds opened up and we started enjoying food more. It's amazing how pouring on the salt can detract from the natural flavorings in foods. To cut down on our sodium intake, we also stopped going to fast-food restaurants, stopped eating processed foods, and started using spices and chilies to flavor our food.

Fat

Most junk foods and drive-thru restaurant items contain a lot of fat. Not all fat is bad. We need some fat in our diet, but it should be no more than 30 percent of our daily calorie intake. The three basic fats and oils are unsaturated fat, saturated fat, and trans fat/hydrogenated oils. Good fats are unsaturated. We need them for energy and for our bodies to absorb vitamins and other important nutrients. Good fats and oils also help children grow and develop properly. Unsaturated fats are found in such foods as olive oil, canola oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, flax seed, walnuts, peanuts, and almonds.

Saturated fats and trans fats are the bad kind that we need to look out for (read your food labels!). Saturated fats include butter, margarine, shortening, and the fat in animal products such as cheese and meat. While you don't need to eliminate saturated fats completely, you should consume only a limited amount. Saturated fats can contribute to heart disease, clog your veins, and cause central nervous system problems.

Trans fat is created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil. They help increase the shelf life and flavor of foods. Trans fat is found in many processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, and most fast foods. If you avoid these fats altogether, you will be on your way to better health.

Many fast-food chains and food companies have gone out of their way to lower or eliminate trans fat in their foods. But now another dangerous fat is quickly garnering a lot of attention. Interesterified fat is the new fat to beware of. It is an oil that food scientists have created by moving fatty acids from one triglyceride molecule to another. Recent studies suggest that this type of fat may increase heart-disease risk by lowering HDL (good) cholesterol and raising LDL (bad) cholesterol. They also might increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. So food manufacturers have basically replaced a bad fat with a bad fat.

If you're confused about this, don't worry. The key is not to eat high-fat foods, such as those found in fast-food chains and processed foods and foods that are fried or smothered in butter or oil. Fast food is the kicker. Stop eating it! Did you know that 33 percent of the USDA's top 100 high-fat foods are fast foods? Drive away from the drive-thru. This is by far the quickest way to eliminate bad fats from your diet.

Changing your eating habits around to better your health may seem like an insurmountable task, but it is doable. And you must do it if you want to be healthy and you want your children to be healthy and to reduce their chance of getting certain diseases and illnesses when they get older. I believe there is power in knowledge. Go to your local library and check out some books on how to eat healthier. Here are some we recommend: