More than 42 percent of adults in the U.S. have obesity. We continue to hear that it’s a “growing” concern. Obviously these last few pandemic years have not helped that. Knowing nineteen states now have adult obesity rates over 35 percent, up from 16 states last year, may just justify that concern. Sounds like time for a few eating tips to jump start things.
The award-winning Jefit app focuses on planning and tracking your strength training workout. We understand, though, about the importance of eating healthy. With that said, we’ll continue to publish nutrition-related content on our blog. Here are some of those eating tips to help keep you on the right nutritional path.
3 Eating Tips to Try
- Eat Your Veggies and Fruit. New research has shown the importance of eating 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit daily. On that note, Israeli scientists found eating one grapefruit a day lowers cholesterol by 20 percent even in people who don’t respond to statins.
- Eat Less Added Sugar. Tufts University researchers found low-sugar diets had lower levels of depression and anxiety than those who consumed all types of carbohydrates. The happier people also limited their total carbohydrate intake to 40 percent of their daily total calories. Simply cut down on sweets and sugary drinks and you will easily hit this number. A second study showed subjects who got 17-21 percent of their calories from added sugar had a 38 percent risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who consumed 8 percent of their calories from added sugar. The risk was more than double for those who consumed 21 percent or more of their calories from added sugar.
- Unsaturated Fats Are Your Friend. Some people are advised to avoid saturated fats – which is right – but unsaturated fats are another story. The best-unsaturated fats to consume are the ones found in foods like avocados, olive oil, and coconut oil. They help you to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, while also improving blood sugar.
Additional Tips
- Skip the Processed Foods. We know, this can be tough because just about everything out of box, carton, can or package is highly processed. Some motivation: Two large European studies published by the British Medical Journal found positive associations between consumption of highly processed foods and risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Results showed that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods (more than 4 servings per day) was associated with a 62 percent increased risk of all cause mortality compared with lower consumption (less than 2 servings per day). For each additional daily serving of ultra-processed food, mortality risk relatively increased by 18 percent.
- Include protein in all meals and snacks. In order to meet your protein needs, which is important for everything from aging to strength training, you need it in every meal. Approximately 25-35 grams of protein in each meal is a good start. Some studies suggest higher protein diets can also be beneficial for type 2 diabetes.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating some of these nutritional tips as part of your nutrition practice will help greatly. Especially when it comes time to fuel performance in the gym.
Stay Strong Together
Jefit, named best strength training app by Sports Illustrated, Esquire, GQ, Men’s Health, Greatest, Forbes Health, and many others. We offer a community responsible for 92,000,000 workouts to date! The app, which recently passed 10 million downloads, comes equipped with a customizable workout planner and training log. The app also has ability to track data, offer audio coaching cues, and can share workouts with friends. Visit our members-only Facebook group. Connect with like-minded people, share tips, and advice to help get closer to reaching your fitness goals.
Read the scientific paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research using the Jefit app. Also, a great Jefit app review was recently published by MUO that can be found here.
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