Better eating habits stressed for weight loss, overall health

Lifestyle changes are the newest craze sweeping the nation when it comes to health and fitness.

At least that's what Janet Anders, a registered dietitian at Saint Francis Medical Center thinks.

"They're not called fad diets anymore or even diets, they're seen as lifestyle changes, they're advertised as lifestyle changes, so people kind of maybe think about them a little bit differently," she said.

Two of the greatest changes being talked about are the gluten-free and paleo diets.

Being gluten free means not digesting the protein gluten. Gluten is found in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale, a cross between wheat and rye. This means no breads, pastas or even beer.

Gluten free was highlighted after more people became diagnosed with celiac disease, which is inflammation in the small intestines and causes digestion issues.

It is a strict regimen that can be difficult to follow.

Raina Childers, a registered dietitian at SoutheastHEALTH, says the trick with these kinds of dietary plans is that "people find they [lifestyle changes] are hard to sustain for the long term; they are kind of something that you go on, and then you go off of again," she said.

The paleo diet is a lifestyle that requires a complete overhaul of the way most people view food.

"[Paleo] promotes eating like our human ancestors, or cave men, so to speak. It promotes animal protein," Childers said. "There are versions of the paleo ... there's people that take parts of the paleo diet and they'll follow that, but in its true form they limit all carbohydrates, including milk or dairy products. They do eat fruits and vegetables and certain nuts."

Childers said she knows some people have experienced some healthy weight loss using the paleo diet, but it means being able to maintain eating that way for an extended period of time.

"It just depends on the individual and their tolerance of avoiding all carbohydrates," she said.

The paleo diet has quickly become popular in this area because of its requirements of a high-protein diet.

"A lot of men love the paleo diet. Most men, at least in the Southeast Missouri area, are meat eaters," Childers said. "So those diets that promote larger amounts of protein are certainly something that they like, so we've heard a lot about that. Some men are still doing protein amino acid supplementation, but it's with the desire to get more muscular or more lean in appearance."

When it comes to lifestyle changes such as these, both dietitians worry about their clients receiving the proper amounts of nutrients in their diet.

"I won't discourage it [the paleo diet], I'll just say, 'OK, have you thought about this and this?' For instance, 'Those lack of grains, how will you make up for those nutrients? What are your thoughts?' Sometimes they haven't thought through it, other times they have," Anders said.

Maintaining a healthy balance is something Childers believes in, and she tries to make sure all her clients receive that proper nutrition ratio.

"I'm not a person who believes in eliminating any one category of food," she said, "because I think any type of food that is available to us brings its own nutritional benefits."

Anders researched what other health professionals thought of the paleo diet, and the results were not positive.

"If you're familiar with the U.S. News and [World Report] Health report on diets every year, they have an expert panel with 20 different experts who come in and evaluate the top 33 diets," she said.

Anders said experts rank them into approximately six different categories, and that the paleo diet was ranked last this year.

"It was ranked number 29 for healthy eating out of 32 and it was ranked last for best diet," Anders said.

That being said, health professionals are much more interested in keeping bodies healthy, rather than having people drastically lose weight or try to replicate what people see in the media.

"I think the media is becoming a little kinder toward what a real body should look like," said Eileen Sievers, a wellness nurse at Saint Francis. "I think we're trending away from those stick-thin models. We're starting to try and encourage -- particularly with our adolescents and our teens -- to embrace the body that they're in."

Sievers said the functionality of patients' bodies, what they are able to accomplish and how hard they are able to push themselves, is something that they strive for at Fitness Plus. It's not just about appearance.

Besides dieting, the ladies at Saint Francis recommend some more common methods of weight loss.

"Eat real food," Sievers said. "If it comes in a cellophane wrapper, it is not going to be as healthy for you as what comes from the farmers market or what comes out of the ground. That's my biggest tip for people, is just to try to eat closer to the ground."

Sievers said registered dietitians, mothers and grandmothers have been telling people that for years.

Cape Girardeau local Jane O'Connell is a prime example of that. At 77 years old, she is a proud supporter of the local farmers markets.

"If I don't have it in my own garden, I'm at any farmers market. I can find it at weekly," O'Connell said.

She grows the vegetables that she knows her family loves, such as zucchini, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes.

"We are big fresh-vegetable eaters, because I am a farmer's daughter. And the others, it's just not real when you're accustomed to it," she said. "And part of it is age; if you cook and eat fresh -- or frozen when you can't get the fresh -- it will sure keep you off some cholesterol medication."

O'Connell proudly said that at her age she has never had any major health problems because she cooks healthy for herself and her family. She said it's in her blood, and she just always has.

"At one time, my cholesterol started creeping up, and so did my husband's, but it's no big problem when you go all fresh. Wintertime you have to go to frozen, but it works."

According to O'Connell those who shop locally at farmers markets are ultimately just being kind to themselves.

smaue@semissourian.com

388-3644