HEALTHY EATING PREVENTS ILLNESS, SAVES MONEY ON MEDICAL BILLS

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, Americans put one goal ahead of all others: losing weight.

Year after year, Jan. 1 is the day diets start for the sake of better health and a smaller waistline. Typically, by mid-January or early February, it's back to old habits.

But Anita Newcomer Smith, clinical dietitian at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, says the trick to reducing the size of your waistline is not to cut back, but to fill up.

"Fill up on fruits and vegetables. Fill up on breads, pastas and grains," Smith said. "Our problem is not that we eat too much, but that we eat too much of the wrong things like high-fat and high sugar foods.

"We are also too sedentary - simple exercises, like walking on a consistent basis, helps."

Smith said healthy eating is important for more than weight control. It likely will save you money on medical bills and, ultimately, it could save your life.

Smith said studies now show healthy eating, exercise, and no smoking lessens considerably the chances of cancer and heart disease.

"It is a lot less expensive to eat healthy, not smoke, and get plenty of exercise, than it is to pay for the consequences of not doing so," she said.

The concept of developing good eating habits for healthy living is not new.

The "nutritional food pyramid" is familiar to anyone who remembers elementary school health class. But, at least until recently, most Americans ignored the guidelines.

A recent study by the National Cancer Institute shows that might be changing.

The study reported that Americans are starting eat better, at least when it comes to fruits and vegetables. According to the NCI study:

- The percentage of Americans who realize they should eat five servings daily of fruits and vegetables has tripled from 8 percent in 1991 to nearly 30 percent today.

- Forty-four percent of adult Americans recently tried to eat five or more servings each day.

- Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said eating fruits and vegetables was "quite likely" to lower the amount of fat in their diet, and nearly half, or 48 percent, believe eating more fruits and vegetables would "quite likely" help prevent cancer.

In case you've forgotten what the nutritional food pyramid is all about, here's a summary: At the base of the pyramid is the bread, cereal, rice and pasta group.

Smith, and other dietitians recommend at least six to 11 servings per day from this group. At the next level is the vegetable and fruit group, where three to five daily servings of vegetables and two to four of fruit are recommended.

In the milk, yogurt and cheese group and in the meat, poultry, fish and eggs group, it's recommended that people eat two to three servings daily.

At the top of the pyramid are the fats, oils and sweets which are recommended to be used "sparingly."

Unfortunately, most Americans are still not eating enough of the first four food groups and too much fats, oils, and sweets, said Smith.

She said inadequate nutrition labeling on food packaging hasn't helped the situation.

Passage of new nutrition labeling guidelines a few years ago has changed that.

"Read the label on the package or the can," said Smith. "It contains a wealth of important nutrition data. It tells you the percentage of fats and fat calories in the product.

"If the product contains fats, such as beef fat, lard, palm oil, or coconut oil, don't use it because it contains large amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol," she added. "Keep in mind that vegetable fats, such as corn, soybean, canola, peanut and sunflower oils are still fats and contain a large amount of fat calories."

Smith said it's particularly important to find on the label the percentage of calories a product has that derive from fat.

"You want to reduce the amount of fat in your diet and at the same time increase the amount of high fiber, which fills you up without filling you out," she said.

High fiber foods include multi-grain products such as whole wheat breads, wheat and oat bran cereals, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Smith also advised including foods rich in vitamins A and C in a daily diet. "Choose dark green and deep yellow fresh vegetables as sources of vitamin A and C, such as carrots, spinach, yams, peaches, and oranges," she said. "These foods may help lower the risk for cancers of the larynx and the lung."

She also recommended cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower - cruciferous vegetables - because they might help prevent certain cancers from developing.

Smith said the new, no-fat salad dressings now on grocer's shelves make lettuce salads taste just as good as the traditional high fat and cholesterol dressings.

"There are also a number of salt-free substitutes and seasonings that provide flavor without high amounts of salt in your diet," she said.

The best time to start eating healthy is now, said Smith.

"Don't wait until you're in your late 40s, or 50s, 60s, and 70s and at a much higher risk of cancer, heart disease or stroke to begin good healthy eating and living habits," she said. "By then, the damage has been done. Ideally, healthy eating should begin at pre-school age and continue through adulthood."