banner
Welcome to HSPH Nutrition Source Update, an e-letter to help you cut through confusing information and find practical strategies for healthy eating.

 January 2011
Your guide to a healthy new year
 

healthy weight Making a healthy eating resolution? Follow the Healthy Eating Pyramid, a simple and trustworthy guide to eating right. Or check out our 10 quick nutrition tips for eating right. 

 


Is "staying active" on your list? Learn how much exercise you need to control your weight, and try these 20 tips for fitting more activity into your day.

The bottom line on healthy weight  

Move more, eat less. Turning off the television and skipping the sugary drinks can help.

Weight is a tough issue. Most people know how important it is to keep weight in check, yet they struggle to do so. And it's understandable in today's world where calorie-packed food comes fast and easy. However, the health benefits of staying at a healthy weight are huge and well worth the effort. In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure, getting to your healthy weight can also lower the risk of many different cancers, including breast, colon, kidney, pancreas, and esophagus.

Because most people put on a pound or two every year, the first, and easiest, goal should be to stop any more weight gain, which has big health benefits itself. After that, getting weight down to a healthy level should be the next step.  

 

5 quick tips: Healthy weight control 

 

1. Ban the strange diets. They may work in the short term, but almost any strange, extreme diet is doomed to fail. The best diet is one you'll follow. 


2. Be more active. Choose activities you enjoy and do them every day. Exercising with a friend can help keep you on track. Get tips on staying active.


3. Turn off the television. Watching less TV can give you more time to be active -- and less time to be enticed by junk food ads. Two easy ways to cut back on TV watching: take the TV out of your bedroom, and make sure it's off during meals.


4. Skip the sugary drinks. Drinking soda, fruit drinks, or juice--including both sugar-added and naturally sweet beverages--can add several hundred calories a day to your diet without your realizing it. Research suggests children and adults who drink soda or other sugary drinks are more likely to gain weight than those who don't, and that switching from these to water or unsweetened drinks can reduce weight.


5. Think before you eat. Before you mindlessly reach for a snack, pause and ask yourself, "Am I really hungry? Is there a healthier choice?" It's easy to lose sight of good food choices in today's ad-crazy world. Simple questions like these can help keep us on track.

Read Nutrition Source experts' answers to readers' healthy weight questions on topics such as the role of genetics in obesity and whether gastric bypass can help with weight loss. 

Try it at home
 Salad dressings made with healthy olive oil
olive oil

Did you know?
balloon
Mood and health
Negative emotions such as serious stress or fear have been shown to add wear and tear to the body that can lead to illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Now, researchers are exploring a new -- and sometimes controversial -- avenue of public health: documenting and understanding the link between positive emotions and good health.
Learn more
HSPH nutrition research in the news

Resolutions for 2011: Eat and drink more healthfully (The Washington Post)

 

11 healthy resolutions for 2011 (The Boston Globe)

 

Fatty acids in dairy cut diabetes risk?

(CBS News)


A reversal on carbs (Los Angeles Times)