Eat healthier at home
Stevia: The natural no-calorie sweetener
If you want to help your family to stay slim but you’d also like to avoid artificial sweeteners, you
may not have to choose anymore. Stevia, a natural, zero-calorie, zero-carb sweetener, may soon
be showing up in some of your favorite indulgences. Until now, the FDA hasn’t allowed it to be used
in food. But a slew of recent, well-designed studies shows that stevia—which comes from a plant
native to Paraguay, where it’s been used for centuries—is safe. In fact, research shows it’s loaded
with antioxidants and doesn’t spike blood sugar, so it’s ideal for diabetics. And it may even boost
immunity. Because of this, the FDA recently granted stevia “no objection” status.
You can sweeten your own foods with stevia powder or liquid—found in the dietary supplements
aisle. The licorice-like aftertaste can take a little getting used to, but after a while you barely notice
it. It’s about 300 times sweeter than sugar, though, so go easy! –Laurie Budgar
Try this: Once a week, have a new-food-of-the-week
meal to encourage branching out, featuring healthy
ingredients such as quinoa, lean bison, or kale paired
with family faves. “Don’t throw in the towel if your
child emphatically refuses it at the start. Research
shows that it can take ten or more times before a new
food is accepted by a finicky eater,” says Phillips, a
mother of two. She suggests letting kids loose in the
produce department, allowing them to pick a new
fresh item they are curious about and then involving
them in its preparation so they are more likely to try it.
“Or substitute familiar foods like apples with pears,”
Ayoob recommends.
Dining disaster: Grabbing unhealthy snacks
With so much unhealthy food marketed toward kids, it’s
easy for tykes to graze their way to bigger pant sizes.
The issue: A 2008 study in Italy linked savory, energy-
dense snack foods with childhood obesity. And USDA
research shows the percentage of children eating three
regular meals a day has decreased over the past 25 years,
while consumption of high-calorie snack-type foods has
gone up. “Unhealthy snacking can have an impact on
academic performance, energy levels, and weight,”
Ayoob says.
Try this: Give your pantry and fridge an overhaul. Get
rid of nutrient-devoid chips, cookies, and soda. “Replace
these with healthier, portable fuel like nuts, baby carrots,
low-fat string cheese and cottage cheese, yogurt, and
dried fruit,” suggests Ayoob. This does away with the
good-versus-bad food battle on the home front. Ponichtera
suggests keeping a bowl of varicolored seasonal fruit on
the counter for when your kids return home ravenous.
She also recommends offering up sliced vegetables and
fruit with yummy and nutritious yogurt, guacamole, or
hummus dips, or making after-school smoothies with
frozen fruit, low-fat milk, and yogurt.
Because watching television—including all those
commercials extolling unhealthy foods—provides an
ideal environment for mindless snacking (studies link
excess TV time with elevated body fat), consider pulling
the plug after an hour. And if you must snack in front of
the tube, “natural, unbuttered popcorn is excellent
because it’s whole grain, low in calories, and high in
filling fiber,” Ponichtera says.
Dining disaster: Rush, rush, rush!
The need for something quick may be why half of total
U.S. food expenditures today goes to meals prepared
outside the home.
The issue: Studies suggest that the more you purchase
fast food, the greater your girth. “This should come as no
surprise because what is often ordered is huge portions
higher in calories, fat, sugar, and salt than what would be
served at home,” says Ayoob. Even shunning the Golden
Arches for what you believe to be a smarter option could
pack on pounds. Researchers reported in the Journal of
Consumer Research that you are likely to underestimate
the calories in a meal from a restaurant marketed as
“healthier,” like Subway, than those in a meal from a
perceived bad guy such as McDonald’s. This mistake
often leads to overeating when you purchase extra or
bigger sides, suggest the study authors.
Parents should also take heed of a recent University
of Minnesota study suggesting that adolescents who are
part of families that rely on fewer than three purchased
meals per week are more likely to consume milk and
vegetables with meals and less likely to indulge in soda
and chips at home.
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