Dietary Advice from a Grandmother

What we’ve come to expect from grandparents is wisdom and advice. I’m not sure how strong I am in the wisdom department, but hopefully I have some worthwhile dietary advice to pass on to my children, grandchildren…and readers of this blog.

We’ll start with the easy stuff. If you’re reading this blog then that should indicate that you have more than a passing interest in the subject of nutrition. That being the case, it will come as no surprise that my first bit of advice will be to make sure you’re getting at least eight servings of vegetables and fruits each day. That’s a combined total; not eight vegetables and eight fruits! The response I hear most often is that it’s next to impossible to consume that much. And my answer is: “NO, it’s not!” In the first place people often misunderstand the size of a serving. Just a half a cup of juice is a serving; so is a half cup of cooked veggies. A medium banana, an apple or orange, each constitute a serving. Two servings at each meal, plus one serving mid-morning and mid-afternoon…and you’ve got it made. The scientific evidence is very persuasive: people who consume the most fruits and veggies are the least likely to develop the chronic illnesses that plague western societies.

Next up: cereals and breads. Again, it won’t surprise you to learn that I’m recommending whole grain. In fact, if I were Queen Mother for a day, there would be no refined breads or cereals. I remember my Dad telling me that when he was a kid the rich kids’ mothers baked with white flour, while the poor kids Moms (of which he was one) had to make do with whole wheat. He could still remember the pride they all felt the day his mother came home with a bag of white flour…they really had made it! Now, of course, dietitians are trying with all their might to get people to choose whole grain. Yes, they put back some of the missing nutrients in enriched white flour and cereals, but it’s never the same as the original, whole-grain product. For hard-core white bread fanatics there is now available a “white” bread with all the fibre of its whole-wheat counterpart.

Now, then, a brief review of vitamin D. The average person's vitamin D status is pathetic. We simply don’t get enough of the stuff owing to Canada's geographical location (no bodily production of vitamin D from October till April), and to our use of sunscreen in the summer. Health Canada advises various amounts depending on your age (600 International Units if you’re over 70 years of age; 400 for young adults), but the top specialists in that vitamin recommend a minimum 1000 IUs for all adults.

Another nutrient for which a supplement may be the way to go would be the omega-3 fatty acids. If you’re a regular consumer of fatty fish (and I mean about three times a week), then you’re probably doing alright. But most folks just aren’t into fish like salmon, herring, and mackerel. You can up your intake, however, by eating omega-3 eggs and drinking DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) enriched milk. There are even cheeses on the market now that are enriched with DHA. Failing that, you might want to look into some fish-oil capsules.

Nuts and Berries…there’s a lot of research showing that these goodies are not only tasty, but can make an important contribution to your over-all health. It’s true that nuts pack a pretty good caloric wallop, so you don’t want to overdo it, but a handful of almonds, walnuts or pecans may be just what the doctor ordered. Blueberry season is approaching and this grandmother would like to suggest that you buy a big lot and freeze them for a tempting treat come February. Of course, you can buy the frozen product all year long; they make a great addition to a milk and yoghurt smoothie.

And speaking of smoothies, we are now at the food group that continues to be under-consumed by most North Americans: the milk and milk product food group. The evidence is overwhelming that those who have three servings of milk/milk products per day will significantly reduce their risk of developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, colon cancer, gout, kidney stones and PMS. If you care at all for the body you’re in, you’ll take steps to increase your dairy intake.

Trans fatty acids. You didn’t think I could do a whole blog without mentioning something that you should have a lot less of, now did you? While I tend to avoid negative advice, I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t point out that probably the worst single factor in the North American diet is trans fatty acids. Health Canada has done a great job with its Trans Fat Task Force and soon most of the packaged foods that we buy will have a minimal amount of these offensive fats. Pay attention to what you use for baking at home…avoid hard margarines and vegetable shortenings and check labels for terms like “hydrogenated vegetable oil” and “vegetable oil shortening”. That’s where trans fatty acids lurk!
Obviously there’s a lot more to good nutrition than this space permits, but I hope you get the drift. From this dietitian/grandmother’s perspective, health care costs would go way down, and individual health would go way up, if people simply paid a little more attention to what goes into their mouths. If you’re a grandparent or have a grandparent, or even hope to be a grandparent some day, please take this little bit of grandmotherly advice to heart.