Calling all health nuts: check out these nutrition facts from DCH Toyota of Oxnard to stay in-the-know about what’s in your fridge.
1. The scoop about sugar
Everyone knows that sugar, in all of its forms, is dense in calories and has the ability to sabotage diets. Below are a couple of other nutritional facts about sugar that might surprise you:
- Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes: Just because diabetes causes elevated blood sugar levels, that doesn’t mean that people with diets high in sugar will develop the disease. Research has shown that more important triggers for the disease can be found in genetics and lifestyle factors like obesity and lack of exercise.
- Sugar is addictive: You can add sugar to your list of addictive substances right along with tobacco and caffeine. Scientists at Princeton University have reported that when digested, sugar releases the chemicals opioids and dopamine, affecting your brain’s pleasure sensors just like other addictive substances.
2. “Fat” isn’t a dirty word
Dietary fats are also dense in calories, but not all fats are created equal. Without the proper balance of healthy fat in your diet, you might suffer from vitamin and hormone deficiencies. When you include healthy fats found in olive oil, nuts, and avocados, you also reap the following nutritional benefits that might surprise you:
- Fat improves your skin: Skin continues to renew itself by sloughing off dead skin cells and regenerating new ones. Without healthy fat in your diet, and the important vitamins found in them, your skin would be unattractively dry, itchy and scaly.
- Sex and fat: Your reproductive organs need fat to function properly. Sufficient fat levels produce hormones to regulate reproduction.
3. The truth about “low fat”
Most dieters gravitate toward low-fat diets without understanding that eating low-fat doesn’t necessarily translate into healthy food choices. High-fat content foods do have more calories. When compared with a low-fat or no-fat product without any fiber or nutritional content, though, you’d be better off reaching for a handful of walnuts or a piece of whole-grain bread with more calories but much higher nutritional value.
4. Misconceptions about buying “fresh”
By all means, if you live where farmers’ markets are available, buying fresh produce is always the way to go. The bigger question is, are you really better off buying fresh products during winter? The answer is, not necessarily. Keep in mind that the nutrients in fresh produce fade quickly. If you don’t know exactly when that bunch of broccoli was actually picked, or how far it had to travel to reach your market, you may be better off buying frozen because that produce is picked and processed quickly.
5. Be smart about organic foods
As your market shelves expand with organic products, don’t be fooled by phony claims. Food labeled “organic” doesn’t mean that it is nutritionally superior. What the label does mean is that the food is supposed to be absent of any synthetic fertilizers, added hormones, pesticides, or any genetically-modified ingredients. That expensive box of “organic” cookies or candy you just bought for your kids probably contains the same amount of sugar and fats as similar products and should not be considered a healthy choice just because the word “organic” is on the label.
Staying on top of important nutritional facts is the best way to be sure that you’re eating a diet rich in many different types of food. When your nutrition levels are normal, your body will perform at its best every day.
