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Good Carbohydrates - Carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, and grains should give you about 45% - 65% of your daily calories. For peak health, get your grains whole from foods such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta. Not only are these foods very tasty and filling they can also help prevent many diseases.
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Sweet Potatoes - The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) ranks the sweet potato as the #1 most nutritional vegetable and rated it significantly higher in nutrients than the Idaho potato, spinach or broccoli. I love them baked with just a little light brown sugar. I also like to cut them up like steak fries and bake them in the oven.
Large Sweet Potato
Calories 162
Total Fat 0.3g
Saturated Fat 0.1g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 65mg
Carbohydrate 37.3g
Dietary Fiber 5.9g
Sugars 15.2g
Protein 3.6g
Vitamin A 692% Vitamin C 59% Calcium 7% Iron 7%
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Bananas - They are nourishing, contain little fat, and is great for your digestive system. The banana is full of proteins, and the sugar provided gives a lot of energy to those practicing sports requiring endurance. Also, it contains magnesium, iron, a lot of vitamins, and is recommended for salt-free diets because of its low sodium content. I eat half a banana with breakfast often. For those of you on MFD it gives you a breakfast smiley. Don't know what? I mean try joining My Food Diary.
Large Banana
Calories 120
Total Fat 1g
Saturated Fat 0.1g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 0mg
Carbohydrate 28g
Dietary Fiber 3g
Sugars 14.1g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 18% Calcium 1% Iron 2%
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Brown Rice - The difference between brown rice and white rice is not just color! A whole grain of rice has several layers. Only the outermost layer, the hull, is removed to produce what we call brown rice. This process is the least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing. If the rice is further processed you will get white rice. Which is simply a refined starch that has hardly any of the original nutrients. I like to put stir-fry on top of brown rice for a great meal.
Kraft's Instant Brown Rice 0.65 cup
Calories 170
Fat 1.5g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 10mg
Carbohydrate 34g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Sugars 0g
Protein 4g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 2%
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Whole Wheat Bread - I use Arnold's Whole Wheat Bread. It has half the calories of most wheat breads. 1 slice with breakfast will give you your MFD breakfast smiley. I also put Bocca burgers on it for lunch, eat it with frozen dinners to add more calories to my diet, and even make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Arnold's Light Wheat Bread 2 slices
Calories 80
Total Fat 0.5g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 150mg
Carbohydrate 17g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 2g
Protein 5g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 2% Iron 2%
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Whole wheat pasta - whether it's made with flour or durum, has almost three times more fiber than regular pasta. Besides lowering your risk of heart disease and diabetes, foods that are high in fiber fill you up faster, meaning you'll eat fewer calories ?- potentially helping you lose weight. I use Heatland's Whole Wheat Penne Rigate that I get at Wal-Mart. I add the penne instead of the rice to my stir-fry. I would use some Del-Monte's Garlic and Onion Pasta Sauce and some Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese from Kraft to make a nice Italian dinner.
Heartland's Whole Wheat Penne Rigate 0.75 cup
Calories 190
Total Fat 1g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 0mg
Carbohydrate 39g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 1g
Protein 7g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 2% Iron 10%
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Whole Wheat Stuffing - This is better for you then normal stuffing. I normally just use this once a week to mix things up a bit. You can make your own if you like. I tend to just use Stove-top made with "I can't believe its not butter" which has no trans fat in it. The calories aren't that bad the only thing I would watch out for if you eat Stove-top is the sodium content. I tend to eat stuffing if I'm grilling turkey or beef.
Stove Top's Stuffing Mix Whole Wheat 0.5 cup
Calories 100
Total Fat 1g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 450mg
Carbohydrate 19g
Dietary Fiber 3g
Sugars 2g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 2% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 6%
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Kashi products - I use Kashi products often. I really like the company and I would suggest taking a look at their website also. They are higher in fiber and protein and lower in processed sugar then most of the other products around. I eat Kashi: Cereal, Bars, even their frozen dinners are superior to the other leading brands and they are more satisfying then the other such products. Since they are much lower in processed sugars then the other products you might want to try them for a week or so. Your taste buds will get use to the new non-sugary flavor very quickly. Now when I go back to eating the other bars or cereals they taste much too sweet for me.
For the nutritional value of Kashi products please visit their website.
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Fruits and Vegetables - Fruits and vegetables are clearly an important part of a good diet. Almost everyone can benefit from eating more of them, but variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy. The key lies in the variety of different fruits and vegetables that you eat. I like to use frozen vegetables instead of canned. They taste better and they are lower in sodium. I have plenty of frozen cut vegetables on hand to use with lunch and dinner. They are quick and easy to heat up.
For a list of the best fruits vegetables and much more check out this website.
Reference: Havard School of Public Health, My Food Diary, World's Healthiest Foods
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