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| home : how we can help : prevention, screening, & diagnostics : answers to cancer : diet & nutrition
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Is expecting food that is healthy to also taste good too much
to ask? Certainly not! Let's face it, food is one of our basic
needs. Without food life cannot be sustained, but it is also
one of the essential pleasures in our lives. Most of us aren't
going to adopt different eating habits, at least not on a consistent
basis if it means eating food that we don't enjoy. Food not
only satisfies our physical hunger, but it often speaks to some
of our other senses of taste, sight, smell and emotion. Maybe
we can adopt less than pleasant foods for a period of time by
relying on a high dose of self-discipline, but this not something
that the normal person can sustain forever. Just look at the
many fad diets that require very unusual or extreme ways of
eating, whether it be restrictions of many foods, different
combinations of foods, liquid meals or consistently eating foods
that just don't taste good. These types of approaches do not
work for the long-term. Most often these regimens are attempted
for weight loss, and sadly people gain back their weight and
often more after such deprivation.
It is one thing that we should have learned from all these years
of studying diets and promoting better eating habits to improve
health. The food has to taste good! Low fat, high nutrient foods
can taste good and possess the variety, texture and richness
of flavor that our tastes crave. Vegetables, fruits, herbs and
spices are nature's gifts of flavor, color and aroma. Use them
generously to enhance your plate appeal and satisfy your senses.
Also, we need to be sensitive to what food means to us in our emotional lives. Most of us would agree that food is more than something to eat Ð more of us might disagree on whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. But the symbolic meaning of food is present in most of our lives. This is especially true during the holiday season when our favorite family dishes are tightly intertwined in our family holiday traditions. You may decide to keep those family favorite recipes in tact and to watch the portion sizes. Or how about trying a lower fat, lower calorie version of some of your old favorites?
Remember that you don't have to sacrifice the enjoyment of food
for better health or vice versa. In other words, you can have
your cake and eat it too. (Just make sure it is a small piece
or it is low in fat and calories.) Throw your guilt out the
door, be sensible and enjoy!
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