Edge To Health

08/07/2025

Whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables are all close to the state they were in when harvested and come loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other essential nutrients.

As the degree of processing and refining increases, the food’s nutritional value decreases. With more processing, the likelihood that less-beneficial ingredients like fat, salt, and sugar are added goes up, and the likelihood of vitamins and minerals being present goes down.

The US-led National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that 90% of the added sugar in our Western diet comes from ultra-processed foods.

The benefits of a whole food or a minimally processed diet include lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Whole foods such as fruits and vegetables are packed full of phytochemicals, and these natural compounds can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular and other diseases.

Choosing whole foods is not a diet...it is a lifestyle change to benefit your health and well-being.💕

08/07/2025

Whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables are all close to the state they were in when harvested and come loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber and other essential nutrients.

As the degree of processing and refining increases, the food’s nutritional value decreases. With more processing, the likelihood that less-beneficial ingredients like fat, salt and sugar are added goes up and the likelihood of vitamins and minerals being present goes down.

The US-led National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that 90% of the added sugar in our Western diet comes from ultra-processed foods.

The benefits of a whole food or a minimally processed diet include lower rates of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. Whole foods such as fruits and vegetables are packed full of phytochemicals and these natural compounds can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular and other diseases.

Choosing whole foods is not a diet...it is a lifestyle change to benefit your health and well-being.💕

08/06/2025

Low-fat foods may seem healthy, but they’re often loaded with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. These can lead to excessive hunger, weight gain and disease.

For optimal health, it’s best to consume unprocessed, whole foods. This includes foods that are naturally low in fat, as well as foods that naturally contain healthy fats.

Think about eliminating these low fat foods:
Low Fat Sweetened Breakfast Cereal (The average cold breakfast cereal contains 25% sugar by weight.)
Low Fat Flavored Coffee Drinks (Some of these have over 50% sugar by weight.
Low Fat flavored yogurt (They often average a teaspoon per ounce of yogurt.)
Low fat Cookies (They are often over 50% sugar)

Have you figured out the plan? They cut the fat but increase the sugar to make it appealing to you! Eliminate the low fat foods. 💕

08/06/2025

08/06/2025

Portion size makes a difference. Often, we feel the need to fill a larger plate completely and thus end up eating more than we would otherwise. Easy ways to cut calories include shifting the size of your plate.

08/05/2025

So many sauces are sweetened with sugar!

A few of the main offenders are:
Ketchup- 4 grams per tablespoon. (FYI, a teaspoon is 4 grams of sugar...so a tablespoon of ketchup is 1/3 sugar!)
Barbeque Sauce- 5 grams per tablespoon
Sweet Relish- 4.5 grams per tablespoon
Teriyaki Sauce- 3 grams per tablespoon
Hoisin Sauce- 5 grams per tablespoon
Honey Mustard- 3 grams per tablespoon.

Measure out the size of a tablespoon and you will quickly realize that you are often adding more than one tablespoon to your plate as a dipping sauce or using more than one tablespoon in food preparation.

So, skip the sauces and season your food with dried herbs and spices!

08/05/2025

So many sauces are sweetened with sugar!

A few of the main offenders are:
Ketchup- 4 grams per tablespoon. (FYI, a teaspoon is 4 grams of sugar...so a tablespoon of ketchup is 1/3 sugar!)
Barbeque Sauce- 5 grams per tablespoon
Sweet Relish- 4.5 grams per tablespoon
Teriyaki Sauce- 3 grams per tablespoon
Hoisin Sauce- 5 grams per tablespoon
Honey Mustard- 3 grams per tablespoon.

Measure our the size of a tablespoon and you will quickly realize that you are often adding more than one tablespoon to your plate as a dipping sauce or using more than one tablespoon in food preparation.

So, skip the sauces and season your food with dried herbs and spices!

08/04/2025

Chemically processed foods contained refined ingredients and artificial substances with little or no nutritional value. They tend to contain chemical flavoring agents, colors, and sweeteners. They contain less vitamins and fiber than whole foods.

Processed foods tend to contain added sugar and, often, high fructose corn syrup. Sugar often hides under one of 60! other names on the label. Added sugar contains no essential nutrients but is high in calories.

Regularly consuming an excess of added sugar can lead to compulsive overeating. Research supports an association between a high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease and others.

So do your heart and your health a favor and eliminate processed foods from your diet.

Ones to cut out include:
Soft drinks
Packaged bread and buns
Chips
Candy
Store-bought ice cream
Boxed cake mix
Instant noodles
Breakfast cereal
Energy bars
Flavored yogurt
Chicken nuggets
Fast food burgers
Hot dogs

If these are your diet staples (or your child's) and you need some help on alternates to step down to, don't hesitate to ask!

08/03/2025

Disadvantages of desserts...
Did you know that consuming sweet foods after your meal (a.k.a. desserts) can impact your sleep? Your body receives a large burst of glucose into the blood from the sweet food, priming it for action, not for rest. Rest is important as sleep is the time the body is best able to repair and restore. During sleep, certain functions of the immune system rev up. You are dealing your body a double whammy by eating a dessert before bed.

Your immune system functions less effectively after intake of sugar, so you're impairing your body's natural process of fighting invaders. In addition, the sugar can reduce the amount of time you sleep, causing your immune system to have less time to carry out natural disease fighting processes.

So, ditch the desserts and instead have an additional serving of protein or vegetables at dinner. The result will be a better rested, healthier you.

Keep checking back for more tips on how to reduce your sugar consumption!

08/03/2025

Disadvantages of desserts...
Did you know that consuming sweet foods after your meal (a.k.a. desserts) can impact your sleep? Your body receives a large burst of glucose into the blood from the sweet food priming it for action not for rest. Rest is important as sleep is the time the body is best able to repair and restore. During sleep certain functions of the immune system rev up. You are dealing your body a double whammy by eating a dessert before bed.

Your immune system functions less effectively after intake of sugar, so you're impairing your body's natural process of fighting invaders. In addition, the sugar can reduce the amount of time you sleep causing your immune system to have less time to carry out natural disease fighting processes.

So, ditch the desserts and instead have an additional serving of protein or vegetables at dinner. The result will be a better rested, healthier you

Keep checking back for more tips on how to reduce your sugar consumption!