Physical activity guidelines

We all probably remember the old recommendations from the Surgeon General regarding physical activity - 30 minutes daily, most days of the week. In 2008, the most recent physical activity guidelines were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services.

2008 physical activity guidelines

Children - ages 6 to 17

• Should accumulate 1 hour or more of physical activity daily.
• Most of that 1 hour should be moderate or vigorous intensity.
  
• As part of that 1 hour or more daily, at least 3 days a week should be vigorous activity.
• Muscle strengthening should be done 3 days per week.
• Children's bodies are designed to play and that's how they should get most activity.
• Children with disabilities should be as active as they are able and avoid inactivity. Parents or caregivers should work with health care providers to determine what is appropriate.
  

Adults - age 18 to 64

• Should accumulate 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate aerobic physical activity weekly or 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous aerobic physical activity weekly or an equivalent combination.
• Aerobic activity should be performed in no less than 10 minutes increments, spread throughout the week.
• Increasing that amount can lead to additional health benefits.
• Muscle strengthening activities should be done 2 or more times a week.
• Adults with disabilities should be as active as their abilities allow and avoid inactivity.
• If you are currently inactive, any activity is better than none. Start slowly and work up to the recommendations.
  

Older adults - age 65 and up

• Should follow the adult recommendations.
• If not possible because of limiting or chronic conditions, older adults should be as physically active as possible.
• Avoid inactivity.
• Should do exercises that improve or maintain balance if at risk for falling.
  

Pregnant women

• Follow adult recommendations for moderate physical activity
• If already doing vigorous activity or high amount of activity, can continue as long as their condition remains unchanged
• Talk to health care provider for specific recommendations

Moderate intensity activities are those where your breathing rate and heart rate are raised somewhat and you can talk but it's not as easy as when you are sitting. You wouldn't be able to sing at this intensity. Walking is a moderate intensity activity for most.

Vigorous intensity activities are those where your breathing rate and heart rate are elevated considerably and you would not be able to say more than a few words without stopping for breath. Jogging is a vigorous intensity activity for most.

For more information about the 2008 physical activity guidelines, click this link.

The six nutrients

Today's blog will cover the six nutrients. Three of these nutrients provide calories for the body, whereas three do not. Eating a variety of foods to provide all these nutrients is important because they each have different functions in the body.

Carbohydrates (carbs) do provide energy and calories to the body. Carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables (corn, potatoes, peas), milk products (cheese is low in carbs), beans, and grains. Meat, some vegetables, and cheese have very little or no carbohydrates. Carbs are the body's main energy source. Carbs are broken down into glucose, otherwise known as blood sugar. Insulin helps the glucose enter cells where it is used for energy. Some glucose also gets stored and may turn to body fat if not used for energy needs. A minimum of 25% of your calories should come from carbs, but a good range for most is 45 - 65% of total calories. The focus of your carbs should be from whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, and low-fat milk products, not from sugars.

Fats are needed to insulate the body, protect vital organs, and to store and transport some of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K). Fat is also a rich source of energy. Fats are not all the same, saturated fats and trans fat are more harmful than the heart-healthy oils, like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils. Fat should be about 20 to 35% of your total calories intake, with no more than 10% of the total calories coming from saturated fat and little to none from trans fat.

Protein help build, repair, and maintain body tissues. If carbs and fats are in short supply, protein can be used for energy. But, when used for energy, proteins cannot be used to help maintain body tissues. Protein is found mostly in meats, beans, nuts, and milk products. Some grains have a little bit of protein. Protein should constitute about 10 - 35% of total calories.

Water is the most essential nutrient. The body cannot function without a constant source of water and dehydration can lead to death if someone is without water for a few days. Water regulates body processes, help control body temperature, carries nutrients to the cells, and moves wastes out of the body. You lose about 10 cups of water daily through sweat, breathing, and going to the bathroom. Adults need anywhere from 8 to 12 cups of water daily to replace this from all sources of water (drinks and food). Water does not provide energy or calories to the body.

Vitamins are used for many different body processes, such as promoting healthy vision, blood clotting, helping keep bones and teeth strong, antioxidants, and energy functions. Each vitamin plays a specific role and cannot replace each other. Vitamins alone do not provide calories or energy to the body (although they do help release or use energy from the foods we eat).

Minerals are similar to vitamins for their roles in many different processes. They help with carrying oxygen in red blood cells, bone building, fluid balance, heart and muscle contraction, growth and development, healing wounds, energy production and metabolism. Minerals have different functions and similar to vitamins, cannot replace each other. Minerals alone do not provide calories or energy to the body (although they do help release or use energy from the foods we eat).

Information is from the Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, American Dietetics Association.

Fiber

Fiber is a nutrient that falls into the carbohydrate category. Usually carbohydrates are used for energy, but fiber is a little different because your body doesn't digest or absorb it, instead it is eliminated. Fiber doesn't contribute calories to your eating plan.

Fiber is naturally found in plant foods to give them their shape. There are 2 types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. They are different because soluble fiber dissolves in water, whereas insoluble doesn't dissolve in water.

Soluble fiber is found in dried beans, oats, fruits, flaxseed, vegetables, or other whole grains. It is more gummy in nature and helps lower cholesterol levels.

Insoluble fiber is the "roughage" found in wheat and oat bran, flaxseed, whole-wheat foods, vegetables, skins of fruits and root vegetables. It helps move waste through the intestinal tract. Insoluble fiber promotes regularity and prevents constipation.

Most foods are a mixture of soluble and insoluble fiber. Whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables (especially with the peel) are the best sources of fiber.

Men up to age 50 need 38 grams of fiber daily. Women that age need 25 grams daily. Ages 51 and up need 30 grams daily for men and 21 grams daily for women.

If you are upping your intake of fiber, do so slowly and drink plenty of water. Too much fiber can cause digestive upset, gas, or bloating, and prevent absorption of certain vitamins and minerals (zinc, iron, magnesium, and calcium).

To get more fiber in your healthy eating habits, try these tips:

• Read the food label to determine the amount of fiber. The food label will give the exact amount of fiber, but you can also quickly view the label lingo too. A food that lists "high fiber" must have as least 5 grams of fiber per serving. A "good source" of fiber has between 2.5 and 4.9 grams of fiber per serving.
  
• Eat beans a few times a week. They are inexpensive and very versatile.
  
• Switch to more whole grains. Look for the word "whole" as the first ingredient to indicate a whole-grain food. Try brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or whole wheat breads.
  
• Eat more fruits and vegetables and leave the skin or peel on if possible.
• Choose whole fruit more often than fruit juice.
• Try oats and whole grain cereal for breakfast.
• Substitute higher fiber foods in your cooking. Use up to half whole wheat flour for white flour in recipes. Add oats or flaxseed, or fruits or vegetables with the skin to your recipes.

Information is from the Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, American Dietetic Association.

A deeper look into calcium

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. For a 130 pound adult, almost 3 pounds or 1,200 grams of the body is calcium.

About 99% of the calcium in your body is in the bones. The only 1% has very important functions in the cells, for muscle contraction, and heartbeat. If you don't eat enough calcium or if the body doesn't absorb it, your body may withdraw calcium from the bones for the other body functions.

Vitamin D works with calcium to help absorb and deposit it in bones and teeth to make them stronger. The most important bone-building years are in the adolescent and teenage years. After about age 30, the bones start to lose the minerals that give them strength. After that, you can only slow the bone loss that comes with aging.

To continue to keep strong bones throughout life, use these tips:

• Consume adequate calcium and vitamin D at every age. Current recommendations from the milk group is 3 cups a day for most people. Calcium gets deposited and withdrawn daily from your bones, like money from a bank. Make regular calcium and vitamin D deposits for your bone bank.
• Participate regularly in weight-bearing activities such as walking and strength training.
• Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol intake, these interfere with bone health.
• Be careful with diet plans to limit dairy. If calories or fat are a concern, choose low-fat or fat free dairy products to continue to get enough calcium.
• If you take a calcium supplement, use it to fill a calcium gap, not to replace calcium-rich foods.
  
• Read the food label to see how calcium you are getting in the foods you eat. The %Daily Value should add up to 100% for all the foods you eat that day.
  

Information is from the Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, American Dietetic Association.

Looking deeper into iron

The next few blogs will go into a deeper discussion of some of the nutrients that we focused on this summer. Today we will talk more about iron.

Iron is a mineral that is important for carrying oxygen in the hemoglobin of red blood cells. If you don't get enough iron, you may feel weak or tired, because the red blood cells can't carry as much oxygen. Iron also helps protect against infection, changes beta carotene into vitamin A, helps produce collagen, and helps make other proteins.

For a refresher on iron, refer back to this blog entry.

Iron comes from animal foods and plant foods. Iron from animal foods is called heme iron and is better absorbed than the iron from plant foods, called nonheme iron.

Liver, sirloin, ground beef, chicken, pork, salmon, and other meats are good sources of heme iron. Breakfast cereal, pumpkins seeds, soybean nuts, spinach, eggs, bran, beans, and enriched grains are good sources of nonheme iron.

Some nutrients interfere with iron absorption. Oxalic acid in spinach and chocolate, phytic acid in wheat bran and legumes, tannins in tea and coffee, and polyphenols in coffee are thought to inhibit iron absorption.

There are ways to enhance or overcome those inhibitors and to help the body better absorb the iron from nonheme sources. One way is to pair heme iron sources with nonheme iron sources or with the inhibitors. Another way is to consume foods with vitamin C (such as citrus fruits, bell peppers, or broccoli) with nonheme sources or the inhibitors also help. Vitamin C and heme iron sources will help the body better absorb nonheme iron and overcome the iron inhibitors.

Here are some examples that will help your body absorb the most iron possible:

• Try sirloin strips or grilled chicken on your spinach salad with green peppers.
• Add strawberries to your oatmeal.
• Eat peanut butter on whole wheat bread with a glass of orange juice.
• If you drink coffee or tea with your meals, eat some type of meat or vitamin C food. If not, try to drink tea in between meals instead of during.
• Eat salmon with a side of brown rice and broccoli.
• Cook in an iron skillet.

Information is from Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, American Dietetics Association.