Make good nuTriTion choices
TIndra Balaratnam is a consultant dietitian who believes in simple, practical ways to eating well and living healthy. She can be reached at indra.balaratnam@ gmail.com HE more you know about what you eat, the better you’ll be at making good nutrition choices.
In my workshops and seminars, I love challenging my participants by asking them to put their thinking caps on. Let’s play this nutrition quiz to know more on how you can eat better for your good health. AnswEr: B. OvErwEiGhT
It is important to also be aware of your body fat percentage as experts say this is a better indicator of your health risk compared to just knowing your body weight. For people who are very lean, they may weigh more as lean muscle tissue is heavier than body fat. A healthy body fat range for men and women are as below:
- Men (13-21 per cent);
Women - (23-31 per cent)
- Men (22-25 per cent); Women - (32-37 per cent)
- Men (26-31 per cent);
Women - (38-42 per cent)
- Men (32 per cent and above); Women (43 per cent and above) A. One serving of fruit and vegetable
each
B. Two servings of fruit and three
servings of vegetables
C. Two servings of fruit and two
servings of vegetables
D. It’s up to you to either eat fruit or
vegetables AnswEr: B. TwO sErvinGs Of fruiT AnD ThrEE sErvinGs Of vEGETABLEs
The Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010 recommends two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day. To easily remember this, just put your palm up and look at your five fingers to represent the two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables. AnswEr: C. A TyPE Of fAT ThAT CAn CAusE hEArT DisEAsE whEn EATEn in ExCEss.
Trans fats are unsaturated fats that have a trans double bond chemical structure in them.
Some foods such as full cream milk, butter and meat naturally have a small amount of trans fats in them. In the body, trans fats functions like saturated fat and will cause arteries to clog up if eaten in excess.
Researchers have not found any benefits of trans fats for human health. A large part of trans fats are actually man-made through a process called hydrogenation. This process adds hydrogen bonds to unsaturated fats to make them more stable for the food processing industry. Hence, you’ll find trans fats in a lot of snack foods, bakery items, margarines, sauces and canned foods. Limit these foods in your healthy diet.