Ask a dietitian - Recent Threads

Is Breakfast important?

LaurenD — Fri, 10 May 2019 16:31:30 GMT

Is breakfast REALLY the most important meal of the day?

RE: Is Breakfast important?

BCBSNM Connect Team — Fri, 10 May 2019 17:30:25 GMT

Breakfast can be considered the best meal of the day for several reasons:

Breakfast can help replenish after the nights fast, giving your body fuel that contributes to revving the metabolism and potentially burning more calories; providing energy needed to make your muscles and brain work improving focus at work and school.
Many studies have linked eating breakfast to good health, including better memory and concentration, lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and lower chances of getting diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.
Can reduce overeating and choosing unhealthy foods which can occur when a person becomes overly hungry and are unable to eat until the next meal time.
Breakfast foods can deliver good vitamins and minerals if choices include fruit, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean protein sources.

When deciding to eat breakfast or skip, consider your choices. Some breakfast foods like pastries, doughnuts and high fat and high calorie breakfast sandwiches are not optimal and will not provide the benefits discussed above and often may lead to more calories and food intake.

Lastly, always consider the source of messages stating breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it may just be a breakfast product with interest in promoting this message.

RE: Nutrition labels

BCBSNM Connect Team — Thu, 02 May 2019 17:47:16 GMT

Great question!

Reading food labels can be very overwhelming. After all, with limited time and most dinner decisions made after 4 pm on the same day, shoppers want to get in and out of the grocery stores quickly.

Review food labels at home prior to arriving at the grocery store so you are prepared in advance. This approach will save shopping time and put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to making shopping decisions for you and your family
Identify your nutrition goals and focus on the nutrients that will impact your nutrition goals
Compare the same type of products and identify what on the label is the same and what is different? See soup label example below.
Are you seeing recognizable ingredients.
The best choices in the grocery store are low in sugar, sodium, reasonable calories, high fiber and nutrient dense (provide a lot of nutrients for the least number of calories)

Example Soup Label: what is different?

Start at the top of the label

Serving size (portion size identified)
Serving per container (total amount in package)

All nutrients below represent a single portion

Calories portion size amount identified in the serving size
Total Fat includes all types of fat: Saturated fat, trans fat, unsaturated fat
Total sodium (milligrams) portion size amount identified in the serving size
Total Carbohydrate encompasses fiber and total sugars which can include added sugar and sugar that is naturally occurring in the food
Total Protein the amount of protein the food contains

Nutrition labels

OVmom16 — Thu, 02 May 2019 16:59:50 GMT

How do I read nutrition labels to know what option is the best choice?

Complex carbs vs Regular carbs?

ChrisRE213 — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:58:45 GMT

I’ve always heard that complex carbs are better than regular carbs, but how do I know what they are without Googling them all the time?

RE: Complex carbs vs Regular carbs?

BCBSNM Connect Team — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:45:54 GMT

All carbs provide fuel for the body by making sugar for energy.

There are 2 types complex carbohydrates (takes your body longer to break them down) and simple (quick burning fuels breaking down faster) carbohydrates.

Complex
Look at fiber, which help to slow the breakdown of sugar. Fruits with skins you can eat, such as pears, apples, and berries as well as starchy vegetables; sweet potatoes, squash, and pumpkin. Beans ie:, kidney, white, black, pinto, or garbanzo, beans, lentils and split peas, whole grains are complex ie: Popcorn, millet, and bulgur.

Look for bread made with whole grains. Barley, rye, oats, and whole wheat and brown rice

Simple
Brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, and molasses, turbinado and agave nectar, white flour, more processed, added sugar (anything ending in ose) some simple carbs occur naturally in foods and are part of balanced diet; most dairy and milk contain milk sugar which doesn’t make it complex but does make it an exception in delivering healthy nutrients

RE: Macronutrients

Bridgett — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 15:27:02 GMT

Thanks this is great information

Macronutrients

Bridgett — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 00:13:31 GMT

I hear a lot about macronutrients, what are they and is it better for me for weight maintenance to count calories or macronutrients?

RE: Macronutrients

BCBSNM Connect Team — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:19:56 GMT

Macronutrients consist of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Each have their own specific roles and functions in the body and supply us with calories or energy. For this reason, the body requires these nutrients in relatively large amounts to grow, develop, repair and feel good! the only difference is how the macronutrients are balanced.

Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet and should account for about 15-20% what you consume. They support improving brain development, overall cell functioning, protecting the body’s organs and absorbing vitamins found in foods. The key is choosing the best quality fats; ones that provide monounsaturated fats which have a beneficial effect on your heart when eaten in moderation and when used to replace saturated fat and trans-fat. Healthy fats include almonds, walnuts, seeds (pumpkin, chia), olives, avocados.

Protein is essential for repairing and regenerating body tissues and cells, a healthy functioning immune system and manufacturing hormones. This wouldn’t be possible without amino acids, which are found in protein-based foods. In total there are 20 types of amino acids, 9 of which are ‘essential’ and can only be found in certain foods. Good sources of protein include beans, pulses and legumes, seeds (hemp, chia, flax), nuts (unsalted), quinoa, avocado, beets, raw greens (kale, spinach).

Carbohydrates are comprised of small chains of sugar which the digestive body breaks down into glucose to use as the body’s primarily energy source and therefore need to make up around 45-65% of a diet. Carbohydrates are found in apples, bananas, cauliflower, carrots, oats, brown rice, millet, quinoa, chickpeas, kidney beans.

Since macronutrients provide the body energy or calories, consideration to the amounts consumed is important. The key is to balance all of these nutrients properly so that your body is getting the adequate nutrients important for overall health and well-being. Highly favoring one over another creates an imbalance with the likelihood of omitting some important benefits of that particular nutrient being eliminated or minimized drastically.