Nutrition

Celebrating Christmas the healthy way

Eat healthy during this festive season

In this chapter, we will go to town on the healthy dietary choices and return home on the ones to take in moderation or avoid completely.

To start us off, let’s address the fufu eaters. For us, we can eat fufu with any soup of our choice. Some of the best proteins to add to our soup are fish and boiled egg.

With meats, preferred will be white meats such as chicken, turkey, and rabbit. If it must be red meat, every fatty part must be trimmed off (lean meat), because red meats can increase our blood cholesterol, leading to conditions like hypertension.

For our rice dishes, optimal recipes include brown rice with any stew of our choice (protein choices, above will be applied here also), and to top it off, assorted vegetable salad can be added to the meals to make it healthier and it also increases its visual appeal, boosting appetite.

In preparation of our Christmas time pastries, we should choose fresh vegetable oil instead of old stale oils or animal fats such as butter and lard.

For our beverage choices, the best would be to make homemade juices from freshly blended and squeezed fruits.

Soft drinks and alcohol should be taken sparingly, because too much of these can predispose us to diabetes and liver failure.

If we can make these simple lifestyle choices, we can better our health and live long to enjoy many more Christmases.

All this being said, we must remember that portion sizes and the timing of our meals is key in making a lasting difference in our health.

I would love to wish us all happy holidays and a fruitful festive season!

By Bernice Korkor Asare

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The writer is a Dietician and CEO of Holistic Health Consult

“Your diet your health, your health your wealth”

E-mail:info@holistichealth

—consult.org

Nutrition

Dietary management of memory loss

Chocolate

In this new chapter, we will be discussing how we can manage memory loss with our diet.

Some people get more forgetful with age. It may take longer to learn new things, remember familiar faces and words as well as personal belongings.

Memory loss can be mild or serious. Serious memory lapses affect ability to do daily activities like driving, shopping, or handling of money among others.

Below are some pointers of serious memory loss;

●Asking the same questions over and over again

●Getting lost in familiar places

●Being unable to follow directions

●Getting very confused about time, people, and places

●Self-neglect such as eating poorly, not bathing, or being unsafe

See a doctor if you are worried about your memory lapses or those of a loved one. You also can do many things to make your memory last.

Research has shown a great improvement in memory loss with appropriate diet.

Foods to consume

●Foods rich in antioxidants (vitamins C, E, and beta carotene) such as; oranges, pineapples, blue berries and kiwi.

●Complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, brown rice, and wheat bran.

●Epicatechin rich foods such as; grapes, blueberries and chocolate.

●Iron rich foods such as; beans, fortified cereals, nuts, and soy bean.

●Monounsaturated fatty acid rich foods such as almonds, avocado, and walnuts.

Lifestyle modification

●Having hobbies

●Getting pets

●Spending time with friends, family and loved ones.

●Joining support groups

●Reduce alcohol intake

●Cessation of smoking

In conclusion, our memory largely makes us who we are; imagine not remembering your own name! We can stray farther away from such a fate by applying the diet and lifestyle above, so that we can always remember who we are and who/what we love.

The writer Dr. Bernice Korkor Asare is the CEO of Holistic Health Consult.

“Your diet your health, your health your wealth”

E-mail: info@holistichealthconsult.org