Could a “salad-a-day” keep the doctor away? There are no guarantees, but eating more veggies will give your body more disease-fighting nutrients vital to optimal health.

A UCLA/Louisiana State University study of dietary data on more than 17,500 men and women finds consumption of salad and raw vegetables correlates with higher concentrations of folic acid, vitamins C and E, lycopene and alpha and beta carotene in the bloodstream. The study is the first to examine the relationship between normal salad consumption and nutrient levels in the bloodstream, and also the first to examine the dietary adequacy of salad consumption using the latest nutritional guidelines of the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Salad a Day.org –UCLA/LSU Study Details Nutritional Value of Salad.

Fruits and vegetables are concentrated sources of many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (substances that prevent or repair cellular damage) that Americans simply do not consume enough of.  The study supports the notion that people who eat more vegetables, have more these disease-fighting nutrients coursing through their bloodstreams, such as:

Folate (Folic Acid): a vitamin that plays essential roles in making DNA and RNA and thus new cells, prevents anemia, protects against heart disease, and prevents certain birth defects of the spine. Best Sources: beans, nuts, spinach, leafy greens, avocado, and cereals and grains fortified with folic acid.
Vitamin C:  powerful antioxant, required for the healing of wounds and the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of the body, including skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Best Sources: citrus fruits, strawberries, broccoli, collard greens, bell peppers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, potatoes.
Vitamin E:  antioxidant that helps the body form red blood cells and use vitamin K, and its antioxidant activity may protect the heart and prevent certain cancers, heart disease, dementia, liver disease, and stroke. Best Sources: Salad oils (soybean, corn, safflower, and cottonseed), nuts, wheat germ, spinach & green leafy vegetables.
Caratenoids: antioxidant pigments found in plants that are converted into vitamin A, promote normal vision, and protect the skin and tissues of the mouth, stomach, intestines, lungs, and urinary tract from infection.  Best Sources: red, orange, and deep-yellow fruits and veggies, and dark green leafy veggies.  Think bell peppers, mangoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, and tomatoes.

Since the majority of people don’t eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, they don’t have optimal levels of these protective power-house nutrients.

But do you really need to eat a salad-a-day to get meet your vitamin quota? Are cooked veggies as protective as raw? How many fruits and vegetables do you need to eat to boost your levels of these important nutrients? Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of this blog post.

Sugar may be okay in moderation, but one person’s idea of moderation is different from another’s.  In fact, the average American consumes 22 to 30 teaspoons of added sugars a day.  That’s not moderation. Not even close according to current guidelines which suggest limiting added sugars to 6 1/2 teaspoons a day for women and 9 1/2  for men.

All of this excessive sugar in the American diet is a major contributor to the rising rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.  And the nation’s children, adolescents, and young adults are developing these chronic diseases at much younger ages than previous generations.

How to cut back on the sweet stuff?  Here are five tips to get you started:

1. Read labels & ingredient lists to find hidden sugar sources.
Added sugars would be any source of  sugar aside from those naturally occurring in whole fruit, milk, and plain yogurt.  Sugars have a variety of names, but all pack in around 45-60 calories per tablespoon.  Examples are agave syrup or nectar, apple or grape juice concentrate, brown rice syrup, brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, evaporated cane juice, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, honey, jellies, jams, maple syrup, molasses, preserves, and of course, table, confectioner’s, baker’s, and powdered sugar. Basically, ingredients with the words juice, syrup, nectar, and words ending in “-ose” indicate sugar.  Even organic and natural sugars are still sugars and contribute extra calories to the diet.

2. Eat your fruit, don’t drink it.
The natural sugars in fruit don’t count towards the 6-9 1/2 teaspoon recommendation, but juices are more concentrated than fresh fruit, making them higher in calories, and many do have added sugars.  Fruit smoothies?  Don’t even go there.  One cup of fresh or frozen strawberries has less than 90 calories, but a strawberry smoothie can tip the scales at 500+ calories and can be loaded with added sugars.  Eat 2 cups of fresh fruit per day, and skip all other juices, fruit drinks, smoothies, juice bars, etc.

3. Leave those fancy coffees alone.
Drink coffee or lattes with skim milk and only 1 pump or packet of sugar.  Coffee itself only has 5-10 calories per cup, but fancy coffee drinks are major sources of excessive sugar (flavor syrups, chocolate, caramel, etc) and can range anywhere from 250-600 calories. Plus they’re expensive–switching from $5 lattes to $2 cups of coffee will save you hundreds of dollars and thousands of calories per year. Use that savings to buy a new clothes to show off that slimmer figure.

4. Limit the variety of sweets & candy in the home or work space.
Studies show that people will eat more if there’s a variety to chose from.  For example, if there’s ice cream, candy kisses, and chocolate chip cookies laying around, you will eat more than if just one is available.  Why do we do this?  Perhaps it was our ancestors’ way of ensuring a balanced diet: a variety of food increased the variety of nutrients.  But this behavior is not helpful when is comes to sweets.

5. Sharing makes life sweeter.
Split desserts, cookies, cupcakes, pastries, muffins, and donuts with a fellow diner or co-worker.  Very few of us have room in our diets for regular 500-700 calorie treats, but the occasional 250-350 calorie indulgence is much more manageable.

If you want to make room for more sugar in your diet, you’ll have to burn more calories through daily physical activity.  For example, the average woman would need to run (not jog) for about 45-75 minutes to burn off a 400-700 calorie cupcake from Crumbs or a full hour for a 500-calorie frappucino from Starbucks.  Lace up those running shoes!