In my previous blog about sweets, I mentioned the importance of developing and maintaining a new or revised lifestyle with regard to what you eat. In this blog, I will provide specific details about what I consider the major elements or components in the Power of 5 lifestyle.
The first major element in my recommendation for following a healthier diet is an increased consumption of vegetables. The Power of 5 Formula contains at least forty percent vegetables. Falling into that broad general category are vegetables that can be eaten raw or cooked. Readily available examples are lettuce, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, and zucchini. The list goes on.
The second major component of The Power of 5 Formula is the eating program which includes healthier low-fat protein. I prefer fish or seafood, as they are lower in calories and healthier to eat. Healthy protein should comprise approximately twenty percent of your meal. The protein portion size equates to four to eight ounces (approximately the size of the palm of your hand). In the past year, I have revised my own diet (in order to make it even healthier) and have eliminated all animal proteins. In other words, my wife and I eat a whole food, plant-based diet, AKA Vegan diet. If you choose to do this, you would substitute whole food plant-based proteins, beans, whole grains, seeds and nuts, for the fish and seafood I mentioned above.
The third aspect of The Power of 5 Formula for eating well includes foods that contain healthy fats such as avocados and nuts. The formula allocates twenty percent of the meal to this food group.
The next grouping of food contains healthy carbohydrates. These are foods such as legumes (things like kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils). I recommend avoiding many carbohydrates, especially grains, but I feel that a few exceptions are okay.
In addition, I am thrilled to announce we have recently expanded my website, added a new web page… a food blog called The Power of 5 Test Kitchen in which my wife Melissa will provide her thoughts and ideas about healthy eating while providing very tasty, and personally tasted, recipes with ingredients to satisfy either a Mediterranean, Vegetarian or Vegan lifestyle.
We hope you will visit The Power of 5 Test Kitchen food blog and learn something new while trying some of the healthy recipes!
To a Long and Healthy Life,
David Bernstein, MD
