Author: Jonathan Wong, Singapore Personal Trainer And Fitness Expert

Good Healthy Foods - Some Of These Wouldn't Hurt

Here are the good healthy foods. Not the greatest but they should have a place in your diet plan.
 

Good Healthy Foods: Diary
When it comes to diary, what you want is the high calcium, low fat variety. Calcium is well known for bone health and it has another awesome property. It is an excellent fat burner. The way it does so is not known as yet. But studies at the University of Tennessee have shown an 80% greater fat loss (average 10lbs compared to 6lbs) in a group of test subjects who took an extra 1200mg of calcium during their 12 week diet.

Diary products also have pretty good protein content and quality. In fact most protein supplements are made from milk. As a personal trainer in Singapore I have to caution you about a possible problem with milk. (more African Americans and Asians like us in Singapore) are lactose intolerant and will end of with more gas and less friends wanting to sit near you.

Also milk has been shown to make people more sensitive to allergies so for most of us we would want to limit our milk intake. A common sign of milk allergy are skin conditions like acne popping up.

Good Healthy Foods: Wine
Wine does have some good properties. Grapes have pretty high concentrations of antioxidants (resveratol). There are also studies that show that red wine, taken in moderation (2 or less drinks a day) can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease because alcohol lowers the among of plaque that is deposited to clog up your blood vessels . And hey wine goes well with meat! And meat is a 3 star food.

But watch out, this is not an excuse to go wild with beer and pizza. (As a personal trainer in Singapore I know that we have the same problem with food like prata/char queh tiao/etc).

Drinking makes you want to eat more, it has fat storing (body burns less fat for energy) and muscle wasting effects. And alcohol is just a bunch of empty calories.

Good Healthy Foods: Chocolate
Be careful which type you choose. White or milk chocolate is pretty much sugar laden fat-boy food. But dark chocolate (the slightly bitter kind) has pretty good anti-oxidants (flavanols) and a decent fat profile. It does have a bit of saturated fat, but it also has a good percentage of monounsaturated fat.

So if you are going to eat chocolate, eat only the dark chocolate. But remember even dark chocolate has significant calories so you can't go wild on it either.

Good Healthy Foods: Natural starches
If you are going to eat starches, let them be natural forms. Straight from the ground, wash off the mud, into the pot and into the tummy. Good examples are sweet potatoes, pumpkin and yams.

Regular potatoes are lower in fiber and micro-nutrients than these other alternatives so they are not rated as highly. These are especially good as part of a post training meal.

As a personal trainer in Singapore, our context probably makes me talk about rice. White rice is highly processed while brown rice is what I would consider a natural starch.

Good Healthy Foods: Protein/energy bars
There are good bars and there are ones that wouldn’t even get 2 stars. The good ones have a good protein content (30g or more per bar) and a minimal carbohydrate content (15g or less). This is hard because its tough to make the bars taste good without carbohydrates. The good bars will also have a good fat profile. I personally like ISS “oh yeah” bars and Biotest’s “grow” bars. (no commission for me... I just happen to like the taste)

Energy bars are mainly for endurance athletes. They have high carbohydrate content and unless you are in the middle of a triathlon, they aren’t usually a good food choice. 

 

Written For www.CoachJon.com Singapore Personal Trainer & Fitness Expert

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