Health Services: Eat Smart

Health Services - EAT SMART - You Are What You Eat

A photograph showing various grained breads and crackers.

GRAINS and NUTS - rice, dried beans, whole wheat, peanuts, almonds, etc.
FRUITS - apples, oranges, grapes, melons, etc.
VEGETABLES - corn, peas, squash, broccoli, tomatoes, etc.
MEAT - fish and shellfish, chicken, beef, pork.
DAIRY PRODUCTS - milk, cheese, yogurt.

Every food also contains calories that provide us with the energy we need. Different foods contain different amounts of calories. The average adult needs about 1500- 2000 calories each day to perform basic functions. A very active person, perhaps a roofer, lawn mower, or aerobics instructor might need more. A less active person, perhaps a TV watcher or a person with a desk job would need fewer calories. Nursing or pregnant women and growing children will have slightly different caloric and nutritional needs.

Other Key Ingredients in a Healthy Diet

Protein: important in the maintenance of skin, hair, bones, muscles and organs. It is available in beef, pork, chicken, fish & shell fish, cheese, yogurt, eggs, nuts and legumes (dried beans).

Calcium: important for bone growth and maintenance, and for muscle function. High amounts can be found in dairy products.

Fiber: important for intestinal health and good bowel function as well as stabilizing glucose and cholesterol levels. It is available in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Contains No Fiber    Contains Fiber
White Bread             Whole Grain Bread
Fruit Juice                  Fresh Fruit

A photograph of milk being poured into a glass.

Water: important for health of cells, including those of the skin; efficient flow of blood and nutrients; and eliminate toxins. It is available from your faucet, and need not be bottled. Filtering might improve taste.

Beware of Empty Calories

Sugars (glucose, fructose, corn syrup, etc) are all calories, and contain no nutrients. Foods with empty calories include alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, many fruit-tasting drinks (read the label!), and most candy.

Are you a soda drinker? Calculate how much sugar you drink in a day and in an entire year at this interactive website: http://www.wvportions.com/tools/soda.asp?sID=3

A diet high in sugar also promotes tooth decay.

Watch that Fat

A healthy diet contains fat, but no more than than 25-30% of calories should come from fat. It's actually easy to reduce your fat intake merely by reading product labels. Figuring out the amount of fat in your diet does take a little work, but is well worth the effort.

Each gram of fat contains 9 calories. To figure the percentage of fat in a food, multiply the grams of fat by 9. That will give you the calories from fat. Compare the calories from fat to the total calories in the food.

Example: Some canned soup may contain 230 calories and 9 grams of fat:.

9 (calories) x 9 (grams of fat) = 81 calories from fat.
81 (fat calories) divided by 230 (total calories) x 100 = 35% fat

Now you practice: Another canned soup has 210 calories and 3 grams of fat:

(calories per gram of fat) x (grams of fat) = ___ calories from fat;
(calories from fat) divided by (total calories), times 100 = _________ % fat.
9 x 3 = 27;
27 divided by 210 x 100 = 13%

Contacts

Health Services Director
Kate Siegrist - 258-4986
ksiegrist@co.missoula.mt.us

Nutrition Services Manager
Mary Pittaway - 258-4837
mpittaway@co.missoula.mt.us

Eat Smart Coordinator
Rebecca Morley - 258-3827
rmorley@co.missoula.mt.us

CATCH Coordinator
Lisa Tims - 258-3894
ltims@co.missoula.mt.us

Please note some documents are in "Portable Document Format" and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. If you do not have this viewer, visit Adobe.com.

Missoula County Health Services

Health Services: Eat Smart