Kick Calories Out- Bring Veggies In

Replace your high calorie foods with servings of fruits and veggies. These can be fresh, frozen, or canned. Although we love to dip our healthy snacks into ranch, peanut butter and more, try enjoying everything organically to avoid extra calories.  

Watch Your Sodium

When you are grocery shopping be aware and avoid foods with an overwhelming amount of sodium. In addition, when you are preparing food you should use little to no salt. To successfully lower your blood pressure you should be eating no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. 

This may seem difficult, but you can take it one step at a time. Even reducing your sodium by 1,000 mg per day can be extremely beneficial to your blood pressure.

Be aware of Fats

Replace saturated fat and trans fat with healthier fats, such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. You should eat no more than 13 grams of fat with a 2,000 calorie diet. You should also cut back on sugar by avoiding certain foods and beverages.

Spread Awareness!

There are many different ways that you can show your support for American Heart Month! You can wear red as a symbol of awareness and support for heart disease. Another way is by simply sharing this blog post on your Facebook page! Helping people become aware of cardiovascular disease, and its causes, as well as the prevention tools, can save lives!

Neighbors Emergency Center supports your start to a healthier lifestyle. Check our Facebook page to stay updated on what Neighbors is doing in your community and new center openings. With our 24-hour emergency rooms in Texas we can treat you quickly and effectively so you can get back to doing what you love.

teaspoons of added sugar per day for women and no more than ten teaspoons per day for men. The Center for Disease Control reports that the average American eats between 13 and 20 teaspoons a day. Here are some good reasons to get your sugar intake under control.

Lower Blood Pressure

If you eat a lot of added sugar, there is a good chance that you are at more risk for obesity. Gaining weight can cause high blood pressure. High blood pressure causes your heart and arteries to work harder, which can cause overall damage to your circulatory system. This can eventually lead to stroke, heart disease, heart attacks, artery disease and kidney damage.

for type 2 diabetes by 26%. Excess sugar intake causes high insulin resistance, which means fructose, glucose, and other forms of sugar cannot get into your cells and get trapped in your bloodstream. High blood sugar can lead to pre-diabetes and possibly the threat of actual diabetes.

Also, studies show that added sugars in your diet decrease the activity of the cells that regulate energy and metabolism. These cells are called orexin cells, and when they get turned off, you become sluggish and sleepy. Most of us are too busy to be slowed down, so it’s best to eat foods that give you sustained energy like whole grains and complex carbohydrates.

By reducing your sugar intake, you can increase your general health, energy levels, and possibly avoid serious diseases. You can still eat foods with natural sugars like fruits and vegetables, but it’s best to cut out those foods full of processed sugars. Your body will thank you!

Neighbors Emergency Center offers 24 hour care, 365 days a year, and our board certified emergency physicians can treat all medical emergencies. We know you’re time is important, so we will treat you quickly and effectively so you can get back to doing what you love. Our emergency centers are located in the Houston area. If you are looking for a quality emergency room with little to no wait time, come to Neighbors Emergency Center.

Eating at home allows us to cater meals to meet our exact needs. If we’re watching fat, we can use substitutions. If we’re avoiding something such as gluten or dairy, we can choose something else in its place. Preparing our meals at home makes us more informed food consumers, enabling our children to develop a lifelong healthy relationship with food.

Rules can include more specific things, such as tasting everything served and eating at least one vegetable. Add flexibility to the rules by allowing kids to choose their own vegetables. Giving them some autonomy helps them become an active participant in the process.

Start at the grocery store. Take the kids shopping with you, educate them about fruits and vegetables, and let them help you choose. It’s amazing how much more kids are willing to try when you allow them up-front access to foods.

Finally, establishing a rule in which everyone sits together at the table not only promotes healthy eating habits, but also strengthens family bonds.

Jonathon Sawyer’s Noodle Kids takes kids and parents on a tour around the world with 50 different pasta dishes they can cook together. He claims that having a healthy family isn’t about trickery; rather, it’s about honesty and connecting kids with the experience of the food.

Food Network offers a special recipe series called Cooking With Kids, the goal of which is to get families together in the kitchen and share healthy meal ideas. Check out some of their fantastic recipes.

What are some of your favorite meals to share with your family?

Your health is important to us. If you have an emergency, please visit the Neighbors 24-hour emergency room in Houston and surrounding cities. Find us online at nec24.com.

There’s another list, however, known as the “clean 15,” fruits and veggies that are generally considered safe to purchase non-organic, and they are:

onions avocados sweet corn pineapple mango sweet peas asparagus kiwi fruit

cabbage eggplant cantaloupe watermelon grapefruit sweet potatoes sweet onions

Why do some fruits and veggies have more traces of pesticides than others? A lot of the items on this list, such as pineapple and sweet corn, have a protective layer than defends against pesticides. Still, it’s wise to wash these items as an extra measure of protection to reduce your risk of disease.

Sweet potatoes are a nutritional goldmine, packed with vitamin A and rich antioxidants that offer powerful anti-aging effects. Indulge in maximum nutrition with Baked Sweet Potatoes. With the addition of olive oil, a healthy fat essential to your nutrition, and delicious spices, this dish will be sure to satisfy your craving.

Avocados are their own superfood, packing a dense amount of nutrition in each modest serving. They are loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, contain more potassium than a banana, and have antioxidants that can greatly benefit eye health. Looking for a recipe idea beyond guacamole? Try this unique twist on wraps with a Black Bean and Avocado Wrap.

Finally, we round out our list with something sweeter, the mango. High in vitamin C, beta carotene, and antioxidants that can help prevent age-related macular degeneration, they are a great addition to any healthy eating plan. Try this Mango Surprise Smoothie to give your morning a boost. Bonus – it contains avocado for extra nutritional points!

For an emergency center in Houston, you can count on your friendly Neighbors to deliver top-quality care 24/7. Find your nearest Neighbors at nec24.com.

Boredom can set in as we get into a routine of cooking the same things all the time. Does the thought of eating another piece of limp broccoli make you shudder? Don’t worry! We have solutions that will get you excited about making vegetables a regular part of your diet

How Many Veggies a Day?

When it comes to vegetables, the evidence is clear: more is better. The CDC reports that most everyone needs to eat more fruits and vegetables. The amount will depend on things like your age, gender, and level of physical activity. Check out this chart to help you figure out exactly how much you should be getting.

Surprising Benefits

Experts recommend seven servings or more per day. We’re all pretty familiar with the well-known benefits, which include things like lowering risk of cancer, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, and dementia. However, there are some lesser-known surprising–and more immediate–benefits that come along with a vegetable-rich diet. Some of these effects include improvement in skin appearance, less bloating, and an improved ability to tolerate stress. In fact, though most people turn to things like chocolate and carbs when they’re stressed, vegetables are nature’s comfort food, providing you with nutrients that replenish you and make you feel better.

Packing It All In

Eating seven servings of veggies a day may seem like a lot, but there are ways you can make it easier. One great way to do this is to plan meals in which vegetables replace some less healthier options like carbs.

At Neighbors Emergency Centers, we are proud to offer  top-quality, 24/7 emergency care in our 24 hour emergency room in Houston and in cities throughout Texas. Find your nearest Neighbors at nec24.com.

At the grocery store, fill your cart with protein sources like eggs and canned fish. These items are relatively inexpensive and versatile. Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods, and are perfect in an omelet for breakfast. They can also be added to any dish, including sauteed vegetables and rice and beans. Canned fish, like tuna and salmon, run about $2 – $5 per can, and are excellent sources omega 3 fatty acids. For lunch, throw some in a salad and drizzle olive oil and lemon juice on top. For a delicious dinner, make salmon or tuna burgers by combining the fish, some olive oil or mayonnaise, bread crumbs, and seasonings in a food processor. Form into patties and pan sear on both sides until golden brown.

This includes apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, imported nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas, and potatoes. Healthy eaters on a budget should also buy avocados, which don’t need to be bought organic. Avocados are great because they contain healthy fats and protein, and even have more potassium than a banana. A recent study shows that eating one avocado a day may help lower bad cholesterol (LDL). If you can’t buy fresh produce, frozen produce is actually quite healthy because it is processed shortly after it’s picked, so it retains most of its nutrients. You can use frozen fruit in smoothies, and frozen veggies are great in pasta dishes like pasta primavera.

The fuller you are, the less likely you will need to snack, which means you won’t need to waste your money on pre-packaged foods like cookies, crackers, or even those fancy granola bars. Even the ones that have extra protein are usually full of sugar making them glorified candy bars. A jar of salsa costs between $2.50 – $6, and is filled with antioxidants, vitamins, phytochemicals, and potassium. Obviously, you can use your salsa to dip your chips, but you can also use it as a dip for cut veggies, add it to your morning eggs, or use it as a topping for grilled chicken. You may not consider sweet potatoes “fun food”, but there is so much you can do with them and because of their distinct, sweet flavor, you might even feel like you’re having dessert. For one, you can make sweet potato fries by slicing a couple sweet potatoes in one inch strips, tossing them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin, and roasting them in a 425 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Who doesn’t love fries? You can also bake a small sweet potato in the oven and then top with butter and brown sugar for a sweet but healthy treat.

Just because you’re broke or on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t eat healthy. We should all be able to enjoy healthy, nutritious food without breaking the bank. Arm yourself with this list when you go grocery shopping and you will never have to subsist on ramen noodles again.

Neighbors is open 24/7, 365 days a year, and our board certified emergency physicians are experienced in all kinds of medical emergencies. We know you’re time is important, so we will treat you quickly and effectively so you can get back to doing what you love.