Food for Thought

To some, keeping a balanced diet can be difficult, at UTRGV a nutrition professor gives information on what people should be eating and how that can prevent diseases.

 Chelsea Alamilla, nutrition and dietetics professor, said a balanced diet is a pattern of eating which provides nutrients the body needs to function and stay healthy. It consists of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein and dairy. 

Alamilla said the state of Texas recently implemented their own dietary guidelines for Texans. 

“They recommended a balanced diet, half of the plate is fruits and vegetables, fourth of it lean protein like chicken and fish and another part of the plate should be whole grains, like brown rice quinoa,” Alamilla said. 

When exercising for any workout, Alamilla recommends within 30 minutes to an hour after eating to ingest a simple carb and protein. 

“The cheapest, best way for students to do that is to go get a nice glass of low-fat chocolate milk, 1% are fat-free, put a little of sugar-free chocolate syrup … if you need less added sugar, it’s a great recovery drink,” she said. 

Alamilla added, if a person hasn’t eaten within two hours, they should have a healthy light meal that consists of vegetables, fruits, whole grain and protein. 

 According to her, the gut microbiome, the bacteria living in the digestive tract, is important not only for weight and health, but it also prevents certain diseases like cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure. For a healthy microbiome, eating foods that contain high fiber, probiotics like yogurt, vegetables, whole grains and fruit, can support a good gastrointestinal health and support a healthy cardiovascular system, in addition to the endocrine system. 

“It may help with cholesterol management, blood glucose management, help regulate bowels, it’s an important part of weight loss,” she said. 

Alamilla said protein is important because “it is a macronutrient, it’s needed for growth and muscle recovery, it’s an important fuel source for the body, so we need adequate protein.”

It is recommended through the Texas Dietary Guidelines to eat three sources of protein a day. According to Alamilla, eat one or two eggs or a protein shake in the morning and for lunch or dinner eating a meat source or a vegetarian protein like beans or tofu.

She cautions when people are protein ‘maxxing’, which is eating tons of protein, which can lead to kidney failure, if they are predisposed to kidney disease. 

“So it’s not like we are having to use protein supplements and max out protein, but it is an important part of when you lose weight, you want to build muscle, you have protein,” said Alamilla.

She added a substitute for protein is eating a vegetarian source. These sources could be soy or edamame, tofu, beans, quinoa, seeds and nuts, which can give good protein benefits. She said she recommends switching out one meal a week with a vegetarian diet, which has shown to have good heart benefits. 

According to her, foods that contain more calories that could make an individual gain weight are soda, which contains a lot of added sugar and processed foods like candies, cake, cookies and chips. She said she suggests for college students, when eating low-calorie foods that are not too expensive, is purchasing canned or frozen vegetables, canned beans and rice.

For people that eat protein, but don’t exercise, Alamilla said “it really wouldn’t do much damage short term, but after many years of doing that it could potentially lead to kidney failure … maybe chronic rental failure, or some sort of condition that could further worsen.”

She added there is no one diet that is beneficial, that can cure or fix individuals problems.

“Nutrition is a very important part of overall health, but there’s not one dirt or cure-all, so it’s really about balance,” Alamilla said. 

She recommends for people to check out Texas Dietary guidelines through their website at  bshs.texas.gov.