The 5 Numbers You NEED to Know To Eat Healthy

Let’s face it, we are bombarded with information on a daily basis. Fortunately, in the realm of diet, there are 5 numbers that rise above the rest.

Nutrition information is notorious for being confusing, contradictory, and not exactly “user friendly”. Actually, the US government not only provides general guidelines for healthy eating but goes as as far as to actually recommend specific amounts of nutrients.

I’ll never forget this very interesting situation that happened during my undergraduate years as a dietetics student at The University of Rhode Island. My senior year, I was doing some house painting to help pay for school. During my lunch break for the day, I pulled out my bad of strawberries. My boss spontaneously asked me: “how much potassium is in a strawberry”? My response (I’ve edited it for this article-metabolism.com is a family friendly site): “I have no clue”. My boss was shocked that I didn’t know, as if I was spending all my time in college memorizing nutrition facts for every food on planet earth.

What I told him was that, not only is memorizing the nutrients of all foods impossible, it’s truly not necessary to eat healthy. In fact, you don’t even need to pay attention to the recommended amounts of nutrients that are on food labels-with 5 crucial exceptions.

10

10 is for the servings of colorful fruit and vegetables to eat everyday. This recommendation is not only based on the drastic reduction in chronic disease risk for those that eat 10 servings, but it most accurately reflects the way our ancestors used to eat.

Unfortunately, most Americans fall far short of this amount. For many, it takes a giant shift in eating patterns to reach 5 servings (the old recommendation), never mind 10.  Trust me, that “giant shift” is well worth it. It will likely not only help your body fight disease, but you will have more energy as well.

3

3 is for the servings of fatty fish to be eaten on a weekly basis. Fatty fish provides a boatload of omega-3 fats. The omega-3 fats found in fish are incredibly good at decreasing inflammation-the underlying cause of chronic disease. Besides the long-term health benefits, there is some very interesting research that suggests eating fatty fish can actually boost memory and mood.

0

0 is for the amount of trans fat that you should allow into your body. A consistent intake of trans fat drastically increases chronic inflammation. The increase in chronic disease in people who eat trans fat is so strongly documented that certain cities (New York City) and countries (Denmark) have either set limits or outright banned trans fat altogether.

25

25 is the minimum grams of fiber that should be consumed daily. Fiber regulates appetite, reduces colon cancer risk, and even aids in weight control. If you eat 10 colorful fruits and veggies everyday, you will be well on your way to achieving this. It’s important to note that it’s preferable to get fiber from food sources such as produce and whole grains as opposed to fiber supplements. But however you get it-make sure you are getting at least 25 grams!

2000

2000 is the amount (in international units, or IUs) of vitamin D you need everyday. Vitamin D’s role in human health cannot be understated. A deficiency in vitamin D negatively impacts your entire body. Despite this, most Americans are vitamin D deficient.  This is because getting 2000 IUs everyday can be a real challenge. Most of our vitamin D comes from sunlight-something that is difficult to get considering that nowadays we spend most of our time indoors. Diet is no help-there are very few foods that contain significant amounts of vitamin D. Taking a daily vitamin D supplement can make this a sinch.

10, 3, 25, 0, 2000: the 5 most important numbers you may ever learn.

Brian Dean MS, RD is a registered dietitian and researcher. After years of research, Brian has set his sights on helping those with lower back pain.  He serves on the Medical Nutrition Committee for The American Society for Nutrition and is a professional member of numerous research organizations including the International Association for The Study of Pain, American Chronic Pain Society, and The American Dietetic Association. He recently created a research-based lower back pain treatment program called The Back Pain Diet which is available from his website Stop Lower Back Pain.