By Jacques Delorme
White foods refers to processed grains like white flour and white rice that lose a lot of their nutrients when bleached. They are not good for you due to lower nutritional value and do not help you to lose weight. That being said, not all white foods are bad. Simply saying all of them should be avoided would not being doing your diet justice. Eating just colored foods like fruits and vegetables because of their antioxidant properties is great but you do need other foods as well.
There are white foods that contain specific nutrients not easily found in other sources. Examples include:
Cauliflower
Cauliflower contains fiber, minerals like magnesium and phosphorus as well as vitamin C. This cruciferous vegetable is known to help prevent bladder, breast, colon, prostate, and ovarian cancers.
Onions & Garlic
Both of these vegetables are white foods and are full of phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. Of special interest are allicin, chromium, quercetin (an important flavonoid) and other anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Garlic leaves a strong smell behind but is extremely useful in supporting the body's immune system. Onions are used in a lot of dishes and for good reason as they add flavor. Eating onions regularly has been shown in research to add to your life span. A study of those people who live to be over 100 found that they all ate onions throughout their lives. Don't worry about the lingering taste and smell, eat lots of both!
Mushrooms
I personally love mushrooms. As a white food, they are high in antioxidants like polyphenols and ergothioneine. Some types of mushrooms are good sources of Vitamin D, niacin and riboflavin.
Potatoes
White potatoes are bad carbohydrate according to some nutritionists because they have a high glycemic index. That is not completely accurate as glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor.
Generally speaking, a lot of low glycemic index carbohydrates are good choices to help you lose weight but there are more factors that come into play as well. How you eat your carbs can alter how they are used. Combining them in your diet with fiber, protein and fats can slow their absorption. Different combinations of foods effect how your body processes carbohydrates changing the blood sugar and insulin response as well.
White potatoes are a healthy choice as long as you don't make them into French fries! The trans fats they are cooked in are not good for you but they also create acrylamides when they react with starch. These compounds are known carcinogens. ON the other hand, the multitude of vitamins and minerals potatoes contain are extremely healthy.
Warning: potato skins contain a low level toxin called glycoalkaloids. Avoid the skins when eating them.
White foods are not all bad though some simply have better choices. Eating brown or wild rice and whole grain bread to avoid the white rice and flour is a very good practice and will definitely benefit your overall health.
My name is Jacques Delorme and I run a youth nutrition blog at http://visportsnutrition.ca where you can get all sorts of information on nutrition, exercise and motivation for youth athletes. Visit my site and feel free to leave comments and questions if you need more information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacques_Delorme
White foods refers to processed grains like white flour and white rice that lose a lot of their nutrients when bleached. They are not good for you due to lower nutritional value and do not help you to lose weight. That being said, not all white foods are bad. Simply saying all of them should be avoided would not being doing your diet justice. Eating just colored foods like fruits and vegetables because of their antioxidant properties is great but you do need other foods as well.
There are white foods that contain specific nutrients not easily found in other sources. Examples include:
Cauliflower
Cauliflower contains fiber, minerals like magnesium and phosphorus as well as vitamin C. This cruciferous vegetable is known to help prevent bladder, breast, colon, prostate, and ovarian cancers.
Onions & Garlic
Both of these vegetables are white foods and are full of phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. Of special interest are allicin, chromium, quercetin (an important flavonoid) and other anti-inflammatory nutrients.
Garlic leaves a strong smell behind but is extremely useful in supporting the body's immune system. Onions are used in a lot of dishes and for good reason as they add flavor. Eating onions regularly has been shown in research to add to your life span. A study of those people who live to be over 100 found that they all ate onions throughout their lives. Don't worry about the lingering taste and smell, eat lots of both!
Mushrooms
I personally love mushrooms. As a white food, they are high in antioxidants like polyphenols and ergothioneine. Some types of mushrooms are good sources of Vitamin D, niacin and riboflavin.
Potatoes
White potatoes are bad carbohydrate according to some nutritionists because they have a high glycemic index. That is not completely accurate as glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor.
Generally speaking, a lot of low glycemic index carbohydrates are good choices to help you lose weight but there are more factors that come into play as well. How you eat your carbs can alter how they are used. Combining them in your diet with fiber, protein and fats can slow their absorption. Different combinations of foods effect how your body processes carbohydrates changing the blood sugar and insulin response as well.
White potatoes are a healthy choice as long as you don't make them into French fries! The trans fats they are cooked in are not good for you but they also create acrylamides when they react with starch. These compounds are known carcinogens. ON the other hand, the multitude of vitamins and minerals potatoes contain are extremely healthy.
Warning: potato skins contain a low level toxin called glycoalkaloids. Avoid the skins when eating them.
White foods are not all bad though some simply have better choices. Eating brown or wild rice and whole grain bread to avoid the white rice and flour is a very good practice and will definitely benefit your overall health.
My name is Jacques Delorme and I run a youth nutrition blog at http://visportsnutrition.ca where you can get all sorts of information on nutrition, exercise and motivation for youth athletes. Visit my site and feel free to leave comments and questions if you need more information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacques_Delorme
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