The headlines are full of news that people are more overweight than ever, that there’s an epidemic. Even children have been affected by this trend. Illnesses typically associated with adulthood, such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, are becoming much more common among children, as so many are carrying far more weight than they should be. Making smart nutrition choices can help save money – not only in the day-to-day food bill, but also over the long-term by helping to promote better health and helping to prevent disease.

Many people choose fast foods and convenience foods under the mistaken impression that preparing nutritionally sound meals of whole foods inevitably means complex or time intensive processes and expensive ingredients. Highly processed foods – typical drive-through and convenience fare – are often nutritionally lacking, as well as high in fat, sugars and sodium. With careful shopping, eating well doesn’t have to be expensive. When it comes to meal planning and preparation, there are plenty of choices that are fast and fairly simple to make.

Choosing fresh, in season vegetable and fruits is usually more affordable than out of season or exotic produce shipped in from far away. Local farmers markets or fresh produce co-ops can also be more affordable means of buying fresh produce. In a co-op, members pool their money and get a volume discount. Some pay a local farmer at the beginning of the season and receive deliveries throughout the growing season, which are then distributed among members. Area health food stores are a good source of information for how to get involved with a food co-op.

Another aspect of getting the most nutrition for your food dollar is knowing how to choose the most nutritionally dense types of produce. A general rule of thumb is that the darker the color, the more nutrients the vegetable or fruit contains. Butternut squash, sweet potatoes and other deep orange vegetables contain a lot more vitamin A than do such light yellow vegetables as corn and summer squash. Collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, romaine lettuce and other dark green leafy vegetable have more to offer nutritionally than do the lighter colored ones such as iceberg lettuce.

Meals can be simple, delicious and nutritious. It takes just minutes, for example, to broil a piece of fish with a touch of cumin, a scraping of fresh ginger, a squeeze of lime and drizzle of olive oil. Serve on a bed of couscous, which takes a mere five minutes, with steamed baby carrots and spinach or broccoli. Follow up with some fresh fruit and you have a healthy and tasty meal in just minutes. A little research will turn up countless quick and easy meals – food that can help to promote health and well-being.

Making smart nutrition choices can help prevent some of the health conditions that are most common today. With a bit of planning, eating well can be affordable, and even result in saving money. That is especially true if the potential savings in health care costs are factored in.

Whether you are a newcomer to weight loss or a seasoned pro, there is always something to learn when you go back to the basics. Many people think that losing weight is this daunting task that takes a lot of time in the gym, or the reduction in calories or even worse eating nothing but cottage cheese and carrots.

All of that is the furthest thing from the truth. What it takes is knowing what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it you should eat. You see there really are power foods out there and when combined together in a meal they help increase your bodies metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns fat) and make you healthier.

Let’s start with what you should be eating. It goes without saying that eating cupcakes, cookies, pies, and other high fat no nutrient content foods are bad for you. Now that does not mean you can’t have one on occasion, but you can overdo it quickly. There are three food groups you need to acquaint yourself with. They are proteins, carbohydrates and green vegetables. If you can remember these three then you will be well on your way.

In each of these three food groups you want to pick out quality sources. For example, your proteins should consist of lean meats, chicken breast, fish, egg whites and/or egg substitutes. Your carbohydrate sources should be multi-grain breads and cereals, brown rice and potatoes. The last group, green vegetables, is an easy one. Your vegetable sources should be green. Good examples would be spinach, broccoli, asparagus and salads.

Knowing what the right foods to eat are will lead you a long way to your weight loss goals; however we are not done yet. There is more information you need. Simply knowing them is not enough. You need to know how much of each you should eat and how often.

To make it simple and eliminate the need for weighing your food, counting your calories and so on you can remember this simple rule of thumb when it comes to portion size. Each food group portion should be the same size as your clenched fist. So if you were to go ahead and make a fist that is the size of food portion you should put on your plate for each food group for each meal.

One final step is to know how often to eat. The idea is that when you are eating healthy you want your body to get a continuous supply of this food but not overeat. Therefore the best method is to eat many smaller meals throughout the day. You should be eating one meal every two and a half to three hours for a total of six meals each and every day. This keeps that metabolic rate running at high levels and gives your body the nutrients it needs to run at a healthy level.

Are you looking to lose 5, 10, or 15 pounds? It doesn’t matter. With the information above you are equipped with the knowledge you need to lose as much or as little weight as you so desire. Just remember that before you start any type of fitness or nutrition program you should always get a complete physical from your primary care physician.

About the Author:
Mr. Tucker is a regular contributor on Bukisa, an online community for writers where writers can submit their articles. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Children in America eat way too much sugar each day! Much of the sugar is obvious. Cookies, candies and cakes clearly contain sugar. Sugar cereals and soda are other large sources of obvious sugar. But there is lots of sugar hiding in non-obvious food sources.

Even sugar-free pudding has sugar in it! The sugar is in the form of lactose, a natural sugar found in dairy products. So how can they advertise the product as sugar-free? Sugar-free simply means that there is no added sugar. It doesn’t mean that the food item is entirely free of sugar.

Why do we care about foods containing extra sugar? Eating too much sugar leads to being overweight, obesity, metabolic disorder, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Read on for some foods that contain hidden sugar; you will be surprised what you learn!

Foods That May Contain Hidden Sugar

• Ketchup
• Pasta sauce
• Barbeque sauce
• Peanut butter
• Bread (White and Wheat)
• Canned beans
• Energy bars
• Salad dressings
• Granola
• Bagels
• Crackers
• Vanilla soy milk
• Canned sweet peas
• Deli meats
• Frozen pizza

When picking your food, be sure to look at the nutrition label. The grams of sugar on the label include both natural (healthy) sugars and the added (less-healthy) sugars. Obviously it is preferable to choose foods that contain natural sugars because they are usually found in foods that also contain vitamins and nutrients.

How do you know which type of sugar is in the food? Read the ingredient list. The trick is to look out for these sugar traps. If you see the following words on a nutrition label, the product contains sugar.

• Brown sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Malt syrup
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose
• Syrup
• Table sugar

How much sugar should a child eat each day? A good rule of thumb is to limit added sugar to less than 10 percent of total calories. Note that we said ‘added sugar’; this does not include naturally occurring sugars found in dairy products (lactose) and fruits (fructose).

Joanna Dolgoff MD is a Pediatrician, Creator of Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh: Online Child & Teen Weight Management and Mommy of two.

Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh has been featured on NBC, ABC, WPIX & My9 News & boasts a 96% success rate!

Help your child lose weight today with Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh at http://www.DrWeigh.com.