FOOD RETURN ON INVESTMENT

What is Food ROI?  It is the amount of value we receive from the foods we eat!  It is making sure we choose the items that give us the biggest return on our investment for the calories we consume.

When we are making decisions about what to eat, we need to look at three things in order to get the best ROI:

1) Is what I am eating going to give me long-term energy or cause a spike in my blood sugar followed by a crash in my energy?

**We want the foods we eat to stay with us so we are not hungry again quickly and that we do not want to experience highs and lows in our energy level.  So we need to stay away from sugary foods that causes the spike in blood sugar and then a crash.  For example, we are choosing a snack in the afternoon and we know it will be about 200 calories, we can spend the 200 calories on a candy bar and receive very little nutritional value unless the manufactures add vitamins or minerals to the candy bar or we can choose a low fat yogurt that contains naturally occurring vitamins, protein and is a good source of calcium to help our bones and our muscles.  So the return on the investment of the calories is much higher with the yogurt than the candy bar which may be an equal amount of calories consumed.**

2) Am I going to receive a balance of carbs, proteins and fats with what I am eating?

**When choosing foods, it is important to have an idea of the balance of carbs, proteins and fats that are contained in the food.  The more we expose ourselves to new and different foods the more we will learn about how to read labels and approximate nutritional values when eating out.  I use the following website to look up the values of foods, just so I have an idea of their nutritional values.  http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/   Check it out, it is pretty interesting!

For example, when choosing a carb to eat think about what other nutritional elements you are going to get from that carb.  If we choose whole grain carbs we get protein as well as fiber and low saturated fats.  Therefore, choosing a whole grain or wheat will give you a better ROI than choosing a processed or fat laden carb.  Thinking about what else we get from the food we eat besides the taste is an interesting exercise all by itself!**

3) Is what I am eating a good source of 'real' vitamins and minerals or are they processed or synthetic?

When we choose foods we want to make sure we are getting enough naturally occurring vitamins and minerals because our bodies are able to process and utilize naturally occurring vitamins and minerals more readily than those vitamins and minerals that are manufactured and/or added to foods.  This is why 'At least 5 fruits and vegetables per day' is recommended by the USDA, the AHA and many other health related organizations.  Vitamins and minerals aid in the digestion of foods, the contraction of muscles, the production of red and white blood cells and proper function of our heart and immune system.  It is critical to our well-being that we receive these vitamins and minerals from foods so that our body can easily process and utilize them for efficient function. For example, you are faced with eating Lance peanut butter crackers or an apple with natural peanut butter - the apple and PB is going to give you a greater ROI because of the vitamins, minerals and fiber it contains! **

Remember to think about Food ROI when making decisions!  It is not always about fat, protien and carbs, there are so many other elements we recieve from food!  Make sure your 'health bank' is full of good investments!