Untitled FASTPAGES: 1. Cover \ 2. From the Publisher's Desk \ 3. Contents /Credits \ 4. Calendar \ 5. State of the World \ 6. Feature \ 7. Sports \ 7a. Sports Extra \ 8. Money \ 9. Food & Drink \ 10. Books \ 11. Public Domain / Toast of the Town \ 12. Back Page \ Daily Idler \ Home \ idleguy.com January 2025 | Page 9
Food & Drink

You Are What You Eat

With a New Year, more than a few people are considering diets, joining a gym, or making resolutions to lose weight, improve their health and fitness, and maybe eat better.

With food prices at record highs, choosing the right foods to buy - and eat - at the local grocery store can be a challenging experience. However, IdleGuy.com is here to help, outlining what every body needs to live well, eat healthy, and enjoy a life free of illness and disease.

First off, most people don't realize that in order for a human being to function properly, the body needs to intake certain amounts of essentials, like vitamins, minerals, fats, and protein, among the most important.

The USDA provides a nifty calculator that you can check to see the recommended intake of macronutrients, water, vitamins, and minerals based on your sex, height and weight.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is a modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound. The RDA is the amount of a nutrient you need to meet your basic nutritional requirements. In a sense, it's the minimum amount you need to keep from getting sick - not the specific amount you are supposed to eat every day.

So, for a 180-pound man, that translates to 64.8 grams of protein per day.

A 120-pound woman requires 43.2 grams.

Protein is essential to both physical and metal health and well-being. Continued deficit of sufficient protein intake is harmful to humans, resulting in lowered immunity and susceptibility to disease and illness.

Therefore, it's important to target food resources for protein and other essentials.

The absolute best foods that are high in protein are all readily available at your local supermarket.

Not surprisingly, beef takes top honors. a three-ounce (85 grams) serving of ground beef contains about 21 grams of protein. So, those climate-change nut-doodles who want to reduce the cattle population because of their emissions of methane due to flatulence (farting) may have an alternate agenda. An eight-ounce steak or a couple of 1/4 pound burgers a day provide almost all the protein a body needs.

Also high on the list are salmon, chicken (especially the breast), and the old bachelor standby, tuna. A single can of tuna, which costs about a buck or so, provides 20 grams of protein.

Pork, turkey, halibut or other white fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, beans, broccoli, and cauliflower are also good sources, but don't pack quite the protein punch of the top four.

You might notice what's not on that list: bread, potatoes (i.e. french fries, chips), cheese, and soft drinks. That's why a steady diet of fast food and junk food - burgers, fries, chips, pizza, cheese dogs, chicken nuggets, doughnuts, and soda is like eating your way to an early grave and a lifetime of health issues.

Similarly, vegetarians and vegans may suffer from protein deficiency unless they supplement their diets with plenty of beans, eggs, and/or fish. Specialty flours like spelt and teff are also very high in protein, about 14 grams per 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces).

Some hidden sources of protein include nuts, especially almonds and peanuts (even peanut butter), and surprise, sardines. A single 3.75-ounce (106 grams) tin of sardines contains more than 24 grams of protein, plus they're packed with other goodies like omega-3-fatty acids, vitamin D, and calcium.

While McDonald's, Burger King and other fast food operators heavily advertise "value meals" for $5, $6 or more, for less than half that, two tins of sardines provide better health benefits by orders of magnitude.

Packed in tins, sardines stay fresh a long time, can be consumed raw, and are delicious. They travel well, so instead of going through the drive-through and paying ridiculous prices for "food" which is neither healthy nor filling, a few tins can provide a quick snack on the go, any time.

Recently, some grocery chains have had sardines on sale, sometimes for less than $0.85 per tin.

Now, that's real value.

Committed to well-being and a robust lifestyle, IdleGuy.com will offer more information on healthy eating in upcoming issues.

index sitemap advanced
search engine by freefind

Untitled


Your ad could be in the next issue of idleguy.com for as little as $6 per month. Contact Fearless Rick using the form on page 12 for more information.


COCKTAILS FOR THE NEW YEAR

These may or may not be in anybody's individual health regimen, but they are delightful before or after a meal.

Japanese Slipper

  • 1 oz Midori
  • 1 oz Cointreau
  • 1 oz fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until well chilled. Pour into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Optionally garnish with lime wedge or stemmed cherry.


Negroni

  • 1 ounce gin
  • 1 ounce Campari
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth

Add the gin, Campari and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass filled with ice, and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over large ice cubes. Garnish with an orange peel.



Untitled FASTPAGES: 1. Cover \ 2. From the Publisher's Desk \ 3. Contents /Credits \ 4. Calendar \ 5. State of the World \ 6. Feature \ 7. Sports \ 7a. Sports Extra \ 8. Money \ 9. Food & Drink \ 10. Books \ 11. Public Domain / Toast of the Town \ 12. Back Page \ Daily Idler \ Home \ | idleguy.com January 2025 | Page 9