Getting prepared for surgery takes a little planning. Consider pre-surgery nutrition as similar to getting ready for a marathon or big game. You need to prepare yourself for a procedure that creates some stress on your body. Good nutrition can help it out.
1- Follow a healthy eating pattern
An eating pattern represents the totality of all foods and beverages consumed. All foods consumed as part of a healthy eating pattern fit together like a puzzle to meet nutritional needs without exceeding limits, such as those for saturated fats added sugars, sodium, and total calories.
Individuals have more than one way to achieve a healthy eating pattern, any pattern can be tailored to the individual sociocultural and personal preferences.
2- Focus on variety, nutrient density, and amount
Get the most out of your calories by eating nutritionally dense food, foods in nutrient-dense forms contain essential vitamins and minerals and also dietary fiber and other naturally occurring substances that may have positive health effects.
These foods are relatively low in calories, but high in nutrition, so they can help you maintain a healthy weight while giving you a good dose of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber. At the same time, you’ll want to cut down your intake of foods with “empty calories”, those that have high calorie counts with little nutritional benefit. These foods often get their extra calories from fats and refined sugars. That’s why a piece of fruit in the morning will do you more good than a sugary pastry would.
In some cases, fortified foods and dietary supplements may be useful in providing one or more nutrients that otherwise may be consumed in less than recommended amounts.
Fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are a natural choice for nutritionally dense foods, so you can be generous when serving up these highly nourishing treats.
Fruits and vegetables should make up half of your plate at any given meal. You can choose a diverse selection of colors to add variety in both flavor and nutrition.
Whole grain foods
Grains should also account for a sizable portion of your plate, about 15 percent. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that whole grains make up at least half of those grains. Whole grains not only can give you more fiber, but they usually contain more nutrients, too.
Lean sources of protein
Lean protein is important to a smart diet, about 25 percent of your plate. There are many good sources of lean protein, including:
- Lean meats (chicken, turkey, beef, pork, etc.)
- Seafood (fish, shellfish, etc.)
- Soy products (tofu, veggie burgers, etc.)
- Eggs
- Beans and nuts
Dairy and other calcium-rich foods
Dairy products can be a good source of protein and calcium, especially if they’re nutritionally dense low-fat, and fat-free versions. Dark leafy vegetables, like turnip greens, kale, Chinese cabbage, and mustard greens, are naturally rich in calcium, too. Other calcium-fortified food sources include cereals, bread, and some juices, as well as soy, rice, and nut beverages.
Water
Drinking plenty of water is an important part of proper nutrition. Foods like raw fruit and vegetables can also help keep you hydrated. It’s important to realize that your body can have trouble distinguishing hunger from thirst pangs, so being well hydrated can often keep you from eating too much. Sometimes, when you think your body is saying “I’m hungry,” it could actually be trying to tell you that it simply needs more water.
3- Limit calories from added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium
While some foods clearly get the “green light” nutritionally, others deserve a yellow or even a red light. Approach fats, sugars, and other high-calorie/low-nutrition foods with caution. Sodium should also be on your list of “yellow light” foods, too, and in some cases, it deserves a red light.
Sugars and other simple carbohydrates
Added sugars include syrups and other caloric sweeteners. When sugars are added to foods and beverages to sweeten them, they add calories without contributing essential nutrients. Consumption of added sugars can make it difficult for individuals to meet their nutrient needs while staying within calorie limits. Naturally occurring sugars, such as those in fruit or milk, are not added sugars. Specific examples of added sugars that can be listed as an ingredient include brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, trehalose, and turbinado sugar.
Healthy eating patterns limit added sugars to less than 10 percent of calories per day. This recommendation is targeted to help the public achieve a healthy eating pattern, which means meeting nutrient and food group needs through nutrient-dense food and beverage choices and staying within calorie limits. When added sugars in foods and beverages exceed 10 percent of calories, a healthy eating pattern may be difficult to achieve.
Be aware of your daily sugar consumption. Less than 10 percent of your calories should come from added sugars. To decrease your sugar intake:
- Read nutrition facts to limit your sugar and sugary snacks.
- Drink water or fruit-infused water instead of sugary beverages, you can also try mineralized water like Perrier.
- Avoid simple carbohydrates (like white rice, white bread, enriched white pasta, etc.)
Sodium
Be aware of your sodium intake. When choosing meals and snacks, keep in mind the average person should reduce daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) or less. For people sensitive to the effects of sodium or who are at risk of experiencing certain medical conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease, daily sodium intake should be 1,500 mg or less.
To minimize your salt intake:
- Limit processed foods, which can be high in sodium.
- Keep track of your daily sodium intake.
- Try flavoring foods with herbs, spices, and other seasonings—instead of salt.
- Remember meals from restaurants can be high in sodium. Check the nutritional and sodium content of a restaurant’s food, either on its menu or online.
Fats, trans-fatty acids, and cholesterol
Be aware of your saturated fat consumption. Less than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturated fat. Strong and consistent evidence shows that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, is associated with reduced blood levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol). The main sources of saturated fats in the U.S. diet include mixed dishes containing cheese, meat, or both, such as burgers, sandwiches, and tacos; pizza; rice, pasta, and grain dishes; and meat, poultry, and seafood dishes. Although some saturated fats are inherent in foods, others are added. Healthy eating patterns can accommodate nutrient-dense foods with small amounts of saturated fats, as long as calories from saturated fats do not exceed 10 percent per day.
To lower your saturated fat consumption:
- Avoid trans-fatty acids (sometimes called trans fats). Trans-fatty acids come from the hydrogenation process that turns liquid oils into solids (like shortening and margarine) and are often found in processed and fast foods.
- Check the nutrition label of margarines, shortenings, fried foods, crackers, cookies, and other baked goods to see if they contain trans-fatty acids.
- Replace saturated fat and trans-fatty acids with unsaturated fats when possible.
- Look for non-hydrogenated monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (from vegetable sources, such as olive, soybean, corn, and sunflower oils) while limiting tropical oils, like palm and coconut oils.
Alcohol
Alcohol is high in calories with minimal nutrition. So, if you’re limiting your calories and you want every calorie to count, avoid the empty calories in alcohol.
4- Shift to healthier food and beverage choices
Shifting for vegetables
Strategies to increase vegetable intake include choosing more vegetables in place of foods high in calories, saturated fats, or sodium such as some meats, poultry, cheeses, and snack foods. One realistic option is to increase the vegetable content of mixed dishes while decreasing the amounts of other food components that are often over-consumed, such as refined grains or meats high in saturated fat and/or sodium. Other strategies include always choosing a green salad or a vegetable as a side dish and incorporating vegetables into most meals and snacks.
Shifting for fruits
Strategies to help achieve this shift include choosing more fruits as snacks, in salads, as side dishes, and as desserts in place of foods with added sugars, such as cakes, pies, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, and candies.
Shifting from grains to whole grains
Shifting from refined to whole-grain versions of commonly consumed foods— such as from white to rye bread or 100% whole-wheat bread, white to wholegrain pasta, and white to brown rice—would increase whole-grain intakes and lower refined grain intakes to help meet recommendations. Strategies to increase whole grains in place of refined grains include using the ingredient list on packaged foods to select foods that have whole grains listed as the first grain ingredient. Another strategy is to cut back on refined grain desserts and sweet snacks such as cakes, cookies, and pastries, which are high in added sugars, solid fats, or both, and are a common source of excess calories. Choosing both whole and refined grain foods in nutrient-dense forms, such as choosing rye bread instead of white bread and whole pasta instead of refined pasta, can help in meeting recommendations for a healthy eating pattern.
Shifting to consume more dairy products in nutrient-dense forms
Strategies to increase dairy intake include drinking fat-free or low-fat milk (or a fortified soy beverage) with meals, choosing yogurt as a snack, or using yogurt as an ingredient in prepared dishes such as salad dressings or spreads. Strategies for choosing dairy products in nutrient-dense forms include choosing lower fat versions of milk, yogurt, and cheese in place of whole milk products and regular cheese.
Shifting to consuming a variety of protein foods
Shifts are needed within the protein foods group to increase seafood intake, but the foods to be replaced depending on the individual’s current intake from the other protein subgroups. Strategies to increase the variety of protein foods include incorporating seafood as the protein foods choice in meals twice per week in place of meat, poultry, or eggs, and using legumes or nuts and seeds in mixed dishes instead of some meat or poultry. For example, choosing a salmon steak, a tuna sandwich, bean chili, or almonds on a main-dish salad could all increase protein variety. Shifting to nutrient-dense options, including lean and lower sodium options, will improve the nutritional quality of protein food choices and support healthy eating patterns.
Importance of Calorie Balance Within Healthy Eating Patterns
Managing calorie intake is fundamental to achieving and maintaining calorie balance—the balance between the calories taken in from foods and the calories expended from metabolic processes and physical activity. The best way to determine whether an eating pattern is at an appropriate number of calories is to monitor body weight and adjust calorie intake and expenditure in physical activity based on changes in weight over time.
All foods and many beverages contain calories, and the total number of calories varies depending on the macronutrients in food. On average, carbohydrates and protein contain 4 calories per gram, fats contain 9 calories per gram, and alcohol has 7 calories per gram. The total number of calories a person needs each day varies depending on a number of factors, including the person’s age, sex, height, weight, and level of physical activity. In addition, a need to lose, maintain, or gain weight and other factors affect how many calories should be consumed.
