How healthfully are you eating?
Without doing a computer analysis of exactly what you consume, that’s difficult to answer precisely. But our test inside can help you assess your “diet attitude.”
It was compiled with help from several sources, including the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Take time to answer the questions. (Yes, it’s easy to cheat, but we trust that you won’t.)
The higher your score, the more healthful the choices you are making.
1. For breakfast you pick:
a. bacon and eggs or pancakes with butter and syrup
b. corn flakes, Cheerios, Wheaties or Cream of Wheat with 2 percent milk
c. oatmeal or bran flakes with skim milk
2. To accompany your morning coffee you would choose:
a. sweet roll, muffin or croissant
b. bagel, toast or English muffin with butter
c. whole-wheat bagel or whole-wheat toast
3. Your usual source of fruit comes from:
a. apple or grape jelly
b. 100 percent orange, grapefruit or tomato juice
c. a whole orange, melon,grapefruit, banana or other fruit
4. When you have a cup of coffee or tea, you:
a. add whole milk or cream
b. take it black or add sugar and skim milk
c. drink decaffeinated
5. For a sandwich you use:
a. cold cuts and cheese or tuna salad, with mayo or sandwich spread, on white bread or roll
b. peanut butter and jelly on white bread
c. low-fat meats with fat-free mayo or mustard on whole wheat
6. At the salad bar you opt for:
a. marinatedmushrooms,pepperoni slices, iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing
b. pasta salad with artichokes and olives
c. tossed green salad with non-fat dressing or plain vinegar
7. As a salty snack you would select:
a. potato chips, tortilla chips, crackers, nuts, buttered popcorn
b. salted pretzels, microwave light popcorn
c. baked unsalted pretzels, baked potato chips or baked tortilla chips
8. You want a cookie. What’s your likely choice?
a. chocolate-chip, chocolate-covered, peanut butter or sandwich cookies
b. reduced-fat cookies, granola bars, oatmeal cookies
c. gingersnaps, Fig Newtons or graham crackers
9. To quench a thirst you reach for:
a. coffee, tea, soda pop, fruit flavored drinks
b. Gatorade-style drinks, fruit juice, decaffeinated coffee, iced tea, diet soda
c. plain water, bottled water
10. As an afternoon pick-me-up you choose:
a. chocolate ice cream cone
b. frozen yogurt with nut topping
c. plain non-fat yogurt with fresh fruit
11. At an Italian restaurant, you usually order:
a. fettuccine Alfredo
b. chicken Vesuvio or pasta with sausage or meatballs
c. pasta with red clam sauce or marinara sauce
12. At a restaurant you choose for potatoes:
a. french fries
b. mashed potatoes with gravy, baked potatoes with sour cream
c. plain baked potato with non-fat sour cream or non-fat yogurt
13. From the restaurant bread basket you select:
a. pizza bread
b. dinner roll
c. whole-grain roll or bread
14. As a vegetable side dish you prefer:
a. creamed spinach
b. buttered peas or broccoli
c. steamed carrots or other plain vegetable
15. You like your fish:
a. breaded or deep fried
b. sauteed or blackened
c. broiled plain or with a little olive oil
16. A typical choice of red meat would be:
a. breaded veal cutlets
b. prime roast beef
c. lean steak trimmed of fat and broiled
17. In terms of number of servings, from most to least, you eat:
a. meats, vegetables, grains
b. grains, meats, vegetables
c. grains, vegetables, meats
18. How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat each day? (A serving is 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw vegetables or one medium fruit.)
a. two or fewer
b. three to four
c. five or more
19. How many servings of grains do you eat a day? (A serving is 1 slice of bread, 1 ounce cereal, 1/2 cup cooked rice or pasta.)
a. no more than three servings of bread and grains
b. between three and six servings
c. seven or more servings
20. When frying or sauteeing you use:
a. lard, butter or shortening
b. olive, canola or othervegetable oil
c. cooking spray
21. In an average week you eat out:
a. seven or more times
b. four to six times
c. three or fewer times
22. At home you cook:
a. packaged dinners and mixes
b. fresh or frozen foods combined with canned or packaged products
c. from scratch, using mostly fresh foods
23. As a spread for breads you prefer:
a. butter or margarine
b. whipped or reduced-fat spreads or a few drops of olive oil
c. jam, jelly or nothing
24. On your salads at home you add:
a. oil and vinegar, bottled salad dressing, mayonnaise
b. reduced fat dressings
c. vinegar or no-fat dressing
25. When eating a meal of steak, chicken or other meats you consume:
a. 8 ounces or more (a largeT-bone)
b. 4 to 8 ounces
c. 3 ounces or less
Answers
1. Bacon and eggs are high in fat, protein and cholesterol without many carbohydrates and no fiber. Most cereals provide carbohydrates but high-fiber oatmeal with skim milk delivers carbohydrates, lots of soluble and insoluble fiber, protein and calcium.
2. The fat, sugar and white flour in doughnuts, muffins and croissants are not ideal ways to get going. A bagel or toast with butter is fatty, but better. The best choice is whole-wheat toast or bagel, a good source of complex carbohydrates and fiber.
3. Preserves, jelly and jam supply some fruit to your diet–along with calories from high amounts of sugar. The 100 percent fruit juices are better, but fresh fruits, with their fiber and extra vitamins, are the best choice.
4. Caffeine in modest amounts is not troublesome, but cream or whole milk adds calories and fat. Skim milk is better. Decaf coffee probably is a better choice for those who drink several cups a day.
5. A sandwich of cold cuts and mayo can put a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol into your diet. Peanut butter has some fat but less than the meats. Low-fat and fat-free products on a high fiber bread are best.
6. Although salad bars offer good food choices, not everything on them is healthful. Saturated fats and calories lurk in oily marinades and dressings. Pasta salads, though often full of good ingredients, also can have fatty dressings. Best choices are plain vegetables (and fruits) with a little vinegar or a fat-free dressing.
7. Most Americans eat twice as much salt as they should, and when teamed with fried fats in chips, it is even less healthful. Pretzels are baked and thus lower in fat but still salty. Same goes for the light popcorn.
8. Many popular cookies are hideouts for saturated and hydrogenated fats. Some fat-free cookies contain more calories than full-fat ones. Gingersnaps, graham crackers and fig bars are naturally lower in fat but not high in calories.
9. The best way to quench your thirst is with plain water. Caffeine, found in coffees, teas and some colas, and sugar–often added in high amounts to fruit drinks–are best consumed in modest amounts.
10. Plain non-fat yogurt supplies calcium and protein plus active cultures that aid digestion. Ice cream is loaded with saturated fat. Frozen yogurt lacks many of yogurt’s healthful components.
11. The Center for Science in the Public Interest called fettuccine Alfredo a “heart attack on a plate.” Though baked, chicken Vesuvio often is oily, and meatballs also can be fatty. Red clam and marinara sauces are lowest in saturated fats while supplying the phytochemicals of tomato sauce.
12. Baked potatoes are rich in fiber and carbohydrates, but they aren’t as healthful if you add fat- and cholesterol-rich sour cream. Any deep-fried food such as french fries is fat laden.
13. Nutrition guidelines recommend up to 11 servings of bread and grains each day, but pizza bread adds fat and salt. Whole-grain breads contain valuable fiber.
14. Vegetables are an important part of a daily diet and are best eaten with as little fat added as possible. Grilling or steaming them is a good way to keep fat at a minimum.
15. Fish supplies protein and omega 3 fatty acids for protection against heart disease and some other ailments, but cooking it with lots of added fat cancels any benefits.
16. Although all meat has cholesterol, lean cuts have less saturated fat.
17. Sedentary women and some older adults eating 1,600-calorie diets need six servings of grains, three vegetables and two fruits a day, while sedentary men and active women with 2,200-calorie diets should eat nine grain servings, four vegetables and three fruits. Those active men and very active women should try for 11 servings of grains, five vegetables and four fruits a day. Most Americans get more than enough meat and protein.
18. Five a day is a goal, but more is better.
19. Eleven servings of grains are recommended.
20. Animal fats and shortenings are saturated. Lower-fat spreads and vegetable oils are often less saturated and better. Cooking spray with a non-stick pan uses very little fat.
21. Unless you only dine at restaurants with heart-healthy selections or are very demanding when you order, you usually will eat more healthfully at home.
22. Packaged and processed products often have added fats and salt and lack the fiber and phytochemicals of fresh and some frozen products.
23. Although reduced-fat spreads are less saturated than butter, jams and jellies have no fat at all.
24. Dressings often are the primary sources of fat in salads. The less, the better.
25. A standard portion of meat is 3 ounces, about the size of deck of cards. Eight ounces is almost a whole day’s recommended protein.
How you rate
To score, give yourself 1 point for each a. answer, 2 points for each b. and 3 points for each c.
60-75 points: Your careful scrutiny of what you are eating probably will add years to your life.
40-59 points: Although there still are better choices you could make, you are trying to follow a healthful lifestyle. Keep up the good work.
24-40 points: Either you are ignoring the mounting evidence that eating a better diet has health benefits or you have been living under a rock.
