What Oprah Gets Right On Dieting and Nutrition

Newsweek

By Brooke Brown

From Optifast to 21-day cleanses, Oprah Winfrey has been on plenty of fad diets in her day.

She now promotes a more sensible approach, but keeping the weight off isn’t easy for anyone, even Oprah, as evidenced by the January 2009 cover of O, The Oprah Magazine, which juxtaposes her former 160-pound self with her current 40-pounds-heavier self.

Her personal struggles aside, Oprah does offer some sound advice on general healthful eating habits and exercise plans.

Dr. David L. Katz and Dr. Mehmet Oz, both resident heath experts on The Oprah Winfrey Show and columnists in Oprah’s magazine, have a slew of credentials to back the nutrition tips they give to Oprah audiences. Here are five of their best tips:

1. Nutrient-rich foods: Katz frequently emphasizes the importance of basing a diet around nutrient-rich foods rather than empty calories. His recent feature on Oprah’s Web site suggested substituting apples for potato chips, fish for red meat and whole-grain bread for white bread.

Lona Sandon, food and nutrition expert for the American Dietetic Association (ADA), says she also recommends this type of diet, and adds that lean proteins and quality fat sources like nuts, seeds, vegetable oils can be added as side dishes to a diet based on fruits and vegetables. “You don’t need a special berry or a $40 bottle of juice to get the high anti-oxidants,” Sandon says. “You just need to go to the grocery store and spend some time in the produce aisle.”

2. Identifying why/when you eat: In an Oprah episode tackling America’s obesity problem, Dr. Oz helped 16 obese teens look for the emotional roots of their eating disorder.

ADA spokesperson David Grotto says he commends Oprah for noting that the obesity epidemic is not simply caused by overeating: “She digs behind what causes that overeating—and it’s not just because we are hungry all the time,” Grotto says.

3. Setting food boundaries: In January 2009, Oprah introduced her new diet plan, which included not eating after 7:30 p.m. Grotto says that though this strategy is not a direct solution for keeping weight in check, setting a cutoff time for eating does have some merit. “It’s about purposely reducing our intake at that hour when we are less active,” Grotto says. “But it really comes down to what ends up on the plate and in our stomachs at the end of the day.”

4. Limiting portion sizes: Oz says calorie restriction is the No. 1 way doctors say we can extend longevity, and caloric intake should be about getting the most “bang for your buck.” Similarly, the ADA’s Sandon said that a key concept to gaining a healthy relationship with food is to eat smaller portions throughout the day, including three meals and two snacks. “It does come down to … asking yourself, ‘Do I really need that much?’” Sandon says.

5. Dieting for life: Permanently altering habits requires mental readiness and proper planning, Katz reminds readers of O. He recommends making a list of the benefits to continuing a healthy eating plan to make dieting a true lifestyle change. Sandon also believes that a truly effective diet must last a lifetime: “Anyone can reduce calories for a certain amount of time, but if they haven’t really made a lifestyle change, rather just some rules and restrictions, then the weight loss doesn’t last over time,” Sandon says. “It comes down to changing the way you eat.”

Bookmark It

Hide Sites