Scout Healthy Food Tips

Here are some healthy eating tips from Scouting magazine:

• Water instead of soda: -150 calories (12 oz. serving)
• Pretzels instead of chips: -80 calories (2 oz. serving)
• “Light butter” instead of “movie theater butter” microwave popcorn: -75 calories (5 cups)
• Skim milk instead of whole: -60 calories (1 cup)
• Whole-grain Fig Newtons instead of Chips Ahoy: -60 calories (per serving)
• Subway Turkey Sandwich instead of McDonald’s Quarter Pounder With Cheese: -300 calories

These ideas are designed to help you switch various foods for something more healthy which will lead to a calorie reduction of at least 700.

Here are some camp food ideas:

• Healthy trail mixes: dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and a healthy cereal (Grape Nuts or Kashi, for example)
• Lowfat stews made with lean protein and veggies
• Beans and rice
• Fish or lean meat with vegetables in a foil pocket
• Oatmeal with dried fruit and skim milk

Here are some other nutrition tips:

• Adding 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber to your daily diet will reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 5 percent.
• Adding a daily dose of 2 to 3 grams of plant-derived stanol and sterol esters (a supplement found in foods such as yogurt, orange juice, and margarine products) typically lowers LDL by 6 to 15 percent.
• Adding fruits and vegetables, reducing sodium and alcohol intake, and increasing physical activity will reduce blood pressure by 2 to 14 mmHg.

Obviously it would be impossible to do all of these things at once but taking a few of these ideas even if you just take 1 and are super committed to it then you can make a big difference.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08