HHS HealthBeat (August 9, 2012)

Real Mexican food

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

People from Mexico who eat American style tend to gain weight American style, so researchers have been looking at how to encourage alternatives to big portions of foods with lots of calories.

At the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, in Portland, Oregon, Nangel Lindberg developed a year-long program to help 47 Mexican-American women return to a more traditional Mexican eating pattern that includes more fruits and vegetables, less sugar and a more balanced diet. Women who finished the program lost about 16 pounds.

Lindberg advises:

“Eat the way your grandmother would tell you to eat. Eat your vegetables, don’t eat too much, don’t eat too much sugar.”

The study in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August 9, 2012