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Frank:
Oatmeal is a great food to include in your diet regardless of whether you eat regular or old fashioned. However I prefer my clients eat old Fashioned because it goes through a little less processing at the factory.  If you compare the regular oatmeal to old fashioned you will notice that old fashioned oatmeal is larger and rougher looking. This is because it includes all parts of the grain making it more nutritious.

Regular Oatmeal is cut into smaller pieces and rolled a little more in order to make it cook faster. Although it is still very good for you in my opinion it has lost some of nutritional value. The more you process grains by chopping or grinding them up the less fiber they contain.

To me it’s common sense. As Americans we alter our food to make everything quick and easy but sometimes we sacrifice quality for convenience. I firmly believe that most people can make a big difference in how they look and feel simply by eating certain foods as close to their natural state as possible. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy if my clients eat regular or old fashioned oatmeal. In fact comparing the two can be a lot like splitting hairs but Old fashioned oats will always be my first choice.

Diane:
I believe eating fruit and drinking fruit juices are both healthy practices. However I prefer to eat my fruit whole. Here are a few reasons why.

First of all many fruit juice companies add a lot of sugar and artificial ingredients to their fruit juices to make their product taste better. Instead of getting a healthy drink you get a lot of sugar carbs that later turn to fat. Therefore it’s important to read the label carefully before making your choice because all juices are not created equal.

 The second reason I prefer whole fruit is that turning fruit into juice separates the pulp form the fruit. Since the pulp provides an excellent source of fiber it makes more sense to eat fruit whole and get all of the nutritional value instead of part of it. To me getting your daily recommended allowance of fruit in the form of juice would be like eating eggs yolks and removing the protein.

Last but not least turning fruit into juice will increase its glycemic index. Foods with a higher glycemic indexes are know to wreak havoc on our insulin levels causing our bodies to retain more fat. On the other hand whole fruit promotes a more stable insulin levels helping our bodies repel fat. Therefore I prefer to eat my fruit whole rather than in juice.