May 2, 2012
By Dr. William A. Gillespie, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, EmblemHealth
In keeping with EmblemHealth’s longstanding commitment to the health and well-being of New York’s working men and women, I have written Health and Wellness Tips, an article series dedicated to helping you stay healthy, get well and live better. We hope you’ll find the health information in these articles useful to you and your welfare fund members. Look for Health and Wellness Tips articles in future editions of LaborPress.
Every time we swap a nutritious meal for an unhealthy one we compromise our health. An unhealthy diet can weaken your immune system and bones, increase your risk of chronic diseases, lower your energy level and slow your brain function.
Here are a few tips that I hope can keep you motivated to choose healthy meals every day:
1. Create a healthy eating plan.
Create a healthy eating plan for the entire week.
Include a variety of nutrient-packed foods from the five major food groups: Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Proteins (meat, fish and nuts) and Dairy. Keep your meals low in solid fats and added sugars.
2. Take a list with you when you go grocery shopping.
Once you’ve created a healthy eating plan, create a shopping list! Write down all the ingredients you need to make the delicious meals you have planned. You can also use the list to estimate how much money to bring with you when you buy your groceries.
3. Read the Nutrition Facts label on food packages.
Nutrition Facts labels can tell you how much nutrients a food has. It’s important to focus on calories and serving size, and to select foods that will give you a nutritionally balanced diet (and are low in saturated fat, sugar and sodium).
4. Take advantage of your health plan’s benefits!
Check out the wellness programs your health plan offers. Also, go to their Web site for tools and resources that can empower you to eat healthy.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
EmblemHealth, through its companies GHI and HIP, has over 70 years of experience covering New Yorkers and services some 2.8 million people ranging from employees in small and large groups to individuals, retirees and unionized workers.
For more information about how EmblemHealth delivers viable health care solutions to the multiemployer market, please call Jerry Gallo, Director of Labor Market, at 1-646-447-5031. You can also visit us at www.emblemhealth.com/labor.
