With the rise in obesity, cardiometabolic diseases (like diabetes or high blood pressure), and cancer all around us, it is important to understand how to eat healthfully. Luckily, we have some tips from the National Health Department and Harvard University!
The national department recommends that you should aim to meet two thirds of your daily nutrition needs through fruits and vegetables, milk, and other foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and protein. They also recommend reducing sugar intake and increasing fiber consumption.
Harvard’s website suggests thinking about food as an investment. The healthier choices are like buying stock in your body; the more expensive they may be at first, but over time, they will return a healthy profit for your health.
This article will go into detail about what types of foods are worth investing in and which ones can actually do harm to your health.
Eat more healthy fats
More than half of your daily calories should come from fat if you want to stay weight loss oriented. But it’s important to know what kind of fats are worth adding into your diet, and how much is needed in order to achieve that goal.
Saturated fats can be good or bad depending on whether they contain too many carbs or not. And while most people seem to associate cookies with cream-based cheeses, it’s actually the sugar content that makes something like chocolate milk or cheese pizza way better choices than regular milk or bread for eating It’s also great to limit saturated fats by drinking plain ol’ water instead of juice or soda.
Unhealthy oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, and butter are very rich in calories but few other things pertain to them.
Eat more protein
Protein is one of the most important macronutrients in our diets, next to carbohydrates. Proteins help us feel full longer than either carbs or fat, making them a good source of fuel for your body.
Protein comes from foods such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts and beans. The average person needs 8–10 grams of protein per day depending on their individual nutritional needs.
Some people are genetically predisposed to have higher levels of enzymes that aid in bone growth and repair, so they need less protein while others can survive with lower amounts.
Enzymes are like hormones, only not chemical! They play an integral part in almost every process done by your body, including building new cells and tissues.
Having enough enzyme nutrition in your diet helps promote healthy cell functioning and growth. Nutrient-rich food sources include: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dried fruit, fermented products (such as yogurt), and poultry.
If you find it difficult to eat enough protein, try eating lean meats, low-fat dairy, and/or supplements. We recommend starting out with a half cup of chicken, milk, or cheese per meal and then adding another half cup at the next meal.
Eat more veggies
We’re going to go into some details about what kind of vegetables you should be eating, and why they are important. But first, let us talk about how much vegetable matter you need in your diet.
We recommend that everyone eats at least two cups (0.5–1 cup per person) of fruits and three cups (onecup per person) of vegetables every day.
A cup size unit for both fruits and vegetables is one half a piece or a whole fruit/vegetable depending on what type of food it is. A cupful of carrots equals around one-quarter of a pound!
Most people do not meet this recommendation. In fact, according to the National Health and Nutrition Survey, only 9% of adults aged 19 and older ate enough fruits and 2% ate enough vegetables.
By consuming enough fruits and vegetables, you will:
Lower blood glucose levels
Boost your overall health and wellness
Improve your oral health by chewing well
This article will tell you how to eat the most delicious amounts of fruits and vegetables. Then, we’ll discuss some tips based on changes needed to make these healthier.
Limit sugar
Unfortunately, most manufactured foods contain lots of added sugars that are heavily marketed as part of the product brand. These include sweeteners such as glucose or sucrose, fructose, and maltodextrins.
Sugars can be naturally occurring like with fruit or milk products, but they also occur more frequently in processed food and beverages, including some alcoholic drinks.
Many people begin to add these sugars into their diet later in life, so it can increase your risk of health problems gradually.
However, even having just a little bit of sugar every now and then is not healthy for everyone. The amount depends on your body size and activity level, and how much sugar you eat overall.
If you find that you enjoy foods high in sugar, try to reduce the amount you use instead of totally limiting yourself to only healthier recipes.
Eat more fruit
One of the most important things you can do to eat healthier is to increase your intake of fruits. All parts of the fruit are good for you, so don’t hesitate to indulge!
Some people may be skeptical at first when I tell them that they should eat more fruits because they believe that berries are already a part of their diet. But we need to remember that not everyone enjoys berries or eats them every day.
So what kind of fruits should you eat? Almost any type of fruit will help improve your health, but some types of fruits have special benefits.
You should definitely try to include several colors of fruits in your diet as they all contain various nutrients such as vitamin A, C, potassium, magnesium and iron.
Not only that, but eating fruits can also contribute to weight loss since they’re a low calorie food. Plus, many people enjoy fruits as a dessert option so instead of buying a dessert pizza or meal, you could just get a snack of an apple or pear.
Become a workout lover
Now that you have your lunch box organized, time to make some changes to how you eat! If you want to be healthier next week, start by making the change today.
Work out for at least 30 minutes every day – this can be done anywhere and any way you like. You do not need to spend hours in the gym to achieve your goal.
For example, if you are trying to lose weight then walking is great because you will get outside and exercise just as well. Or maybe swimming is your favorite sport so for you running is easier to do.
Whatever you choose to do, just make sure you are practicing good health habits. To know more about healthy eating, read our article here.
Do yoga
While not everyone has the time or money for a longer yoga session, there are some simple poses that can be done at home on a regular basis. These are called asanas.
Yoga is a great exercise activity that benefits your overall health and fitness. Not only do they help tone your muscles, but also improve your balance, relaxation, and focus. There are several different types of yoga including Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, and others.
Many people begin practicing yoga with more complicated moves that take longer to perform. But you don’t have to spend hours upon hours exploring the depths of yogic philosophy!
There are many short pose tutorials online and in books that contain enough detail to get you started. Some popular positions include:
Cat-and-cow
Child’s pose
Cow pose
Crescent moon pose
Easy pose
Fire log (aka red bone) pose
Half cow pose
Hero pushup
Inverted row
Legs up tabletop position
Mountain climber
Pike position
Recumbent butterfly
Shoulder stand
Simple twist
Some modifications and variations can be made to these shapes to make them easier to manage while still giving the same relaxed effects. For example, most practitioners drop down knees when doing child’s pose so it is slightly easier to hold onto.
Learn to laugh
Does eating healthy make you feel stressed out, overwhelmed or even disgusted with yourself? If so, maybe it’s time to add some more laughter into your life.
Thinking of ways to enjoy humor can help you deal with all sorts of things. Finding something funny can take focus away from whatever is making you unhappy, and instead refresh your mind.
You will find that as you spend more time thinking about how funny certain situations are, you’ll want to be involved in them. And if you are already involved in them, you’ll want to keep doing what you were before you started focusing on laughs.
Humor has been shown to have many health benefits, including lowering stress hormones like cortisol. When you reduce stress, healthier behaviors such as eating healthier occur naturally.
This article will talk about some easy ways to include fun in your daily life.
This content is contributed by Help for eating disorder
We provide useful information on how to help if you have eating disorder
We provide useful information on how to help if you have eating disorder
