How to Eat Healthily
Posted: Sunday, January 10, 2010
by Koncay Sazan
Health Market Supplements
We've had advice on how to eat healthily drummed into us so many times you'd think that by now we'd be able to do it without any problems, but apparently not. And while some may choose to ignore the advice issued by experts, they do so at their peril. Because there's every good reason to follow a healthy diet: Not only does it give us the energy to do what we want to do throughout the day, but it also protects us against serious health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
When it comes to the food you put in your mouth, if you want to eat healthily then stick to a balanced diet of natural, fresh produce which incorporates all the basic food groups: fat, carbohydrate, protein and fiber. While most people look on fat as the number one food enemy, there's no reason to exclude it from your diet. Fats such as those found in olive oil are beneficial to your health as they help lower your "bad" cholesterol level.
Sticking to fresh fruit and vegetables is an easy way to eat healthily (plus there's no having to read the nutritional information on the packet!).
One rule of thumb when it comes to knowing what to eat for optimum health is to ask yourself whether your ancestors would have eaten it. For example, fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and foods made from this produce (e.g. whole wheat bread) were probably more common in their day than were frozen convenience foods.
Designate a few days each week as "meat-free days." Cutting down on the amount of meat you eat is one way to improve your diet. According to the latest evidence from the ongoing study into dietary habits and cancer by the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), vegetarians are 45 percent less likely to develop cancer of the blood and 12 percent less likely to develop overall cancer than meat-eaters are.
A few words about salt and sugar: these are contained in so many processed foods that adding them to your meals at the dinner table certainly won't help you to improve your health.
When to Eat
Again, it's old but good advice: Eating breakfast is one of the best ways you can ensure you eat healthily. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it re-fuels the body after sleeping and helps you avoid food cravings mid-morning - when the only snacks to hand are usually the starchy, calorie-dense ones.
While some people prefer grazing throughout the day, this approach only works if you eat little and often (with the emphasis on little!). If you lack the self-control to do this, then you're better off sticking to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the odd snack in between (e.g. a small handful of nuts or a piece of fruit).
How to Eat
Most of us certainly don't need any help with how to eat. But the way you eat can actually help you to eat healthily, especially if you're trying to lose weight. For example, if you eat your food on the run, then there's more chance that you will over-eat. It's easy to grab a burger in between meetings and then to sit down for lunch later having told yourself that the burger wasn't really lunch. Try to have a structured eating plan throughout the day to avoid these eating pitfalls.
Eating healthily is merely common sense, which is another reason we should be having no problem with it.
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