Eating healthy is crucial to maintaining good health. Fortunately, it’s easier than it sounds. Arm yourself with knowledge and you’re halfway there. If you think of eating healthy not as a sacrifice, but more as an opportunity for self-improvement, you’re almost at the finish line. You don’t need someone to tell you the numerous health benefits that putting away the pizza and shawama will get you. You want someone to show you how it’s done. Here’s a glimpse.

Choosing a Healthy Diet

1. Choose the right carbohydrates:Simple carbs, like sugar and flour, are quickly absorbed by the body’s digestive system. This causes a kind of carb overload, and your body releases huge amounts of insulin, to combat the overload. Eat these in moderation. Complex carbs, on the other hand, are slowly digested by the body. They include whole-grain flour, hearty vegetables, oats, and unprocessed grains, like brown rice. These foods are usually higher in vitamins and other nutrients that are beneficial for the body, and they are higher in fiber (which keeps your digestive system running smoothly).

• Consider eating leafy greens like kale, collard greens, mustard greens, and Swiss chard. They are packed with nutrients and will fill you up very quickly. Create a simple sauté with olive oil, garlic, a little salt and pepper, which will be surprisingly tasty meal as well as a nutritious one.
• Choose wheat (brown) bread instead of white bread and whole wheat pasta instead of “normal” pasta. Processed carbohydrates, such as those found in white bread are harder to draw nutrients from, and therefore constitute empty calories. Plain oatmeal is also very healthy for you.

2. Eat lean, mean protein:Aim to get between 10% and 35% of your daily calories from protein. Protein helps you to build muscle and gives you the lasting energy throughout the day. Some examples of healthy proteins include:

• Lean fish such as flounder, sole, cod, bass, perch, and halibut.
• Lean poultry such as chicken or duck breast.
• Nuts like cashews.

3. Know the difference between good fat and bad fat:You need to consume fat for your body, to function correctly. However, it’s important to choose the right kind of fats. Here’s a quick primer.

• Monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids are good fats, which you should try to consume regularly. They help lower the “bad cholesterol” in your body by raising “good cholesterol”. Foods that are high in fatty acids are olive oil, nuts, fish oil, and various seed oils. Adding these “good” fats to your weekly diet can lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Avoid trans fats and saturated fats. Trans fats are form of unsaturated fat commonly found in processed foods, and consuming them raises your risk of heart disease. Read the labels of what you eat, and look for “hydrogenated” anything on the ingredient list.

4. Stock up on superfoods:So-called superfoods may have a misleading title, but some truly are cut above. Superfoods may have the ability to fight heart disease, stave off cancer, lower cholesterol, and even boost your mood. Here are just few of them:

• Blueberries may facilitate brain health. If you don’t have access to blueberries, then try fresh berries, raspberries, or cranberries.
• It may not sound appetizing, but then again when you read the list of health benefits you may think again. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, as well as beneficial in managing natural flora in the gut.
• Another creature of the sea makes the list, and for good reason. Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a good type of fat. Omega-3 fats are good for blood pressure, brain function, and heart health.
• These red berries contain Quercetin, a natural anti-Carcinogen (anti-cancer), are low in sugar and a decent source of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is essential for bone health and prevents Scurvy.

5. Watch your salt intake:Although humans need salt in moderation, too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, osteoporosis and excessive stomach acid. Use salt sparingly, and always check labels on food for the “reduced sodium” option, if it’s available.

6. Practice moderation.Don’t over-consume any one food or type of food. Instead, try to vary your diet so that you eat a little bit of everything in a moderate amount.

• Some people might be great at giving up meat, sugar, alcohol, or other foods. However, most of us are likely to give it up for awhile, then break down and binge. Avoid this deprivation-binge cycle by allowing yourself to have small “cheats”. For instance, if you want to eat less sugar, allow yourself to eat one dessert each Friday night and abstain for the rest of the week. Having a break to look forward, which can help you power through the other days.

Making Easy but Healthy Decision

Staying hydrated with basic H₂O is an easy and dramatic way, to improve your health and shed pounds, all the while helping you feel full. Drink water in the mid of meals and avoid drinking after and before meal, to aid digestion and try to consume between 2 and 3 liters per day.

• If you feel like snacking, try drinking a full glass of water first. Some people confuse thirst for hunger, and eat a 400- or 500-calorie snack when a glass of water would have helped them feel satiated. If you’re still hungry 15 minutes after your drink, then it’s time for a snack.

1. Avoid soft drinks, juices, sports and energy drinks, as well as other products containing artificial sweeteners:Giving up sugary drinks is one of the easiest ways you can instantly improve your diet and become healthier. A can of coke adds 139 extra calories to your diet. A glass of grape juice will set you back even more. Try drinking water only to improve and aid digestion. A white chocolate crème frappuccino has whopping 500 calories. While it’s okay to treat yourself with these and other drinks every once in a while, it’s not a good idea to make them a regular part of your diet.
2. Participate in Meatless Mondays: Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to give up eating meat one day per week. Eating less meat can have several health benefits, as most people already have enough protein in their diets. In fact, vegetarians and vegans weight less than meat-eaters, and live longer on average.
3. Stay away from fast food. As we all know fast food is bad for our health, yet it continues to remain a weekly staple for too many people. For one, fast food is often fried, processed, and excessively salty. Add soft drinks and fries and your meal could easily burn through half of your suggested caloric intake for the day. To add insult to injury, much of the fat contained in fast food is trans fat, the worst kind of fat.
4. Drink one glass of wine or beer occasionally, but be wary of more. Adults who drink a glass of wine or beer with their meal report numerous health benefits, including improved memory function, reduced bacterial infection, and even boosted estrogen levels. Unfortunately, what may be good in small doses can be destructive in larger doses. Any more than two drinks of alcohol per day is probably detrimental for your health.

• Red wine, in particular, contains polyphenol, called resveratrol that scientists believe is particularly heart-healthy. Resveratrol improves the function of blood vessels in the heart and curbs the amount of “bad” cholesterol in your body.
• Are you pregnant and worried about drinking? While it’s normal for expectant mothers to abstain from alcohol, scientists say that it’s perfectly harmless to drink one glass of wine a day.

More Tips

• Changing your mind set
• Determine how many calories your body needs to function each day.
• Don’t skip breakfast.
• Eat slow.
• Eat 5 time per day (You may consider eating three meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), with two snacks in between. Doing this allows you to eat slightly less at your meals, giving your body a more manageable amount of food to digest, and keeps your blood sugar steadier throughout the day because you’re not going for six hours at a stretch without eating.)

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