We have yet to determine your age today. However, if you are over 40 or 50, remember that your grandparents had a very different lifestyle than today. Healthy food and movement were part of people’s routine, who did not have access to certain amenities and used much more natural products on their menus.
And now, what has changed? First, we have a less active life. Generally, we use cars and other means of transport for commuting. In domestic activities, a series of equipment spares us with physical effort. Anyway, we become sedentary.
Our diet has also changed a lot. The menu of most people today contains a series of industrialized products with many unknown and harmful ingredients in their composition. Refined foods (white bread, rice, and pasta) form the food base. Salt, sugar, and fat are used in excess. Even water has been replaced by soft drinks or, at best, sweetened juices.
What are the consequences of this change? What can you do to eat healthy and get rid of disease? That’s what we’ll talk about in this article. So read on and learn how proper healthy nutrition can help you live longer and better!
What Is Healthy Eating?
Simply put, we can say that healthy eating has some characteristics:
- provides all the nutrients ( carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals) that the body needs to function well;
- uses the best version of the food about its level of processing and way of preparation;
- drastically reduces or eliminates products that harm health.
Contrary to what people think, eating healthy is much easier and cheaper than conventional products. A simple principle is to unpack less and peel more, using a smaller amount of processed products and restoring the habit of eating vegetables and fruits in nature, for example.
Why Is It Important To Change Eating Habits?
In another article, we already explained that an inadequate lifestyle causes the diseases that kill the most today. Although it is necessary to remember that several factors contribute to this — a sedentary lifestyle, low water consumption, lack of exposure to sunlight, reduced hours of sleep, and stress — food is a very important aspect.
Among these 15 dietary risk factors, we can highlight the low consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. On the other hand, they also analyzed the increase in sugar intake, red meat, trans fat, sodium, sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, etc.
The lack of a healthy diet also greatly impacts people’s quality of life. This means that, even when death does not occur, the estimated years lived under the suffering caused by a series of diseases increases.
How To Have A Healthy Diet?
Making the dish your main ally for good health is simple. It requires changing habits and changes in the pattern of choices. However, the decision to adopt a more nutritious diet is an investment that brings a series of returns in the short and long term. See how to do it!
Color Is Life!
One of the principles of healthy eating is a colorful plate. Therefore, divide it into 4 parts. In one, put the carbohydrate. In another, the protein. The two other parts must be filled with greens and vegetables of different colors. The shades indicate that these foods contain different nutrients, providing everything your body needs to function well and protect itself from disease.
Prefer Integrals
Whole grains, in addition to preserving vitamins and minerals, are rich in fiber. Therefore, they favor the proper functioning of the intestine, impacting all health. Whole-grain bread, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta are excellent bodily allies.
It is also important to note that the body digests complex carbohydrates — whole grains, potatoes, yams — more slowly. Thus, besides providing satiety for longer, they do not cause glycemic spikes (rapid increase in blood sugar). Therefore, they are essential for anyone who wants to fight obesity.
Reduce Animal Protein
One of the study’s risk factors is the high consumption of red meat and processed sausage meats. It cannot be denied that milk, eggs, and meat are protein sources. However, it is also possible to find this same nutrient in plant foods, with many advantages.
When a person opts for a varied diet based on vegetables, they ingest all the amino acids necessary to supply the body’s protein. On the other hand, extremely protein-rich foods, such as meat, overload the liver and kidneys.
Therefore, animal protein is associated with the risk of the formation of calculations or kidney stones. High consumption can also trigger calcium loss and bone problems. The fat content of meat and its derivatives still harms the body in different ways, favoring the emergence of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer.
Prefer The Natural Version Of Food
Daily, we modify a series of foods for consumption. We cook, fry, make juice, add salt, sugar, fat… However, although some vegetables need to be cooked, the ideal is to use them naturally whenever possible.
We are not saying you shouldn’t cook rice, beans, potatoes, or other foods. However, avoiding adding too much salt or sweetening foods is important. We only miss these flavors because we spent years conditioned to consume them differently, but it is possible to re-educate our habits and stop adding these ingredients to dishes.
Consume Fruits And Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are rich in essential vitamins and minerals for the body. They activate and regulate metabolism, in addition to containing fiber.
Fibers are the non-digestible parts of food, the cellulose that vegetables contain and our body does not use. After the digestion process, they are eliminated by the body. But if they are not digested, why is fiber so important?
In fact, precisely because they are not digested, fibers are conducted and cross the entire digestive system. In this displacement, they stimulate the intestinal walls and push waste, promoting the cleaning of the organism and solving the constipation problem.
Also Read: Healthy And Proper Nutrition
