Healthy eating ideas

As we all know how important is healthy eating for us. But the question you should ask your self Do you know what really is healthy eating? You need to ponder that, are you actually eating healthy? If you think your answer is yes then here is one more question for you, is your diet balanced?

You must be thinking, “we have eliminated all the carbs and fats from our diet, isn’t it healthy eating and a balanced diet?”

“No”, this Answer might be disappointing for you, but do not worry! In this guide we will tell you all the fundamentals of healthy eating and how can you incorporate the habits of healthy eating in your lifestyle without being so hard on yourself.

So without further ado, let’s get started!

What is healthy eating?

Let’s start from the start, healthy eating is eating everything our body needs in a balance, nothing more nothing less. And here is the real conflict begins, as the body of every human is different, what works for others, will sometimes not work for you.

That is why everyone is confused because on the internet almost everyone has shared their experience and some of them even swore by them. There are,  if not thousand then, hundreds of articles on the topic of healthy eating and all of them telling you a new thing. This makes conflicting and bulk amount of information left the reader with an overwhelming feeling, and at the of the day they ended up doing more harm than good to his health.

Healthy eating is not some diet, that you need to follow rigorously. In fact, healthy eating is all about eating everything but in balance.

The key point of healthy eating is eating the foods that are closest to the way nature made them and replacing processed and artificial food with natural foods. Make these little changes and you will feel significantly healthy changes in your life.

The first step to healthy eating is to figure out what “your” body needs. You do not have to blindly follow your friends’ diet chart because it works for them. Just figure out what are the requirements of your body. Are you deficit of some nutrients, because then you need to be taking them in more quantities than the others.

Figure out these basic things and you will be ready to kickstart your journey towards healthy eating.

Advantages of Healthy Eating

If I start telling you the advantages of healthy eating, I can literally go on forever. Not exaggerating at all, it is that beneficial, it prevents you from several dangerous diseases, your mental health starts getting better and you will note a positively significant change in your life.

Here are a few out of a thousand reasons that why you should start eating healthy:

• Better heart health

According to research conducted by American Heart Association (AHA), almost half of the people that live in America are suffering from some kind of cardiovascular disease. These numbers are highly alarming and it has been suggested that this high ratio of heart disease is largely attributed to poor diet and unhealthy eating.

Healthy eating prevents you from several cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, angina, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.

• Prevents you from Cancers

Cancer is one of the leading death cause in the United States. But with a healthy and balanced diet, you can prevent reduce the risk of cancer.

Research has shown out of all the cancer deaths 30-35% are linked to diet. In this research it was concluded that cancer can be prevented by increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet, having a diet that is caloric restricted, use of whole grains, and minimum consumption of meat.

• Obesity prevention

Obesity is the leading cause of all diseases. If you can put a stop to your increasing weight and start losing your weight in a healthy way, you can get rid of almost all the diseases.

By eating healthy and drinking plenty of water you can solve almost half of your skincare problems without spending so much money.

• Good for your mental health and mood

Healthy and nutritious foods produce serotonin in your body. Serotonin is the hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness.

On the other hand, it has been proven in research that foods that are high in processed sugars and salts lead to depression and anxiety.

So, it is very rightly said that “you are what you eat.”

• Increase the brain activity and cognitive performance

Healthy eating improves your brain function, nourishes your brain properly, and increases your long-term memory. While unhealthy diet is associated with impaired cognitive functions and even can lead to dementia.

These are some of the most important reason why you leave your unhealthy eating habits and start a new lifestyle that is consist of healthy and balanced eating.

• The Right Balance of Calories

If you eat more calories than your daily requirements, the extra calories will store in your body in the form of fats cells and hence promotes weight gain. So, it is so important to have the right balance of the calories i.e, intaking only the amount of calories that are sufficient to provide you the energy for your daily work.

Healthy eating is the best way to get rid of obesity and hence all the health conditions that are associated with it.

• Prevents from type-2 diabetes

Type-2 diabetes is directly related to an unhealthy diet and unhealthy weight. It can be treated by healthy eating that will eventually help you lose weight and decrease your insulin resistance. In some cases, it can be reversed completely if a patient starts doing a healthy and planned weight loss in the early stages of the disease.

Strong bones and strong teeth

Healthy eating is also important for your oral health and bone strength. A diet rich in calcium and vitamin D and less in processed sugars at your early age will help you in a long run.

If in your adulthood you are eating healthy foods, your chances of getting osteoporosis and tooth decay in older ages reduces significantly.

• Good skin

A lot of you have spent hundreds of dollars on expensive skincare products, they are effective no doubt. But have you ever think of fixing your inner side, the real cause of the problem? Your break out, dark circles, and hyperpigmentations are the result of your diet and some other factors too.

By eating healthy and drinking plenty of water you can solve almost half of your skincare problems without spending so much money.

• Good for your mental health and mood

Healthy and nutritious foods produce serotonin in your body. Serotonin is the hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness.

On the other hand, it has been proven in research that foods that are high in processed sugars and salts lead to depression and anxiety.

So, it is very rightly said that “you are what you eat.”

• Increase the brain activity and cognitive performance

Healthy eating improves your brain function, nourishes your brain properly, and increases your long-term memory. While unhealthy diet is associated with impaired cognitive functions and even can lead to dementia.

These are some of the most important reason why you leave your unhealthy eating habits and start a new lifestyle that is consist of healthy and balanced eating.

• The Right Balance of Calories

If you eat more calories than your daily requirements, the extra calories will store in your body in the form of fats cells and hence promotes weight gain. So, it is so important to have the right balance of the calories i.e, intaking only the amount of calories that are sufficient to provide you the energy for your daily work.

If you spend most of your day while sitting then you will be needing fewer calories. While if your daily routine consists of excessive physical work, you will need more calories so that your body can have the energy to do all those tasks.

The thing that is important here is to intake a healthy form of calories (not the calories you are getting from junk food).

The Basics of Healthy Eating

Healthy eating means having a balanced diet, which includes the right quantity of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are enough to nourish our body.

You do not need to completely eliminate certain food because you will end up wanting it more (this is how humans are!). In fact, try to have the healthiest version and the controlled amount of that food.

Your body needs a certain amount of micronutrient and macronutrients, a comprehensive overview of most important macronutrients and micronutrients is as follow:

Important macronutrients

There are three important macronutrients that provide energy to our body and help in carrying out the normal functioning of life.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates one the primary source of energy and is quite seen as a bad guy by many people when it comes to following a diet. But this is not right, although there are some carbohydrates that need to be cut down right away from your foods like simple sugars (pastries, starches, white bread, and sugar).

But there are some good carbohydrates (that care for you) like the carbs that come from complex, unrefined sources like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. They are the good ones and you need to befriend them if you want to start healthy eating.

Fats: another important macronutrient is fat. Fats are linked with bad junk food loaded with enough calories to wreck your diet. But here again, not all fats are the same, not all fats make you fat (pun intended).

No doubt bad fats are loaded with enough calories to wreck your diet and can make you prone to diseases like obesity, heart attacks, strokes, etc. But there are some good fats too, e.g., omega-3s  that are absolute essentials for the normal development and functioning of the brain and heart. They are found in oily fish, nuts, butter, and cheese.

Proteins: The third macronutrient is protein. Proteins make up the muscle part of our body and several enzymes and hormones that are important for the normal functioning of the body. It is also a source of energy, improves our energy levels during the day, and improves cognitive functions. And as you grow old you need more high-quality protein in your diet to prevent sarcopenia.

Although it is not as infamous as the other two micronutrients, it does not mean you can eat as much as you want. Researches have shown that too much intake of protein can be harmful pr people that have kidney diseases. Here too, balance is the key. You need to eat the right amount of animal protein and vegetable protein if you really want to start eating healthy.

Important micronutrients

Besides macronutrients, there are some nutrients that are required for the normal functioning of the body but in very small quantities, and the deficiency of them can cause very serious problems to your health.

Some of the most important micronutrients are as follow:

Calcium: Calcium is the most important micronutrient as it is required for the strengthening of bone and teeth, normal functioning of eyes, heart muscles, and neurons of the nervous systems. Its deficiency can cause diseases like osteoporosis, cataracts, and disturbance in brain functions.

Potassium: Potassium is necessary for fluid balance and hence controlling the blood pressure in the body. It also plays a role in the functioning of muscles and nerves.

Iron: It is the part of hemoglobin and supplies oxygen to all the organs of the body. other functions of iron include boosting immunity and brain function.

Magnesium: Magnesium regulates the various enzymatic reaction in our body as well as it is important for the normal functioning of the nervous system and muscle contraction.

Vitamins: All the vitamins from vitamin A to Vitamin K play so many essential roles in our body that are important to sustain a healthy life. And their deficiency can cause serious health problems.

Some other micronutrients are zinc, iodine, sodium, chloride, copper, fluoride, phosphorus, etc.

You can easily get all these macronutrients and micronutrients by having a balanced and healthy diet.

Healthy foods to eat

As I already told you healthy eating does not mean eliminating carbs and fats completely, in fact, for healthy eating your goal should be to eat everything in a recommended quality. Try to eat whole foods (unprocessed foods). For healthy eating, your food should be right mix and match of the following foods:

• Vegetables

Vegetables are low in calories but packed with nutrients. They have complex carbohydrates and are enriched in fibers. They are the major source where you can get almost all of your micronutrients. Intake a combination of all the vegetables in this way you can get all the nutrients that are present in these vegetables

• Fruits

Fruits like vegetables have low calories but high nutrients. The natural deserts are loaded with fibers, micronutrients, and antioxidants. Try to include a little of every food in your diet so that you can have all the good nutrients that are required by your body.

• Meat

Meat, fish, and chicken are the primary source of proteins. But the key here is to avoid the unhealthy form of meat (yeah we meant cheeseburgers and excessive amounts of steaks). Fish is rich in omega-3, but you know, we can’t say the same about battered deep-fried fish.

So, the moral of the story is to eat everything in a moderate amount and try to eat the healthiest version of everything. You can incorporate meat and fish in your salads for lunch or a chicken piece with your oats for dinner so that you can have the right portion of everything throughout the day.

• Beans and Legumes

Beans and legumes are a good source of portion for you if you are a vegan or vegetarian. They are enriched with several essential amino acids. Even if you are a meat lover you should have the right portion of your beans and legumes because eating only meant for protein can be bad for your health.

• Milk and other dairy foods

Milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt all are enriched with vitamin D and calcium, making your bone and teeth strong. Yogurt has good probiotics in it that keep your gut healthy.

• Nuts and seeds

Nuts and seeds make the healthiest snacks. They are packed with micronutrients and a very good source of calcium source.

• Plenty of water

Drinking plenty of water is the key to a healthy life, believe us, half of your health problems can vanish away just by drinking 8 glasses of water in a day.

Foods to avoid

After reading all of the above discussions one thing you have learned by heart up till now that healthy eating is balanced eating. There is no need to cut certain food just because they are labeled unhealthy, in fact, your goal is to eat the healthiest version of the food.

The only foods you should avoid are deep fried and the foods that are made up of processed and artificial foods. Because they are straight away poison for your health.

Tips for healthy eating

The best thing about healthy eating is that you do not need to be so strict with yourself. You can always have the food you want to eat (in a controlled amount). By making small changes in the eating habits you can kickstart the journey of healthy eating.

Prepare your meals: The easiest way to leave all the bad eating habits is to start making your meals. In this way, you can have better control over what you eat and you can customize your meals according to your needs.

Read the labels: No matter how much some brands claim to be healthy, you should make sure to read all the labels because some companies hide an enormous amount of sugars and artificial flavors.

Eat the healthiest version of food: Try to eat the healthiest version of your favorite food, such as replace deep-fried fish or chicken with the grilled salmon, your unhealthy daily snacks with nuts and seeds, etc. These small changes will help you in achieving your goal easily.

Make water your best friend: Water is more important to have a healthy life as you think. It removes the toxins out of your body.  Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Drink water before your meals because it will reduce your appetite.

Wrapping Up

So,  healthy eating is not hard at all but the key is to be consistent and not to get hard on yourself because that can make you tired and distract you from your goals. Stick to the basics and make smaller changes and in no time you will start noticing significant changes in your physical and mental health.

With that being said, we wish you nothing but happy healthy eating