Healthy Diets
For: Tuesday, January 06, 2009
In our fast paced society, most of us don’t eat a healthy diet. We have found it more convenient to eat ready made foods or to stop at those fast food restaurants that are found in every town. healthy diets aren’t that hard to follow, but it does take a desire to make some changes to your eating habits.
One of the benefits of healthy diets is your body will start to feel better immediately. Many of us think we are too tired to exercise so we don’t. In reality, our body is tired because of the food we eat. So once you start eating healthier, you will have an increase in energy.
A common misconception about healthy diets is that you can’t consume any sugar or carbohydrates. This simply isn’t true. You do want to keep your sugar intake to a minimum. You can still indulge in your favorite sweets, but the key is to do it in moderation. Try to cut back.
Carbohydrates are good for you, just make sure you don’t skip on other important food groups. Completely depriving yourself of them will result in your resorting to your old eating habits. healthy diets should become part of your
lifestyle as time goes by.
If you have a spouse or children, then call a family meeting. Talk openly about the changes that need to be made. Discuss the advantages of healthy diets. Work as a team to incorporate these changes. Come up with a menu for meals and stick to it. Replace some of those snack foods that are high in salt and fat with fresh fruits and vegetables. Cut back on red meat and add more chicken and fish to your menu. Having a variety of foods in your family’s menu that are good for you will help everyone stay content with healthy diet plans.
If you and your family have a very busy schedule, cook meats and side dishes on the weekends. This will allow you to still have healthy meals during the week. Chop fresh fruits and vegetables in the evening and place them in snack size plastic bags so you can grab them for snacking at work.
Everyone in the family who is old enough to do so should help out with this effort. It is a great way for children to learn to cook and gives you some quality time to spend together. Even young children can was vegetables and help clean up.Statistics show those with healthy diets feel better physically and mentally. They also have a lower risk of being overweight, heart disease, and diabetes. healthy diets don’t mean you can’t eat the foods you love.
It simply means making some adjustments and keeping unhealthy foods to a minimum.
If you have a hard time sticking to healthy diets or coming up with menu plans, consult with a dietician. They can help you with education, menu planning, and even shopping while you are trying to make the transition to a healthy diet for you and your family.
healthy diets: Step by step guide
healthy diets promoted by many companies and gurus are anything but healthy diets - in fact, they can be harmful to your long-term health. So if you are looking for healthy diets then you should consider if they take into account the 10 points below, which are universal in scope and are actually not that difficult to follow.
1. Balance Fat and Protein
Fat should supply around 30% of your total daily calories. Limit your intake of fat by having more vegetables in your diet.
Eat lean meats, light-meat poultry without the skin, fish, and low-fat dairy products. In addition, make sure you limit vegetable oils and butter in your diet.
Protein should be around 15% of your calorie intake. Don’t fall for the myth of so-called healthy diets that recommend eating protein at the expense of fat, it’s not natural and can cause health problems.
2. Limit Your Intake of Saturated Fat
This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that increases blood cholesterol levels and has other negative health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat.Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.
3. Eat Foods Rich in Complex Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates should contribute around 55% of your total daily calories. Don’t fall for the hype that Carbohydrates are bad for you they are not, just make sure you eat complex Carbohydrates.
To help get the right sources, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of whole grains. This will help you obtain the 25 grams of fiber you need each day.
4. Avoid too Much Sugar
Many foods that are high in sugar are also high in fat Look at the labels to see how much sugar is in a product - many products say they are low in fat, but they are high in sugar, and this turns to fat
5. Eat Green, Orange, and Yellow Fruits and Vegetables
Examples would be broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods are increasingly important in helping protect against a variety of diseases.
6. Variety
Eat a variety of foods - this really is the key to a balanced diet. Don't try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods every day - it won’t work.
7. Limit Sodium Intake
Your sodium intake should be a maximum of 2,400 milligrams per day. This is equivalent to about a teaspoon of salt.
Therefore, Avoid salty foods and be careful to check food labels carefully for sodium content.
8. Vitamins and Minerals from Food
Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require so that they can be effective, and be broken down in the body and utilized correctly.
9. Maintain a Desirable Weight
Don’t ignore exercise, it only needs to be moderate, you don’t have to kill yourself in the gym! The two biggest causes of obesity are processed unnatural foods and our modern lazy life style.
10. Enjoy your Food
If you drink alcohol, eat chocolate, crisps etc you can - but don’t overdo it. Why shouldn’t you eat what you really enjoy? There is no reason why you can’t.