Healthy Eating
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| Drink more water. Water keeps you energized, helps your digestive system to function properly, cleanses out toxins, reduces your risk for disease, and promotes healthy skin. Learn more about the benefits of water. |
| Eat more fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables help you feel full, they provide vitamins and minerals, and can help you manage weight better. |
| Cut out extra sugar and processed foods. The carbohydrates from refined sugars and processed foods are metabolized quickly into the blood stream. They upset the body's blood sugar balance, and contribute to diabetes. |
| Choose your meats wisely. Eat red meat in moderation and include fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids such as trout, herring, and salmon. Buy fresh meat and avoid processed hot dogs, lunch meats, and sausages which are high in chemicals and sodium. |
| Eat in moderation. Healthy eating is not only about what you eat, but how much you eat and when. Keep your appetite under control by eating small portions 5-6 times a day. |
| Eat more whole grains, nuts, and beans. By eating more nuts, beans, and whole grains you increase your intake of fiber, folic acid, magnesium, and vitamin E. The antioxidants and micronutrients help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. |
Remember that changing your eating habits for life won't happen over night. But, as you concentrate on small dietary improvements one day at a time, you will easily form life changing habits that greatly impact your health and your appearance.
Now that you have a few of the basics, read on for more healthy eating tips and discover how easy healthy eating can be.
The Convience of Eating Healthy - Healthy Eating Tips
If you're like many people, you may feel overwhelmed with the concept of eating healthy, believing that it takes too much time and effort. It may seem that there is never enough time in the day to juggle work, your spouse, your kids, the bills, and your social life. That is why the fast food industry continues to achieve exponential growth.But one of the health eating tips is that eating well doesn't have to be hard or too time consuming. In Quick & Healthy Volume II: More Help for People Who Say They Don't Have Time to Cook, I discovered recipes that are quick, easy, delicious, and most importantly, healthy. I got this book as a gift a year ago and I've use it time and time again. It's become my favorite and I especially love to make the Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole.....Mmmmmmm.
Healthy Food Choices - Healthy Eating Tips
You can make a healthier choice one bite at a time. Start off by replacing your sugary snack with a piece of fruit or replace your regular fried chips with baked ones. Instead of drinking soda, have a glass of tea or water.Now, these are very obvious healthy eating tips and a good way to start off, but you can explore the various guidelines of making healthy food choices in greater detail and find out what healthy alternatives exist for your diet.
Nutrition in a Balanced Diet - Healthy Eating Tips
Our healthy eating tips are not about self-deprivation, they are about eating a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, vitamins, and fat. Yes, fat too. Health experts underline the importance of a balanced diet, but what does that mean for you?Here's some help in understanding the elements of carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and fat.
| Carbohydrates |
No matter what you may have learned on a no-carb or low-carb diet, your body needs carbohydrates to function properly and they are an essential part of a healthy diet.
Carbohydrates are a combination of fiber, sugar, and starches that are broken down into glucose, a single sugar molecule your body uses to fuel your everyday activities.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for carbohydrate is set at 130 grams per day for adults and children. (1)
The best sources of carbohydrates are beans, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods typically fall into the low glycemic category and are considered "good carbs".
Find out more about good carbohydrates.
| Fiber |
Fiber comes from the parts of plant foods that your body can't absorb. Good sources of fiber are vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes.
Fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet and and provides health benefits such as:
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Healthy Eating Tips: An easy way to get more fiber into your diet is to eat a piece of fruit at every meal. Bananas, pears, apples, berries, oranges, kiwi's and other fruits are a wonderful high fiber source. This is just the beginning.
Learn more about the health benefits of fiber, and read more great ways to get more fiber into your diet.
| Protein |
Protein is an essential element found throughout your body. It's in your skin, hair, nails, muscle tissue, bone tissue and basically every cell in your body.
Your body uses protein to build, repair, and maintain cells; to make enzymes and hormones. Your body breaks down the protein in food into amino acids that are the basic building blocks the body uses to make it's own protein.
The healthiest selection of protein come from vegetable sources like whole grains, beans, and nuts. If from an animal, the healthiest source is from fish and poultry. Red meat is a great source of protein, but also carries lots of fat and saturated fat. Eat lean cuts and moderate portions of pork, lamb and beef.
| Fats |
Fat is an important source of fuel for the body. The type of fat you eat is just as important as the amount of fat you eat. As a guideline, you should eat healthy fats, limit saturated fat, and eliminate trans fat from your diet.
Healthy Fats Lower Your Risk For Disease
Healthy fats, also called "good fats" provide a number of health benefits. They can stabilize heart rhythms, improve blood cholesterol levels, ease inflammation, and they transport fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K throughout the body.
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The key word here is unsaturated. Focus on unsaturated fats because your body makes all the saturated fats it needs. You don't need to add any saturated fat to your body by eating it.
Unhealthy Fats Increase Your Risk For Disease
Unhealthy fats, also called "bad fats" increase cholesterol levels, clog arteries, promote disease and contribute to weight gain.
Trans fats are hydrogenated, meaning they are chemically altered with hydrogen atoms, making them solid and increasing their shelf life. They are found in chemically processed foods, fast foods, commercially baked goods, and margarine to name a few.
Trans fats are worse than saturated fats because not only do they raise bad cholesterol, they lower good cholesterol.
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Simple Guidelines to Follow Concerning Fat
The USDA recommends the following:
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The amount of fat you eat depends on your specific body type and your health, but as one of the general healthy eating tips, avoid trans fats as much as possible (check your food labels), and limit your saturated fats as much as you can.
Related Articles and Healthy Eating Tips
 | Certain foods can hinder your weight loss and impose health risks. Here's a list of five foods you should avoid. |
 | Some foods give your metabolism a boost. It takes more energy to burn protein and fiber than it does to burn fat. Find out what you should be eating for quicker weight loss. |
References
1. Dietary reference intakes for energy, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein, and amino acids (macronutrients).
National Academy Press.
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