SUBSTITUTE UNHEALTHY FOOD FOR HEALTHY ONES

Healthy Food Options for Optimal Health

Welcome to today’s informative post on how to keep your body in good shape by eating right. I'd like to apologize for being away last week, we’re back and we’re better. Before we go on to today’s information, check out the previous post here to catch up with all the important information you might have missed. 

Today, we’re taking a step further from knowing what food to keep out of your body system. I want to open you up to the knowledge of the kinds of food you should invest in to lead a healthy lifestyle. We established in the previous post that diet is an integral part of any healthy lifestyle plan because, in the end, you are a product of what you eat. Eating healthy is not only beneficial to your physical body, but it also helps strengthen your mental health.

According to Wikipedia; A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. Eating healthy is not rocket science, you just simply have to replace your unhealthy food choices with healthy ones. Here are some healthy food choices to consider for a change:

1. WATER 

Taking enough water every day is important for your health. It is medically advisable to take about 8-10 cups of water every day. To function properly, all the cells and organs in the body need water. Water holds a lot of benefits for the body, and I’ll outline a few:

• It lubricates the joints

• It forms saliva and mucus

• It delivers oxygen throughout the body

• It cushions the brain, spinal cord, and other sensitive tissues

• It regulates the body temperature

• It flushes body wastes

All these and many more are the benefits of taking enough water. You would only be doing yourself a disservice when you take below the required amount of water per day.

2. FRUITS & VEGETABLES

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends consuming at least 400g of fruits and vegetables each day to reap their health and nutritional benefits. This tells you just how important the consumption of fruits and vegetables is. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower the risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect on blood sugar, which can help keep the appetite in check. No single fruit or vegetable will provide you with all the nutrients you need to be healthy, so you have to consume a variety of fruits each day to reap the benefits they offer. Fruits and vegetables here in Nigeria get more expensive by the day, and I can understand that it can be challenging to keep up with having to eat them daily. I however believe that with a small budget of N500, you can get by.

3. HEALTHY FAT

Not all fat is unhealthy. While unhealthy fats can wreck your diet and increase your risk of certain diseases, healthy fats benefit your overall well-being. Unlike unhealthy fats, healthy fats help reduce the risk of diseases. Foods high in healthy fats include; 

• Avocados

• Vegetable oil

• Dark chocolate

• Whole eggs

• Nuts

• Fatty fish 

Although high-fat foods were once perceived to be non-beneficial and low in nutrients, research now proves that some fats do not pose the negative concerns for health that it was once thought to be. 

4. PROTEIN

Proteinous foods help in building, maintaining, and repairing tissues and cells in the body. They also give you the energy you need to get up and go while supporting your mood and cognitive function. Proteinous foods vary in nutrients, but they all generally serve as foods that help you control your diet because they help you get full on time. This will mean that you consume lesser quantities of food and still get all the nutrients you need. Some proteinous food sources to consider are;

• Dairy products

• Poultry food

• Beans (varieties of them)

• Nuts and seeds

Ensure as much as you can that protein is not left out of your diet; you don’t have to eat on a high budget, and there are affordable options close to you.

5. CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates are one of the body’s main sources of energy. They help fuel the vital organs in the body; the brain, the kidneys, the heart muscles, as well as the central nervous system. There are three types of carbohydrates; starches, fibres, and sugars. Though carbohydrates hold many benefits for the body, they have to be taken in moderation. A high-carb diet can lead to increased blood sugar levels, which will leave room for risks of diseases and even unwanted weight gain.

The bottom line is, an individual’s diet has to be well balanced with all the necessary food classes well represented in order not to leave room for loopholes. Eating excessively is not the same thing as eating well. Eating well comes with a good balance of food combinations. You can eat the correct type of foods and still fall short of dietary standards if you don’t employ the right practices; in the end, the choice is yours to make.