What Is a Healthy Diet

There is so much information about what is healthy and nutritious these days that it is very difficult to sort out the hype from the truth. Following a healthy diet can be accomplished by making some simple adjustments to your current diet.


There is so much information about what is healthy and nutritious these days that it is very difficult to sort out the hype from the truth. Following a healthy diet can be accomplished by making some simple adjustments to your current diet.

If you think it is just too much trouble to make some simple changes to improve your family’s diet, think again. Most people do not realize the incredible impact that a healthy diet has on our bodies, making the difference between poor health and good health.

Along with regular physical activity, a healthy diet is the most important factor that determines your weight. If you are overweight or obese, your chances of developing many diseases or conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers, increase significantly.

EASY STEPS TO A HEALTHY DIET

Your first step to following a healthy diet is to make sure you include food from all food groups. Vegetables, fruits, whole-grains, legumes, lean proteins and low fat milk products should all be incorporated into your daily diet.

*VEGETABLES – A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. It also contributes to a healthy weight, reducing your risk of obesity and the conditions associated with it. There are a multitude of vegetables to choose from, the healthiest being dark green vegetables like broccoli, lettuces, and kale, orange vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash, and red vegetables like red peppers and tomatoes.

*FRUITS – Eat a variety of fruits each day, canned, dried, fresh or frozen. Stay away from fruit juices as they can be high in sugar. (Unless you make the juice yourself.)

*WHOLE GRAINS – Choose whole grain cereals, breads, rice, and pasta. Read the food label and make sure the grain that is listed such as wheat, rice, oats or corn is referred to as WHOLE in the list of ingredients. Whole grains are an excellent source of fiber. Fiber can help reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

*LEGUMES – This class of vegetable includes beans, peas and lentils. They are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, are high in protein, and have phytochemicals, compounds that help prevent heart disease and cancer. They are also a good source of fiber. Add pinto, kidney, black and garbanzo beans, split peas and lentils to your daily diet.

*LEAN PROTEINS – Choose lean meats, poultry, and fish. Bake, broil, or grill it. Do not fry! Beans, nuts and seeds also provide protein.

*LOW-FAT MILK PRODUCTS – Eat low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese or low-fat milk every day. Dairy products can lower your risk of diabetes and help build strong bones, reducing your risk of osteoporosis.

There are a variety of foods that should not be present in your diet except in very small amounts. These foods, such as sugars, alcohol, and some fats, contribute to diseases and poor health.

*SUGARS – Avoid foods containing sugar. You know what they are! Always check food labels to see how much sugar is present as some foods contain sugar that may surprise you.

*ALCOHOL – Avoid alcohol. If you must drink, limit intake to one drink a day. Alcohol can increase your risk of many conditions including some types of cancers.

*FATS – There are different kinds of fat in our foods. Some are detrimental to your health and others are very healthy.

1. Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, flaxseed oil, peanut oil and avocados)

2. Polyunsaturated fats (safflower, sesame, sunflower seeds)

These fats raise your good cholesterol levels. To stick to a healthy diet, choose foods with these fats.

3. Saturated fat and trans fatty acids raise your bad cholesterol levels, contributing to your risk of heart disease. Limit your intake.

Saturated fats are found in beef, veal, lamb, pork, lard, butter, cream, whole milk dairy products and can be present in processed foods like frozen dinners and some canned food. Always check food labels before purchasing.

Trans fatty acids, the kind of fats that increase the risk of heart disease, are formed during the process of creating cooking oils, shortening, and margarine and are found in commercially fried foods, some baked goods, and crackers. When checking food labels, make sure the ingredients do not include hydrogenated fats.

Following a healthy diet is a necessary step for the improved health of you and your family. It is not difficult to make the simple changes necessary to change an unhealthy diet to a healthy one. The advantages, better health, longer life, and more energy, far outweigh any inconveniences you may experience.

by: Chris Chenoweth

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Planning for A Healthy Diets

Do you ever plan a healthy diet by meal or something alike? Most people who do not plan their meals end up settling for fast food which tends to be high in fat, sugar, sodium, preservatives and calories, all of which in excess are not good for your health. We all need to cut back on eating out and we should aim at eating healthy home-cooked meals. As you plan for your healthy diet, take into consideration the following characteristics discussed below.

Do you ever plan a healthy diet by meal or something alike? Most people who do not plan their meals end up settling for fast food which tends to be high in fat, sugar, sodium, preservatives and calories, all of which in excess are not good for your health. We all need to cut back on eating out and we should aim at eating healthy home-cooked meals. As you plan for your healthy diet, take into consideration the following characteristics discussed below.
Five Main Characteristics of a Healthy Diet.
Provides Adequate Amounts. There are established recommendations from different food groups that you are supposed to eat in a day. If you do not meet these recommendations your body may not get enough of certain nutrients. This is not a part of doing a healthy diet.
Balanced. For a healthy diet, you have to balance the amount of food you eat from the different foods groups, that is, fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy and grains. There are some fad diets such as the Atkin’s diet that advocate cutting carbohydrates such as fruits, milk and starches from the diet and increasing proteins such as meats and eggs.
Moderation is Exercised. It means portion control. With abundance of food and heavy marketing from the food industry, people tend to over eat. Health experts recommend choosing a small size plate to eat from, one that is 9” in width of less and controlling how much you put on that plate. Do you think you practice moderation in your eating?
Control Amount of Calories. Healthy diet also required a part of energy. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins provide the body with energy needed to power the different activities in our cells. If eaten in excess they lead to weight gain. It is not good for a healthy diet. It takes 3500 excess kcalories to gain one pound of weight. To cut back calories, choose foods that provide more nutrients with few kcalories. For example choose an apple over apple juice. Limit or avoid foods such as potato chips, soda, cheese cake, and doughnuts.
Provides Variety. Eating a variety of foods means you get a wider variety of nutrients found in food and the different colors make food more appealing. To enjoy their benefits we have to eat a wide variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, beans and grains. Another reason to enjoy a variety of foods is that pesticides are used in the growing of different foods especially fruits and vegetables except for organic foods. Take a look at your meals and assess for yourself how well you are doing and let these characteristics described above help you plan for healthier meals. So, get a healthy diet by now.

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4 Strange Diets to Avoid

There are some legitimate diet and weight loss programs. There are also some very strange diet and weight loss ideas. It has become clear that when battling the bulge some people will stop at nothing to lose weight. Here are a few of the strangest diet and weight loss ideas on the internet.

There are some legitimate diet and weight loss programs. There are also some very strange diet and weight loss ideas. It has become clear that when battling the bulge some people will stop at nothing to lose weight. Here are a few of the strangest diet and weight loss ideas on the internet.

A lot of the new fad diets insist that you eat only one thing. The cabbage soup diets swears you can lose 10 pounds in a week if you can stomach eating cabbage soup and nothing else for an entire week. There are many variations of this diet that include everything from grapefruits to chicken soup. Eating only one item does not make for a healthy diet and weight loss program.

It basically proclaims that the followers of this diet and weight loss program eat only raw foods, not including meat, and fast at least one day per week. Plus you are only allowed two meals per day and each meal cannot go over 1-2 pounds. This diet isn’t exactly unhealthy but maybe they figure if you have no energy you can’t get to the food anyway. This is defiantly not a diet for anyone who wants to do anything but sleep.

Pills that contain tape worms are ingested. The tape worms live in the intestines and help consume the food you eat. You are always hungry but never gain weight no matter how much you eat. This one is defiantly not healthy and a little on the extreme side. Somehow eating worms for diet and weight loss just doesn’t seem healthy.

Here’s a diet and weight loss idea for those who really like breathing. The breatharian diet allows you to reach a higher spiritual plane where food is not necessary. No food is allowed ,only air. I guess no one ever told them man cannot live by air alone. Need I say this one is unhealthy and just completely off the wall.

The only healthy diet and weight loss program is watching what you eat and exercising. Following these strange and dangerous fad diets may help you lose weight but what happens when you eventually go off the diet, sometimes you end up gaining more than you lost. The whole idea of diet and weight loss is to be healthier, so why risk your health with fad diets that can often be dangerous.

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