Is Your Diet Healthy? We all know the importance of a good diet and even of a healthy diet and eating plan but keeping to a balanced diet can be hard
Your Diet. Your Healthy Lifestyle and Eating Plan
Diet research has shown that if you follow a healthy eating plan you can reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure and lower your chance of heart disease.
Most people believe they eat fairly well and surveys show 93% of western shoppers describe their overall diet as extremely or very healthy.
But only 15% are satisfied with their eating habits and 57% plan to watch what they eat in the future.
Clearly, a healthy diet is high on most peoples list of things to do.
Keeping Your Diet Healthy…
Diet Fads – Daft Mad fads … The secret to good health is a healthy eating plan and daily physical activity.
You might think it’s easier to follow the latest fad diet or to jump on the new pilates, GI, Atkins or other trendy diet plan, but many of these plans overly restrict your intake of foods or entire food groups and this can lead to inadequacies in your key nutrient intake.
Fad Diets can also be hard to stick to for anything longer than a few weeks and most people simply revert back to their old eating habits.
So, get back to basics and help yourself by putting together your own healthy diet and lifestyle plan.
FAT – Is it all bad? Are You Saturated or Unsaturated….
Fats, especially saturated fat, affect the health of your heart and blood vessels.
Saturated fat is often found in foods from animals. This includes fatty meats, the skin of poultry, and whole-milk dairy products, such as butter, cheese, cream, and ice cream.
It’s also in coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils. These oils are found mostly in processed foods, such as baked goods, snack foods, and crackers.
If you include saturated fat in your diet try to keep it to small amounts.
Instead of saturated fat, try soft or liquid margarines and oils such as canola, safflower and olive in your diet.
However, all kinds of fats have the same amount of calories and need to be limited if you want to lose weight.
Beer Belly – Alcohol in Your Diet.
Drink? Hic … One for the road? Hic … Most people include alcohol in their diet in one way or another. However, drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure and also harm your liver, brain, and heart.
Alcoholic drinks contain calories, which are a major factor if you are trying to lose weight. Just sneak a peek at the beer bellies around the bar to see how alcohol calories can affect your figure.
So, if you do consume alcoholic drinks, try to do so in moderation. One drink a day if you’re a women; two drinks if you’re a man.
- 12 ounces of beer, either regular or light, is about 150 calories
- A 5 ounce glass of wine will be around 100 calories
- A 1 ounce nip of 80-proof whisky will add about 100 calories.
Salt & Sodium …
Oooh Salty – Ready Salted, Salt & Vinegar or Salt & Shake sir. One key to healthy eating is including foods low in salt and sodium in your diet.
Most Britons and Americans consume more salt than they need. The current recommendation is to consume less than 2.4 grams of sodium a day. That’s equal to 6gms or about 1 teaspoon of table salt a day.
Your 6gm allowance should include all the salt and all the sodium you consume, including the salt you use in cooking, in ready meals and on the dinner table.
If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may advise eating less salt and sodium, as recent research has shown that people consuming diets of 1,500 mg of sodium had even better blood pressure lowering benefits.
Lower-sodium diets can also keep your blood pressure from rising and help any blood pressure medicines to work better
Three out of four women with high blood pressure know they have it. Yet fewer than one in three are controlling their blood pressure. All women should take steps to control their blood pressure.
The Basics of a Healthy Diet …
Vegetables, Cereals, Fruit, Dairy and Meat … The basic principles of healthy eating can be quite simple. Foods are categorised into five main groups based on their nutrient content. These are vegetables, cereals, fruit, dairy and meats.
Each food group provides unique nutrients in your diet and it’s important you eat a variety of foods from each food group every day.
Eat moderate portions of all foods, with the exception of vegetables which you can eat plenty of. Don’t overdo the starchy vegetables like potato, sweet potato and corn, as these are higher in kilojoules than other vegetables.
Eat smaller meals and snacks more often and this will help maintain variety in your diet.
Finally, Ensure your healthy balanced diet includes an occasional treat. Enjoy the food you eat and you will be able to sustain your diet and healthy eating habits through the long term.