A lot of people think of boring and bland diet foods when they hear the word nutrition. Eating healthily, however, does not mean that you have to give up your enjoyment of food. Gain a unique perspective on the food you eat by learning how it helps your body. Try these simple tips to jump-start your efforts towards improving your nutrition, and start appreciating food as nourishment for your body.
Nutritional Value
Although salad is a healthy dish, the salad dressing can ruin the nutritional value. These cream and oil-based dressings are loaded with saturated fats and have negligible nutritional value. Choose, instead, a vinaigrette or a home-made version with vinegar and some olive oil. Cranberries and walnuts also make good salad toppers.
Those convenience foods in your supermarket aisle are to be avoided, because they are usually highly processed and contain unhealthy fats. Eating foods with a large amount of trans fats in them means that you have a higher chance of suffering heart disease. If you eat trans fats you will lower your levels of HDL and raise LDL. HDL is good cholesterol and LDL is bad for you.
Because they’re cheaper to make, easier to control, and generally tastier, highly-processed grain products have become more common than whole grain ones. White flour does work for some baked goods. However, whole grains generally offer heartier flavor as well as extra fiber to help proper digestion.
Trying to eat less red meat? If you want to, use it as a type of condiment. This can inject flavor into any meal that you make during the day. This is the way Chinese and Mediterranean cuisines work, and such cultures are noted for lower rates of heart disease.
Watching you sugar intake is a great way to stay healthy. Many people make the mistake of thinking that fruit juice is a healthy alternative to soda. Sometimes, this is not true since some fruit juices contain more sugar than soda. Many of the ingredients in the products you eat will surprise you, so pay attention to labels to find out what hidden dangers are in them.
Make sure fresh, pure, filtered water is available all day long. Limit milk and juice consumption to a couple of meals and do not offer it all the time. By drinking mainly juice or milk, they are likely to be less hungry at meals.
Immune System
Eat foods high in zinc for a better immune system. Zinc strengthens the immune system, which wards off illness and allows the body to get better quicker. You can find zinc in wheat germ, peaches, strawberries and pumpkin seeds. Depending on how these foods are prepared, each of these are typically healthy, and offer other nutrition benefits as well.
Stay away from unhealthy foods, including junk foods. Processed foods and those high in simple carbohydrates should also be avoided.
You should use fresh fruit in place of processed fruit juice. Fruit juice contains artificial sweeteners, while fresh fruit contains natural sugars. Fruit juices often times have more juice than sodas do. In addition, fruit contains essential minerals, vitamins and fiber, that can help to prevent chronic diseases, including stroke and other cardiovascular issues.
As you can see, eating a balanced, nutritious diet is easy and fun. There is a lot of room for creativity in the world of food, so it is a wonderful way to enhance your quality of life without limiting yourself. These tips are only the beginning to a new, healthier you!