HEALTH & BEAUTY | Healthy Eating Part 1 of 2
When setting out to improve overall health, people tend to rightfully focus on the two main factors: diet and supplements. The problem, however, is how they look at them. Thoughts of calorie counting, miniscule portions of tasteless food and a handful of pills to be choked down quickly lessen the appeal of healthy living, making success highly unlikely.
But eating healthy is not about strict rules, timelines or setting unrealistic goals. It’s not about losing weight, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, healthy eating is about educating yourself and getting in touch with the foods you eat, learning to make the right decisions and attaining a balance that will help you look and feel your best.
Before diving into the real goals of healthy eating, it should be said that while research suggests that there are benefits to taking supplements, the impact isn’t as great as deriving those same vitamins and minerals from, say, fruits and vegetables. That said your overarching goal should be to have a healthy diet, supplemented, when needed, with supplements.
As for eating healthy, the goals are actually quite simple:
1. Everything in Moderation
People seem to think that healthy eating means abandoning choice and quantity when the key, in fact, is moderation. Rather than thinking of certain foods as “off-limits”, allow yourself the occasional indulgence, but reduce the portion size, splurge less often and really savour it when you do. Remember: this is not a failure.
Be sure to moderate meal portion sizes as well. Serving sizes in restaurants and at home have ballooned over the last decade, so when eating out, consider sharing entrees or packing up half for lunch the next day. Bear in mind that your protein serving (meat) should be about the size of your palm, your oils and dressings the size of a matchbook, your carbohydrates the size of a closed fist and vegetables at least a handful.
2. Slow Down
This is important: Enjoy your food! Don’t rush through meals. If you take the time to sit and enjoy them, you’re body will have both the opportunity to properly digest your food and let you know when you’re full, in turn controlling your portion sizes.
3. Color Variation
I’ve mentioned this before: having color variation in your meal ensures that you’ll not only be eating a wide variety of foods and getting nutrients from different sources, it means your diet will be high in flavonoids, fibre and powerful antioxidants.
4. Protein
Protein provides the body with the necessary building blocks for growth, maintenance and energy, therefore making sure you get enough is important, especially for breakfast, which will give you energy and maintain it throughout the day. But we tend to eat too much protein, because it’s usually the focus of all our meals when it should really be a quarter of the plate, with another quarter carbohydrates, and half vegetables. Also, meat is not the only source of protein. With meat comes animal fat, which can be detrimental if eaten in high quantities. Try to be diverse with your protein sources and include beans, nuts, soy products and legumes.
5. Complex Carbohydrates
Simply put, carbohydrates are your body’s main energy source. They are found in many foods and beverages, and are often used by manufacturers as the starches and sugars added to processed foods. Carbohydrates like white flour, refined sugar, and white rice are unhealthy as they are stripped of bran, fibre and nutrients, and actually spike your blood sugar levels, resulting in an energy crash.
For long lasting energy, look to whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables. Also look for foods (breads/cereals) that are labelled “whole grain” or “100% whole wheat”, and be sure to include brown rice, millet, quinoa, steel cut oats, and barley for variation.
6. Fibre
Dietary fibre is essential for a healthy diet. Best known for its ability to prevent or relieve constipation, it is also important in maintaining a healthy weight, lowering your risk of heart disease and diabetes by decreasing blood cholesterol and controlling blood sugar levels. It’s found mainly in vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and fruits.
Check back next week for Part Two of Dr. Cristina’s Health Eating Blog!!!