Healthy Diet

healthy dietWhat is a Healthy Diet and Why is it Important?

Our digestive system is a complete piece of machinery, combining the intricate actions of muscles, nerves, secretions and hormones to keep our bodies working, providing it with vital nutrients. Whatever you eat will affect your body and a healthy diet means consuming the correct amounts of carbohydrates, fats, protein, important vitamins, minerals and trace elements, depending on your body’s individual needs. When you eat a healthy diet, you preserve your physical health, your emotional wellbeing and you will keep your energy at its optimal levels.

In order to understand how a healthy diet can help you avoid a huge variety of health conditions, it is it is recommended that you read about the following topics:

  • food groups and how your body utilizes them
  • the importance of vitamins and minerals in your diet and how they affect your body
  • what are calories, how are they calculated and how much you need depending on your age, gender and how active you are

There are literally hundreds of different dietary philosophies you can read about today, but a diet, which will preserve your long term physical, mental and emotional health and maintain your healthy body weight should not be too restrictive. In fact, it is important to enjoy a wide variety of foods for diverse nutritional contributions, at the same time a healthy diet shouldn’t mean eating unappealing or tasteless foods. Although there are certain food groups that you need to consume in moderation. It is also important to be aware of your body’s nutritional needs as when your body’s calorie expenditure is lower than your actual calorie intake, you will consequently gain weight and if that occurs, your body’s overall health will be affected in several ways.

The Basic Principles of a Healthy Diet

Eat a wide variety of foods every day.

Eat no less than 5 servings of fruits or vegetables every day as they are high in fiber as well as they contain important nutrients, which your body will utilize.

Eat whole-meal and wholegrain foods whenever you can, as they are also higher in fiber, lower in calories and can slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, which means you will not get hungry for a longer period of thime.

Eat foods that contain saturated or trans fats in moderation because they have numerous adverse health effects. Eating a certain amount of fat is essential; however, try to obtain your fat intake from nuts, oily fish or avocado.

Your cholesterol intake should be below 300mg every day, therefore limit the consumption of cholesterol rich foods, such as red meat, egg yolks or dairy products.

Limit your intake of salty and sugary foods as they are well known to contribute to the development of several health conditions.

The majority of your recommended daily 8 to 10 glasses of fluids should be water.