Healthy eating is an essential part of an overall healthy lifestyle. People who are either trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy diet consider eating low fat and fat free products to be a healthy alternative, but not always.
Many diet or low fat products generally contain a higher percentage of salt and sugar to make up for the lack of fat content; this ensures the product maintains both its taste and flavour.
To make sure you’re eating a healthy diet you should aim to eat a balanced diet which contains all of the essential nutrients, including – carbohydrates, fibre, protein and fats. A healthy diet should also contain plenty of fresh fruit and raw vegetable, you should also try to make your food at home, that way you know exactly what you are eating and can control you fat and calorie intake.
Primarily it is essential to realise that there are in fact two types of protein – animal protein and vegetable protein and both have very similar effects on your health. Although protein is integral to a healthy diet it is also important not to consume too much protein.
The amount of protein you should consume on a daily basis varies depending on your build, health and the amount of exercise you do as well as your overall nutritional intake.
The average healthy person who increases their protein intake by 20-25% as a replacement for their intake of refined carbohydrates, could reduce their chances of contracting heart disease, in the long term. A high protein diet is also beneficial to weight loss.
Although protein is essential to a healthy diet, anyone with diabetes or kidney disease should reduce their protein intake. You should always consult a Doctor or health professional as they will be able to advise you on your recommended daily protein intake.
The simple answer is yes. Fat is an essential nutrient which everyone should include in their diet, even if you’re trying to lose weight.
The thing that most people don’t realise, is that not all fats are bad for you. In fact essential fatty acids are vital to good health, they ensure that your skin doesn’t dry out, your nails don’t dry and flake (calcium is also good for your nails health) and can also prevent your hair from falling out! The good fats essential to a healthy diet can be found in natural products such as avocados, nuts and seeds.
There are of course the bad fats which you should reduce in your diet and they are saturated fats. Through reducing your saturated fat intake you could lose weight and improve your health.
Yes, of course you can have carbohydrates – also known as carbs – in a healthy diet. Carbs play such an important part in a healthy balanced diet, although you should be aware that there are two types of carbohydrates – complex carbs and refined carbs.
If you are attempting to embark on a healthy diet you should be aiming to replace any refined carbs (bad carbs) such as white bread, white pasta and white rice with complex carbs (good carbs), these include wholegrain bread, brown rice and legumes.
It takes the body longer to break down complex carbohydrates and so leaves you feeling fuller for longer. As a result you have more energy over a sustained period of time and should find that you don’t get as hungry and therefore you eat less. Upping your intake of complex carbs could increase your chances of losing weight too.
For anyone who isn’t quite sure what fibre actually does, quite simply it keeps the bowels moving! Fibre is actually a type of carbohydrate and the greatest source of fibre can be found in fruit, vegetables and grains.
Fibre is not easily broken down and so it can pass through your body without changing state. There are two types of fibre – soluble and insoluble, soluble fibre is partially broken down by bacteria where are insoluble fibre remains undigested.
It is essential to ensure you have a good intake of fibre as it plays a very important role in your healthy diet. There has been some suggestion that fibre can help reduce your chances of getting type2 diabetes and a good balanced diet including fibre can leave you feeling fuller for longer which can help you to maintain a healthy weight.
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