If you’re like most people, you might think that nutrition is a difficult thing to do right, or that a healthy diet is expensive and tasteless. On the contrary, not only is eating right important for your health, but it can also be delicious and inexpensive. Read on to find out how!
Watch your cholesterol intake. Cholesterol affects your metabolic rate which affects how fast or slow your body breaks down food. Having too high cholesterol can cause heart disease, heart attacks or even strokes. Aside from making sure you have a healthy diet with low cholesterol, make sure you see a physician if you are concerned with your levels.
Sounds basic, but you must look at food labels if you want to get the facts about nutrition in the foods you eat. In particular, look closely at the portion sizes; if that can of chips lists the average serving size as 10 chips, it’s a pretty good bet that you’re going to be eating some multiple of that number, so you should figure that into your estimates of what the food will be doing for (or to) you, nutritionally speaking.
If you are concerned about healthy nutrition, you will want to look into the growing movement for locally grown food. By buying produce from local small farms you get a fresher product. It hasn’t been shipped across country in refrigerated cars! If organically grown, it won’t be laden with pesticides.
For optimal health, include foods in your daily diet that contain probiotics. Probiotics are the good bacteria that live inside your body. They aid in digestion and the proper break-down of foods so your body can absorb the nutrients efficiently. They work against the bad bacteria that sometimes invade your digestive system and cause diarrhea.
Always choose products with the most vitamins listed on the nutrition label. Choosing one product with more vitamins than another similar tasting product, will help your body build up your immune system, strengthen your bones and provide you many more health benefits, over a long period of time.
A great nutrition tip is to make eating fun for your child. If you want your child to learn to appreciate healthy food, you’re going to have to present the food in an interesting way. You can do this by arranging food on the plate in a fun and unique way.
When looking to add more nutritious vegetables to your diet, make it easy by chopping a batch of vegetables to keep on hand for when time is short. Choose vegetables that are rich in color to maximize vitamins and minerals. Having the vegetables ready to add to soups and salads will make it more likely that you will actually eat them.
In order to help your children best meet their nutritional needs, be patient when it comes to new foods. Young children are suspicious of any new food. They need time to become accustomed to the color, texture, and smell before they can even consider what it tastes like.
Condiments are often one of the worst parts of a meal nutritionally speaking. Things such as mayo is often high in fats. Ketchup and jellies can be high in sugars. Small amounts are the key when wanting to watch one’s nutrition this will avoid one eating too much fats, sugars or anything else unintentionally.
The drinks one choosing can often be some of the worst things for them nutritionally. Pops, certain juices, and other drinks can be very high in sugars. The sugars in these drinks do not do any good for ones nutrition. Drinking water or healthier minded drinks can be beneficial to ones nutrition.
A healthy diet will help to boost your immune system. By boosting your body’s immune system your body will be able to fight against the impurities that cause skin problems. Just keeping track of what you are putting in your body and making sure that what you put in your body boosts the immune system.
One of the best ways to keep track of what you are actually putting into your body is a food journal. There are many applications for smart phones that can help you with this. If you aren’t tech savvy all you need is a notebook and a pen and you can start writing what you have been eating.
Take advantage of great prices on bags of lemons and limes by making your own homemade lemonade or limeade. Made with honey, these drinks are both refreshing and incredibly nourishing. The citrus fruit provides generous amounts of vitamin C, and the honey provides B vitamins and boosts your immune system.
An important aspect of nutrition is to make sure you drink enough water. Not only is water essential for the body, but thirst is sometimes confused with hunger, so not drinking enough water can lead to eating extra calories. If you don’t like water plain, try making herbal tea that tastes good but adds no calories.
Explore bean and legume dips and spreads, as nutritious alternatives to high calorie, low nutrition dips and spreads. Refried beans, hummus (made from garbanzo beans) and lentil soup make great, healthful alternates to common snack dips. Salsa and pico de gallo are also excellent, healthy choices. Remember to dip with fresh veggies instead of chips, at least half the time.
Buy a good blender to make delicious and nutritious fruit smoothies. You can then remove ice cream completely from your diet, and instead, enjoy tasty fruit smoothies. Fruit smoothies made with yogurt, fresh fruit and some milk are a delicious substitute for ice cream.
The number five is important when it comes to eating healthy. You should eat that many servings of vegetables and fruits in a day. A serving is really not that big, so the total amount consumed does not add up to be a lot. As an example, a half-cup is all it takes to make up one serving of fruit.
As you can see, eating right doesn’t mean eating raw vegetables and tofu every day! With some simple changes to your shopping list, you can have a delicious and nutritious meal for less money than you might be paying already! Apply these tips today to improve your health and life!
