Food is an important and vital fuel to our bodies and there is a general understanding and plenty findings that prove that paying attention to what we eat is also important in terms of how it can benefit or compromise our health.
Combined with physical activity, good nutrition is a very important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Having a good diet is not only good for maintaining a healthy weight but also to reduce the risks of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, and to promote our overall health. What we eat affects not only how we feel today but also how we will feel in the future.
The damaging impact of poor nutrition on our Health
We live in an era in which having abundant food options somehow do not equal to good nutrition. Unhealthy eating habits are huge contributors to obesity and all the side effects that this brings. There are approximately 2.1 billion obese people in the world, which makes up about 30% of the total population. In the United States alone, about one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese. Sadly the worldwide number is on the rise with over 3 million people dying from obesity each year.
Bad eating habits are not just a problem for obese people. Even for people at a healthy weight, a poor diet is associated with major health risks that can cause illness and even death. In addition to dramatically decreasing a person’s lifespan, a poor diet is also responsible for numerous health risks including higher risks of diabetes, heart and kidney disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and even certain types of cancer.
It is therefore not just important but rather vital to eat healthy! It is extremely important to ensure we give our bodies the nutrients it needs to stay healthy, active, and strong. Normally, dietary habits established in childhood carry into adulthood, so teaching children how to eat healthy at a young age will help them stay healthy throughout their life, but it is not too late to tweak or change our habits even later on in life by making some adjustments in our diet.
The benefits of healthy eating
A healthy diet throughout life supports normal growth, development and ageing, promotes healthy pregnancy outcomes, helps to maintain a healthy body weight, and reduces the risk of chronic disease leading to overall health and well-being.
Of course, when we talk about nutrition, we have to take into consideration that a diversified, balanced and healthy habits will vary depending on many variables such as age, gender, lifestyle, degree of physical activity but even cultural context, dietary and food customs and locally available foods. But all an all the basic principles of what constitute a healthy diet are the same: a diet rich of high energy foods, fats, free sugars, salt/sodium with not enough fruit, vegetables and whole grains is more likely to cause chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer while a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains is a great way to nourish our bodies and improving the quality of life.
Some of the benefits from eating healthy are:
- Decreased chances of developing various diseases
Having healthy eating habits can reduce the risk of developing certain diseases that could severely impact our health such as diabetes, heart and kidney disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and even certain types of cancer.
- Help in keeping a healthy weight
Eating natural food instead of processed foods can have a positive effect on your weight. Bad eating behaviours increase your chances of becoming obese and being overweight raises your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and it can also harm your joints and limit your mobility hence impacting your quality of life.
- Improved skin health
Foods get digested and broken down into vitamins, minerals and amino acids that our bodies can use to build healthy skin. Crash diets or diets high on processed foods can result in skin not as strong and supple as it could be. For example, protein is responsible for providing the amino acids that go into making collagen (which makes our skin strong) and elastic tissue (which makes it supple).
- Increased energy levels
By avoiding unhealthy foods and by fuelling our body with nutritious options instead, for example by preferring the natural sugars of a fruit instead of the refined sugar from a cake, we will be able to increase the level of energy throughout the entire day.
- Boosts Immune System
Good nutrition, can massively improve your immune system. According to a 2011 study presented at the 5th International Immunonutrition Workshop in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, researchers showed how obesity can weaken someone’s immune system, thereby increasing the chances of getting sick from infections.
What does healthy eating look like?
To improve our lifestyle thru a well-balanced diet it’s important to understand what is good from a nutritional point of view and what the effects are on our body. It is important to understand the importance of finding good reliable information and not believing on everything that is online. Be watchful of click-baits!!! There is no magic pill, there is no sensational food that will alone replenish our body and we don’t need to learn the role of micronutrients vs macronutrients or which vitamins are in which foods. The solution to a healthy and nutritional diet is simple: eat a varied diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables.
Some of the healthy habits and some small changes that can make a big difference to our well-being are:
- Eat plenty fresh fruits & vegetables
The more colourful the better! We don’t need to know which vitamins are in which foods because simply by ensuring we have a colourful selection, we are more likely to get the vitamins, minerals and fibre our body needs. Buy what is in season and don’t worry about following expensive eating trends! Be adventurous and vary your diet by buying something new and different every once in a while.
- Opt for natural food instead of processed foods
- Switch from a refined-grain food to a whole-grain food
- Switch from a refined-grain food to a whole-grain food
- Cut back on saturated fats
Saturated fat is one of the unhealthy fats. Most often solid at room temperature they are found in foods like butter, palm and coconut oils, cheese and red meat.
- Keep an eye on the amount of salt/sodium you eat
Nowadays lots of foods are high on salt so keep an eye out and refrain from adding extra salt to your meal.
- Drink water instead of sugary drinks
Soda, energy drinks and sports drinks are a major source of added sugar and calories. Try adding a slice of lemon, lime, or watermelon or herbs to your water to get a different flavour.
The importance of implementing healthy eating habits within our daily lives
Evidence shows us that eating healthy plays an unquestionable huge part in our well-being.
It is hence no surprise that food has long been used to improve and even cure some conditions or chronic diseases.
In our day and time there is undoubtedly a lot of interest in nutrition and diet. We are surrounded by a wide range of information about food and how it can make us healthy and exposed to a lot of in-vogue dietary tendencies. The trouble is, it is not easy to identify who is actually providing well researched data based on scientific evidence to who is just offering their own opinions based on their own interpretation of other online sources that might not be always reliable.
Especially when talking about nutrition, there is a lot of misinformation and it is easy to become overwhelmed or even misdirected by the various dietary and nutritional approaches, vitamins and superfoods often provided by wanna-be-gurus and multi-million industry happy to make money by persuading people into believing what they need them to believe for their interests.
My aim is to provide you with the empirical evidence on the importance of having a varied and mostly plant based diet that will nourish the bodies and mind and to help you rid of the many myths about nutritional advice. At the same time I also want to show you the evidence about how food can play an important role in giving our bodies the nutrients it needs to heal from a condition as well as better or worsen it.
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| Disclaimer: it is important you check with your doctor, specialist and/or qualified nutritionist or dietician before starting a new eating plan, especially if you have a specific medical condition, allergy or if you have any concerns. Although at Wellness & Purpose you can find many healthy eating guidelines to implement in your daily life to promote wellness, in some case a one-to-one session with a specialist in his/her field is needed to ensure that you make the best of the options available to you. |
