Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Tips To Improve Your Health Through Proper Nutrition

By Eliza Jones


When talking about fitness, it's important to understand the body's dietary needs. Caloric usage must exceed caloric intake to lose weight, that's a given. Calories are often an under-used word when discussing dietary contents. Many popular diets such as the Atkins diet or the South Beach diet prioritize specific food groups over the overall picture, leading many to over-eat and sit dumbfounded and full.

Calcium is a beneficial mineral that should be a part of a healthy diet. Calcium is involved in teeth and bone structure. It also helps in blood clotting, nerve function, muscle contraction, and blood vessel contraction. Calcium helps prevent many diseases such as osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, colon cancer, high cholesterol, and obesity.

In order to keep the body healthy, it is important to keep track of the calories taken throughout the day. Drinking beverages high in calories such as soda and coffee should be avoided. These beverages can add up to lots of calories in a year and can mess up the body's metabolism.

Learn to scrutinize the ingredients of foods labeled as "healthy", in order to discern what it is you're really putting in your body. For example, a dried fruit and nut mix may seem healthy at first glance, but if that mix contains lots of salt, sugar, and other "extras" (such as chocolate), then it may not be such a good choice after all. Look for mixes without these additives or, at least, those with minimal amounts of them.

Make sure you're not forcing your child to eat everything that's on their plate. If you force them to keep eating after they're full, you'll encourage them to overeat. This can lead to problems like obesity and diabetes down the road. Respect your child's wishes when they say they've had enough.

Try being a vegetarian at least one day a week. A vegetarian is in some ways healthier than being a meat eater. Even if you are not ready to make a leap to complete vegetarianism, you can get some of the benefits of a vegetarian diet by taking a break from meat completely one day every week.

You want to gain the greatest nutritional value from your food. Fresh vegetables are high on your list. What a loss if you throw away these nutrients through overcooking! When you immerse vegetables in water, much of the nutrients are leached out as they cook and are thrown away in the water. Avoid this by using a steamer and cooking vegetables lightly.

Plan meals with your kids. Your children are much more likely to eat nutritious food, if they have had a say in the food choices. When they are involved in both the grocery shopping and the cooking, getting them to eat healthy food is quite easy. Allow your younger kids to pick out their lunch from a variety of healthy ingredients.

Fill up on vegetables during lunch and dinner versus fatty foods. You can eat over twice as many vegetables while still cutting down your calorie intake. This way, you are full and still under your calories for the day. You can add vegetables to any meal to have a larger meal without increasing the amount of fatty foods.

When eating red meat, always consider how much is really enough. It's easy to look at that a big and juicy steak and think the "bigger the better" but, red meat is very hard for your body to digest. In fact, in large amounts it can really affect your health. So instead of the twelve ounce steak, substitute it for a three to six ounce cut. Or better yet, substitute in white meat, it's a healthier choice.

One of the great things about making your diet healthier is that you can do it in little steps. Following just a few of the tips provided will significantly improve your diet and help you to enjoy much better nutrition. Once you experience the benefits first-hand, you will be eager to obtain and apply more knowledge about being healthy.




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