We all run a busy schedule in this 21st century. We run helter-skelter to make ends meet for our families at the expense of neglecting ourselves, leaving our health vulnerable.
Dr. Elizabeth Cleino, a Wellness Philosopher for over six decades, stated in an interview that our lifestyle choices determine 75% of our wellness. Today, adverts of eateries, restaurants, fast foods, and the likes run through every media. The likes of McDonald’s, KFC, Dominos Pizza, Rally’s, and all other fast food places are in every nook and cranny of US cities today. Why? They are tapping into the consumer’s main needs – convenience and cost.
Society tends to entertain adverts on drugs than following prescriptions on strong living based on what we eat. We prefer a cure versus prevention. Either we are not mindful of th
is or we are, but fail to see its importance.
Most foods we take in today get cooked or prepared in less than five minutes. These processed foods endanger our health and make our body system vulnerable to attacks.
No one has ever disputed the fact that “health is wealth.” We only apply measures and abide by the information we know – which is our knowledge about what we eat. Reduce your health risks by taking proper nutritional food measures.
Practice these seven measures, and you will be on your way to a healthy lifestyle:
Adopt Reading Food Labels
Every food item you buy from a grocery store comes with the list of ingredients on the label including the manufactured date and expiration date. It is no doubt many often check the expiration date only and ignore the parts that are put together to become the particular food item. Check and make sure you always do away with foods with over 5 or 6% of saturated fat and over 2300 mgs of sodium. Eating a higher percentage can lead to hypertension and diabetes.
Eat more of fruits and vegetables:
Fruits and vegetables are essential to have a balanced diet. They have a high percentage of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and with little calories. Research shows that lots of health benefits are proven provided from the consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables. They also give protection against heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. USDA food pyramid offers a suggestion of eating fruits and vegetables in a minimum of 5 times a day. Make your meal 60% vegetable today and also endeavor to take in a fruit per meal.
Drink lots of water:
The body’s water level differs in every human being, and that is why it is advisable medically. Your body requires enough water to function properly and it should be your primary beverage. Other beverages contain lots of sugar and artificial sweeteners than the body needs. Drinking enough water daily aids the production of pale yellow urine. A deep yellow color is an indication that you are not drinking enough water. You can do totally away with other beverages by adding lemon, lime, or extracts of any other fruits and herbs to your water for added flavor.
Increase your Food Quality:
The saying, “You get what you paid for,” also implies with food. Endeavor to go for the highest quality of whatever food you chose to eat. It only means you must focus on whole, real, fresh, homemade, organic, and local food. Food quality counts in nutritional measures towards eating healthy food.
Limit Snacking Habit:
Eating between meals is very rampant. Most individual practice it, and I will say it is a bad habit. Why must you eat almost every hour daily? You could remember mom will most times warn you not to ruin your dinner and stop you from snacking either by putting away those treats in the refrigerator or thrash. She is only preventing you from adopting bad health habits. Take snacks but do not snack! Go few hours without feeling hungry. You can!
Avoid Overeating:
Eat only the amount of food that will last you 2-3 hours and not try to post-eat thinking you might not have time to take in another meal some other time. In addition, do not unconsciously or intentionally go on a hunger strike because this will also automatically leads to overeating which is not good for the digestive system. Eating much of food leads to indigestion, bloating, cramping, heartburn, and gas. Eat meals that contain protein, healthy fats and fiber which helps your body to notify you by sending signals to your brain to inform you when you are hungry and when you have eaten enough. Overeating causes some inactivity in the brain cells that block these signals.
Sit at a table:
Eating when the body is not at rest makes it hard for digestion to takes place. Cultivate the habit of eating seated because that is only when the body is at rest. Eating while standing can lead to a digestive weight gain, upset, and overeating if care is not taken. Your body system will appreciate it if you sit and take a deep breath before you eat. Make it a priority today. Sit at a table – your body will thank you later.
I agree with the fact that making these measures a habit can be difficult.Try applying one or two of these measures at least once weekly until they all becomes your lifestyle. A gradual implementation of process produces outstanding results. Strive to live a healthier life today.