Seven Healthy Daily Eating Habits

Seven healthy daily eating habits that you should establish if you want to maintain a long and healthy life

 

You need to be mindful of what you eat and how you eat it.  The food you eat affects your life in one way or another.  What you consume can add to your weight or reduce it.  A poor diet can cause you health complications, and this is why you need to be mindful of what and how you eat.  This should be a very important part of your daily routine.

In this article, we will be talking about seven healthy eating habits that you should establish if you want to maintain a healthy life.

1.  Avoid junk food:

In every ten individuals, seven of them can’t do without junk food.  While the consumption of junk food keeps increasing, a lot of people are managing to get themselves off it too.  It might seem impossible at first, but once you are able to plan your daily meals properly, it won’t be so difficult.  With careful planning, you can reduce your intake of junk food.

Junk food is dangerous to your health because you can’t define or control its ingredients.  You’re unable to tell what calories and fats go into the meal and, not only that, some of the so-called junk food isn’t prepared in the most hygienic of conditions.  Since some junk food doesn’t even come with labels, quality assurance is an issue because there’s no way of telling how it was prepared or the environment in which it was prepared.

 

2. Drink enough water:

Drinking enough water during your meal, and even after, will aid proper digestion and prevent constipation.  Many people are dehydrated without knowing it.  If you feel thirsty you have already passed the stage where you need water.  Six to eight glasses of water a day is recommended, according to NHS inform (Scotland’s national health information service).

 

3. Incorporate vegetables and fruits with your meals:

Vegetables and fruit are a rich source of essential vitamins and minerals and they play a very significant role in keeping the body healthy.  Vegetables, when included in your meals, can help reduce the risks of cancer, high blood pressure and unexpected heart problems.  Eating non-starchy vegetables and fruits, such as pears, apples, and green leafy vegetables, may even promote weight loss.

4. Befriend wholegrains:

Without thinking twice, make friends with whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat, whole-wheat bread, and rolled oats.  They can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.  Also, they help in weight management, due to the rich fibre present in whole grains, they keep you feeling full for longer and prevent you from snacking or eating junk foods.

 

5. Think of balanced diets:

Have you ever heard of balanced diets?  I’m sure you have.  A balanced diet is one that contains all classes of nutrients.  Eating a balanced diet is good for you because it provides the body with all the nutrients it needs to go about its daily activities.  A lot of people, however, find eating a balanced diet a problem because of factors such as time, availability of food, and location.  Nevertheless, the body requires you to maintain a balanced diet for it to keep working properly.  You can contact a nutritionist or a food expert to guide you on eating balanced meals.

 

6. Avoid heavy food and caffeine before bed:

Food which is heavy on your stomach takes a lot of time to digest.  Fatty food, such as cheese and fried meats, may lead to indigestion and can keep you awake at night.  Also avoid food like cheeseburgers, fries, large steaks and any food with a high fat content.  Caffeine is not only present in energy drinks and coffee.  It is also found in processed foods and chocolate, and some ice cream too.  Before you consider eating processed food at night, be sure to check the label.  Be certain you’re not about to eat food containing caffeine because, as you already know, it will keep you awake at night and your body will be deprived of the rest it deserves.  So, unless you are intentionally wanting to stay up at night, I would suggest you stay away from heavy or caffeinated food.

7. Reduce saturated fats:

Nutritionally speaking, it is almost impossible to eradicate fatty food completely from our diet, because it is present in almost all our foods, either as saturated fat or unsaturated fat.  Depending on your diet, if you mostly consume fatty food, be sure to stick to unsaturated fatty food which is also known as “plant fat”, like olive oil (for cooking), nuts, avocados, pears, and many others.  This fat will help prevent heart complications, and also reduce your chance of partial or full stroke, unlike saturated fat which has a lot of deadly implications.

Conclusion

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends you eat a balanced and healthy diet throughout your life.  This will help boost your immune system, and prevent all sorts of malnutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight, inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight, obesity), as well as a range of diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers).  Also it will lower your risk of life-threatening infectious diseases.  But the increased consumption of processed food, rapid urbanisation and changing lifestyles has led to a shift in dietary patterns.  People are now consuming more food high in energy, fats and free sugars or salt/sodium, forsaking fibre-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains, which are more healthy and better for heathy living.  If you value and want a healthy life, then you should be prepared to eat and drink healthily.

You may also like to read our recent article, Healthy Eating Tips During Pregnancy