Keys to a Healthy Diet
A healthy diet is something everyone who cares about their
health claims to want, but what is a healthy diet?
Developing healthy eating habits isn't as confusing,
unappetizing, or restrictive as many people imagine. The first
principle of a healthy diet is simply to eat a wide variety of
foods. This is important because different foods make different
nutritional contributions. Healthy eating means getting all of
the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are available out
there to keep you as healthy as possible.
Secondly, fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, and seeds are
foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and
minerals. These foods are the easiest to find fresh and natural
and therefore should make up the bulk of the calories you
consume. The remainder of your nutrients could come from small
amounts of grains, legumes, meats, dairy, and eggs, if you are
not a vegetarian or vegan.
You should also try to maintain a balance between calorie intake
and calorie expenditure. Don't eat more food than your body can
utilize. Otherwise, you will become bloated, feel fatigued,
toxic and gain weight. The more active you are the more you can
eat and still maintain this balance.
Following these three basic steps doesn't mean that you have to
give up your favorite foods. As long as you eat mostly fruits
and vegetables, there is nothing wrong with an occasional treat.
Just be sure to limit how frequently you eat such foods, and pay
attention to how you feel and look afterwards.
You can also view healthy eating as an opportunity to expand
your range of choices by trying new or unusual foods that you
don't normally eat. If you ask
a naturopathic physician, a healthy diet doesn't have to
mean eating foods that are bland or unappealing. Well chosen
fruit alone, perfectly ripe and in season, can be nirvana. Try a
ripe mango, banana, or cherries. The perfect gourmet salad with
spinach, arugula, walnuts and cranberries with a sprinkle of
gorgonzola cheese is heavenly. Try the grass-fed buffalo, the
raw cheeses, the flour-less walnut, date and chocolate cake and
have fun. Bon apetit!