Healthy Eating For a Healthy Body

Healthy eating has long been known to maintain or improve physical health. A good diet gives the body important nutrients: adequate food energy, macronutrient nutrients, fluid, micronutrient, and sufficient food volume. In recent years, public awareness of the importance of a balanced diet has increased due to the large-scale increase in food and beverage advertising. The problem remains, how do you know what foods and beverages are healthy for you?

An easy way to answer this question is to look at the typical menu of a restaurant or supermarket. If you often eat at these establishments, chances are that the majority of the dishes on the menu will be highly unhealthy, such as French fries and sugary pizzas. On the other hand, a healthy food menu may consist of salads, vegetable dishes, fruits, and nonfat yogurt and cheese.

Many health experts recommend that a healthy food menu should include foods rich in protein, but not saturated fat, salt, or sugar; low in carbohydrates; low in salt and sugar; and contains little or no refined sugar or other additives. It is also recommended that healthy food choices have little or no saturated fat, trans fat, or sodium. Surprisingly, most nutritionists and public health professionals recommend that healthy food choices have little or no salt and sodium.

The problem comes in when a person chooses healthy foods that also contains high levels of calories and fat. This situation can lead to obesity, hypertension, and high blood pressure. However, there are many healthy foods that do not contain high levels of fat and calories, yet still provide essential nutrients. A good example of these healthy foods is low-fat dairy products, such as low-fat cheeses and yogurts.

Another nutritional tip for healthy eating is to balance the ratio of protein to fat. The body needs fat to produce energy, but it needs a reasonable amount of protein as well in order to build muscle and maintain a healthy weight. Also, the body needs calcium and magnesium to function properly. Low-fat milk and yogurt are excellent sources of calcium and magnesium, while beef is the best source of these nutrients.

In addition to consuming nutritious balanced diet foods, you may also want to add some natural supplements to your diet to increase your daily intake of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Common supplements you may want to consider include vitamins A, C, E, B-complex, and riboflavin, which all help maintain healthy skin and hair; potassium, which helps with blood pressure and muscle strength; and phosphorus, which is needed to absorb the minerals and nutrients in your food. In addition to these vitamins, natural supplements may include fish oil, cod liver oil, flaxseed oil, magnesium, licorice, potassium, probiotics, zinc, and chlorella. All of these natural supplements are excellent choices to add to your healthy lifestyle.