Eating healthy can lead to more body energy, better concentration, and an active lifestyle. A balanced nutritional regime has wholesome proportions of proteins, calories, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients to help the body function smoothly. Such a meal plan also strengthens the immune system and helps fight diseases like cancer and diabetes. A healthy meal plan should offer 60% to 70% calories from carbohydrates, 20% to 25% from fat, and 10% to 12% from proteins.
Some of the important tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and sticking to a balanced nutritional regime are discussed herein.
Consuming more fruits and vegetables
If you are looking to reduce body mass or simply lead a healthy lifestyle, you should consume more fruits and vegetables. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans are healthy and reduce the risk of various chronic diseases and cancer. Further, fruits and vegetables allow us to get the vitamins, minerals, and fibers that our body needs for regular functioning. Simply put, you need to consume fewer calories than the body needs to reduce body mass. For this, you do not need to eat less food or exercise a lot more. You can simply switch to more fruits and vegetables that are high in volume but low in calories and fat. Consuming an assortment of chopped vegetables with dinner can help a lot. You can also consider consuming fruits and vegetables for other meals of the day.
Increasing the intake of healthy fats
Increasing the intake of healthy fats in the body can help in burning calories and help reduce body mass. A Mediterranean meal plan is rich in healthy fats, which can help you with shedding that extra mass. Some of the main components of such a nutritional regime include olive oils and nuts. A study has also indicated that more belly mass is lost when you consume two tablespoons of coconut oil every day compared to when you consume the same amount of soybean oil. However, you must avoid unhealthy compounds such as trans fats that are known to increase body mass and waist circumference. You must keep in mind that that any kind of fat should be consumed in moderation.
Consuming the right amount of salt
Salt is an integral part of most of our daily meals, and regulating the amount of salt in our meals is of utmost importance. High or low sodium consumption can result in erratic blood pressure and increase the risk of heart diseases. Studies have observed that salt intake in most people’s meals is more than required and, on average, a person consumes up to 12 grams of salt every day. The salt intake that is required to reduce the risk of heart diseases is less than 5 grams. To improve the population’s health, decreasing salt intake is considered the most cost-effective measure in various countries. Salt is also present in high proportion in processed foods, and these foods should be avoided for a healthy nutritional regime.
Limiting the consumption of sugar
Sugar, when consumed in incorrect proportions, can be very harmful to health. According to World Health Organization, a person should get less than 5% calories from the sugar in an ideal situation and under 10% of the total calorie intake in any case.
Sugary drinks should be avoided as much as possible. One can replace soda, sports drinks, and energy drinks with water, herbal teas, black coffee, and green tea. You should avoid indulgin in desserts that are very rich in sugar. Some healthier alternatives for such desserts are fresh fruit, baked fruit with cream, Greek Yogurt, and dark chocolate, having more than 70% cocoa.
You should avoid processed foods as much as possible as they are rich in sugar.
Some of the healthier snack ideas include fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds.
