What is a healthy diet?
Eating a healthy diet consists of eating a variety of foods that provide all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that the body needs to stay healthy, feel good and have energy. For this it is necessary the daily intake of proteins , carbohydrates, fats, water and, as we have said before, vitamins and minerals.
Nutrition is very important to everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. You may have heard more than once that I know what to eat and it is totally true, although there may be people who eat poorly and still do not look physically bad, that does not imply that they are healthy inside, so that eating a healthy diet is essential for all people, regardless of their physical condition .
By combining a healthy diet and physical exercise we can help our body to stay strong and healthy. If you have a history of breast cancer, cardiovascular attacks or diabetes , it is important that you know that you are in danger of suffering it in the future and that by eating a healthy diet you reduce the chances of it appearing.
Although food is not everything, different medical studies have found that eating a poor diet or with excess fat, salt or red meat favors the appearance of different types of cancers and tumors , so, if with a small change in our In life we can reduce this possibility, we should all begin to consider leading a healthier life.
Index
The food pyramid
To regain balance, we must remember the most basic, that is, the food pyramid. If you remember in school, you will have seen it countless times, either yourself in class or your children.
The food pyramid teaches us the foods that we should include every day in our diet and which we should consume occasionally . Although this seems very simple, sometimes we sin to believe that if we overindulge in certain foods, nothing has to happen to us, however, this is not true. At the base of the pyramid are the foods that we should eat every day and at the top those that we should eat at most, once or twice a month.
- The lowest level : Here are the foods that our body needs to take every day: cereals, pasta, potatoes, etc. Generally speaking , carbohydrates are here . Far from the myth that currently exists, that we should not take carbohydrates, the truth is that, to have a healthy diet, this nutrient must account for 60% of what we eat per day since carbohydrates are what give us energy.
- Level 3 : Here are dairy, white meat, fish , legumes, eggs and nuts . This represents the other 20% of our diet. As a curious fact, there are those who say that eating one egg a day produces cholesterol, but the truth is that we can eat up to two since the level of fat it has is very low compared to red meat or sausages . Especially if you follow a vegetarian diet, it is good that you include eggs in your meals or some of the “vegetable meats” that are on the market such as seitan, tofu or soy , the proportion is the same.
- Level 4 : At this level there are already the products that we should take occasionally . Here are red meats , processed meats and sausages. It is totally optional to introduce these foods into your diet, and if you do introduce them, it is recommended that it be no more than twice a week.
- Level 5 : This is the level that we should skip, or at least leave it for special occasions. Here are products rich in sugar, salt or fat such as butter, sweets, fried, etc.
Is dieting good?
We usually confuse the terms and think that “dieting” is limiting the food we eat, but really that is a diet. The diet is the food that we normally follow, it can be a good or bad diet , the word does not condition the nutrients we eat, however, regimen is when we decide to omit some foods from our diet in order (normally) to reduce our weight.
The experts are clear about this. Diets are counterproductive, especially because they limit you and create a greater need to eat all the food that we have been deprived of for days or months, which leads to the now so famous rebound effect, that is, everything you lose in those days You will recover it after time and it is possible that it will even gain more weight than you had in the beginning.
Eating a healthy diet or eating should not be an effort or something temporary until you get the desired results, but a lifestyle . The main reason why we should eat correctly is to be healthier and feel better, not to look better physically, the latter is a consequence of following a diet of these characteristics.
In addition, it is not only about living longer, but about living better, at this point we must consider how we want to get physically if we are 50 or 60 years old, a large part of our physical condition at that age will be determined by the food choices we make now .
It is understandable that, if you choose to do these so-called “miracle diets” you will lose weight more quickly than if you simply decide to start eating a healthier diet, however, this will not make you healthier or the years will treat you better. Although eating a diet and, in general, a healthy lifestyle, requires more time to achieve the physical results that you crave so much, you must remember that these will be maintained over time , while with these miracle diets it will only be temporary.
I began to be interested in nutrition from a very young age (I am currently 25 years old), but it was not until adolescence that I knew that I would dedicate my life to this career. I am the mother of a beautiful 5-year-old girl whom I adore and plan to instill in her all the values that guide us towards a healthy and balanced life. I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where I currently live, and have my own practice where, of course, I practice my profession as a nutritionist.