Eating Healthy to Lose Weight with Healthy Snacks and Diet Plans

More than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates wrote; “Each one of the substances of a man’s diet acts upon his body and changes it in some way, and upon these changes his whole life depends, whether he be in health, in sickness, or convalescent.”

It’s time to start letting the foods you eat help you feel better. Artichokes, garlic, oats, honey, pineapple, and dozens of other foods offer important health benefits and powerful medicinal properties.

Eating the right foods can help you to live longer, feel better and lose weight!

Establishing healthy eating habits sets the pattern for a healthy lifestyle which will be an incredible gift to pass on to your children, especially given the sad state of the American Diet. In fact, you have probably heard of the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) and indeed, it is very sad. It is ruining the health of our children as well as ourselves. It's time to make a stand for healthier living.

Healthy Diet Plans and Healthy Meal Plans

Food can help guard against illness and enhance health and well-being.

Every culture throughout history has used food to both prevent and to treat illness. The distinction we now make between “food” and “medicine” would probably have seemed strange to our early ancestors; the plants and animals around them were their only resources, and as such, served both purposes.

The Basic Healthy Diet

Food and water provide the vital nutrients that enable the body to function. Fighting off harmful bacteria, balancing fluid levels so that the body stays stable even on very hot days, and millions of other processes all need the chemicals from food in order to work efficiently. Some foods have more to offer than others, but you do not have to give up the foods you enjoy for the sake of your health; any food can fit into a healthy diet, at least occasionally. It’s the combination and quantities you choose that are the most important in helping to protect your well-being.

The elements found in food fall into four main groups: macronutrients, which are needed in substantial amounts for energy and include carbohydrates, fats, and protein; micronutrients, which are vital but needed in only tiny amounts and include two essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals; fibrous carbohydrates, which cannot be used for energy; and finally, water. Food also contains many other substances that can affect our health, for better or worse.

The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals

There are about 15 vitamins and 15 minerals that are known to be needed in small amounts for human health and, except for vitamins D and K, they are available only from food. A lack of any of these micronutrients can cause ill-health, either directly or by reducing the body’s ability to fight off disease.

A shortage of essential nutrients, in developed countries, is often the result of poor food choices; for example, not eating enough fresh fruits or vegetables, or consuming too much alcohol or sugary or fatty foods. It can also be the result of eating too much processed foods which lack nutritional value.

Low-calorie diets also reduce our nutrient intake. The less we eat, the more we need to be sure that we choose foods which are high in nutrients per calorie. Foods vary in their nutrient content, so eating a diverse diet of foods high in nutrients is important. A diet that is well rounded will also help ensure that we obtain each nutrient and will usually supply the needs of most people.

Nutrient Supplements

Vitamin and mineral supplements can be helpful for some people. For example, people who eat very little may benefit from the additional vitamins and minerals a supplement provides. However, supplements cannot make up for poor eating habits. Food provides a far more complex blend of nutrients and other substances. Research has shown that, in some cases, massive amounts of a nutrient can be used as a medicinal drug, complete with potential side effects. But research has also taught us that we don’t know enough about how our bodies use food to rely on supplements. Nutrients are a part of an intricate balance, they interact with one another and are affected by many other substances such as enzymes, acids, or fiber. Humans are adapted to eat a diverse diet of food, not pills.

Healthy diet recipes are nutritious and delicious and there is no shortage of recipes available on the internet and at your local bookstore.  Eating healthy food is the best nutrition you can give your body.

The Active Constituents in Food

Every food contains hundreds of substances besides the few that we know are valuable for providing energy or essential nutrients. These “non-nutrient” substances explain many of the effects of food; from the nose-clearing effect of chili peppers to the laxative effect of figs. Eating to improve ones health makes use of some of these special properties.

But, it’s not a simple case of one “active” ingredient being important, while the rest of the food is neutral. Very often a whole food turns out to have different effects from those of the known individual “active constituents.”

Isolated substances do not share the safety record of the whole foodstuffs they come from. Furthermore, as with food in general, substances that are beneficial as part of a varied diet may be harmful in large, isolated amounts. It’s much safer to eat active constituents in a food form rather than in the form of supplements.

Today, science has ability and techniques needed to analyze the special properties of some foods and to give us the knowledge we need to use food to benefit our health. Research is in its early stages, and there can be no guarantees. However, there’s little risk in using foods to provide the necessary vitamins and nutrients our bodies need.