Eating a full five servings of fruits and vegetables every day is important for several reasons. First, fruits and vegetables both provide vitamins and minerals crucial for your body's operation. Both are full of water, and foods that contain water (fruit, vegetables, beans) are much more filling than dry, processed foods.
Start your day with a healthy breakfast. Many people think that by skipping breakfast they will save calories. However, studies have shown that eating breakfast gets your metabolism going, prevents you from overeating later on in the day, and ultimately helps you lose weight. To maximize your results, choose protein and fiber-rich foods over sugary doughnuts.
To get your day off to a great start, have a bowl of oatmeal at breakfast time. The healthy grains will also keep your stomach full for a longer time.
If you don't like vegetables, try hiding them in different dishes. For example, vegetable lasagna is usually enjoyed by everyone, even those who don't enjoy the vegetables. This way, you can get all the really great minerals and vitamins from vegetables without having to eat them in a way that you'd rather not.
If you are trying to lose weight, you should consider carrying meals and snacks with you throughout the day. When you pack your own food, you do not risk eating out unhealthily. Ten minutes or less is all it takes to make a few meals.
The humble cabbage family (including kale, collard and mustard greens), provides us with an especially good buy, nutritionally. If you haven't yet added these to your diet, you should. These dark green leafy vegetables are renowned providers of phosphorus, calcium, iron and carotenoids. Also, they are inexpensive!
Eat a jello or pudding cup for dessert. Try to resist reaching for a candy bar or a bag of mini doughnuts. Instead, try eating jello or pudding cups. Individually, they are in reasonably sized, relatively low calorie portions. They are great for killing just about any cravings of the dessert variety.
Try to include more tomatoes in your meals. The biggest benefit from tomatoes is their high concentration of lycopene. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that plays a role read more in the prevention of cancer cell formation. Research has shown that tomatoes also have potential benefits in the prevention of heart disease and lowering high cholesterol.
Make sure most of your meals or snacks includes some protein, and try to get an adequate amount of healthy fat each day. Both fat and protein will make you feel more satified than if you got the same number of calories from a sugary snack. Additionally, protein is necessary if you're exercising as well as dieting, to ensure that you don't lose too much muscle along with fat.
To better maintain your muscle mass, make high-glutamine foods a part of your diet. Glutamine is an amino acid that helps fuel muscles while protecting their health. It also prevents allergenic molecules from being absorbed. Some of the best sources of glutamine are cottage cheese, cabbage and salmon. Most nutrition bars are also high in glutamine.
To get the most nutritional value out of vegetables, be careful to not overcook them. A light steaming keeps vitamins in broccoli, carrots and other veggies better than a boil that will wash nutrients out. They'll also be much more appealing prepared this way, with a satisfying crunch to them instead of a soggy mush-like texture.
One can improve the nutritional value of one's diet by using healthy methods of food preparation. By boiling or steaming food rather than deep frying or cooking with grease and butter, one will keep out many fats that come with those methods of cooking. One can improve and maintain proper nutrition with better meal preparation.
Add green tea to your diet. Green tea contains polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. It has anti-inflammatory properties that can protect the skin and benefit its overall health. Drinking green tea can help to reduce the damage from sunburn, in turn reducing the risk of skin cancer. Try to drink two cups of green tea per day.
Breast feed after having a baby. Your body will burn an additional 500 to 800 calories each day to produce milk. These added calories can get you back to your pre-pregnancy weight much faster. Make sure to eat a healthy balanced diet though, as you will still need a greater calorie intake until you stop breastfeeding.
If you have already decided to eat right and treat your body right, you are half way home. Reading this article just brought you one step further. If you can consistently apply the advice obtained in this article you should be well on your way to a newer, healthier version of you.
