Healthy Diet

The Basics of a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet begins with choosing foods that offer the best balance of nutrients for your body. Focus your meals and snacks on vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low fat dairy.

Nutritious foods will help you maintain a high energy level even on your toughest, most challenging days.

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Healthy Diet Basics

Too much sugar, salt and saturated fat prevent the body from getting the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. It's been reported that one in three adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure. A healthy diet can lower the risk factors that can raise blood pressure.

The following are some basic nutritional guidelines to help you achieve optimal health.

• As a fundamental rule, your diet will be healthy if you avoid foods that are high in fat, sugar and sodium.

• Eating too much sugar can age your skin. Sugar attaches to proteins to form molecules that damage collagen fibers that keep the skin firm.

• The sugar found in fresh fruit is naturally occurring so it is the healthiest. Eating fresh fruit also provides the body with important fiber but remember that fruit is nature’s candy and too much is just as bad as any other candy.

• Try peppermint, one of the easiest and inexpensive ways to stop hunger. People who sniffed peppermint throughout the day consumed 3,000 calories fewer per week in a recent study.

• Green tea has potent antioxidants called catechins that make it a healthy drink. Just one cup a day can help lower your chances of developing high blood pressure. Researchers also say that green tea may work to maintain cognitive function and mental clarity. 

• Make yourself dark chocolate hot cocoa or have a square of dark chocolate 70 percent cocoa for a mental boost. The British Psychological Society's annual conference presented research showing that the flavenoids may keep the brain alert by increasing blood flow. 

• Double your pleasure and savor a square of dark chocolate with your green tea.

 Dark Chocolate & Green Tea

The flavenoids found in dark chocolate also have antioxidant properties that may improve blood vessel function which can help to lower blood pressure naturally.

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More Healthy Diet Basics

• Breakfast is very important for a healthy diet! Researchers at the University of Connecticut found that adults who ate eggs rather than a bagel in the morning consumed fewer calories all day and felt satisfied longer. Also, those who consumed fat free milk at breakfast reported reduced appetite and lower calorie intake at lunch. 

• Eat colorful fruits and vegetables at lunch for a healthy diet. Dark green leafy vegetables have different phytochemicals than those in yellow and orange vegetables. Therefore, it is important to eat an assortment of brightly colored fruits and vegetables daily to ensure that you are getting a full range of phytochemicals.
  
  

• Researchers believe the flavenoids in citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits might promote weight loss by causing the liver to burn excess fat rather than storing it. 

• Eat a light dinner and eat early enough so you have time to digest your meal. Eating a large meal before bedtime will keep your digestive system working into the night so you may not sleep as soundly. 

• Consuming more healthy fats such as monounsaturated fats are good for your waistline and are important for a healthy diet. Monounsaturated fats are found in fish, nuts, seeds and olives and have been shown to lower the risk of age related disease.

• Tuna is excellent brain food. The omega 3 fatty acids in tuna help prevent memory loss. Tuna is high in vitamin B12 which is essential for proper metabolism of macronutrients including fats, carbohydrates, and protein. 

• A study at Columbia University Medical Center showed Alzheimer's risk drops 42 percent among those who consume. foods low in saturated fat such as fish, vegatables and nuts.

• Make your own vinegar and oil salad dressing. Olive oil is a heart healthy monounsaturated fat which activates a compound in the small intestine that stops hunger. Vinegar contains acetic acid which may activate genes that produce enzymes to help break down fat.

• Increase your calcium intake. Calcium is best absorbed with vitamin D for maximum benefit. Without enough calcium the body withdraws calcium from the bones which put the body at risk for osteoporosis.

• Calcium may help slow your appetite. A research study in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that when calcium-deficient women took a calcium supplement, they lost 4 times more weight than those who did not take the supplement.  Eat more yogurt, beans and dark leafy greens for extra calcium.

• Take vitamin D supplements which are proving to be a powerful nutrient in preventing heart disease and memory loss. A recent study at the Mayo Clinic found a link between low levels of vitamin D and chronic pain. As we age, the body needs more than the recommended 400 IU because older skin produces less vitamin D which is critical for a healthy diet.

• Avoid soda. Studies show that soda drinkers had lower bone density than non soda drinkers. Tea is an excellent alternative to soda since it contains healthy antioxidants.

• Chocolate milk (low fat or fat free) is an alternative to a sports drink following exercise. The combination of protein and carbohydrates helps improve muscle recovery according to research conducted at James Madison University.

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The Best Salad Cookbooks

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Bonus Healthy Diet Tip

Eat more plant protein to fight belly fat, raise metabolism and speed calorie burn.

According to UCLA research, plant protein provides an unusually high feeling of fullness. Research showed that consumption of plant proteins suppressed appetite for four hours compared with the more common animal derived protein which suppressed hunger for two hours.

A plant protein diet rejuvenates the liver, pancreas, thyroid and other weight controlling organs to rid the body of fat storing toxins. By healing the body's weight regulating system, the liver is better able to burn body fat for energy and improve blood sugar control. 

Research in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that dieters who ate more plant protein were able to lose 50 percent more weight than those who did not eat more plant protein. Here are three easy to prepare plant proteins that target belly fat and  increase overall calorie burn.

1. Mushrooms - A study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore showed that women who ate mushrooms at lunch ate 400 fewer calories throughout the day compared with those who ate a meat dish. Additional  research confirmed that one cup of mushrooms a day instead of an equal portion of animal protein helped women lose ten pounds of belly fat in two months.

2. Edamame - Consuming two servings of soy foods such as edamame or tofu helps target abdominal fat at the cellular level according to research conducted at the University of Illinois. Studies showed that soy activates the fat burning process inside cells, stimulating weight loss without calorie restriction. It also lowered the production of new abdominal fat by 57 percent.

3, Beans - Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that eating one cup of beansa day can lower the risk of a growing waistline by 23 percent. Other research showed that a cup of beans daily can help dieters more than double the loss of abdominal fat. Bean fibers bind to fat storing toxins in the intestinal tract speeding their elimination from the body. 

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Try Acai Berry For A Wellness Supercharge

Look younger, erase the years, feel stronger and live longer with acai berry.

• One of the primary benefits to consuming acai is its powerful antioxidant activity which can help preserve health and prevent disease. 
  
  
• Much of the elderly population suffers from diseases such as arthritis and Alzheimer's disease which are associated with oxidative damage caused or accelerated on some level by damaging free radicals. 
  
  
• The antioxidants in acai berry are potent free radical scavengers and serve to protect the body from excessive oxidative damage.

The Acai Advantage

For A Healthier, Stronger More Beautiful You

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There is no substitute for a healthy, well balanced diet. Acai berry supplements can enhance the health benefits of food but they cannot do the job alone.