Healthy nutrition – what’s it all about? If I was to say to you, “you need to eat more healthily”, would you know what that meant? Do you know what it really means to follow healthy nutrition? Here we are going to look at 5 ways in which you can dramatically improve your nutrition and start eating healthier.
Healthy Nutrition Tips
Healthy Nutrition Tip 1 – Avoid Added Sugar & Refined Carbohydrates
Whenever you eat lots of sugar or refined carbohydrates, this type of food is digested quickly, causing a large amount of glucose to be quickly released into the bloodstream. The body reacts to this by telling the pancreas to release the hormone insulin, which works to remove the excess glucose from the blood and store it temporarily as glycogen. Not only does this cause your energy levels to fluctuate rapidly, but if this temporary energy store is not burned off, it then gets converted into fat for long-term energy storage. Also, refined carbohydrates and sugary processed foods have very little nutritional value. So, although these foods taste nice, they make you moody, hyperactive, lethargic, overweight and unhealthy.
Instead, eat complex carbohydrates such as wholemeal bread, brown pasta, and porridge oats. These types of healthy carbohydrates contain more nutrients, and they also digest more slowly, giving you sustained energy levels.
Healthy Nutrition Tip 2 – Eat Good Quality Protein
We all need protein as part of our diets. However, protein also has an additional benefit. When eaten with complex carbohydrates, the protein slows down the digestion further, thereby giving you stable blood sugar levels and sustained energy throughout the day.
Good sources of protein include nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, fish, and good quality meats.
Healthy Nutrition Tip 3 – Eat Plenty of Fresh Fruit & Vegetables
Everyone knows that fresh fruit and vegetables are good for them. However, many people don’t eat enough of them. Fruit and vegetables are great for your health because they contain lots of essential vitamins and minerals, lots of water to keep you hydrated, and also fibre which helps to keep your digestive system healthy.
Healthy Nutrition Tip 4 – Drink Plenty of Water
Healthy nutrition isn’t just about food, it’s also about water. Our bodies are largely made of water (about 60 percent). We need water to live. Without a regular supply of water the body soon dies. However, there is a big difference between being alive and being healthy, and many people do not drink a healthy amount of water.
So, how much water should you drink per day? Well, the standard advice for the average person is to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, which is about 8 glasses.
Healthy Nutrition Tip 5 – Smoothies: Supercharge Your Health!
If you do nothing else in terms of healthy nutrition, smoothies are a great way to get loads of nutritional goodness into your body quickly. However, I’m not just talking ordinary smoothies here. I’m referring to a specific type of smoothie. I’m certainly not talking about the kind of smoothies you buy in shops. No, I mean freshly made smoothies, containing a certain balance of ingredients.
To do this you will need both a juicer and a blender. This is because we will be juicing certain fruits and vegetables, and then putting them in the blender with some additional ingredients in order to make a nice thick smoothie which tastes great but also contains loads of great nutrients plus fibre and protein. The amounts are not precise as this is not an exact science, and you will have to experiment yourself to find what works best for you.
Put the following in your juicer (NOT blender):
- Several apples
- 1 or 2 carrots
- A few handfuls of raw spinach
- 1 or 2 sticks of celery
- A few chunks of broccoli
- A few pears
Then put the resulting liquid into a blender and blend with the following:
- Some natural yoghurt
- Half an avocado (or a whole one if you made a lot of juice)
- 1 or 2 handfuls of raw seeds (e.g. pumpkin and sunflower)
- A load of blueberries
What this does is it blends the fruit and vegetable juice with some protein, fibre, and good fat. This slows down the digestion of the juice, keeping your blood sugar level more stable and making you feel fuller for longer. If you end up with more than you can drink in one go, pour the rest into some bottles, squeeze in a bit of fresh lemon juice, and refrigerate; but make sure you drink it before the end of the day. Don’t keep it for days on end.
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