Healthy food is not equal to salads: It is important to understand that healthy is not equal to boring or plain jane. Healthy eating is only about making a choice at every step, while choosing ingredients, in the cooking techniques you use, in the way you consume your food and how much of it you do. After you practice healthy eating for a while, it comes naturally and becomes a part of you. And the effects will be there for you and everyone else to see.
Skip the bread: A study found that 84% of 38 common brands of pre-packaged breads tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate. Both these additives have been banned in many countries across the world due to their hazardous effects on the body and for being potential carcinogens.
Not all fats are bad American lobbyists propelled the rise of the ‘low-fat’ industry, making us believe that all fats are bad. So people started opting for low-fat versions of all foods. Butter got replaced with margarine and so on.
Breakfast like a king: Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and have dinner like a pauper. Dinner should be your lightest meal of the day as your body is preparing for slumber. However, when you wake up in the morning, you need all the energy you can find to get you through the activities of the day, without feeling fatigued.
Portion control: Eat everything but eat smaller portions. I am a food critic, and often have to taste 10-18 course meals. However, it doesn’t mean that I finish each course. A small portion of each is enough. The same is true for regular meals as well. Increase the portion size of the nutritious food on your plate like vegetables or dal, and cut your dessert by half. Indulge in whatever catches your fancy, just not the entire portion.
Smaller plates: The first step may be to get smaller plates. Food ladled onto smaller plates seems more than the same amount of food on a larger plate, thus tricking the brain. It will also help you eat as much as your body actually needs, and not force you to eat excessively, only to finish off the food on your plate.
Cook from scratch: As tempting as the processed foods aisle is in the supermarket, give it a miss. Most processed and canned foods contain copious amounts of sodium/ sugar and preservatives, all of which play havoc with your health.
Meal timings: Stick to regimented meal timings as they help fine-tune your metabolism. Breakfast should be within an hour of waking up, and dinner ideally before sunset (and at least 2-3 hours before you sleep). Try to eat food at the same time every day, so that the body can tell you when it is hungry and when it has had enough.
Sugar is the new smoking: If you have a sweet tooth, this one is going to hurt. But excessive refined sugar is terrible for your health and piles on unnecessary calories. It is not only about desserts and your daily tea/ coffee (which you should cut back on or replace with green tea). Hidden sugars lie in unexpected places like cereals, tomato ketchup, packaged foods, etc. Know where to find them and make smart alternative choices.
Choose your grains: The no-carb movement is as harmful for your health as is the removal of any one food group. Like fats, not all carbs are bad. All you need to do is pick the ones which are not processed and have not been stripped off their nutrition. Love pasta and pizza? Choose quinoa pasta or have a whole-wheat thin crust pizza. Pearl barley, dalia, red rice, buckwheat flour, the options are plenty. And with the retail revolution, everything is now easily available, right at your doorstep.
Men should have 3.7 liters (125 ounces) and Women 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of water a day.
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