We all have heard that “Health is wealth” and only a healthy body that is both physically and mentally well that we can work on other things.
We all have been eating a variety of foods from various sources but at the same time taking care of consuming less salt, sugars, saturated and industrially-produced trans-fats are essential for maintaining a healthy diet.
WHO recommends some healthy dietary habits:
•Eating plenty of vegetables and fruit: They are important sources of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, plant protein, and antioxidants. People with diets rich in vegetables and fruit face less risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
• For a healthy diet, reduce the intake of sugar. Go for fresh fruits instead of cookies. Avoid the intake of soft drinks.
•Reduce salt intake: Salt is an essential part of food intake as a nutritionary ingredient as it supplements Na (Sodium) content but an excess of it has a decaying effect on tissue life and an imbalance in the quality of blood content of the human body system.
Key facts
A healthy diet helps to protect against malnutrition in all its forms. It helps in heart treatment and cancer treatment. An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are the leading global risks to health.
Here are some practical tips on maintaining a healthy diet:
- Fruit, vegetables, legumes (e.g. lentils and beans), nuts, and whole grains (e.g. unprocessed maize, millet, oats, wheat, and brown rice).
- Salt consumption of less than 5gm is advised. It should be iodized. It is beneficial in heart and cancer treatment.
- Fat intake, especially saturated fat and industrially-produced trans-fat intake can be reduced by:
-steaming or boiling instead of frying when cooking,
-replacing butter, lard, and ghee with oils rich in polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean, canola (rapeseed), corn, safflower, and sunflower oils,
-avoiding baked or fried foods,
-replacing both saturated fats and trans-fats with unsaturated fats – in particular, with polyunsaturated fats.
Overview
Consuming a healthy diet helps in reducing the chances of suffering from serious diseases later on in life.
However, increased production of processed foods, rapid urbanization, and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns. People should avoid eating food high in energy, fats, free sugars, and salt/sodium.
Instead of going for highly processed foods, try and switch to natural foods and cooked foods.