Get better health with simple but proper nutrition.
Nutritious food is one of the keys to achieving health. It’s not the easy path, but the most effective in the long-term and gratifying.
Nourishing your body, the old-fashioned way, has a significant role in your health and well being by:
Healthy eating is the single most important thing you can do to get into better health. With healthy cooking and proper food selection, you are on your way to prepare foods that will ultimately heal your body.
If you are not one to take your greens, what’s missing from your diet could be affecting your health!
In this series about nourishing your body, we’ll master little known facts about our food, and how and why some of them can help you advance your health. We’ll also learn about the challenges of the food industry and its impact on our health and the responsibility we hold for our well being.
We’ll finish with some nourishment tips and cooking tricks to make our lives easier but more nutritionally rich.
If you eat better, you’ll end up eating less. And this is not only great news if you want to lose weight, it’s about upgrading your choices to become a better physical version of yourself, the natural way.
We are in the age of convenience. If we can find something already prepared and pre-cooked at the supermarket, we’ll buy it. At work, few people bring their lunch with them, most go the nearest deli and buy food by the pound.
I also believe we have isolated our relationship with food. It is no longer something that is meant to serve us (nourish) but is a chore that is meant to be done (work).
With the myriad of packaged and prepared food, we no longer know what we are feeding our bodies. The ingredients on the labels are usually foreign and unintelligible. We don’t even know where and how our food comes from.
The convenience of supermarkets, fast-food chains and convenience meals has conditioned us to having our food prepared, packaged and delivered with little to no thought.
Our children are growing up with finger foods like chicken nuggets and fries – it seems that’s all they always want!
What is nutrition? Do we really know?
Better health depends on the nutrients you absorb through food.
Eating is ideally a mindful practice where we utilize food to consume it for nourishment.
When we eat, foods is broken down to then use it to repair and create tissues and cells and keep us going.
I am the first person to choose convenience and practicality as much as you probably do, but I’ve also tried to simplify the way I cook and upgrade the food I buy in a conscious effort to better feed myself.
What have I done:
Changing my old habits was not easy and the pull of habit was very strong at first!
Now, I no longer have irresistible urges or cravings. Feeding my body with lean protein and lots of veggies has taught me to appreciate food and what it can do for me.
That means I am no longer ravenous and hungry all the time and I feel good!
Some of the most nutritious foods you can have are:
To feel good, eat natural, high quality foods. For example, there is a difference between nutrient-dense food and calorie-dense food.
Nowadays, calorie-dense food is everywhere, it is readily available in the supermarket, at the convenience stores and of course in all the fast-food chains.
This means that although they may contain some sources of nutrients, proportionately most of its calories come from sugars, fats and chemicals.
Cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, cheeseburgers, fries are all foods energy-dense but somewhat nutrient-poor.
If you are trying to gain better health, avoid calorie-dense food and choose nutrient-dense food instead.
You’ll probably end up buying less quantity but more quality. Get better health with whole greens and fruits and lean meats.
The magic trick, which I never knew would bring out the flavor, has a whole section in the supermarket and you can get some for yourself!
Part 2 - Whole greens and colorful fruit
American Heart Association, Empower your cart, www.heart.org
Health Line, The 11 most nutrient dense foods on the planet, www.healthline.com