10 Steps To Maintaining A Healthy Diet
There are many people who, in order to lose weight quickly, adopt harmful eating habits. An act that at some point causes an imbalance that is harmful to the body. That’s why today we’ll show you the recommendations you need to improve your diet, while taking care of your physical and mental health through a balanced diet.
Adopting a balanced diet is critical to maintaining an ideal weight. Also to favor the prevention of certain diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, among others.
In a nutshell, having a good diet is the best way to protect your health.
10 steps to improve diet
1. Hydrate often
The consumption of two to three liters of water a day is important because it helps to regulate the body’s temperature. It also allows you to replace fluids lost through sweating, urine, salivation and other processes.
Also, keeping the body hydrated can speed up metabolism, thus improving digestion and assimilation of food.
It should be noted that, even though it is important to keep the body hydrated, the consumption of soft drinks or any other sugary drink should be avoided as much as possible. This is due to the fact that our brain does not properly register the calories of liquid sugar, which favors weight gain.
2. Don’t skip any meal
Eat the three large meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the proper amounts and in a healthy way. This will bring the energy needed to complete the daily routine. Also, it will be favorable to maintain a proper weight.
On the other hand, if you skip meals you will have cravings due to calorie restriction. And when you fall into these temptations, the blood sugar spikes.
Its consequences? Your body creates a high amount of triglycerides which, in turn, are converted to fat. In addition, diseases such as gastritis and eating disorders can be generated.
3. Prepare secondary meals
Eat 2-3 meals in addition to the main meals a day, one every four hours. This will help you control your appetite, keep your body feeling satiated and avoid cravings throughout the day. The best thing is that these meals are small, such as fruits, cookies, nuts, among others.
4. Consume healthy fats and oils
The consumption of monounsaturated oils is recommended to improve the diet. They are natural and healthy fats for the body. Among them are olive oil, olives, avocados, dried fruits, among others.
However, the daily intake of calories from this type of fat should not exceed 25-30%. From there, weight gain is encouraged.
5. Supplement your diet with exercise
Exercise is the best ally of a balanced diet when it comes to losing weight. Also, leading an active life is another key element in maintaining a healthy body.
6. Regulate sugar consumption
Although sugar consumption is necessary in a balanced diet, it should not exceed 15% of daily calories and must be contained in healthy foods such as fruits.
Too much sugar can cause serious health problems, including obesity and diabetes.
7. Balance your carbohydrate intake
Carbohydrates are important nutrients for our body. When they are converted into glucose, they provide the energy necessary for the functioning of different cells, tissues and organs.
However, ingesting it in excess can produce extra calories that end up turning into fat.
The US Institute of Medicine states that an individual should consume 0.8 grams of protein daily for every kilogram of body weight. On the other hand, with regard to carbohydrates, it is estimated between 45-65% of daily calories.
8. Maintain a good lifestyle
Ensuring you sleep well and avoiding daily stress is one of the key factors in achieving proper health.
The risks of suffering obesity increase when people don’t sleep well, according to a University of Chicago study. While stress is the cause of many physical and mental illnesses.
9. Avoid eating processed foods
Focus on the consumption of quality animal and vegetable based foods. Avoid at all costs the consumption of processed products, excess and elaborated condiments. Stay away from chemicals that in the long run are harmful to your health and do not improve your diet.
