A balanced diet is something that has immense importance in our daily life. You probably are unaware of what and how you eat your food, but it greatly influences your health. It affects your lifestyle, which involves almost everything – from your relationships to your food habits.
A healthy body and mind can be attained through various lifestyle hacks, and a balanced diet is one of them. By considering the importance of balanced diet, you are allowing your body to be supplied with essential and sufficient nutrients.
A balanced diet plan helps your body and mind to function properly. When you start living healthily, your body will naturally become stronger against various chronic and acute diseases such as diabetes, heart conditions, flu or viruses, etc.
While exercise is also a part of a healthy regime, following a specific balanced diet is equally important. Unfortunately, nourishing food is being replaced by packaged or ready-to-eat foods these days, which have been known to cause many problems in one’s life.
In simple terms, it means the intake of nutrients that supply enough energy for your body to carry out daily activities. The very first important thing is to consider the right amount of calorie consumption.
A properly balanced diet involves nutrients from various foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Calories that contain no nutritional value are called “empty calories.” They don’t help us in any way.
Calories are vital because they provide us with energy. They are used when you are walking, thinking, and breathing. An average person requires 2000 calories per day to maintain their body weight. It may also depend on one’s age, gender, and activity. (1)
People who are engaged in a lot of physical activities need more calories. Also, men generally need more than women. It is also essential to see that the source of calories is as important as the quantity.
Foods that contain empty calories are:
Eating a balanced diet is all about being energetic, mindful, and lively. Proper nutrition boosts your mood and immune system. It also manages your body weight. Physical and mental well-being happens naturally when all these essential aspects are met.
A proper diet can also help you achieve your fitness goals – including muscle mass and fat burn. Nobody can question the importance of healthy food. It is not only important for adults but also for children who tend to eat a lot of junk. Due to this, they may have developmental issues and be prone to multiple health conditions in their adult life.
Since a healthy lifestyle makes you more physically active, this helps manage all your psychological health by reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and so on.
It consists of healthy food groups such as:
1) Fruits – natural and fresh, not canned ones.
2) Vegetables – including leafy greens, legumes, and root vegetables.
3) Grains – whole grains such as oats, brown rice, and white rice.
4) Dairy and protein foods – such as low-fat milk, yogurt, curd, seitan, tofu, beans, and green peas.
To maintain a nutritional diet, you must consume foods from each group to promote healthy living. All the food mentioned above provides micro and macronutrients to meet the body’s requirements.
Foods to avoid:
Food tolerance depends from person to person. What is normal for one person may not be suitable for another. For example, whole wheat flour is healthy for many people but not suitable for those who have gluten intolerance.
Metabolism is of great significance because the whole process handles your body by storing and converting essential foods into energy to keep the cells and organisms alive and active. (2)
Boosting your metabolism essentially means losing weight, and you might be wondering what kind of foods would help you with it. Below is the list of foods that can help you with weight management and also increase your metabolic rate:
1) Chilli Peppers:
Meals that contain fresh or dried chili peppers can be a bit spicy but fulfilling. A chemical called “capsaicin” is responsible for increasing the metabolic rate at which your body burns calories.
Chilli peppers also reduce your appetite to a certain extent, which is good if you are looking to lose weight.
2) Beans and legumes:
In a vegetarian diet, these are an essential part of one’s diet because they are exceptionally high in protein compared to other plant-based foods. Studies have reported that their high protein content increases your body’s ability to burn calories.
Legumes contain fiber, including resistant starch, which your body uses to feed the good bacteria in your large intestine.
3) Flax seeds:
They contain protein, vitamins, and other vital nutrients that have numerous health benefits. Some people also consider them “functional food.”
Consuming flax seeds help improve your metabolism and also boosts your metabolic syndrome – a group of conditions that contribute to obesity, diabetes, and heart conditions.
4) Ginger:
It is loaded with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and chemicals that prevent mental health conditions like stress, anxiety, and so on. It also helps fight against chronic ailments such as high blood pressure and heart and lung disease.
Adding ginger to meals increases your body temperature and metabolic rate. A study found that it also aids in weight loss and healthy aging. In addition, it has been shown to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol.
5) Broccoli:
Broccoli has many health benefits, including better heart health, anti-cancerous, and an improved immune system. It is high in various nutrients such as fiber, vitamin C and K, potassium, and many more. It also contains more protein than other vegetables.
Broccoli contains a distinct substance called glucoraphanin, which is said to have positive effects on metabolism, fat levels, and aging-related problems.
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