A healthy diet is not only good for your mental a physical growth and well-being, but it is also good for your overall quality of life and life expectancy. Healthy eating can help to protect you against several chronic non-communicable diseases, including diseases, heart diseases and cancer. You need to avoid some foods detrimental to your health, such as salty and sugary foods, high-calorie foods such as fast foods and industrially produced foodstuff like crisps. When you maintain a good healthy diet, you stand a chance of enjoying several benefits, including:
Benefits of Healthy Eating
1. Eating Healthy Promotes a Healthy Heart
Some common and often fatal heart diseases include hypertension, heart failure, heart attacks and stroke. The Center of Disease Control states that you can avoid heart diseases by only changing your lifestyle choices and regularly practicing healthy eating.
Additionally, controlling the types of fats, such as trans fats, in your diet can significantly improve the health and condition of your heart. By avoiding trans-fats, you potentially reduce the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in your system, which, if left uncontrolled, could cause plaque to collect within the arteries predisposing you to stroke and heart attack.
2. Healthy Eating Reduces Cancer Risks
Scientists have proven that eating a healthy and balanced diet, especially incorporating foods that contain antioxidants, can reduce your risk of developing cancer by up to 70% and can likely help cancer recover through the process of anti-carcinogenesis. The many phytochemicals present in fruits, leafy vegetables, legumes and nuts have antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, and E, lycopene and beta-carotene which all work synergistically to fight cancer cells all over the body. Therefore, eating a healthy diet can significantly lower your risks of developing cancer and potentially help you recover faster from cancer.
3. Eat Healthy for Better Mood
Scientists have proven that eating food with a high glycemic load triggers and increase the symptoms of depression and overall body fatigue. In nutrition and dietetics, food’s glycemic load is a scientifically determined estimate of how much food can raise the individual’s blood glucose level after ingestion. One glycemic load unit roughly equates to the effect of ingesting one gram of glucose.
Therefore, a diet with high glycemic loads, such as soft drinks, white bread, cakes and biscuits, have higher chances of inducing depression and stress related disorders. Avoiding such foods is crucial for maintaining a healthy diet and leading a healthy lifestyle. Try eating whole fruit, leafy vegetables and whole grains to ensure you maintain a low glycemic load diet.
Final Thoughts
Healthy eating can be your most powerful tool in combating heart diseases, which has been a rising cause of death in many developed countries. For you to increase your life expectancy and lead a stress-free life, you need to adopt better dietary habits; as the adage goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The summer (right about now!) is generally the best time to begin your healthy eating habits. We have also just commenced our Functional Nutrition consultations, so overall a great time to start your new healthy eating journey. If you are interested – Give us a call on 01962 861188 to book in a time for your Functional Nutrition initial consultation and get ready to kick start your recovery.
