5 hacks for healthy eating in 2024
Eating healthy is not as difficult as you may think. In fact, it’s one of the best things you can do for your heart’s health. It’s a proven way to lower your risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases by helping to maintain a healthy weight. Healthy eating has been proven time and time again to decrease our risk of disease and even provide us with a larger percentage of life-long free radicals, meaning healthier brains and bodies. Here are five hacks that you can follow this year to eat healthily.
Include fruits and veggies in your meal
Fruits and vegetables provide the body with much-needed fiber that allows the digestive system to function naturally. Besides, certain vegetables and fruits have multiple nutrients that enhance the immune system, help to keep the skin, hair, and eyes healthy, strengthen bones, etc. Either a simple side salad or a bowl of fruit salad, add fruits and vegetables to your meal regularly. For example, you could throw in some onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and even spinach into your morning omelet or some broccoli and bell peppers into your pasta.
Consume a protein-rich diet
What you consume is directly proportional to how your body will react. Consuming a carbohydrate-rich diet can cause various issues over time. Instead, limit your consumption of carbohydrates and opt for a protein-heavy diet. White meats like chicken, turkey, and fish are the healthiest proteins to consume. Oily fish like salmon contain omega-3 fatty acids that helps improve the health of your heart. Limit your consumption of red meats like beef, lamb, and pork.
Opt for a fiber-rich diet
Swap out low-fiber ingredients and foods for those that are rich in fiber. Consuming fiber helps to boost the immune system, alleviating auto-immune diseases. It also helps the digestive process and keeps the body fit. Choosing to eat whole-meal bread over white bread is a great way to start. Additionally, you can make foods like pizzas, burgers, and tacos from whole-grain flour.
Limit your sugar intake
The next time you reach for the jar of sugar for your morning smoothie or coffee, think again! Excessive intake of sugar can be detrimental to your body’s health. Too much sugar consumption can cause problems like high blood pressure, inflammation, diabetes, and liver issues. This can subsequently cause heart attacks and strokes. Therefore, moderate consumption of sugar would be ideal.
Modify your way of cooking
Modifying your way of cooking even slightly can have significant benefits on your health. For example, use your oven and bake your dish instead of drying or sauteeing it on a pan. Baking ensures that you use hardly any oil which is harmful to your body when consumed excessively. Additionally, you can get yourself an air fryer to avoid the use of oil as well. If you can, you should boil or steam your food to retain nutrients lost due to frying. If you have to use oil, use healthier oils like olive or canola oil.
