Introduction
Diet and nutrition through good selection of food play a major role in the sustenance of good health. Hence, understanding healthy eating habits and how diet and nutrition affect the body are concerns that should not be taken lightly. If you do not eat good food, your body will be open to different diseases and infections, and you will likely lose weight. The ability of good food to help us stay strong and healthy indicates a close relationship between good nutrition and good health.
The human body needs a balanced diet and nutrition; eating a balanced meal entails eating food that contains all the six food classes in their proper quantity, such as carbohydrates, protein, and others. Also, to maintain good health, one needs to understand the different tips for having good health through proper nutrition. Hence, this article discusses extensively 16 tips by which you can maintain good health and how eating healthy affects the body.
15 Tips for Healthy Eating
There are several tips and ways that can help you sustain good health through your diet and nutrition. Below are the different ways you could consider building into your daily routines:
1. Eat Good Food
Eating healthy food is one of the basic ways of improving one’s health. Good meals imply eating vegetables and fruits. Fruits like pineapple, apple, pear, pawpaw, etc., are good for maintaining good health. Again, you can eat foods high in protein for added advantage as the body needs high amounts of protein.
2. Go Out For Exercise
Daily exercise is very good for the body as it keeps it fit and active. When you go for exercise, you help the body improve its muscles and blood pressure.
3. Drink Clean and purified water
According to World Health Organization, about 890,000 people die annually from drinking unclean water. Drinking unclean water can cause gonorrhea, which is harmful to health. Hence, drinking clean water can help you maintain good health.
4. Take Medications When Sick
We cannot rule out the importance of medical care. Obtaining medical care should be in full accordance with a doctor’s prescription. It is also important to abstain from drug abuse because it can harm your health.
5. Embrace Proper Food Preparation
Proper food preparation involves using clean and uncontaminated kitchen utensils. Use only clean plates, knives, pots, etc., when cooking. A dirty kitchen and environment are detrimental to your health.
6. Reduce the Intake of Salt
The available statistics show that Americans eat 3,400mg of salt daily. Such a rate of salt is alarming as it can lead to heart failure and stroke, hence the need to reduce salt intake to ensure good health.
7. Avoid Eating Red Meat
Because of its fatty content, red meat can be detrimental to good health and lead to different heart diseases. Therefore, you can supplement red meat with foods high in protein, like fish and eggs, to maintain good health.
8. Avoid Alcoholic Drinks
When someone is drunk, he is more likely to make bad decisions. One such bad decision might be eating an unbalanced meal or starving. Such poor nutrition and starving habit can ultimately lead to ulcers. For this reason, avoid the excessive intake of alcoholic drinks at all costs and choose to eat good food.
9. Have A Healthy Sleep
In recent times, good or quality sleep has been strange to some people because technology now makes people work round the clock. However, you must create sleep time to ease yourself from excessive stress and maintain emotional stability. Depriving oneself a good sleep can cause emotional instability, depression, and insomnia in the long run. On the contrary, consistently having good sleep can improve our health. Therefore, sleeping for six or seven hours a day is advisable.
10. Do Not Over stress Yourself
Stress is not good for good health. We can eat good meals but still feel weak and sick because of excessive stress. The only way to escape unnecessary sickness is to abstain from excessive stress. The key word here is “excessive” because there is no way one can stay without engaging in stress. Although stress is inevitable, there should be a certain level to maintain good health successfully.
11. Eat Selected Foods
Some people eat a particular food for several days without changing it because of financial challenges. Eating a single meal for days is not proper or healthy and can contribute to poor growth. A particular food cannot contain all the nutrients our body needs. Thus, understanding how eating healthy affects the body is a key factor when eating selected foods. You have to eat different meals, vegetables, fruits, legumes, snacks, etc., to stay healthy and strong. Eat a balanced diet too.
12. Eat Foods With Enough Fiber
You will lose many health benefits if you do not like taking fiber food. High blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and high blood sugar are health challenges you may experience if you do not eat fiber foods. Your health will improve if you eat fiber foods like grains, vegetables, fruits, and leguminous food. Again, you will not have other health challenges when eating fiber food.
13. Eat Vitamin-Rich Foods
The lack of Vitamin D might not be harmful to health. However, vitamin D deficiency can sometimes affect our well-being. It can affect our sight and reduce the strength of our different bones. When you have enough vitamins in your body, your immune system enjoys a rare privilege of good health, making you immune to sickness. Eat different foods and fruits with vitamin content to help you reduce the possibility of having cancer.
14. Abstain From Smoking
Smoking cigarettes, Indian hemp, heroin, and other harmful drugs can work against our good health. One major way to stay healthy aside from eating good food is to abstain from smoking. When someone smokes, the person emits carbon dioxide, which is very harmful to good health. Smoking affects the human lungs and can lead to other chronic diseases. Instead of smoking, eat good foods or even fruits. You can eat vegetables and snacks to help you stay healthy and strong but do not be addicted to smoking because smoking affects good health adversely.
15. Drink Adequate Water
The body needs a certain water level to stay healthy and hydrated. However, it is not surprising to see some people go a whole day without drinking a cup of water, dehydrating their bodies. You must drink enough water and stay healthy as water has no sugar, fat, calories, or other harmful ingredients to harm the body. Endeavor to drink clean water because contaminated water can cause other health hazards to the body. There is no set quantity of water for an individual to drink in a day, but it is good to drink to your satisfaction to help you stay healthy.
How Does Good Diet and Nutrition Relate to Good Health?
The food you eat provides different nutrients to the body. The nutrients are in sufficient quantity in the different classes of food we eat. Therefore, each food class plays a specific role in achieving good health.
Below is the relationship between food and good health according to each food class.
1. Carbohydrates: Carbohydrate is the most consumed class of food, and it contributes greatly to good health. Below are its functions:
- It provides the body with glucose which yields energy.
- Carbohydrates provide the body with fibers that ensure good health.
- Some carbohydrates give the body different vitamins.
- Carbohydrates provide the body with the energy necessary for exercising to maintain good health.
- It helps the body process metabolism (changing food to nutrients).
Sources of Carbohydrates include yam, rice, potatoes, bread, grain, etc.
2. Protein: Protein provides the following to the body:
- Apart from carbohydrates, proteinous foods are also energy-giving food.
- Nutrients from protein strengthen the human bones.
- Protein serves as body-building food.
- Protein assists the body in developing hormones.
- It helps in replacing worn-out tissues.
Examples of proteinous food include beans, meat, eggs, fish, etc.
3. Fat and Oil: The benefits of fat and oil to the body are enormous. They include:
- Fat and oil help in creating cells.
- They are an essential class of any balanced meal
- Fat and oil help fight against anti-inflammation
- They reduce the rate of arthritis.
Fat and oil sources include palm oil, olive oil, cotton oil, etc.
4. Vitamins: The human body has 13 major vitamins, as stated by National Institute on Aging. The 13 vitamins play the following roles in the health of the body:
- Vitamins help improve good sight.
- Vitamins help the body fight against diseases
- Some vitamins support the working of the brain
- Vitamins can limit the rate of body rashes.
The major vitamins for the body remain essentially all fruits and vegetables.
5. Minerals: This food class is highly beneficial to the internal organs of a human. Minerals enable the formation of strong bones and aid the immune system’s overall well-being.
- Mineral foods give calcium for the building of strong bones.
- Minerals help the body have proper blood circulation.
- The iron from minerals helps the body to recover lost red blood cells.
- Minerals facilitate healthy blood pressure.
Sources of minerals to the body include plantain, cereal, nuts, etc.
6. Water: Water is essential to good health. Water plays the following functions in good health:
- Water helps the body wash away the poison from contaminated food.
- Drinking clean help regulate the body temperature.
- The water we drink assists the body in blood circulation.
Sources of clean water to the body include drinks, bottled water, and others.
Possible Effects Of Poor Diet and Nutrition On Human Health
Poor eating habits and nutrition can have adverse negative effects on a person. Understanding the role of diet and nutrition on health and how eating healthy affects the body are critical in combating the adverse effects of poor nutrition. The food we eat daily influences our well-being. Good foods positively affect the body, but a poor diet can pose health challenges. The human body demands good food with efficient nutrients to function effectively.
That is why poor nutrition can affect our health in the following ways:
- Salty food causes blood pressure in the body.
- Excessive sugar in food can cause diabetes and obesity.
- Eating an unbalanced diet works against the immune system.
- Fiber-rich food increases the possibility of cancer.
- The absence of vitamins is hazardous to human health. It can lead to blindness and the death of body cells and tissues.
- Poor nutrition causes high cholesterol in the body.
- Lack of good food weakens the body in fighting against infections. It slows down the rate of recovery from sickness.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the role of diet and nutrition on health and how eating healthy affects the body are crucial. This guide provides vital tips and insights into the need for good nutrition and dietetics. If you consciously apply the insights recommended in this guide, you will be on your way to achieving optimal health benefits.
