Everyone takes care of their health, but it can be challenging to change things up as needed. Fortunately, you can make many simple changes that will improve your appearance, energy levels, and general well-being. These changes can all be made within the realm of your dinner table—without sacrificing taste or cost! These small changes will help you look and feel better. Reducing saturated fats, eating smaller meals throughout the day, increasing fiber intake, and eating more plant-based foods are just a few changes you can make to enhance your appearance and well-being. Here are five dietary changes that will improve how you live.
1. Load Up on Fruits and Veggies
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the most effective way to reduce the risk of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. For this reason, there have been many studies performed to find out what types of food are the most important for reducing chronic disease risk.
These studies show that high consumption of fruits and vegetables is linked with a lower risk for many chronic diseases.
One study found that people who ate 40% or more of their daily calories from fruits and vegetables had only half the risk for heart disease as those who ate less than 15%. Another study found that those who ate more than four servings a day had a reduced risk for death from cancer by 60%, compared to those who ate less than one serving per day.
Consuming more fruits and veggies can also help you look better by keeping your weight under control and reducing your risk for diabetes, kidney stones, and certain forms of cancer.
2. Choose Better Fats
One of the most common recommendations that many people make to improve their health is to reduce the number of saturated fats in their diets. But saturated fats have been proven beneficial for our bodies and should be included in our everyday diets, especially if you are trying to lose weight.
The saturated fats found in the foods we eat are essential for the proper function of our bodies and can help maintain healthy cholesterol levels. The types of fat you should avoid when trying to lose weight are trans fats, which are found primarily in processed foods, and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, which can be found in many processed foods.
There is also a third type of fat that you should avoid—saturated animal fat—which provides no benefits for your body but instead can put your body into an unhealthy state by causing inflammation, heart disease, and some forms of cancer.
3. Drink Water, Not Lattes
Water is the essential liquid that you should be drinking every day. It serves as your body’s base and helps keep everything in balance. Without water, your body will not function properly, leading to many health problems. Water is also important to your mental health.
This is why getting enough water into your body every day is essential because dehydration can cause many discomforts in our bodies, such as headaches and muscle cramps. When trying to lose weight, drinking more water is crucial for keeping your metabolism up to speed and burning calories at an optimal rate. Apart from drinking water, there are many other ways to stay more hydrated.
If you drink regularly, consider cutting back on the amount of alcohol you consume. Alcohol dehydrates your body which leads you to feel sluggish. If you feel it is too difficult, consider looking into a stop drinking online course.
4. Eat More Fiber
Fiber is another essential nutrient that you should be getting in your daily diet. Fiber is necessary for maintaining a healthy digestive system and is suitable for lowering cholesterol levels. Fiber can be found in fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans.
However, the fiber found in whole grains has been shown to help increase satiety and reduce appetite by delaying the digestion of foods. On the other hand, refined carbohydrates such as added sugars do not benefit our bodies. Instead, they have been proven to lead to various health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
5. Keep Portions in Check
Keep portion sizes to a minimum when you are trying to lose weight. Portion sizes are too large, which can cause overeating and overconsumption of calories. You should eat smaller portions at each meal and not overeat at any of your meals.
Conclusion
It is essential to pay attention to your diet and ensure that you are getting all of the nutrients you need. It is also crucial to avoid eating too many calories because this will lead to excess fat gain. However, it is not a good idea to cut out all of the foods that you love or eat only a few foods because it can make you feel unsatisfied and can cause you to turn back toward unhealthy foods.
