Heathy Foods

Proper nutrition is the key to health, strength and beauty. Hippocrates also said: "Tell me what you eat, and I will say how you sick." A healthy person is most often quite inattentive to what he eats. Having become ill, people go to pharmacies for expensive drugs, forgetting about such a reliable and constantly acting therapeutic agent as food. The statement of Hippocrates is still relevant: "Let your food be medicine for you, and medicine - food."

Our health, disease prevention, and life expectancy largely depend on proper nutrition, built on the basis of nutritional science data.

Healthy nutrition is an ancient and wise science, its laws are simple: variety, balance, sense of proportion. We eat more than we spend energy, so everyone needs to increase their physical activity in order to be in harmony with themselves and nature.

The effect of nutrition on life expectancy and longevity has been experimentally proven. The conditions of longevity are formulated by the ancients: eat less, move more, always be in a good mood

The harm of malnutrition manifests itself gradually. Therefore, often many people relate to the issue of nutrition with insufficient attention and seriousness. Unfortunately, there is still an opinion that eating right means eating tasty food and how much you want.

How often do we underestimate the role of proper nutrition, cook food in haste, without attaching importance to the selection of products and dishes.

Until now, many treat vegetables and fruits as “frivolous” foods. But food of plant origin has all the vitamins and minerals necessary for the body, it is low in calories, has an anti-atherosclerotic effect, improves metabolism, and normalizes the activity of the gastrointestinal tract.

Back in the early 20th century, scientists decided to divide products into groups depending on how useful they are for the human body. Over the course of many decades, this model was formed and modified in order to acquire the final form, which was called the universal food pyramid. It happened in America in 1992.

Since then, this theory has bypassed the whole world, but each country developed its own pyramid, which depended on the national characteristics and gastronomic habits of the region. New discoveries in science and medicine over the past decade have also made adjustments to the structure of the food pyramid. The latter pyramid was developed by the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles. Unfortunately, an independent version of the pyramid, adapted for residents of post-Soviet countries, has not been created.

What is the meaning of the pyramid of healthy eating? The pyramid of nutrition is based on the most useful foods on which the diet should be based. Above the main level there are three more floors, which are gradually narrowing, as the benefits of products in the human diet decrease.

The foundation of the pyramid, and as a result, the basis for our health are vegetables and fruits. After all, it is vegetables and fruits that contain the greatest amount of vitamins and minerals. These foods are low in calories and contain the optimal amount of energy.

On the second floor of the pyramid, cereals and cereals rich in fiber were settled. Potatoes, durum wheat pasta and brown rice are also included. Fiber and starch, which are abundant in these foods, promote healthy digestion.

On the third floor are high protein foods. This category can be divided into two parts. The first is dairy and dairy products. The second - animal proteins (meat and eggs), vegetable proteins (legumes) and seafood.

The top of the pyramid was headed by the so-called flavorings and seasonings: garlic, aromatic spicy herbs, peppers, avocados, olives, nuts.

In the previous pyramid there was also the fifth floor, which included animal fats, butter and sweets. However, in the new version, these products are completely excluded. The developers of the pyramid agreed that these products have nothing to do with a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

The basic principle of the pyramid is the rule - daily it is necessary to eat foods from all four floors. However, products from the lower floor (vegetables and fruits) should be half of the daily diet, the aggregate of products from other sectors of the pyramid will be the second half (25% - cereals, 20% - milk, meat, fish, 5% - additives).

To calculate the servings, the following measures are taken: milk, yogurt -1 cup, medium fruit - 1 piece, bread - 1 slice, cereals, rice, pasta - 90-100 grams, eggs - 2 pieces.

Daily it is recommended to eat from 7 to 11 servings of vegetables and fruits. It is advisable that each serving be a different color. Ideally, a daily healthy diet should contain foods of all colors of the rainbow. It is better to start the day with yellow and orange fruits (orange or carrot juice), during lunch it will be useful to eat something green (cabbage, cucumbers), but in the evening, pink or red foods (tomatoes, berries) will be just right.

Second floor foods should make up about a third of your diet (6 to 7 servings daily). Cereals should choose dark colors, they contain less carbohydrates, unlike light cereals, and pasta made from durum wheat. Potato should not be abused. Prefer bread made from rye flour.

Of the products of the protein group, nutritionists advise paying attention to fish. Of meat products, you should consume lean beef and veal, as well as white meat of chicken and turkey. But sausages, sausages and semi-finished products are best excluded from the diet. From dairy products - kefir, yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese. The daily diet should include 1-2 servings (100-150g) of such products.

It is believed that we get the products from the top of the pyramid when consuming products from the lower floors. Therefore, their consumption must be minimized.

Following the principles of proper nutrition, laid down in the pyramid, we not only provide a wholesome healthy diet, but also normalize metabolism, get rid of excess weight. Nutritionists around the world support the principles of the pyramid of healthy eating, creating on its basis diets and weight loss programs.

In order to be in shape and not suffer from hunger, it is not necessary to go on a diet. If you are not comfortable with your appearance, but you can accidentally gain weight, you do not have to eat less. It is enough just to reduce the calorie content while maintaining the same amount of food eaten - go from fatty to lighter. This will help you table calorie foods. In no case do not reduce the frequency of food intake. On the contrary, it is recommended to eat more often, but in smaller portions. It would also not hurt to introduce fasting days into the daily routine and engage in sufficient physical activity.

The main and wholesome diet is a healthy diet, it is the healthiest way to be healthy and look at 100. And in case of need, under no circumstances should you switch to dietary nutrition without first consulting a doctor, since thoughtless starvation or exclusion of certain foods from food is fraught impaired liver function, loss of protein and vitamin deficiency.

Sometimes, in order to be healthy, we put ourselves to such trials, from which the inquisitors would probably become ill: we are starving, now we are “cleaning”, or we are being treated. Or is it better to adhere to the laws of reasonable nutrition? And then many problems will be solved at once: appearance, weight, health and budget.

Food should be varied, freshly prepared. Food that is repeatedly warmed up, which has stood in the refrigerator for several days, loses its useful properties. Digestion, overcooking of food is unacceptable. A burnt crust will be harmful to health. It is necessary to pay attention to the quality of drinking water.

Reduce the intake of unhealthy foods. These are canned foods, especially meat and fish, smoked meats, hydrogenated fats, mayonnaise, Coca, Fanta and almost all carbonated drinks, many confectionery products. It is also advisable to avoid all salty, refined vegetable oils, sugar and all products containing it, table vinegar, spices. Finally, it is recommended to limit the use of white bread from refined flour and polished rice (especially for sick and less mobile people).

Fans of all kinds of preservatives, flavors, essences, emulsifiers, sweeteners, carcinogens, hot spices and canned foods should know that fast food that came from the West with the beautiful name “Fast Food” is not only very harmful to our body, but simply catastrophically dangerous and poses a serious threat to our health. With the dubious advantages of fast food - the speed of preparation and its special taste - it has a number of undoubted and very serious drawbacks. Our stomach and intestines are simply not accustomed to such foods, fatty and heavy. It is much easier and more beneficial for our body to eat what our ancestors ate for centuries - traditional cereals from various cereals, first dishes for lunch and many of their vegetables and fruits, which carry the least risk of allergies to them. In food outlets with a similar name — like McDonald's or Kentucky Chicken — literally all fried foods — sandwiches, hamburgers, french fries, and fried chickens — contain oxidized cholesterol, which helps accelerate the development of atherosclerotic plaques on the walls of blood vessels. In addition, the frequent use of fast food is fraught with the occurrence of heart disease, allergies, obesity, diabetes, upset stomach and liver.

Not without reason, most of the US population suffers from obesity, because fast food has long become part of their daily lives as much taken for granted that it is already considered as full-fledged food as home-cooked food.

It's never too late to try to change your lifestyle and eating habits for the better in order to be healthy.