No matter how young or how old you are, good nutrition is essential to looking and feeling your best. You can plan to make meals that will provide top nutritional value by keeping some basic ideas in mind. Consider the solid advice in the article below to start eating right to stay healthy.
Vitamin D is an important part of a healthy diet. It assists in bone and teeth formation by maintaining calcium and phosphorous levels in the body. Vitamin D also helps in immune function and cell growth. Lowering cancer risk is yet another benefit of vitamin D.
Vitamin E is an important part of a healthy diet. It acts as an antioxidant, ridding the body of free radicals that have the ability to damage your cells and help to cause cancer and cardiovascular disease. Immune function and DNA repair are also helped by Vitamin E. You can get Vitamin E in vegetables oils, fortified cereals, nuts, beans, whole grains and leafy green vegetables.
To eat healthier, you should avoid certain kind of meats. Meat is necessary to your diet, but you need to learn how to recognize what kind of meat is good. Stay away from fried chicken or rich sauces and gravy. Healthy meats include red meats such as beef, and poultry.
Snacks, such as fruit smoothies, are a nutritious and delicious treat. When you purchase smoothies from a stand or store, you don’t know how many calories are in it. Making your own smoothies will let you know exactly what’s in it. It’s also easy to work smoothies into your diet. A good healthy smoothie that is low in calories can be made from skim milk, bananas, fresh fruit, Greek Yogurt and ice.
Leeks, garlic and onions are sometimes frowned upon due to their odor. But if you have avoided them, you should reconsider. They provide B and C vitamins and help liver function. Many studies have indicated their properties in deterring cancer. Cooking them in complex dishes, reduces their strong odor.
Allow your kids to help you choose healthy foods while grocery shopping. Kids are more likely to eat vegetables that they had a hand in selecting. Kids can also try some new items this way, particularly if they’re very colorful.
For best nutrition, be sure to choose fats wisely. Butter was once thought to be the enemy due to the high amount of saturated fat. However, margarine has been found to be high in trans fats, which are unhealthy for the heart. Best would be to limit your fats as much as possible, second best would be one of the “Smart Balance” non-trans-fat type margarine’s, and third best would be to use real butter, but very sparingly.
As you can see, it is easy to plan for optimum nutrition and excellent health with just a few basic ideas to keep you on the right track. Looking and feeling your best, no matter what your age, is within your control. Start using the suggestions in the article above for your best nutrition.