|
9 steps to a healthier you
Weight loss, overweight, remove dietery fat, crash diets, obese, starvation, fasting, no carb foods… all these are marketing jingles that are commonly associated with gimmicks for weight and fat loss. But unfortunately, no one understands the far reaching implications of these and very often, the gullible relate to them for good, sound health.
But good sound health is only 9 steps away if you can follow these guidelines.
1. Be regular in your routine
Stick to your biological clock. Most of us cannot do this because of our busy and hectic lifestyles but this is one of the most important factors to maintain good health. Our body has set all our activities and habits on its own clock known as biological clock and it is maintained by the body in our routine. That is the reason we feel sleepy at a particular time and hungry as per our meal time. Changes in these habits are acceptable only upto a certain extent. If you are suffering from problems like sleeplessness or constipation, you are definitely not following your biological clock.
2. Stick to nature
In the name of ‘convenience’ most of us are now preferring processed foods which are really very harmful for us when consumed over prolonged periods. The additives such as colours, preservatives, artificial sweeteners in these foods are very unhealthy. Fruits and vegetables along with other cereals, pulses, eggs, meat, fish, and poultry are able to fulfill all our body requirements.
As far as possible do prefer natural foods in its natural form only.
Following are few examples that can be illustrated to understand this better:
- Prefer whole fruit instead of fruit juices.
- Vegetable like carrots, beetroot are more nutritious when added to salads rather than in juice form.
- Do not peel off fruits like apple, chickoo, pear etc.
3. Seasonal adaptations
Changes in the season influence greatly on the health of an individual. So in order to counterbalance we need to change our diet as per the season. For instance, we should include more water and other fluids in the diet during summer whereas the consumption of carbohydrates and fats should be high during winter.
4. Do not overeat
Anything in excess is always harmful and food is not an exception! Overeating for prolonged time leads to overweight and obesity. We should plan and divide our food in three or four meals but avoid eating in excess. According to Ayurveda, a meal should be eaten on time and its quantity should be in such a way that 2 parts of stomach are occupied by food, 1 part by water and 1 part should be empty in order to have proper digestion.
5. Be away from salty & spicy foods
Salt and spices are part of our cuisine but the quantity in which we are consuming them is of prime importance. Salt is a main source of sodium in our diet but its high consumption is correlated with hypertension and high blood pressure. Also excessive spicy food is very harmful for our health. We can definitely cut down the excessive salt by use of lime juice, black pepper powder, coriander etc in food.
6. Prefer carbohydrates especially starch & fibre
Most of us use to exclude carbohydrates from our diet as a part of the weight management but it is always preferable to include complex carbohydrates such as starches and fibres instead of simple sugars from juices, table sugar, milk and honey. The main reason is the digestion of the complex sugars is comparatively at the slower rate than the simple ones, that is, these sugars take longer time for digestion. Starches are good substitutes for fats and sugars as they contain fibre. Fibre in diet reduces cholesterol and also plays a vital role in avoidance of constipation. On the other hand simple sugars get directly absorbed in blood.
7. Say no to high fat, cholesterol & saturated fat
Intake of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, ghee, butter, vanaspati etc needs to be in moderate quantities. Try and avoid high sugar and fried foods.
Following listed foods should be avoided or limited where ever we can:
- Soft drinks
- Doughnuts
- French fries
- Chips
- Fried non fish sea foods such as shrimps, oysters, lobsters etc
- Coffee
- Processed meats like bacon, sausages etc.
- Canned products
- Refined white flour
- Cookies
- Chocolates
- Dried coconut
- Butter
- Cream
- Burgers
- Pizza
- Fried chicken
- Hotdogs
- Ice cream
- Cakes
- Commercial breakfast cereals
- Baked foods
- Processed cheese products
Being slightly underweight is always better than overweight. Even if overweight, it should deduct in a right way & gradually otherwise it will invite major health problems or can be fatal. Our body requires energy for various activities including voluntary actions such as running, walking, typing, talking etc and involuntary actions such as respiration, digestion, pumping of heart etc. Basal metabolism, thus, represents a minimum energy required by the body for all these basic life processes. It varies with individual depending on different factors such as body size, age, diet, climate, genetic differences etc. We need to plan our diet taking into consideration all these factors.
9. Variations in diet
None of the foodstuffs can provide all the nutrients in the required amount. So we need to include different food groups in combinations. This will also remove monotony and also fulfil our entire nutrient requirement. Following are main food groups:
- Milk, dal, meat, fish, egg
- Fresh fruits & vegetable
- Cereals, pulses & cereal products
- Oils, fats, sugar & jaggery
We need to manage our meals in a way all these foods are covered.
Thus we can see that it is not a daunting task to maintain our well being.
