10 Tips for Healthy Diet

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), a healthy diet meets certain very specific criteria. Above all, it must be varied and must consist of fruits, vegetables, legumes, dried fruits and whole grains every day. The daily intake of simple sugar should not exceed 50 grams and it is also important to monitor your salt intake which should not exceed 5 g/day. The WHO also insists on the need to favor unsaturated fats rich in omega 3, 6 and 9 over trans fatty acids and unsaturated fats.

Eat Fruits and Vegetables

Eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day (400 g) is the first recommendation to observe for healthy eating. Numerous scientific studies have shown that this makes it possible to reach the recommended daily fiber intake and helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, but also the occurrence of certain cancers. Low in calories, satiating, full of vitamins and minerals, fruits and vegetables are all good. To achieve this, the ideal is to eat it with each meal, but also to eat a fresh fruit for snacks. Soups, fresh fruit juices, compotes, raw vegetables as an aperitif, fruit to sweeten natural yoghurt, gratins and vegetables, smoothies must become your best friends!

Eat Fresh, Seasonal Foods

Nature is well made and each season, it offers us foods whose nutritional benefits are adapted to our needs. Just look at fruits and vegetables! In summer, when we need water and our energy expenditure is lower, the fruits and vegetables that we find at the greengrocers are precisely those that are richest in water: watermelons, zucchini, melons, but also tomatoes, radishes and cucumbers. In winter, however, our body needs vitamin C, but also nutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements) to strengthen the immune system and provide energy. And that’s good because it’s then the peak season for fruits rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits and vegetables bursting with minerals such as spinach or leeks. Eating seasonal foods is not enough, the ideal is also to favor the consumption of fresh products. If they are certainly more fragile and less easily stored, they are also free of preservatives, flavor enhancers and all chemicals harmful to our body.

Choose organic and local food

Some see organic only as a marketing argument. However, eating organic is good for the environment and for our health by reducing exposure to pesticides and heavy metals. Consuming organic, whether it is fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products or even fish and generally the assurance of eating food with more taste and flavor. Organic meats are also less fatty, just like organic cereals are richer in minerals. But for organic to rhyme with healthy eating, it is important to favor vegetables grown in the ground and not in greenhouses. And as we have seen, to provide our body with all the nutrients it needs, let’s try as much as possible to consume organic, local AND seasonal.

Listen to your body

Good nutrition contributes to mental balance. Eating healthy foods, developing balanced meals, having fun while cooking, all of this also works to make us happy! Provided that we do not ask too much and do not do violence to our body. It is important to listen to the signs that they send us and to eat to satiety, also allowing yourself pleasure meals.

Drink a lot of water

Drinking well (water!) is as important as eating well. Water is an essential element for a healthy diet.ine and balanced. It is even quite simply the one and only essential drink for our body. This does not mean that we have to be satisfied with it (pleasure matters too!), but to stay healthy we should consume 1.5 L of water a day, the equivalent of about 8 glasses. Water has many benefits. It allows in particular the elimination of toxins, the thermoregulation of the body, prevents urinary tract infections, helps to regulate transit, and improves the quality of the skin. So we can’t do without it! Sugary drinks must therefore remain exceptional and the consumption of sodas and energy drinks should be avoided as much as possible.

Reduce Sugars

In all things, measure is good, says the proverb. An adage that can easily be applied to the consumption of sugar. If this is not to demonize sugar, it should be remembered that not all sugars are useful to our body. Yes, carbohydrates are the body’s fuel…but we’re not talking here about “free sugars” added to cakes or sodas! The WHO recalls that “in adults as in children, the consumption of free sugars should not exceed 10% of the total energy intake”. To reduce its daily consumption as part of a healthy diet, it is therefore necessary to reduce the intake of sugary drinks, sweets, fruit juices, and commercial cakes. You should also favor good quality sugars as much as possible and replace white sugar with maple or agave syrup, coconut sugar and whole cane sugar.

Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

To eat healthy, it is important to reduce your consumption of ultra-processed products as much as possible. And it’s not always easy as these are present in all the departments: soft drinks, chocolate, sweets, industrial cakes, sweet cereals, ready meals, sauces, sandwich bread, dairy desserts, crisps, chicken nuggets, fish breaded, etc. These foods are often too fatty, too sweet, too salty and full of additives and therefore bad for your health. They are also not very satiating and encourage snacking. As part of a healthy diet, it is therefore better to avoid them as much as possible. There’s nothing like a good dish of homemade nuggets with real chicken fillets and breadcrumbs, or a good snack for the kids with a family-baked cake. Doing it yourself also allows you to control the amounts of sugar and fat.

Use Various Oils

Eating healthy does not mean that you have to ban fat from your diet. The important thing is to vary the sources of fat and eliminate those that are harmful. Remember that there are several kinds of fatty acids: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated and trans. Most trans fatty acids, or “partially hydrogenated fats”, are present in industrial products where they are found in the form of preservatives, flavour enhancers or texture agents. They really should be avoided. It is therefore best to avoid them. Fat is however essential to our body and it is important to consume it by favoring butter consumed raw, oils of good quality and preferably organic (sunflower, flax, hemp, camelina, nuts), for cooking we choose by example of olive oil or coconut oil. As for the saturated fats present for example in red meat, fresh cream, cheeses, they must be consumed sparingly and without excess. And do not forget also that in terms of energy, calorie intake must obviously be adapted to expenditure. In order not to gain weight, fats should not exceed 30% of the total daily energy intake.

Use Various Protein Sources

It’s not just meat and fish in life! There are many sources of protein and nothing is more interesting than to vary them. Red and white meats, fish, eggs and dairy products are proteins of animal origin. Lentils, chickpeas, split peas, but also white, black and red beans and tofu are proteins of vegetable origin. Some other foods are also very high in protein such as oleaginous fruits and cereals such as quinoa, spelt or buckwheat. We know that red meat contains a lot of saturated fatty acids, so it should be consumed in moderation as part of a healthy diet and favor white meats which are also more digestible. We obviously do not forget fatty fish such as mackerel, sardines, herring and salmon, rich in omega 3. To vary your diet even more and eat healthy, legumes are precious allies.

10 Tips for Healthy Diet

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