Healthy Eating

by Joy Mystic

In our life, we somtimes do not care much about the effects of food to our hralth. Though we understand that there are some certain types of foods which are not good for health such as heavy eating habit, we don’t pay attention to the illnessses that we ca get. For instance, comsuming too much fat foods can result in ebesity, or saturated fatscan cause arteriosclerosis, heart attack and stroke. Foods that can contribute to the growth of diabetes are white bread, pasta and rice.

Let’s look at six aspects of your diet that can affect your health in a positive or negative way:

Antioxidants
Organic vs. non-organic foods
Good and bad fats
Glycemic level
Your digestive system
Cooking techniques

1. Antioxidants

Many substances in our food attack and damage our DNA, which can cause faster aging (because the cells can’t regenerate correctly) or even cancer. Antioxidant-rich foods (e.g. berries, red beans, artichokes) can help to protect your cells and prevent these processes. Some foods even help your body to create its own antioxidants.

2. Organic vs. non-organic foods

Fruit and vegetables that were grown organic taste better and contain more nutrients because they were given their time to grow. Vitamins are essential to keep our body functioning and to keep our immune system strong. This will not only keep us healthier but also slow down our body’s aging process. In addition, organic foods are free from health-harming chemicals and contaminants.

3. Good and bad fats

Fat is not our enemy. Yes, too much fat causes problems like overweight. But our body needs fat. There are good fats that heal, and bad fats that make us ill. Saturated fat (mainly in animal products) increases the bad cholesterol level. Vegetable fats, on the contrary, are mainly unsaturated which is much healthier. Olive oil even lowers the bad and raises the good cholesterol level, preventing coronary disease.

4. Glycemic level

A high or strongly fluctuating blood sugar level is unhealthy. Refined foods like white bread or rice, and especially sugar, quickly push the blood sugar up but are absorbed rather fast. Eating large amounts of these simple-carbohydrate-foods increases your risk of diabetes. Grains and whole grain products, on the other hand, which are rich in complex carbohydrates keep your blood sugar fairly constant.

5. Your digestive system

It’s crucial to keep your digestive system performing at its best. If it doesn’t, you feel uncomfortable, detoxification works insufficiently, and nutrient absorption is disturbed. This can lead to a lack of vitamins and minerals which will cause a weak immune system. Eating many high fiber foods, like fruits, vegetables and whole grain products, can help to keep your digestive system balanced.

6. Cooking techniques

The health benefits of food lie not only in what you eat, but also in how you prepare it. Overheating oil in your pan, for example, can produce health-harming substances. Frying chips in oil will add lots of unhealthy fat to the healthy potatoes; it would be much healthier to oven-bake them with a bit of olive oil or without fat. Cooking vegetables in water, especially when overcooking, makes them lose many nutrients, whilst steaming retains most of them.

This should give you an idea of the importance of our food for our health. If you eat the right amount of the right things, prepared correctly, you can prevent many illnesses, feel energetic and grow old in health. If you eat the wrong things or too much of them, or prepare foods in an unhealthy way, this will have a negative impact on your health.

The good thing is that you don’t fall ill because you eat unhealthy once. Trouble starts when your body is exposed to health-harming substances over a long period. It’s never too late to change your diet. If you are not ill yet, you might be able to prevent illness. If you have fallen ill already, still change your diet! For if you start eating healthy, you can achieve improvements of your symptoms, giving more quality of life, or slow down the progress of your disease.