Recent research in the field of dietetics and healthy eating has not brought much innovation to the usual understanding of good nutrition. Recently, scientists from the Moscow Center for Cardiology and the Research Institute of Nutrition, with the assistance of the Center for Prevention Medicine, put forward a concept known as the “10 Steps to Healthy Eating.” This is why the new concept is interesting: without discovering anything new, it affirms simple previously known principles that are easy to follow and maintain good health. At the same time, eliminate the problem of excess weight forever.
In the concept of healthy eating, the basic rules of healthy eating are formulated, which include several steps:
1. The basis of a balanced and well-built diet is a variety of foods. Preference should be given to herbal products. There is no food product that would satisfy the body’s needs with all or at least most of the necessary substances. Therefore, there should be maximum variety in your diet.
2. Against the background of a general preoccupation with dietary foods, it may seem strange that potatoes, pasta and bread should be the basis of the daily diet. You should not categorically refuse potatoes and bread. It’s not just carbohydrate foods. They contain groups of compounds that are important for digestion, dietary fiber, vitamins B and C necessary for the body. Nutritionists advise not to exclude bread from the daily diet, preferring to give preference to black bread, from second grade flour, preferably coarsely ground and with bran. Despite the fact that potatoes contain carbohydrates, they are less in starch than in the same amount of fat or alcohol. Doctors – nutritionists dispute the claim that carbohydrate foods, such as potatoes, pasta, bread, cereals, lead to excess weight. But they argue that the absence of these products in your menu will definitely lead to problems in the digestive tract and intestines.
3. A healthy diet is based on the consumption of about half a kilogram of vegetables and fruits, including potatoes, throughout the day . Vegetables are preferred. Numerous vitamins and minerals are very important for our body, but only those found in natural foods. These sources are, of course, vegetables and fruits. Essential substances such as antioxidants, minerals, iron, known folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins can be obtained from a varied fruit and vegetable table in your daily diet. What is included in dietary supplements is just an attempt to get something that is not there in the required quality. With a variety of vegetable diet, you will postpone or completely eliminate the threat of vascular and heart disease, hypertension, atherosclerosis.
4. For the full functioning of the body, especially for children, women and adolescents, a daily intake of calcium is necessary. You need a daily intake of foods containing this invaluable mineral. Eat milk, yogurt, hard cheese, kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese. An important factor to consider is that these foods should contain a small percentage of fat and salt. If you are lactose intolerant or for other reasons, when a person cannot eat dairy products, it is possible to obtain calcium from sea fish, dark green leafy vegetables and other foods.
5. Proteins from red meat are not healthy. Animal fats should be reduced to a minimum. You should not give up meat at all. Fatty varieties should be replaced with white meat, chicken, fish; partially replace meat with legumes as they contain complete protein. Meat should be eaten a little. If you cannot completely exclude various sausages and sausages from the diet, then they should be consumed to a minimum.
6. The daily diet should include fat, preferably vegetable. Don’t forget about those found in meat, dairy products, especially butter made from cow’s milk cream. Fatty acids are involved in the regulation of the nervous system, the functions of the skin, kidneys, vision and immunity. The norm of butter is no more than 30 grams per day, as well as up to 20 grams of vegetable oils.
7. There is a well-known expression: sugar is a white death and you shouldn’t get carried away with it. However, doctors say that they should not be neglected either. Its amount should not exceed ten percent of the total daily amount of calories. Don’t forget about the so-called “hidden” sugar found in soda, bread, and even sausage.
8. Salt is also sufficient in finished products, especially sausage, canned food, cheese, and bread. Salt is necessary for the body, but it should be remembered that its amount should not exceed one teaspoon per day, including salt, which is hidden. A large amount of salt causes the development of hypertension. Instead of regular salt, it will be useful to use iodized or sea salt.
9. Maintain your weight, monitor it. Everyone knows that excess weight provokes such pathologies as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart pathologies. There is a well-known scheme for determining the rate of your weight according to the well-known mass index. Normally, it should balance from 18.5 to 24.9. With a sufficient level of physical activity and a balanced diet, maintaining a regime of rest and activity, you will be able to maintain health and youth for a long period of your life.
To calculate your BMI, you need to divide your weight by your height squared. The resulting figure will tell you whether you should worry, think, or not worry about the extra pounds at all. For example, your height is 1 meter 62 centimeters. Squared, this is 1.62 times 1.62 = 2.624. Your weight is 82 kilograms. Dividing 82 by 2.624 gives 31.25. If you go back to the ideal index, then your result is outside of it. In this case, we are already talking about a significant excess of the norm. Don’t take immediate action: the best way to get your weight back is through a healthy diet and physical activity, not as temporary measures, but as a new way of living. Do not panic. Recognize the problem and begin to joyfully solve it. Review your diet, get rid of stereotypes of proper nutrition. Don’t rule out potatoes, pasta, and bread. Beneficial weight loss is slow and steady.
10. Reduce to a minimum, if you are not ready to completely eliminate the use of alcoholic beverages. Even if you drink a little of a quality drink, but every day, then your body needs at least one day a week of complete elimination of alcohol. Alcohol dependence develops rapidly, and its companions – a deficiency of minerals and vitamins, a malfunction in metabolism, a destructive effect on the brain, cardiovascular and nervous system, intestines, liver, kidneys and pancreas will not keep you waiting for consequences. In short, alcohol is not a friend of health, but its enemy.
We’ve looked at ten principles of healthy nutrition that are not new or complex in themselves. Performing them, you will rejuvenate your body, improve metabolic processes in it, you will feel better, more cheerful, younger. And eating a healthy diet can be tastier than you might think. The main thing is to set goals for yourself and go towards their implementation, even if slowly, but confidently. When it comes to healthy eating, you will never regret it by giving it time and attention.