Developing healthy eating habits isn’t as
confusing or as restrictive as many people imagine. The essential steps are to
eat mostly foods derived from plants—vegetables, fruits, whole grains and
legumes (beans, peas, lentils)—and limit highly processed foods. Here are our
guidelines for building a healthy diet.
Healthy eating is not about strict dietary
limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods
you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, improving your
health, and stabilizing your mood. If you feel overwhelmed by all the
conflicting nutrition and diet advice out there, you’re not alone. It seems
that for every expert who tells you a certain food is good for you, you’ll find
another saying exactly the opposite. But by using these simple tips, you can
cut through the confusion and learn how to create a tasty, varied, and
nutritious diet that is as good for your mind as it is for your body.
How
can healthy eating improve your mood?
We all know that eating right can help you
maintain a healthy weight and avoid certain health problems, but your diet can
also have a profound effect on your mood and sense of wellbeing. Studies have
linked eating a typical Western diet—filled with processed meats, packaged
meals, takeout food, and sugary snacks—with higher rates of depression, stress,
bipolar disorder, and anxiety. Eating an unhealthy diet may even play a role in
the development of mental health disorders such as ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease,
and schizophrenia, or in the increased risk of suicide in young people.
Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables,
cooking meals at home, and reducing your intake of sugar and refined
carbohydrates, on the other hand, may help to improve mood and lower your risk
for mental health issues. If you have already been diagnosed with a mental
health problem, eating well can even help to manage your symptoms and regain
control of your life.
Important
to any healthy diet?
What is moderation? In essence, it means
eating only as much food as your body needs. You should feel satisfied at the
end of a meal, but not stuffed. For many of us, moderation means eating less
than we do now. But it doesn't mean eliminating the foods you love. Eating
bacon for breakfast once a week, for example, could be considered moderation if
you follow it with a healthy lunch and dinner—but not if you follow it with a
box of donuts and a sausage pizza.
Try not to think of certain foods as
“off-limits.” When you ban certain foods, it’s natural to want those foods
more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. Start by
reducing portion sizes of unhealthy foods and not eating them as often. As you
reduce your intake of unhealthy foods, you may find yourself craving them less
or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.
Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have
ballooned recently. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entree,
split a dish with a friend, and don't order supersized anything. At home,
visual cues can help with portion sizes. Your serving of meat, fish, or chicken
should be the size of a deck of cards and half a cup of mashed potato, rice, or
pasta is about the size of a traditional light bulb. By serving your meals on
smaller plates or in bowls, you can trick your brain into thinking it’s a larger
portion. If you don't feel satisfied at the end of a meal, add more leafy
greens or round off the meal with fruit.
Take your time. It actually takes a few
minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat
slowly and stop eating before you feel full.
Eat with others whenever possible. Eating
alone, especially in front of the TV or computer, often leads to mindless
overeating.
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