Healthy eating – the most important rules

Proven content

More and more people consciously choose healthy eating. This is a step in the right direction because we are what we eat. Eating properly composed meals not only allows you to avoid many unpleasant symptoms, but also often allows you to eliminate many diseases. Find out what is healthy eating and compose the menu in accordance with the applicable rules.

Healthy eating – what is it about?

Eating healthy means eating a variety of foods that provide the nutrients you need to stay healthy, feel well and energized. These nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals.

Nutrition is important to everyone. Combined with being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy is an excellent way to keep your body strong and healthy.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) healthy eating throughout life helps prevent all forms of malnutrition, as well as many non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and a wide variety of ailments. However, increased production of processed foods, rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in eating patterns. Today, people consume more high-energy foods, fats, free sugars, and salt / sodium while consuming little enough fruit, vegetables, and dietary fiber.

A healthy diet should provide us with the right amount of energy (calories or kilojoules) from food and drinks to maintain energy balance. An energy balance is one in which the calories taken from the diet are equal to the calories consumed by the body. We need these calories for daily activities like walking and moving, but also for all bodily functions that we may not even think about. Processes such as breathing, pumping blood around the body, and thinking also require calories.

So food and drink provide the calories we need for our daily living, but consuming more calories than we need for a period of time will result in weight gain. This is because any extra calories that we eat and don’t use will be stored as fat.

The exact composition of a varied, balanced and healthy diet will vary according to individual characteristics (e.g. age, gender, lifestyle and level of physical activity), cultural context, locally available food and eating habits. However, the basic principles of healthy eating remain the same.

Read also: Eating healthy helps protect the brain from dementia

We recommend Pro Natura products that are rich in fiber. At Medonet Market you can buy, among others:

1. Baked buckwheat flakes,
2. Breakfast rye flakes,
3. Barley flakes,
4. Ryżuski – rice flakes,
5. Otrębuski – whole grain flakes,
6. Oatmeal,
7. Baked oatmeal,
8. Breakfast wheat flakes,
9. Roasted millet flakes,
10. Spelled flakes,
11. Spelled crisps.

Healthy Eating – Rules for Adults

Adults should eat 5 meals a day – breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Adults should remember about fruits, vegetables, legumes (e.g. lentils and beans), nuts and whole grains (millet, oats, wheat and brown rice) in their diets.

It is very important to eat at least 400 g (i.e. five servings) of fruit and vegetables in your daily diet, excluding potatoes and sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes). Less than 10% of total energy intake should come from free sugars, which is equivalent to 50 g for a person with a healthy body weight, consuming about 2000 calories a day.

However, the ideal intake should be less than 5% of your total energy intake for additional health benefits. Free sugars are all sugars that are added to a food or drink by the manufacturer, cook, or consumer, as well as sugars naturally found in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates.

Less than 30% of your total energy consumption during the day should come from fats. The fatty acids found in fish, avocados, nuts, sunflower oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil and olive oil are most preferred in the daily diet.

The consumption of saturated fatty acids (found in meat, palm oil, cakes, bacon) and fat should be limited trans — all kinds of fats, including both industrially produced fats tranny (found in baked and fried foods as well as packaged snacks and foods such as frozen pizza, cakes, biscuits, biscuits, wafers, and cooking oils and spreads) and trans-fats found in meat and dairy products.

It is suggested to reduce the consumption of saturated fat to less than 10% of total energy and fat tranny to less than 1% of total energy consumption. Especially fats tranny industrially produced foods are not part of a healthy diet and should be avoided. In addition, an adult who cares for a healthy diet should consume less than 5 g of salt (about one teaspoon) per day.

The editorial board recommends: A healthy salt tax

Healthy eating – rules for children and babies

In the first 2 years of a child’s life, optimal nutrition promotes healthy growth and improves cognitive development. Proper nutrition also reduces the risk of being overweight or obese and developing noncommunicable diseases later in life.

The advice for a healthy diet for babies and children is similar to that for adults, but the following are also important:

1. infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life,
2. infants should be breastfed continuously for up to 2 years of age and longer,
3. from the age of 6 months, breast milk should be supplemented with various suitable, safe and nutritious foods. Salt and sugars should not be added to complementary foods.

See also: Mixed feeding – what is it?

Healthy eating – fruits and vegetables

Eating at least 400 grams or five servings of fruit and vegetables a day reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases and helps to ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fiber.

Consumption of fruits and vegetables – how to introduce into the diet:

1. always include vegetables in your meals, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner,
2. eat fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks
3. reach for seasonal vegetables and fruits – this will guarantee their freshness,
4. eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Read: List of the healthiest vegetables and fruits

Healthy Eating – Fats

Reducing the amount of total fat intake to less than 30% of total energy consumption helps prevent unhealthy weight gain in adults. In addition, the risk of developing non-communicable diseases is lowered by:

1. reduction of saturated fat to less than 10% of total energy consumption,
2. reduction of fats tranny up to less than 1% of total energy consumption
3. replacing both saturated fat and fat tranny unsaturated fats – in particular polyunsaturated fats.

Fat consumption, especially saturated fat and industrially produced trans fat, can be reduced by:

1. steaming or cooking instead of frying,
2. replacing butter, lard and oils rich in polyunsaturated fats such as soybean, rapeseed, corn, safflower and sunflower oil;
3. eating low-fat dairy products and lean meat,
4. reducing the consumption of baked and fried foods and pre-packaged snacks (e.g. donuts, cakes, cakes, biscuits, biscuits and wafers) that contain industrially produced fats tranny.

Read also: What to spread, what to fry on?

Healthy Eating – Salt, Sodium and Potassium

Most people eat too much sodium in the form of salt (equivalent to an average intake of 9-12 g of salt per day) and too little potassium (less than 3,5 g). High sodium intake and insufficient potassium intake contribute to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

People are often unaware of the amount of salt they eat. In many countries, most salt comes from processed foods (e.g. ready meals, processed meats such as bacon, ham and salami, cheese and savory snacks) or from foods that are often consumed in large amounts (e.g. bread). Salt is also added to food during cooking (e.g. stock, stock cubes, soy and fish sauce) or where it is eaten (e.g. table salt).

Salt intake can be reduced by:

1. reducing the amount of salt and high-sodium spices (e.g. soy sauce, fish sauce and broth) in cooking and food preparation
2. lack of salt or high-sodium sauces in the diet,
3. limiting the consumption of salty snacks,
4. choosing foods with a lower sodium content.

Some food manufacturers are changing recipes to reduce sodium in their products. In turn, consumers should be encouraged to check nutrition labels to see how much sodium is in a product before buying or consuming it.

Potassium can mitigate the negative effects of increased sodium intake on blood pressure. You can increase your potassium intake by consuming fresh fruits and vegetables.

Also read: What can a potassium deficiency indicate?

Healthy Eating – Sugars

For both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of the total energy intake. Reducing total energy consumption to less than 5% would provide additional health benefits.

Especially in children, a high intake of free sugars increases the risk of tooth decay. Excess calories from foods and drinks rich in free sugar also contribute to unhealthy weight gain, which can lead to overweight and obesity. Recent evidence also shows that free sugars affect blood pressure and serum lipids, and suggests that reducing the consumption of free sugars reduces risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Sugar consumption can be reduced by:

1. limiting the consumption of foods and beverages containing high amounts of sugars, such as sweet snacks, candies and sugar-sweetened beverages (i.e. all types of beverages containing free sugars – these are carbonated or non-carbonated beverages, fruit or vegetable juices and drinks, liquid and powder concentrates, water flavored, energy and sports drinks, ready-to-drink tea, ready-to-drink coffee and flavored milk drinks),
2. eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks instead of sweet snacks.

See: Will a proper diet help prevent cardiovascular disease?

Healthy eating – what else do I need to remember?

Nutrition isn’t the only thing that matters to optimal health. Following a healthy diet and exercise can further improve our health.

Good sleep is also essential. Research shows that sleep is just as important as nutrition in relation to the emergence of a wide variety of health conditions. It is also important to stay hydrated and drink the right amount of water.

Finally, try to minimize your stress. Long-term stress is associated with many health problems, including cardiovascular disease, depression and high blood pressure.

Healthy eating – menu

When it comes to healthy eating, the menu is varied in this case. There is no one universal one – it should be adapted to the individual needs of the body.

An example of the daily menu is presented below:

1. breakfast: sandwich of wholemeal bread with fruit yoghurt + orange juice
2. XNUMXnd breakfast: natural yoghurt with pieces of fruit + nuts
3. lunch: real beef burger + salad
4. afternoon tea: 1 slice of wholemeal bread with peanut butter
5. dinner: graham roll + tuna paste.

Note: Remember to drink enough fluids throughout the day.

Content from the site medTvoiLokony they are intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and his doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.