Generally, a healthy eating pattern consists of food with a low glycemic index or load.
When it comes to the glycemic index, common sense should dictate your decisions. The goal is to limit nutrient-poor, processed foods with refined starches and sugars. Not foods from nature. Many starchy vegetables, such as carrots, and fruits have a higher glycemic index.
But there’s no evidence these foods are harmful.
In fact, a 2018 review showed dramatic benefits linked to eating multiple servings of whole fruit. This is thanks, in part, to their fiber content and prebiotic effects (i.e., how well they feed the good bacteria in your gut). Benefits were seen in cardiovascular, digestive, metabolic, respiratory, and bone health. Plus, eating fruit improved measures of psychological well-being and skin health, too.
A Day in the Life of a Healthy Diet (for Adults)
Now you’ve digested a good overview of what a healthy diet includes. So, let’s look more closely at how those foods could shape your daily eating.
The following standards reflect commonalities and differences of the most well-established healthy eating patterns. These include the Mediterranean diet, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (commonly called DASH), Mediterranean-DASH-diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND), Flexitarian (or semi-vegetarian), and USDA Dietary Guidelines.
t’s all about finding the balance that works for you. To find what you enjoy, pay attention to the signals from your body, not just your taste buds. What does your body like? How do certain foods make you feel? Writing down the answers to these questions in a food journal can help.
Try new things, but don’t force yourself to eat foods you dislike. Your best diet is the one that’s made up of the healthiest, most nutritious foods you will love eating for life.
