Being healthy and fit isn’t a trend; it’s a lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle gives you a happy, stable, and successful life. Unfortunately, we always think about the future and take shortcuts to achieve success in a shorter period of time. Achieving our goals with shortcuts can be stressful and it may lead to an invitation for various illnesses and disabilities.
Nowadays, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be tricky and difficult due to changing lifestyles, increased expectations, and expenses. Being physically fit does not mean you’re healthy, in a true sense, having good health means being both mentally and emotionally healthy. Though various factors affect the quality of life, we can purposefully change our lifestyle & habits to live a more productive life. Small changes in your lifestyle can impact your life positively.
What is a Healthy Diet?
Most people have gotten it wrong. They eat foods that weigh them down and not enough of those that will help them live long, healthy lives.
A 2019 study found consumption of nearly all healthy food is below optimal levels. Researchers reported the healthy foods you don’t eat are as important, if not more so, as the unhealthy foods you may eat too often. They noted that “suboptimal diet is responsible for more deaths than any other risks globally, including tobacco smoking.”
Low intakes of whole grains and fruit were the worst offenders when it came to negative impacts on health. Not eating enough nuts and seeds, vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and polyunsaturated fats also had negative effects on quality of life. Overconsumption of salt was a serious issue for long-term health, too.
This study shines a light on what you need to add to achieve a healthy diet, instead of only focusing on what you need to cut out. Author Michael Pollan summed it up simply in his book, In Defense of Food, when he observed we should, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Healthy dietary patterns are generally a variation of the Mediterranean diet (modeled after traditional dietary patterns from countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea). These diets emphasize whole, minimally processed foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and beneficial fats (especially from extra virgin olive oil).
This type of diet can be adjusted to fit most dietary, cultural, or ethical preferences. It can be healthy with or without animal-based foods. Although, careful planning is often required to ensure vegan and vegetarian diets are complete and balanced. Many people find that having some meat in their diet helps manage hunger better. But it’s a personal choice only you can make. You may also opt for organic produce and grass-fed or pasture-raised animal products.
