Healthy Eating: Tips for a Healthy Diet

Tips and advice for a healthy diet

A healthy diet helps improve your overall health and well being. A healthy diet can help you feel better, provide you with more energy, help you stay fit and active, and help you fight stress.

Healthy eating can prevent most cases of heart disease and diabetes and help ward off high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and some forms of cancer.

Eating smart: The first step towards healthy eating

Healthy eating begins with learning how to “eat smart”. -- It's not just what you eat, but how you eat.

Take time to chew your food: Digestion begins in the mouth. Chewing breaks the food into smaller particles and mixes the food with saliva that contains digestive enzymes. Thorough digestion is key to the absorption of nutrients and to good health! Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of what is in our mouths. Reconnect with the joy of eating.
Avoid stress while eating. When we are stressed, our digestion can be compromised. Avoid eating while working, driving, or watching TV (especially disturbing programs or the news). Also avoid confrontations, serious discussions or worry during meals. If you feel stressed or upset, stop eating and relax before continuing with your meal. Try taking some deep breaths prior to beginning your meal, or light candles and play soothing music to create a relaxing atmosphere.
Listen to your body: Stop eating when you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eating slowly can help you get a more accurate read on this, as well. Eating just enough to satisfy your hunger will help you remain alert, relaxed and feeling your best, rather than stuffing yourself into a “food coma”!
Eat early, eat often: Remember this old saying: breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. Starting your day with a healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating the majority of your daily caloric allotment early in the day gives your body time to work those calories off. Also, eating six small, healthy meals throughout the day, rather than the standard three large meals, can help keep your metabolism going and ward off snack attacks.

Healthy Eating Tips: The Basics

You don’t need a degree in nutrition to ensure that you get a well-balanced diet that provides the daily nutrients you need – simply focus on six basic food groups:

Whole Grains: Whole grains include whole wheat, brown rice, oatmeal, whole grain barley and millet. Avoid food with refined grains including many breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals.
Vegetables: Go for the brights: the deeper the color, the greater the concentration of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Dark green and orange vegetables, from broccoli, kale and mustard greens to butternut squash and sweet potatoes, are several excellent choices.
Fruits: Enjoy fruits in a number of ways: fresh, canned, frozen, dried, whole, cut-up, or pureed. Fruit juices can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per cup; avoid or dilute with water
Milk and other dairy: Choose low-fat dairy products. It is important to choose dairy products that DO NOT contain rBST (bovine growth hormone). Organic dairy is best. If you're lactose-intolerant, choose lactose-free and lower-lactose products, such as hard cheeses and yogurt.
Protein: Vary your healthy eating protein choices with a variety of fish, poultry, eggs, beans, peas, nuts and seeds. Minimize red meats containing high levels of saturated fat.
Oils: We’ve been taught to fear fats and oils, but fresh, high quality fats from olive oil, avocado, raw nuts & seeds, coconut and fish actually provide excellent (and necessary) sources of healthy fatty acids in your diet.

See Healthy fats: Choosing the right fats for your diet

Popular guidelines and healthy diet pyramids

Food pyramids are color-coded visual aids to help us understand how to eat more healthily. Most experts believe that the “new” 2005 USDA Food Pyramid has major flaws. The following are some respected alternatives; there are links to these and more in the “Related Links” section below.

The Healthy Eating Pyramid

The Harvard School of Public Health provides their own Healthy Eating Pyramid, which is intended to fix fundamental flaws in the USDA pyramid. For example, they disagree that it is fine to consume half of our grains as refined starch; they also take issue with lumping together red meat, poultry, fish, and beans, rather than encouraging people to replace red meat with a heart-healthy combination of fish, poultry, beans, and nuts.

The Healing Foods Pyramid

Some foods are believed to have “healing” properties. The University of Michigan Integrative Medicine team developed a Healing Foods Pyramid which emphasizes foods known to have healing benefits or essential nutrients; plant-based choices; balance and variety of color, nutrients, and portion size; support of a healthful environment; and mindful eating.

The MediterrAsian Pyramid

Mediterranean and Asian diets and lifestyle practices have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Many experts advocate following a similar diet, and a MediterrAsian food pyramid has been developed to help those with Western diets learn to eat more healthfully.

Vegetarian and Vegan Pyramids

If you're a vegetarian or a vegan (someone who avoids all forms of animal protein and dairy products), there are also pyramids designed specifically for you. Normal pyramids emphasize protein from animal sources, so it can be difficult for those who avoid animal products to gauge how healthfully they are eating. Plus, vegetarian diets are often lower in fat and higher in fiber. It’s important to find a pyramid that keeps the advantages and special needs of vegetarian diets in mind.

Vitamins, minerals and supplements for a healthy diet

Vitamins are organic compounds that your body needs for normal growth and health maintenance, but can’t make itself and must get from food or supplements. The way these vitamins function once ingested varies - fat-soluble vitamins like A and D tend to accumulate in the body and become toxic in large amounts, while water-soluble vitamins like C are flushed through the body on a daily basis. Minerals are inorganic substances necessary for the body to function properly.

For information on the specific vitamins and minerals your body need, see Dietary Supplements: Wise Use of Vitamins, Nutritional and Herbal Products

A well-balanced diet will often provide the right amount and type of vitamins and minerals for the body—if you are taking the time to shop for and prepare a “well balanced diet.” containing fresh fruits and vegetables. Certain groups of people (young children, pregnant women, and older people) may benefit from additional vitamins and minerals in their diet.

How much water should I drink with my healthy diet?

Most experts suggest drinking at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water a day. However, you may need to drink more water if you are very active, pregnant or breastfeeding, live in a warmer climate, or have certain health problems. Heavy people may also need more water.

Healthy diets for women, children, and seniors

Certain groups – specifically women, children, and seniors – have additional or different nutritional needs.

	Women: Women have specific nutritional needs at different times in their lives – especially during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause. In addition, many diseases common in women – heart disease, breast cancer, and osteoporosis – are affected by diet.	See Nutrition for Women for dietary help specific to women.
	Children: Good nutrition is the bedrock of lifelong health, and it begins in infancy. But getting children to eat well can be difficult. However, there is a lot that parents—and children—can do to develop and maintain healthy eating habits that last well into adulthood.	Healthy Eating for Kids and Teens offers tips to help parents and kids make better food choices.
	Seniors: Obstacles to proper diet, including emotional, lifestyle and physical factors, crop up as we age. Our metabolism slows down, activity levels are often reduced, and digestive issues can make it hard to process certain vitamins and minerals.	See Senior Nutrition and Creative Meal Sharing for advice about good senior nutrition.

Healthy eating while eating out

Generally, fast food meals are higher in calories, sodium and fat, and often lacking in important vitamins and minerals. And sit-down restaurants offer their own challenges, with large portions and overflowing bread baskets. It’s possible to eat a fairly nutritious meal on the go, by keeping the following in mind:

Avoid buffets - All-you-can-eat buffets promote overeating. If the temptation isn't in front of you, you are less likely to overindulge.

Stick to the light menu / make careful menu selections - Many restaurants indicate healthy fast food restaurants now offer a wider range of healthy choices and most will provide nutritional information on all of their offerings by request.

Don't be afraid to special order - Ask for your vegetables and main dishes to be served without the sauces. Ask if things are fried or cooked in oil or butter – if they are, see if you can order them in a more healthy way.

Share with others - Sharing entrees, appetizers and desserts with dining partners is a great idea. It allows you to sample something that you really want to have while also helping you avoid the temptation to overindulge.

Watch high fat and calorie sauces, dressings, and sodas - Eliminate sauces/dressings or take them on the side and use sparingly; drink water or low fat milk rather than high-sugar sodas.

For more tips, see Healthy Fast Food: Guide to Healthy Fast Food Restaurant Eating

Healthy cooking and eating healthy at home

Preparing healthy, good-for-you foods doesn’t have to be a stumbling block to a healthy diet. If you want to eat healthy at home, see Healthy Recipes: Guide to Fast Delicious Meals for easy recipes and tips.

Healthy Diets for Weight Loss

While it would be nice to pop a pill and wake up 20 lbs lighter, the truth is that healthy weight loss takes time and effort, as well as a commitment to lifelong maintenance and “mindful eating”.

Healthy Weight Loss Myths and Facts

MYTH: Fasting is a great way to lose weight.

FACT: Hollywood starlets swear by “fasts” or “cleanses” where they eat practically nothing for days. Starving yourself can help you drop a few pounds fast, but usually you will regain that weight as soon as you start eating again. Also, losing a lot of weight rapidly usually means you’re losing muscle and water rather than fat.

MYTH: To lose weight, stop eating fatty foods.

FACT: Fat-free does not mean calorie-free, and many fat-free versions of your favorite products have the same or more calories as the originals. Fat-free foods are high on the Glycemic index and create a spike in your blood sugar. This promotes weight gain.

MYTH: Sugar-free foods and artificial sweeteners are great for avoiding weight gain.

FACT: Diet soft drinks and artificially-sweetened yogurts, ice cream and other snacks are often lower in calories. But sugar substitutes can have many negative side effects. For example artificial sweeteners may interfere with the body's natural regulators and make you prone to overindulging in other sweet foods and beverages.

Advice for Healthy Weight Loss

Take your time. If you don’t lose weight as quickly as you’d like, don’t despair! When you drop a lot of weight quickly, you’re actually losing mostly water and muscle. The goal is to lose fat, and that is better accomplished slowly. Also, losing weight too fast can take a toll on your nervous system, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. Since the point of losing weight is to become healthier, the last thing you want to do is harm your body. Aim to lose 1-2 lbs a week to ensure healthy weight loss.

Don’t give up. Just because your last diet attempt failed, or life events have caused you to gain weight, doesn’t mean you are a failure. If one weight loss plan doesn’t work for you, try another.

See Healthy Weight Loss and Tips for Managing Your Weight

Diets for specific health concerns

Heart Disease and Stroke: A four-pronged approach – eating less fat, less sodium, fewer calories, and more fiber – is a smart way to improve heart health and lower cholesterol.
See Diet for Preventing and Healing Heart Disease and Stroke

Diabetes: A healthy diet for diabetic patients is a crucial component to preventing, controlling, and healing diabetes. Diets for diabetes should keep blood glucose from rising too high or dipping too low.
See Diets to help prevent and control diabetes

Cancer: Substantial information exists about the links between certain types of cancers and nutrition. There are certain foods that appear to have a powerful cancer-preventative effect.
See Cancer Prevention Diet and Nutrition

Osteoporosis: Treating and preventing osteoporosis requires ensuring that there are sufficient amounts of calcium and Vitamin D in your diet – but this is not always easy for some people. Often, adequate calcium and Vitamin D need to be acquired from both supplements and food.
See Diet for Preventing and Healing Osteoporosis

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