All of us including those who consider themselves physically fit need to be on a healthy eating diet. Why? For a simple reason that our bodies were not built for greasy diets or diets that were rich with butters and creams and sugar. When we consume foods that are unhealthy (and we all know what these are), we end up clogging our blood vessels as well as causing wide spread damage to our vital organs such as the kidneys and liver. Some foods even cause cancers. For example, foods that are excessively spicy are known to cause cancer of the mouth or esophagus. A healthy eating diet is therefore a sensible diet that fulfills our entire body calorie and nutrition requirements while keeping fats and sugars to a minimum.
A healthy eating diet is therefore a diet that helps maintain your body and health. Other things remaining constant, a healthy eating diet prevents occurrences of:
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Heart ailments
• Liver damage
• Kidney damage
• Blood pressure etc.
If you can prevent the above medical problems than the chances are, your healthy eating diet will keep you physically fit till a ripe old age.
As far as nutrition goes, every food is health though some foods are healthier than others. For example, (and contrary to popular belief), fat is not only good, it is vital for the body. However, it needs to be consumed in minimal quantities. Vegetables and fruits on the other hand, can be consumed in larger quantities. The term “larger” is used in a relative sense to mean more than other foods. All foods must be eaten in moderation and should not exceed portion sizes fixed by your family physician or your nutritionist.
Remember, a healthy eating diet will:
• Fulfill your daily energy needs
• Keep diseases away from you
• Keep your eyes and skin glowing
• Enable you to sleep well
• Prevent tummy aches, pains and dysentery
• Maintains a healthy hair growth
• Amongst children, it ensures healthy growth
As we grow older, our ability to digest all types of food is severely diminished.
A healthy eating diet for old people is therefore slightly different than that prescribed for rest of the population. A healthy eating diet for old people will exclude certain foods which the senior people find difficult to digest. Instead, a healthy eating diet for old people includes nutritional supplements that take the place of the food they cannot digest. Also, as we grow older, we need to cut back on our consumption of salt and sugar because with age, the body requires less salt and sugar. A healthy eating diet is therefore a relative term – it means different things to the children, teenagers, adults, the sick and the old. Before you fix yourself a healthy eating diet, it would be ideal to consult your family physician and your nutritionist. Remember there is a big difference between a family physician and a nutritionist. While your family physician will chart your overall healthy eating diet based on your gender, age, physical activity and health, it is your nutritionist who can best work out the details of your healthy eating diet.
Check out also for Portion sizes for children and Healthy eating diet plans