Saturday, March 21, 2009

How Can You Start to Eat Healthier?


Obviously the worst foods for you are the ones that contain fat, sugars and carbs. But for some people they don't know anything beyond these types of foods, or they think they will have to eat things like soy burgers and salads for the rest of their lives! This isn't necessarily true but you really should find a few fruits and vegetables that you like and add them to your diet. You could also consider proteins such as fish or chicken.

Salmon is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, especially farm raised because they don't contain any bad ingredients that other salmons do such as dyes. You could also include things in your diet such as insoluble or soluble fiber which helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels which can in turn help you control your cravings (cake, pie, ice cream, pizza) a little better. Foods that are high in fiber are things like cereal, whole wheat bread, wheat bran fruits and veggies. These food items can also help you stay fuller for longer so that you don't end up eating a ton of food every single day (which will lead to weight gain). For other foods that fill you up you might want to consider foods that are high in water such as watermelon, cucumbers, mushrooms, oranges and cantaloupe!

Lean protein items including chicken breast, canned light tuna, wild salmon (fresh and canned), egg whites, crab, shrimp, tilapia, turkey breast, tofu, lean red meat, low-fat dairy, beans and lentils as well as foods that make you "work" such as; shelled peanuts (no salt) can help you lose weight as well. Of course you can have steak once in a while but if you are trying to get healthy and eat better you might want to only eat things like steak every once in awhile. Stay away from proteins that are high in salt such as ham, instead go for turkey.

There have also been proven studies that the ingredient capsaicin can help you lose weight as well. Capsaicin can be found in items such as chili peppers, hot sauce and salsa. Cayenne pepper can also do the trick and it has actually been used by certain indigenous tribes for many centuries over in order to lose weight and stay healthy!

One of the big things you can do as aforementioned with the ham example is eat less salt or eat salt that is actually good for you such as sea salt. Regular table salt contains all kinds of nasty chemicals and ingredients which actually retain water in your body, so instead of losing weight you will keep the weight. This is usually referred to as water retainment or water weight gain.

Obviously it's a good idea to drink a lot of water when you are trying to lose weight because it helps to detoxify your body and keep your metabolism going. So I'm sure you can only imagine drinking 6 bottles of water a day and retaining water gain from that much water! Not good! Besides salt, you might also want to stay away from the following products or food items as well; baking soda, baking powder, brine, brother, MSG (which isn't good for you anyway), and soy sauce.

All of these items are VERY high in sodium! Just be wary of what you are eating and if all else fails and you have no idea what is healthy and what isn't you could always talk to a dietitian; your doctor can recommend a good one!


No comments:

Post a Comment