The Importance of Good Nutrition Your daily food choices will affect your health-how you feel today, tomorrow and in the future. Good nutrition is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical exercise, your diet can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (such as heart disease and cancer) and promote your overall health.
Benefits of a healthy diet A healthy diet includes fruits and vegetables of various colors, whole grains and starch, high-quality fat and lean meat, and protein. Eating healthily also means avoiding foods that contain a lot of salt and sugar.
1. Lose weight
Losing weight helps to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. If a person is overweight or obese, they have a higher risk of several diseases, including heart disease, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, poor bone density and some cancers. Whole vegetables and fruits have lower calories than most processed foods. A person who wants to lose weight should reduce his calorie intake to no more than what he needs every day.
Using dietary guidelines to determine a person's calorie requirements is simple and reliable, and its source is published by the US government. Maintaining a healthy diet without processed foods can help people keep their daily limit without counting calories.
Fiber is an element of a healthy diet, which is especially important for weight control. Plant food contains a lot of dietary fiber, which can make people feel full for a long time, thus helping to regulate hunger.
2. Reduce the risk of cancer
An unhealthy diet can lead to obesity, which may increase a person's risk of cancer. Weighing in a healthy range can reduce this risk. However, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help prevent cancer.
In another study of 20 14, researchers found that a diet rich in fruits can reduce the risk of digestive tract cancer. They also found that a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and fiber can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, while a diet rich in fiber can reduce the risk of liver cancer.
Many phytochemicals found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans have antioxidant effects and can protect cells from damage that may lead to cancer. These antioxidants include carotene, lycopene, vitamins a, c and e.
3. Heart health and stroke prevention
According to the data released on 20 17, as many as 9,265,438+million people in the United States suffer from at least one cardiovascular disease. These diseases mainly involve the heart and blood vessels.
According to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, as many as 80% of premature heart disease and stroke cases can be prevented by lifestyle changes, such as increasing physical activity and healthy eating.
There is evidence that vitamin E can prevent blood clots that cause heart attacks. The following foods are rich in vitamin E: seeds of almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and sunflowers. The medical field of green vegetables has long recognized the connection between trans fats and heart-related diseases (such as coronary heart disease).
If a person removes trans fats from his diet, he will lower the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. This type of cholesterol causes plaque to accumulate in arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Lowering blood pressure is also important for heart health, and limiting salt intake1500mg per day will help. Salt is added to many processed foods and fast food, and people who want to lower their blood pressure should avoid eating these foods.
4. Diabetes management Healthy diet can help diabetic patients: if necessary, lose weight and control blood sugar levels to keep blood pressure and cholesterol within the target range to prevent or delay diabetic complications. People with diabetes must limit their intake of food with added sugar and salt. At the same time, it is best to avoid eating fried foods rich in saturated fat and trans fat.