Basics of Healthy Eating
A healthy diet can do more to promote health than any combination of vitamins, drugs or surgery can ever do. Supplements and exercise are also helpful, but they cannot undo the effects of a poor diet. Doctors should help their patients develop good eating habits and help them reduce prescription medications whenever possible.
Diet is a primary determinant of how long you will live and how healthy you will be. There have been a number of diet fads over the years. The conventional recommendation for the last 40 years has been high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets, and more recently high protein; low-carbohydrate diets have been popular. Neither of these approaches is optimal for long term health.
A good diet encourages your body to burn fat instead of sugar and provides the essential nutrients that you need to stay healthy. Read Fat-Burner or Sugar-Burner for more information. A healthy diet:
· Is high in high-fiber carbohydrates (vegetables and nuts)
· Has little of no low-fiber carbohydrates (starch and sugar, including most fruit)
· Is high in good quality fats (omega 3 oils like fish oils, and monounsaturated fats like olive oil)
· Is low in poor quality fat (partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats)
· Is moderate in protein
Read Healthy Carbohydrates, Healthy Fats and Healthy Protein for more information.
You can find recipes that follow these guidelines in “The Rosedale Diet” by Ron Rosedale M.D., “The South Beach Diet” by Arthur Argatston, and in “Total Health Cookbook and Program” by Dr. Joseph Mercola
In addition to what you eat, how you eat is very important. The following practices help your digestion work at top efficiency.
· Eat in a relaxed atmosphere. This helps turn on the nerve supply to your stomach. Make time to eat so that you do not need to eat in a hurry. Do not eat while watching the news.
· Eat small regular meals. Do not skip breakfast or lunch.
· Eat your last meal at least a couple of hours before you go to sleep.
· Do not consume ice water or other cold liquids with meals.
