5 Ways You Can Use Nutrition To Boost Your Health
Enjoying a healthy diet comes with so many benefits. From helping you to lose weight to lowering your cholesterol, your diet impacts on so many different things and can help you to prevent certain health conditions. A healthy diet keeps your body running at its maximum function on a daily basis and the choices you make in regards to what you eat and drink really do matter. Small, individual choices should add up to create an overall balanced and nutritious diet.
As individuals, we all have different calorie and nutritional needs which are based on our age, gender, health issues and activity levels. When we consider boosting our overall health and wellness, so many of us forget that nutrition plays a huge role in this, often casting it to the side.
The more stimulating your diet and is, the much more likely you are to stick to it and eat more nutritious and healthy food. With that in mind, here are 5 ways you can boost your health with your nutrition.
Choose nutrients over calories
If you are looking to improve the quality of your diet, rather than take drastic measures, then focus on the nutrients your food contains, rather than the calories it contains. Our energy intake depends on our ability to extract energy from food. Calories aren’t created equally, and it is the quality of the calorie which has the biggest impact on your health, rather than the quantity.
Eat more fish
Fish contains high levels of protein and nutrients and oily fish, particularly tuna and salmon, is recommended for boosting overall health. Oily fish contains fatty omega-3 acids, which are good fats that humans need to include in their diet. Omega-3 has also been said to help prevent cardiovascular disease and this superfood also helps to improve heart and brain health which may reduce the risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, dementia and Alzheimers.
Look after your gut health
You have more bacteria in your body than you do cells, with most of these living in your gut. Most of these are good for you and they not only help you to digest food, but they work all over your body to help both your physical and mental health. A poor diet can lead to an unhappy gut, as it causes disruption to your guts natural microbiome.
Eating a fibre-rich diet, as well as plenty of fruit and vegetables, provides your gut with the fibre and nutrition it needs to build good bacteria. If you have an unhappy gut, here are a range of digestive health supplements which also help your gut health, but these should be taken alongside a healthy diet, rather than in place of.
Go nuts with nuts
Nuts pack a huge nutritional punch and contain everything from healthy fats and protein to vitamins and minerals. As well as nuts, seeds also have a lot of nutritional benefits, particularly pumpkin seeds, chia and flaxseed. Seeds and nuts are a wonderful source of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, zinc and calcium.
They are a wonderfully versatile addition to other foods if you want to boost your health, whether you add them to your favourite baking recipe, used as a simple snack or even sprinkled on your morning cereal.
Skip the fizzy drinks
The average person consumes around 45 gallons of fizzy drinks each and every year. Other than high risks of developing Type 2 diabetes and weight gain, fizzy drinks can also cause liver damage, anxiety and premature ageing.
There is little to no nutritional benefit found in fizzy drinks, so if you want to boost your overall health, choose water or unsweetened beverages and skip the can of fizzy drink. By drinking enough water, you’re providing your body with a vital tool it needs to stay healthy. You’ll feel more alert, your skin will look better and less bloating.