The Principals of Healthy Living

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Have you ever heard the saying ‘You are what you eat’? In some sense, this is true, because if you eat unhealthy foods you are prone to be an unhealthy person. The foods we ingest are extremely important to our ability to grow, maintain function, and prevent illness. Therefore, if you value your health, you should learn as much about healthy eating as possible.

Healthy eating is important from the day we are born. As a child, we grow quite rapidly and this is due in part to the foods we eat.

Foods all contain nutrients that provide us not only with fuel to live our daily lives, but also with the very substances that build our bones, muscles, and organ tissues. Not getting enough of one nutrient or another can cause a variety of problems, including stunting our growth. For mothers who are nursing, nutrition is important because breast milk contains the nutrients a child needs to grow and develop properly. Upon growing older, these nutrients are then found in food, but don’t think that healthy eating isn’t important for growth after you’ve gone through puberty. Cells continuous break down and rebuild, so healthy eating for growth continues to be important until the day we die.

In our daily lives, we use energy to think, walk, talk, breathe, and perform any other actions. The energy it takes our body to do these things comes from two places: fat reserves in the body or our daily food intake. If you don’t eat healthy foods, you will find that you are storing more fat than necessary or that you aren’t getting enough and you feel sluggish or weak. Along with energy-providing nutrients, like fats and carbohydrates, we also need the right nutrients to allow our organs to do their jobs. Hormones and other substances in the body make sure that everything is working properly. If you don’t eat the right nutrients, your body cannot produce these hormones and, as a result, cannot function properly.

Lastly, healthy eating is important in order to prevent illness. When we do not get the right nutrients, or body’s natural defense system against diseases weakens, allowing viruses and bacteria to attack the body. It’s like a well-trained army, if the army doesn’t have enough to eat, it will not do well in battle. Without healthy foods and plenty of water, our bodies simply could not operate on a day-to-day basis. Learning how to eat healthy foods is therefore and important lesson, and one which we should begin learning as children.

Why not get your own copy of this ‘Keys to Healthy Eating’ laminated chart which covers all the major topics for good nutrition and health. Contains excellent descriptions of fats, types of cholesterol, carbohydrates (including the Glycemic Index), protein, and fiber. Includes a table of the benefits and sources of vitamins for various life stages. Provides visual comparisons of portion sizes of food with other common items. Features a useful step-by-step guide of how to read a food label and provides information on the latest food pyramid.  Perfect hands-on information you can stick to the front of your fridge foor all the family to read and learn from! The importance of healthy eating should be taught to children from an early age so that they too can adapt a healthy eating plan and prevent unnecessary disease and illness.

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When learning about healthy eating, one of the most important nutrients is protein. Of course, all nutrients are crucial for our bodies to be as healthy as possible, but without protein in our diets every single day, our bodies will not be as strong as they should be. Protein can be found in a number of food sources, so if you’re interested in eating a healthier diet, you should consider learning more about protein.

We need to eat foods rich in protein every day because, unlike some other nutrients, it cannot be stored in the body. That means that if you eat more protein than necessary, your body will simply cause it to pass through your system. Therefore, you really can’t eat too much protein! However, because protein cannot be stored in the body problems may arise surrounding this nutrient as well. If you don’t get enough protein on any given day, your body has no back-up plan for producing protein on its own or using reserved protein from previous days. Therefore, protein is very important to consider when you are planning your meals.

If you don’t believe you are getting enough natural protein in your diet, it may be worth considering a protein supplement, either in the form of a drink, usually a shake type drink or a protein health food bar which are more often than not really quite delicious.

Essentially, protein builds muscles, which is why you will see bodybuilders especially concerned with protein. When you lift weights to work out, you body makes tiny tears in the muscles. Proteins are then used to repair these healthy tears in the body, building the muscle slightly bigger with every workout. Even if you do not work out, your body’s muscle deteriorates, as you body needs the energy. Muscle provides energy, just like fat. Having protein in the body helps you to rebuild any muscle lost.

Protein also helps a person’s body in other ways, mainly with the maintenance of hormones. Hormones in the body do a number of things, such as regulate organ function, account for stimulation, create metabolism, and affect mood. Proteins are used in the making of some of these different hormones, so if you go more than a day or two without eating foods rich in proteins, your entire body will suffer.

How can you make sure that you re getting enough proteins? Simply put, look for foods with protein as a key component on the label. Some great foods to consider include chicken, beef, pork, eggs, and fish, although vegetarians can also get proteins into their diets by eating nuts, beans, soy products, and a variety of other foods. You should have some of these foods in your diet every single day to ensure that you are providing your body with the proteins it needs to stay healthy.

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Your heart is one of the most important organs in the body, and the foods you put into your mouth affect how your heart operates. If you want your heart to be strong, and able to pump blood as well as possible all over your body, it is important for you to eat a healthy diet. Heart-healthy foods are readily available in the supermarket, so choose some that work for your personal likes and you should be able to help prevent heart disease in your own body.

Cholesterol is the most important thing when it comes to eating heart-healthy foods. There are both good cholesterols and bad cholesterols. Good cholesterols are called HDL, and their job in the body is to take excess bad cholesterol (LDL) to the liver, where it can be broken down and then will leave the body. LDL is actually not needed by your body at all from foods. Our bodies make enough of this kind of cholesterol on its own. It is the LDL cholesterol that hurts our hearts, not the HDL cholesterol, which actually helps our hearts be reducing the amount of LDL cholesterol in the body.

LDL stands for low-density lipoproteins. Because this substance has a low density, it does not flow through the blood stream as readily as it should. The red blood cells easily release the LDL cholesterol and it sticks to the walls of your blood vessels, especially in the arteries leading to your heart. This is bad for a number of reasons.

First, when the LDL cholesterol builds up on your arteries, it reduces the amount of blood that can fit through at a time, since the artery becomes smaller. That means your heart has to pump harder and faster in order to allow the same amount of blood to flow through your body. Over time, this makes your heart tired and not as strong. In the worst-case scenario, the blood vessel becomes so built up with LDL cholesterol that your artery could close completely. When this happens, your heart essentially panics because it is not getting the blood it needs and it starts beating rapidly to try to pump the blood. This causes a heart attack.

You can also have a heart attack from LDL cholesterol build up if a piece of the build-up, called plaque, breaks off and floats down the blood stream. When it reaches a smaller part of the blood vessel, it will get stuck and block the blood, which again causes a heart attack. If the piece of plaque travels to the brain instead of the heart, it will cause a blockage in this area of the body, which in turn causes a stroke. Therefore, it is simply important to cut out of your diet the foods high in cholesterol so that you can prevent heart disease and other problems in the body.

List Of 10 Heart Healthy Foods That Can Help You Lower Cholesterol and Live Longer!

1 Extra virgin Olive Oil

The researches have proven that extra virgin olive oil raises the HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) level, which  lowers plaque buildup in the arterial blood vessel.

2 Beans

Beans, such as kidney, lima, black, navy, and pinto beans are abundant in the fiber necessary to lower cholesterol. Studies have shown that consuming 5 to 10 grams of fiber daily can lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) by 3 to 5 percent.

3 Oatmeal and Oat Bran

Oats are high in fiber, and they have beta-glucan that can reduce LDL cholesterol levels. Oats also regulate blood glucose levels, which are beneficial to people with diabetes.

4 Nuts

Nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts have monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Researches have shown that they can lower cholesterol. It is suggested that you do not take more than one and a half ounces (approximately 1-1/2 handfuls) because nuts contain high calories.

5 Plant sterols and stenols

Plant sterols and stenols are natural contents found in the cell tissue layer of plants, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. It is recommended that you consume two grams a day by consuming fortified foods including margarine spread, orange juice, and salad dressings. However, they should only be consumed by those who have high LDL cholesterol.

6 Salmon and Omega-3 fats

Omega-3s lower almost all risk components for heart disease.  Omega-3s are contained in fatty fish, like salmon, sardine and anchovies, and in fortified eggs and soybeans.  They cut inflammation, lower blood pressure, lower the level of  triglycerides, cause blood thinner and prevent to clot, and increase HDL cholesterol level.

7 Alcohol

Taking small amount of alcohol (limiting to one drink a day for adult female and two drinks a day for adult male) can be healthy to the heart.  Especially, red wine that contains antioxidants is considered the best among all the alcohol drinks.

8 Blueberries

Blueberries are antioxidant-rich berries. They have a compound that can reduce LDL cholesterol.  The research has shown that they are as effective as some cholesterol drugs do.  Having blueberries has fewer side effects than cholesterol drugs.

9 Cranberry-Grape Juice

Grape juice has antioxidants that can slow the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Cranberry juice brings up HDL cholesterol. Make certain to buy one hundred percent juice.

10 Yogurt with live active cultures (probiotics)

Numerous reports have shown that probiotics found in yogurt can reduce LDL cholesterol by keeping the cholesterol from going back into the bloodstream.

If you are still unsure about what direction to take with your health and diet plan, there is a great lifestyle magazine that shows you how to take control of your diet, manage your cholesterol and blood pressure, reduce stress, and feel good about yourself! Definitely worth subscribing to in my opinion.

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Vitamins and minerals are also important health nutrients for our daily lives and a key factor for the principals of healthy living. We get these from fruits, vegetables, milk, and most natural sources of food. Some of our foods, such as bread products, can even be enriched so that we get more vitamins and minerals in our bodies. There are dozens that you need to ingest regularly, such as iron, thiamine, vitamin C, and vitamin D. If you are eating a healthy diet, you can most likely get enough vitamins and minerals from your foods, but you can also take vitamin supplements to make sure that you are getting the right amounts you need to maintain body function. Supplements may also be available to help with other nutrients as well, so if you are worried, talk to your doctor about how you can be sure to be eating a healthy amount of diet nutrients.

First and foremost, everyone needs water in order to live a healthy life. Without water, we become dehydrated, and eventually die. You lose water when you sweat and through daily bodily functions, so water must be replenished. Drinking about 8 glasses a day is recommended. Of course, water is found in food as well as in drinks, so you can get your 8 glasses by eating foods like watermelon.

Of course, we need much more than water every day to survive. Another group of nutrients we can’t do without is proteins. Proteins are found in foods such as meat, eggs, and soy products. They provide the amino acids needed to build muscle tissue as well as help make some of the hormones in our bodies. Red blood cells and hair is also made from protein.

Along with protein nutrients, a body also needs adequate amounts of fats and carbohydrates in order for us to have enough energy during the day. Fats are primarily used for energy during intense activity, like exercising, while carbohydrates are primarily used for energy during less intense activities, like standing, sitting, and other movements. Both the fats and the carbohydrates that we eat in a day can be stored for later use as fat, so it is important to eat enough for energy, but also important to regulate intake in order to stay slim and healthy. In the event that you are not eating enough fats and carbohydrates, your body can also provide itself with fuel from proteins so it is very important for you to have a basic knoowledge of nutrients facts in order to apply the principals of healthy living.

There is a great, inexpensive, tool that can help you in assessing your daily intake of nutirents.   I highly recommend this product for its detailed level of nutrient breakdown and easy to use interface. Additionally, the EatSmart Nutrition Scale was recently named one of the most effective tools for carb counting and managing diabetes.

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