YOU PROBABLY DON’T need us to tell your that your health is one of your most important assets.
All you have to do is be sick or injured for a little while to realise exactly how much you can take your health for granted.
So it just makes sense to take care of your health, in the hopes of making it last all that much longer.
Most people would profess to want to exercise more and eat more healthily but it can be just so hard. From a lack of time to a lack of knowledge, there are a lot of reasons why people are anxious about making changes to their current ways, even if they know things need to be changed.
All is not lost though. Little changes sustained over time can reap big rewards. So we’ve rounded up 7 ways to eat more healthily that aren’t too hard to adopt.
And afterward, we want to hear from you – let us know the best changes you’ve made to your diet that have had the biggest impact on your health.
Seems counter-intuitive if you’re looking to lose weight to eat more but eating breakfast in the morning kicks off your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day.
Additionally, your breakfast is an easy meal to supercharge with nutrition – try porridge (slow releasing energy, fibre) with fruit (vitamins, antixoxidants) and ground up nuts and seeds (protein that helps you keep fuller for longer, as well as necessary oils and minerals). It’s really easy to throw these toppings on top of your porridge and suddenly have a super-breakfast.
Water is one of the body’s most essential needs – we can live without food for much longer than we can live without water.
Drinking plenty of water helps in lots of ways – from helping with dehydration headaches to flushing out toxins, and helping with hunger. Apparently the body can’t tell hunger from thirst, so often when you think you’re hungry, you’re actually thirsty and a glass of water would satiate you. Try it next time and see.
Sugar is having a lot of bad PR at the moment – and it seems quite rightly. From turning itself into fat when its calories are not used up to being one of the causes of adult-onset diabetes, paying attention to how much sugar you consume is of the utmost importance.
It’s advised to only consume 25g of sugar a day – and this includes the sugar found in fruit. It’s really very little. Cutting down your sugar intake – or eliminating it altogether – could be one of your biggest health benefits.
Luckily, we did the hard work for you and sourced lots of tasty ‘clean’ snacks right here to help with that 3pm slump in a healthy way.
Salt is another no-no for most people. Whether from takeaway or pre-prepared food, snacks, or other sneaky places salt is hiding in, most people are well over their recommended daily allowance for salt.
However what salt gives, that most people are craving, is flavour. And that’s an easy fix if you cook your own food. Add different herbs and spices instead of relying on salt, and you’ll have plenty of flavour without the blood-pressure raising side-effects of table salt.
Nuts are an underrated health food. Long maligned for being a fatty snack, they’re now considered one of the better foods you can eat. You can grind them up and add them to porridge or cereal in the morning for a little extra nutrition or keep some in your bag or desk for a tasty snack at 3pm that won’t give you a sugar slump 30minutes later.
Fat has had quite the resurgence of late. Long been relegated to the worst food you can eat, it’s now been shown that ‘good’ fats contain lots of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids that your body, and particularly your brain, need to function properly.
Of course it has to be good fats that you indulge in – from nuts to oils to avocados, but they’re so tasty and easy to incorporate, we don’t think you’ll have a problem.
Well not quite, but adding oily fish to your diet such as salmon or mackerel at least 2-3 times a week will have great benefits to your diet. It’s a source of lean protein and full of Omega 3 which is great for the brain. And a little more brain power never hurt anyone, right?
It’s really easy to prepare, can be eaten hot or cold and a roast salmon fillet with veg or salad can be on the table in about 20 minutes.
Eating healthier doesn’t have to be a daunting task – there are plenty of nutritious options available to you in your local supermarket and SuperValu has an extensive range of healthy foods available for you to try. Head to SuperValu this weekend for lots of healthy treats.
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