What Foods Should We Eat to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle?

Fruits and Veggies

You probably heard that your plate should be colorful. Make half of your plate full of fruits and veggies (depending on the meal of course) and add as much color as you can. Take them as a snack or as a part of dinner, just make sure there’s a lot of them in your diet. Green lettuce, yellow peppers, and red tomatoes for a salad with dinner or blueberries, red strawberries, and yellow banana in your oatmeal for breakfast. It’s not only healthy but delicious!

Whether fresh, frozen, or dried, veggies and fruits are always a good option. Even if you picked canned goods (with low-sodium), you’ll still get nutrients you need. You can also get a blender and start making smoothies and juices instead of buying drinks.

(Whole) Grains

There isn’t only one best advice for a healthy diet. We have a lot of good advice, and the one we’d always repeat is the necessity of whole-grain food. Rice, pasta, and bread make a large part of people’s diet, so you just need to replace them with whole-wheat bread/pasta and brown rice.

Whole-grain products are full of nutrients and fiber, so they keep your body healthy. Keep an eye on all ingredients of your meal. If you use whole-wheat bread and make a sandwich with other unhealthy ingredients you didn’t accomplish that much. Instead, try to make something like this (it will only take 5 minutes, trust us):

Meat, Eggs, and Other protein sources

A lot of people get their proteins from meat, fish, and eggs. However, there are a lot of plant-based options. Tofu, lentils, chickpeas, green peas, and beans are very rich in proteins. You can also get proteins from walnuts, pistachios, almonds, peanuts, etc.

If you’re not a vegan or a vegetarian, you should use both animal and plant protein sources. Choose lean meat and skinless poultry as the healthiest meat option. If you want to know how to eat healthily, start by avoiding deep frying or marinating meat in sauces that are high in sugar and sodium. It’s better if you grill, slow cook, or roast the meat.

You should also eat fish and seafood at least twice a week. Seafood has protein, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. Try to choose oily fish rich in omega-3 fats like salmon, trout, herring, and sardines, or eat some shellfish such as crab, mussels, and oysters.

Dairy Products

When we were younger the answer to the question of what should I eat to stay active all day was always the same – milk products. Even though things are not that simple, it is true that dairy products should be a regular part of our diet. 

Try adding milk, yogurt to your breakfast cereal, or use cottage cheese for a sandwich. You should try to use products made of low-fat milk (1%) because they have the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients but much fewer calories and saturated fat.

Cutting down on…

One of the most common tips for healthy eating habits revolves around cutting down or limiting the food that’s really unhealthy. That why you should limit the intake of: 

Saturated fat

As we said, you do need fat in your diet, but you should focus on getting healthy unsaturated fats instead of unhealthy fats. Saturated fat can increase the cholesterol level in the blood, so you’ll be at risk of developing heart disease.

That’s why you should try to limit the consumption of sausages, butter, cream, cakes, pies, and other food rich in saturated fats. A healthier choice is switching to vegetable oil instead of butter for cooking and increasing the amount of fish, avocadoes, and other food with unsaturated fats.

High sugar foods

You don’t have to avoid high sugar foods at all costs but try to limit the amount you consume if you want to start with healthy eating habits. Cut down on soft drinks, biscuits, and sweets that are loaded with sugar. Not only do added sugars cause weight gain, but they can also increase a person’s risk of diabetes, cause tooth decay, etc.

The biggest trap you can fall into is consuming soft drinks. You don’t notice the number of calories and sugar you can with only one glass. This is why our number one tip for a healthy lifestyle is to forget about soft drinks altogether and replace them with lemonade, orange juice, or sparkling water.

High-salt foods

Too much salt isn’t good for your health. It increases your blood pressure, which is a risk for developing heart diseases. Naturally processed and takeaway food has lots of salt. Switch to cooking your food, help you keep control of the amount of salt you consume. The recommended amount of salt per day is 5g which is less than a teaspoon, so let that be your limit.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best foods to eat on a diet?

You should always pick healthier options when you can, for example replacing white bread with whole-wheat bread. There are also a lot of healthy food options when you’re dieting such as green veggies, fish, chicken breast, beans, avocados, nuts, etc. Also, eating less processed food is a big achievement on its own because more than half of people’s usual diet is processed food.

What are the 5 healthy eating guidelines?

1. Balance and moderation
2. Make half your plate vegetables and fruits
3. Make half your grains to be whole grains
4. Enjoy your food and eat slowly
5. Use smaller plates to avoid oversized portions

What are 3 things you should consider when making food choices?

1. Making a menu for the entire day (to achieve a balance of nutrients)
2. Serving size and calories in one serving
3. The total amount of carbs (especially sugar), fat (saturated and unsaturated), and sodium

Conclusion

We tried to give you a small overview of what foods we should eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You should naturally continue with your exploration. Find interesting recipes, experiment with healthy food options, and, of course, enjoy your food. You can start by checking out what is the best substitute for caffeine.