Healthy Eating

How Healthy Eating Helps

Recipes
 

Mom was right: You've got to eat well to function well. Just in case you didn't gobble up Mom's wisdom, here are some useful tidbits.

Among other benefits, good food can:

  • boost your energy
  • lower the risk of developing certain diseases
  • provide fuel to your brain
  • counteract the impact of stress on your body
  • affect mood-related body chemicals

In an unhappy twist, good nutrition can help at times of stress, but that's exactly when lots of us tend to eat less well. According to a recent survey nearly half of Americans overeat or eat unhealthy food to cope with stress. In fact, it's not just that we're seeking creamy comfort—our stress hormones actually give us the munchies.

Still, if you follow some reasonable guidelines you may be able to reduce your stress and promote your overall health and well-being.

Tips & Hints for Healthier Eating

 

If you're trying to lose weight, stick to a 1,600-calories-a-day plan, aiming for 400 to 500 calories at each meal with enough reserved for a snack or two.

 Read the Nutrition Facts Labels on your food & drinks. You'll see sodium, sugar, fat and calorie content.

 

Drink more water.

 Try making at least one home cooked meal each week. Processed foods contain far more salt and sugar than those that are freshly prepared.

 

Try keeping a diary of everything that you eat during the day. Awareness of your patterns is often the first step to changing them.

 A study of more than 1000 women in Australia over 10 years showed that depressive disorders were 50% more common among those who ate primarily processed, refined, high fat foods.