Food plays a key role in protecting our health. All scientific studies show that a varied and balanced diet helps to limit the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, osteoporosis, obesity and diabetes.
In our current life, we are subject to a number of undesirable and harmful external aggressions for our organism, such as pollution, stress, and the chemical treatments that our food undergoes, the industrialized products that are too fatty and too sweet that we consume.
This is why it is essential to adopt a good balanced diet. Eating well is quite simply giving priority to foods that are particularly useful to our health and limiting the consumption of others.
But eating well every day is sometimes less complicated than you think. In fact, balance does not mean eating everything in equal quantities: the important thing is simply to favor foods that are particularly useful for our health, and to limit the consumption of others.
Each family of foods has its place on your plate, every day. Each plays a role, but not in the same amounts. If it is recommended to avoid excessive consumption and to limit the intake of certain foods, there is however no question of prohibition. An excess from time to time is part of life.
Asking yourself, from time to time, about your way of eating to acquire or maintain habits compatible with the preservation of health can be a source of additional pleasure: that of taking your health into your own hands.
FRESH AND GOOD QUALITY FOOD
Fresh, local food is recommended. Refined products and hydrogenated fats should be avoided.
EAT IN A REASONABLE QUANTITY
Excess weight promotes the appearance of many diseases and considerably reduces life expectancy.
A slightly low-calorie diet (but without nutrient deficiencies) maintained over the long term could help prevent certain cancers and increase longevity. In addition, it limits oxidation and prevents clogging.
An example of an adjustment: Systematically reduce, by a quarter or a third, portions of high-calorie foods (pasta and rice, for example) and replace them with a nutritious and low-calorie food, such as a vegetable.
TASTY FOOD
In the first place, it is the flavor that determines our food choices. If so many people give up on a diet, it's because it doesn't give them pleasure.
The high salt, sugar and fat content of processed foods seems to be increasingly appreciated and is even, among young people, becoming the norm.
To counterbalance the attraction of these “over-favorite” dishes, you have to treat yourself to healthy foods that you particularly appreciate and prepare them in a tasty way. To this, you can add herbs, many of which are a good source of nutrients.
EAT MINDFULLY
By taking your time and savoring each bite, mindful eating is an effective technique for learning to rediscover the flavors of food, while reducing the proportions of food absorbed during a meal.
BE CAREFUL WHEN COOKING
To preserve all the benefits of food, it is preferable to cook at low temperature below 100°C because the high temperature distorts the properties of food.
Grilling, which contains a lot of free radicals, should be limited. The microwave should also be avoided because it distorts the chemical form of food.
A VARIED AND BALANCED DIET COMBINED WITH REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Indeed, food provides the energy necessary for the daily functioning of the body and allow the body to grow, strengthen and evolve. Eating well after a workout helps your body regenerate and prepares for the next workout.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN, EAT WELL?
Eating healthy means getting as close as possible to what nature gives us by choosing fresh foods, integrating various plant-based foods and, for non-vegetarians, favoring animal products that are organic, without antibiotics and without hormone. We avoid, by the same token, everything that nature does not offer us, such as processed foods, those containing trans fats, refined sugar, excess salt, food additives (preservatives, artificial colors), etc For me, the notion of pleasure and awareness during meals is also essential: I am convinced that eating with pleasure and in all awareness better nourishes the cells of our body!
For too many people, eating well has become synonymous with deprivation. However, there is no need to count calories or deprive yourself of the foods you love. This is not the solution to eating better or controlling weight. On the contrary, deprivation often leads to excess, which hinders the adoption of healthy eating habits, in addition to leading to frustration and guilt.
It's about choosing foods that we love and that provide us with all the nutrients we need to enjoy a healthy mind in a body that works at its best and without pain. Personally, I mainly base my diet on a variety of vegetables, lots of fruit, some whole grains avoiding excess gluten and legumes that suit me.