5 Simple Healthy Eating Tips
Updated: Nov 5, 2021
There is a wealth of information available on healthy eating and diets. Everyone has their own new “magic” diet which promises you the world and more. Where do you go? Who do you believe? How deep down the rabbit hole of nutritional science do you want to go?
Chances are that if staying up to date with the latest nutritional research isn’t really your thing, you would prefer to keep it simple and follow an easy, manageable eating plan.
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So, where do you start? Well, here:
1. Stay hydrated.
The most commonly preached “first point of nutrition”. Stay properly hydrated! There is a good reason for it though. Water is vital to life. Our body is approximately 50-75% water, so it is vital to stay topped up. Let’s look at some reasons to stay properly hydrated with WATER (not juices, coffee, sodas, alcohol!):
Being slightly dehydrated can negatively affect physical and mental performance. This is important if you are trying to lead an active life and training frequently, and if you have a mentally demanding job or lifestyle.
Staying hydrated helps keep the body cool. In warmer months (they are too few and far between here in London) we should be drinking more water than we think as our demands increase. We lose water as we sweat, but, interestingly enough, we lose the majority of water through breathing!
Water helps the skin stay supple and youthful. Dehydrated skin loses its elasticity and can lead to wrinkles. While drinking lots of water won’t help to get rid of wrinkles, it is a good idea to do so as a preventative measure.
Drinking water frequently can stop you from overeating and over-consuming calories. The body sometimes confuses feelings of thirst and hunger, and often having a glass of water when you are feeling peckish away from mealtimes can help to relieve symptoms. One reason you may feel hungry when you are, in fact, low on fluids, is if you crave fruits as they are high in water - this is an evolutionary mechanism we still have.
Most importantly of all, water helps keep you alive! Kind of important if you ask me…
Always opt for plain water to avoid consuming unnecessary calories from sugar. If you drink from a bottle, ensure it is either glass or BPA-free. Aim to consume 2-3 litres of water per day from a glass or BPA-free vessel. Adding lemon, ginger, herbs or sliced fruit to your water is a good way to jazz it up if you get bored.
2. Consume a variety of different coloured vegetables
Vegetables and fruit provide us with many of the essential minerals and vitamins we need for healthy function. While both fruit and vegetables are equally nutritious on a micro nutritional (minerals and vitamins) basis, fruits contain more sugar which, even if it is “naturally occurring”, we should aim to avoid, or at least reduce the consumption of.
Different coloured vegetables contain different micronutrient profiles so aim to consume sources of every colour. The darker the colour, the richer the source of minerals, vitamins and polyphenols.
3. Eat from nature directly to your plate
For hundreds of thousands of years, we consumed food that came straight from the earth, trees, rivers, lakes, forests - nature, basically. It is only in recent times that our food has begun to take a detour from mother nature to our plate via processing facilities and factories. This food adulteration can reduce the nutritional quality of the food and add unwanted chemicals.
Aim to consume foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Root vegetables, tubers, leaves, berries, meats (including organ meats), fish and seafood should all make up the majority of your food intake. Healthy oils and fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, grass-fed butter and extra virgin coconut oil are an exception to the processing rule.