What Is A Healthy Diet?
Alan LeStourgeon

What is a healthy diet? It’s not about counting calories,
measuring portions or cutting carbs. You won’t really find a
healthy diet on the lite menu at your favorite restaurant and
you certainly won’t find it at the local fast food joint. A
healthy diet is all about what you eat rather than how much you
eat.

If you think the latest fad diet is your panacea to health, you
are in for a big surprise. Losing weight, staying healthy and
getting back into shape after many years of diet neglect is not
about fads or eating in some radical new way for six to twelve
weeks and then going back to the way you used to eat.

The best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy is to eat a
healthy diet…all the time, not just when you want to lose
weight. Eating healthy is a long-term lifestyle choice,
something you need to do for your entire lifetime.

But what is a healthy diet? Is it what we have been lead to
believe – milk for strong bones and teeth, protein in the form
of lean beef or chicken and maybe a “healthy” microwave dinner
if we are “on the go.” Unfortunately this diet is what is
identified as the Standard American Diet or the SAD.

And what’s so wrong with the SAD?

Well, has it made us a healthier people? Are we better off as a
nation because of it?

With all of the health studies, advanced health care, the war on
cancer dating back to the 70’s, and the most advanced technology
available on the planet we have to ask ourselves why do we still
need to spend $1.3 trillion a year on health care in the United
States. Why aren’t we getting any healthier?

Other pertinent questions about your health beg for answers such
as, why after more than 30 years since the “War On Cancer” was
declared, do we still have an increasing cancer rate. Yes, we
have many more people surviving cancer but the rate at which
people are getting cancer is increasing. We have come a long way
in taking care of sick people, but we haven’t made any progress
as a nation in preventing those people from getting sick.

Why do more than 15 million people in the United States have
diabetes? Why do we still have more heart problems today than we
did 30 years ago? Why is more than 50% of our population on some
kind of prescription drug?

We spend more per person on medical care than any other nation
in the world. Why is this happening in a country that seems to
be able to solve nearly any technological problem? Why can’t we
solve our medical problems? How would life be different for us
if we were to be a nation of healthy individuals?

The secret to a healthy diet and a healthy life is living food –
fresh vegetables, fruit, juices and green leafy salads. The
answer to a healthier you is summed up in three words,
breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Living a healthy life and having a healthy family is all about
eating a healthy diet, every day of our lives!

About the author:

Alan LeStourgeon along with his wife Jean run the web site www.ezHealthyDiet.com
where they explore what it means to eat a healthy diet, have a
healthy
home and live a healthier life.

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With all the adverse publicity on high protein low carb diet, how do you know what is a healthy diet to follow?

The new diet travel says that rather than just limiting the amount of carbohydrates in your diet, you should be looking to eat only those that have a low GI index. The Fighting man Index measures the impetus at which glucose is released into your blood dtreak following consumption of a specific food. If you do not use all the glucose you consume, your body converts it to fat and stores it. Not ideal when you are trying to lose weight.

So how do you know if a food is low Man-at-arms or not? Highly supermarkets have now started coding their foods so you should be able to see from the packet. The foods that you would normally avoid on a diet also tend to be high GI i. e. cakes, biscuits, white bread, white pasta etc.

The good news is that chocolate is a low GI food but this doesnt mean that you can eat loads of it! Avoid any more sugar based ingredients and opt for a plain bar of dark chocolate if you want to treat yourself.

Barley, quinoa, new potatoes and yams are all low GI foods so would be good staples for your healthy low carbohydrate diet. Apples, dried apricots, citrus fruits, plums and tomatoes are all bad low GI fruits but play past Watermelons, peaches and bananas.

You should increase the quantity of water you drink especially because most slimmers increase the amount of fiber in their diet by eating more vegetables. You should aim to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Drinking water helps to lose weight as we often misunderstand our bodys signals and eat when in fact we are thirsty.

When you are trying to follow a healthy low carb diet, it is useful to watch your portion size. As a nation, we are used to consuming large portions of everything. Reducing the size of our meals will help you to lose weight as will eating a little and often rather than isolated large chop chop a day.

Never skip breakfast as countless studies have shown that you re likely to consume more calories later in the day than you hold back by not eating this important meal. Eating change the old fashioned old softie not the instant microwaveable variety, will help to keep your energy levels stable and lead to less cravings.

Drink skimmed instead of full fat milk. Eat low fat yogurts but watch for hidden sugars and sweeteners. Keep alcohol intake to a minimum as not only does it contain empty calories but also lowers our inhibitions leading us to eat the wrong foods.

Keep yourself busy. We often eat due to boredom rather than hunger. Get powerful every day to increase the amount of energy you consume. Reducing your food consumption bit increasing your activity will help you lose weight as will following a healthy low carbohydrate diet.

24 Hour Fitness
http://www.www.24-hr-fitness.com

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