Choosing Healthy Fats – HelpGuide.org

healthy eating

Think all fat is bad for you? Here’s everything you need to know about dietary fat, including how to choose good fats over bad fats and the power of omega-3s.

What are dietary fats?

Fat is a type of nutrient, and just like protein and carbohydrates, your body needs some fat for energy, to absorb vitamins, and to protect your heart and brain health. For years we’ve been told that eating fat will add inches to your waistline, raise cholesterol, and cause a myriad of health problems. But now we know that not all fat is the same.

“Bad” fats, such as artificial trans fats and saturated fats, are guilty of the unhealthy things all fats have been blamed for—weight gain, clogged arteries, an increased risk of certain diseases, and so forth. But “good” fats such as unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids have the opposite effect. In fact, healthy fats play a huge role in helping you manage your moods, stay on top of your mental game, fight fatigue, and even control your weight.

By understanding the difference between good and bad fats and how to include more healthy fat in your diet, you can improve how well you think and feel, boost your energy, and even trim your waistline.

Dietary fat and cholesterol

Dietary fat plays a major role in your cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is a fatty, wax-like substance that your body needs to function properly. In and of itself, cholesterol isn’t bad. But when you get too much of it, it can have a negative impact on your health. As with dietary fat, there are good and bad types of cholesterol.

• HDL cholesterol is the “good” kind of cholesterol found in your blood.
• LDL cholesterol is the “bad” kind.
• The key is to keep LDL levels low and HDL high, which may protect against heart disease and stroke.
• Conversely, high levels of LDL cholesterol can clog arteries and low HDL can be a marker for increased cardiovascular risk.

Rather than the amount of cholesterol you eat, the biggest influence on your cholesterol levels is the type of fats you consume. So instead of counting cholesterol, it’s important to focus on replacing bad fats with good fats.

Good fats vs. bad fats

Since fat is an important part of a healthy diet, rather than adopting a low-fat diet, it’s more important to focus on eating more beneficial “good” fats and limiting harmful “bad” fats.

Healthy or “good” fats

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as the “good fats” because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health. These fats can help to:

• Lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
• Lower bad LDL cholesterol levels, while increasing good HDL.
• Prevent abnormal heart rhythms.
• Lower triglycerides associated with heart disease and fight inflammation.
• Lower blood pressure.
• Prevent atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of the arteries).

Adding more of these healthy fats to your diet may also help to make you feel more satisfied after a meal, reducing hunger and thus promoting weight loss.

Monounsaturated fat – good sources include:

• Olive, canola, peanut, and sesame oils
• Avocados
• Olives
• Nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews)
• Peanut butter

Polyunsaturated fat – good sources include:

• Sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds
• Flaxseed
• Walnuts
• Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines) and fish oil
• Soybean and safflower oil
• Soymilk
• Tofu

Unhealthy or “bad” fats

Trans fat. Small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats can be found in meat and dairy products but it’s artificial trans fats that are considered dangerous. This is the worst type of fat since it not only raises bad LDL cholesterol but also lowers good HDL levels. Artificial trans fats can also create inflammation, which is linked to heart disease, stroke, and other chronic conditions and contributes to insulin resistance, which increases your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has effectively outlawed the use of artificial trans-fats in commercially prepared food and the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on other governments around the world to eliminate the use of trans fats by 2023. However, products made before the FDA ban may still be available for sale. Since products can be listed as having “zero trans fats” even if they contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, it’s still important to carefully read food labels. Look for ingredients referred to as “partially hydrogenated oils.” These hidden sources of artificial trans fats can add up quickly.

If your country still allows the use of artificial trans fats, remember that no amount is considered safe, so aim to eliminate it from your diet.

Trans fat – primary sources include:

• Commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough
• Packaged snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn, chips)
• Stick margarine, vegetable shortening
• Fried foods (French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish)
• Anything containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, even if it claims to be “trans fat-free”

Saturated fat. While not as harmful as trans fat, saturated fat can raise bad LDL cholesterol and too much can negatively impact heart health, so it’s best consumed in moderation. While there’s no need to cut out all saturated fat from your diet, most nutrition experts recommend limiting it to 10% of your daily calories.

Saturated fat – primary sources include:

• Red meat (beef, lamb, pork)
• Chicken skin
• Whole-fat dairy products (milk, cream, cheese)
• Butter
• Ice cream
• Lard
• Tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil

But I’ve read that saturated fat is no longer considered unhealthy

For decades, doctors, nutritionists, and health authorities have told us that a diet high in saturated fats raises blood cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, recent studies have made headlines by casting doubt on those claims, concluding that people who eat lots of saturated fat do not experience more cardiovascular disease than those who eat less.

So, does that mean it’s OK to eat as much saturated fat as you want?

What these studies highlight is that when cutting down on saturated fats in your diet, it’s important to replace them with the right foods. For example, swapping animal fats for vegetable oils—such as replacing butter with olive oil—can help lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk for disease. However, swapping animal fats for refined carbohydrates—such as replacing your breakfast bacon with a bagel or pastry—won’t have the same benefits. That’s because eating refined carbohydrates or sugary foods can have a similar negative effect on your cholesterol levels, your risk for heart disease, and your weight.

Limiting your intake of saturated fat can still help improve your health—as long as you take care to replace it with good fat rather than refined carbs. In other words, don’t go no fat, go good fat.

Healthy fats: The power of omega-3s

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat and are especially beneficial to your health. There are different types of omega-3s: EPA and DHA are found in fish and algae and have the most health benefits, while ALA comes from plants and is a less potent form of omega-3, although the body does convert ALA to EPA and DHA at low rates.

Research has shown that a diet rich in omega-3s may help to:

• Prevent and reduce symptoms of depression, ADHD, and bipolar disorder.
• Protect against memory loss and dementia.
• Reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
• Ease arthritis, joint pain, and inflammatory skin conditions.
• Support a healthy pregnancy.
• Battle fatigue, sharpen your memory, and balance your mood.

How much omega-3s do you need?

The American Heart Association recommends that people with documented heart disease get about 1 gram of EPA plus DHA per day. For the rest of us, the AHA recommends eating at least two 3.5 oz. (100 g) servings of fish per week.

• Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines and albacore tuna are highest in omega-3 fatty acids.
• If you don’t eat fish, you may want to take an omega-3 supplement, widely available over the counter.
• Try to also include a variety of ALA-rich oils, nuts, seeds, and vegetables in your diet.

What to do about mercury in fish

Despite the health benefits, nearly all seafood contains traces of pollutants, including the toxic metal mercury. The concentration of pollutants increases in larger fish, so avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel.

Most adults can safely eat 12 oz. (two 6 oz. or 170 g servings) of cooked seafood a week. For women who are pregnant, nursing mothers, and children under 12, choose fish lower in mercury, such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, Pollock, or catfish. You can also protect yourself by varying the types of fish that you include in your diet.

Omega-3 supplements

While omega-3s are best obtained through food, there are many omega-3 and fish oil supplements available. Fish oil contains no mercury (mercury binds to protein, not fat) and very low amounts of other contaminants.

• One capsule per day usually supplies about 200 to 400 mg of EPA plus DHA, and should be enough for most people.
• If you need to substantially lower your triglycerides, your doctor may recommend prescription fish oil, which has been concentrated to contain about 900 mg of EPA plus DHA per capsule.
• For strict vegetarians or vegans, as well as obtaining ALA from food sources, look for capsules containing DHA and EPA extracted from algae, the original source of omega-3s for fish.

Tips for taking supplements

For some, fish oil capsules can be hard to swallow and may leave a fishy aftertaste. Keeping the capsules in the freezer before taking them can help or you can look for odorless or deodorized capsules.

Choosing healthy oils

Vegetable oils lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides, and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. Oils such as corn, sunflower, safflower, and soybean contain omega-6, a type of polyunsaturated fat that may help to reduce insulin resistance and inflammation.

• Use naturally occurring, unhydrogenated vegetable oils such as olive, canola, safflower, and sunflower oil whenever possible.
• When using olive oil, opt for “extra virgin,” which may have additional heart benefits over regular olive oil.
• Less processed oils, such as cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, contain potentially beneficial phytochemicals.

What about tropical oils, such as coconut and palm oil?

The food industry likes to tout the benefits of tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil, while dietary guidelines shun them for being too high in saturated fat. So, who is right?

Tropical oils can have aa complex effect on blood cholesterol levels. For example, they can raise “bad” LDL cholesterol but also raise “good” HDL cholesterol, while their effects on other markers for heart disease are not yet clearly known.

• For now, it’s probably safer to stick to vegetable oils since there’s stronger evidence that these oils are heart healthy.
• If you occasionally want to eat something that contains coconut or palm oil, enjoy it as a treat—it’s better than eating something with trans fat, which these tropical oils often replace.

Tips for adding more healthy fats to your diet

Instead of obsessively counting fat grams, aim for a diet rich in a variety of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and beans, with two or more weekly servings of fatty fish, moderate amounts of dairy, small amounts of red meat, and only occasional fried or processed meals.

This might mean replacing fried chicken with grilled chicken, swapping out some of the red meat you eat with other sources of protein such as fish, chicken, or beans, or using olive oil rather than butter. Following a Mediterranean diet can also help ensure you’re getting enough good fats in your diet and limiting the bad ones.

Limit your intake of saturated fats by replacing some of the red meat you eat with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish, and switching from whole milk dairy to lower fat versions. But don’t make the mistake of replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates and sugary foods.

Eat omega-3 fats every day. Include a variety of fish sources as well as plant sources such as walnuts, ground flax seeds, flaxseed oil, canola oil, and soybean oil.

Cook with olive oil. Use olive oil for stovetop cooking rather than butter, stick margarine, or lard. For baking, try canola oil.

Eat more avocados. Try them in sandwiches or salads or make guacamole. Along with being loaded with heart- and brain-healthy fats, they make for a filling meal.

Reach for the nuts. You can add nuts to vegetable dishes, use them instead of breadcrumbs on chicken or fish, or make your own trail mix with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

Snack on olives. Olives are high in healthy monounsaturated fats and make for a low-calorie snack. Try them plain or make a tapenade for dipping.

Dress your own salad. Commercial salad dressings are often high in unhealthy fat or added sugars. Create your own healthy dressings with olive, flaxseed, or sesame oils.

Authors: Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., and Robert Segal, M.A.

Nutrition: Tips for Improving Your Health

Good nutrition is one of the keys to a healthy life. You can improve your health by keeping a balanced diet. You should eat foods that contain vitamins and minerals. This includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and a source of protein.

Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer yes to any of them, talk to your doctor about your health. You may need to improve your eating habits for better nutrition:

• Do you have a health problem or risk factor, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol?
  • Did your doctor tell you that you can improve your condition with better nutrition?
• Do diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or osteoporosis run in your family?
• Are you overweight?
• Do you have questions about what foods you should eat or whether you should take vitamins?
• Do you eat a lot of processed and fast foods?
• Do you think that you would benefit from seeing a registered dietitian or someone who specializes in nutrition counseling?

Path to improved health

It can be hard to change your eating habits. It helps to focus on small changes. Making changes to your diet may also be beneficial if you have diseases that can be worsened by the things you eat or drink. Symptoms from conditions such as kidney disease, lactose intolerance, and celiac disease can all benefit from changes in diet. Below are suggestions to improve your health. Be sure to stay in touch with your doctor so he or she knows how you are doing.

• Find the strengths and weaknesses in your current diet. Do you eat 4-5 cups of fruits and vegetables every day? Do you get enough calcium? Do you eat whole grain, high-fiber foods? If so, you’re on the right track! Keep it up. If not, add more of these foods to your daily diet.
• Keep track of your food intake by writing down what you eat and drink every day. This record will help you assess your diet. You’ll see if you need to eat more or less from certain food groups.
• Think about asking for help from a dietitian. He or she can help you follow a special diet, especially if you have a health issue.

Almost everyone can benefit from cutting back on unhealthy fat. If you currently eat a lot of fat, commit to cutting back and changing your habits. Unhealthy fats include things such as: dark chicken meat; poultry skin; fatty cuts of pork, beef, and lamb; and high-fat dairy foods (whole milk, butter, cheeses). Ways to cut back on unhealthy fats include:

• Bake, grill, or broil meat instead of frying it. Remove the skin before cooking chicken or turkey. Eat fish at least once a week.
• Reduce extra fat. This includes butter on bread, sour cream on baked potatoes, and salad dressings. Use low-fat or nonfat versions of these foods.
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables with your meals and as snacks.
• Read the nutrition labels on foods before you buy them. If you need help with the labels, ask your doctor or dietitian.
• When you eat out, be aware of hidden fats and larger portion sizes.
• Staying hydrated is important for good health. Drink zero- or low-calorie beverages, such as water or tea. Sweetened drinks add lots of sugar and calories to your diet. This includes fruit juice, soda, sports and energy drinks, sweetened or flavored milk, and sweetened iced tea.

Things to consider

Balanced nutrition and regular exercise are good for your health. These habits can help you lose or maintain weight. Try to set realistic goals. They could be making some of the small diet changes listed above or walking daily.

Doctors and dietitians suggest making healthy eating habits a part of daily life rather than following fad diets. Nutrition tips and diets from different sources can be misleading. Keep in mind the advice below, and always check with your doctor first.

• Fad diets aren’t the answer. Fad or short-term diets may promise to help you lose weight fast. However, they are hard to keep up with and could be unhealthy.
• Good nutrition doesn’t come in a pill. Try eating a variety of foods instead. Your body benefits most from healthy whole foods. Only take vitamins that your doctor prescribes.
• Diet programs or products can confuse you with their claims. Most people in these ads get paid for their endorsements. They don’t talk about side effects, problems, or regained weight.

Questions to ask your doctor

• How many servings should I eat from each food group?
• If I’m on a strict diet, such as vegetarian or vegan, how can I improve my health?
• Are there certain eating habits I should follow for my health condition?

Resources

American Academy of Family Physicians, Nutrition: How to Make Healthier Food Choices

U.S. Department of Agriculture: ChooseMyPlate

Copyright © American Academy of Family Physicians

This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

Healthy food choices are happy food choices: Evidence from a real life sample using smartphone based assessments

This study is the first, to our knowledge, that investigated in-the-moment experienced eating happiness in real time and real life using EMA based self-report and imagery covering the complete diversity of food intake. The present results add to and extend previous findings by suggesting that fruit and vegetable consumption has immediate beneficial psychological effects. Overall, of 14 different main food categories, vegetables consumption contributed the largest share to eating happiness measured across eight days. Thus, in addition to the investment in future well-being indicated by previous research⁸, “healthy” food choices seem to be an investment in the in-the moment well-being.

Importantly, although many cultures convey the belief that eating certain foods has a greater hedonic and mood boosting effect, the present results suggest that this might not reflect actual in-the-moment experiences accurately. Even though people often have a spontaneous “unhealthy = tasty” intuition¹³, thus indicating that a stronger happiness boosting effect of “unhealthy” food is to be expected, the induced eating happiness of sweets did not differ on average from “healthy” food choices such as fruits or vegetables. This was also true for other stereotypically “unhealthy” foods such as pastries and salty extras, which did not show the expected greater boosting effect on happiness. Moreover, analyses on the meal type level support this notion, since snacks, despite their overall positive effect, were not the most psychologically beneficial meal type, i.e., dinner had a comparable “happiness” signature to snacking. Taken together, “healthy choices” seem to be also “happy choices” and at least comparable to or even higher in their hedonic value as compared to stereotypical “unhealthy” food choices.

In general, eating happiness was high, which concurs with previous research from field studies with generally healthy participants. De Castro, Bellisle, and Dalix²² examined weekly food diaries from 54 French subjects and found that most of the meals were rated as appealing. Also, the observed differences in average eating happiness for the 14 different food categories, albeit statistically significant, were comparable small. One could argue that this simply indicates that participants avoided selecting bad food²². Alternatively, this might suggest that the type of food or food categories are less decisive for experienced eating happiness than often assumed. This relates to recent findings in the field of comfort and emotional eating. Many people believe that specific types of food have greater comforting value. Also in research, the foods eaten as response to negative emotional strain, are typically characterised as being high-caloric because such foods are assumed to provide immediate psycho-physical benefits¹⁸. However, comparing different food types did not provide evidence for the notion that they differed in their provided comfort; rather, eating in general led to significant improvements in mood¹⁹. This is mirrored in the present findings. Comparing the eating happiness of “healthy” food choices such as fruits and vegetables to that of “unhealthy” food choices such as sweets shows remarkably similar patterns as, on average, they were associated with high eating happiness and their range of experiences ranged from very negative to very positive.

This raises the question of why the idea that we can eat indulgent food to compensate for life’s mishaps is so prevailing. In an innovative experimental study, Adriaanse, Prinsen, de Witt Huberts, de Ridder, and Evers²³ led participants believe that they overate. Those who characterised themselves as emotional eaters falsely attributed their over-consumption to negative emotions, demonstrating a “confabulation”-effect. This indicates that people might have restricted self-knowledge and that recalled eating episodes suffer from systematic recall biases²⁴. Moreover, Boelsma, Brink, Stafleu, and Hendriks²⁵ examined postprandial subjective wellness and objective parameters (e. g., ghrelin, insulin, glucose) after standardised breakfast intakes and did not find direct correlations. This suggests that the impact of different food categories on wellness might not be directly related to biological effects but rather due to conditioning as food is often paired with other positive experienced situations (e.g., social interactions) or to placebo effects¹⁸. Moreover, experimental and field studies indicate that not only negative, but also positive, emotions trigger eating^15,26. One may speculate that selective attention might contribute to the “myth” of comfort food¹⁹ in that people attend to the consumption effect of “comfort” food in negative situation but neglect the effect in positive ones.

The present data also show that eating behaviour in the real world is a complex behaviour with many different aspects. People make more than 200 food decisions a day²⁷ which poses a great challenge for the measurement of eating behaviour. Studies often assess specific food categories such as fruit and vegetable consumption using Food Frequency Questionnaires, which has clear advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness. However, focusing on selective aspects of eating and food choices might provide only a selective part of the picture^15,17,22. It is important to note that focusing solely on the “unhealthy” food choices such as sweets would have led to the conclusion that they have a high “indulgent” value. To be able to draw conclusions about which foods make people happy, the relation of different food categories needs to be considered. The more comprehensive view, considering the whole dietary behaviour across eating occasions, reveals that “healthy” food choices actually contributed the biggest share to the total experienced eating happiness. Thus, for a more comprehensive understanding of how eating behaviours are regulated, more complete and sensitive measures of the behaviour are necessary. Developments in mobile technologies hold great promise for feasible dietary assessment based on image-assisted methods²⁸.

As fruits and vegetables evoked high in-the-moment happiness experiences, one could speculate that these cumulate and have spill-over effects on subsequent general well-being, including life satisfaction across time. Combing in-the-moment measures with longitudinal perspectives might be a promising avenue for future studies for understanding the pathways from eating certain food types to subjective well-being. In the literature different pathways are discussed, including physiological and biochemical aspects of specific food elements or nutrients⁷.

The present EMA based data also revealed that eating happiness varied greatly within the 14 food categories and meal types. As within food category variance represented more than two third of the total observed variance, happiness varied according to nutritional characteristics and meal type; however, a myriad of factors present in the natural environment can affect each and every meal. Thus, widening the “nourishment” perspective by including how much, when, where, how long, and with whom people eat might tell us more about experienced eating happiness. Again, mobile, in-the-moment assessment opens the possibility of assessing the behavioural signature of eating in real life. Moreover, individual factors such as eating motives, habitual eating styles, convenience, and social norms are likely to contribute to eating happiness variance^5,29.

A key strength of this study is that it was the first to examine experienced eating happiness in non-clinical participants using EMA technology and imagery to assess food intake. Despite this strength, there are some limitations to this study that affect the interpretation of the results. In the present study, eating happiness was examined on a food based level. This neglects differences on the individual level and might be examined in future multilevel studies. Furthermore, as a main aim of this study was to assess real life eating behaviour, the “natural” observation level is the meal, the psychological/ecological unit of eating³⁰, rather than food categories or nutrients. Therefore, we cannot exclude that specific food categories may have had a comparably higher impact on the experienced happiness of the whole meal. Sample size and therefore Type I and Type II error rates are of concern. Although the total number of observations was higher than in previous studies (see for example, Boushey et al.²⁸ for a review), the number of participants was small but comparable to previous studies in this field^20,31,32,33. Small sample sizes can increase error rates because the number of persons is more decisive than the number of nested observations³⁴. Specially, nested data can seriously increase Type I error rates, which is rather unlikely to be the case in the present study. Concerning Type II error rates, Aarts et al.³⁵ illustrated for lower ICCs that adding extra observations per participant also increases power, particularly in the lower observation range. Considering the ICC and the number of observations per participant, one could argue that the power in the present study is likely to be sufficient to render the observed null-differences meaningful. Finally, the predominately white and well-educated sample does limit the degree to which the results can be generalised to the wider community; these results warrant replication with a more representative sample.

Despite these limitations, we think that our study has implications for both theory and practice. The cumulative evidence of psychological benefits from healthy food choices might offer new perspectives for health promotion and public-policy programs⁸. Making people aware of the “healthy = happy” association supported by empirical evidence provides a distinct and novel perspective to the prevailing “unhealthy = tasty” folk intuition and could foster eating choices that increase both in-the-moment happiness and future well-being. Furthermore, the present research lends support to the advocated paradigm shift from “food as health” to “food as well-being” which entails a supporting and encouraging rather constraining and limiting view on eating behaviour.

The importance of maintaining a healthy diet during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a lot of changes in our daily lives. We are social distancing, staying home, and unable to dine out at restaurants. It can be easy to slip into unhealthy eating habits during this stay-at-home period, but with a little thought and preparation, maintaining a healthy diet doesn’t have to be a chore.

Good nutrition is always important, but during this pandemic, it’s even more important because a well-balanced diet of nutritious foods helps support a strong immune system.

When it’s time to go grocery shopping, a little planning can help you get in and out of the store quickly. Prepare a shopping list that will cover you and everyone in your household for two weeks, and resist the urge to buy in much larger quantities. Buying more than you need means less for others and possibly unnecessary food waste.

With fresh foods, buy a variety in quantities that you would normally buy. Plan for a mix of fresh, frozen (meats, vegetables, fruits and breads), and shelf-stable foods (pastas, rice, legumes, nut butters, and dried and canned goods). Eat fresh food first, and stock your freezer and pantry with items you can eat in the second week and beyond.

If you don’t want to risk being around others at the supermarket, buying food online and having it delivered is another option, as is curbside pickup, which some local supermarkets are offering. Our region also has a variety of community-supported agriculture systems, where small farmers sell directly to consumers and through food boxes delivered to homes. This is a great way to support local farmers while getting the freshest possible food for your family.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Frozen or canned fruits and vegetables also contain vitamins and minerals, although the processing of these products sometimes adds ingredients such as sugar, salt or preservatives. Be sure to read the labels so you can choose what’s best for you and your family.

Consume a diet rich in whole grains, nuts and healthy fats such as in olive, sesame, peanut or other oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids. These foods help to support your immune system.

It’s tempting to reach for comfort food when we’re stressed, and that’s okay once in a while. But don’t make it a habit because many of these foods, such as mac and cheese, pizza, and burgers and fries, are high in fat, sugar and salt. Read food labels so you can be informed about the nutritional value of the foods you’re buying, serving to your family and eating.

Drink water regularly. Staying well hydrated also helps your immune system. Stick with plain water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages to cut down on empty calories.

During these challenging times, it can also be tempting to cope by reaching for an alcoholic drink. If you drink alcohol, do so only in moderation. Alcoholic beverages have little nutritional value and are often high in calories, and excess consumption of alcohol is linked to numerous health problems.

For more ways to help you stay safe and healthy, and for ways Mount Nittany Health is preparing for and responding to COVID-19, please visit mountnittany.org/coronavirus for more information.

Healthy Eating (for Parents) – Nemours Kidshealth

Whether you have a toddler or a teen, here are five of the best strategies to improve nutrition and encourage smart eating habits:

1. Have regular family meals.
2. Serve a variety of healthy foods and snacks.
3. Be a role model by eating healthy yourself.
4. Avoid battles over food.
5. Involve kids in the process.

Sure, eating well can be hard — family schedules are hectic and grab-and-go convenience food is readily available. But our tips can help make all five strategies part of your busy household.

Family Meals

Family meals are a comforting ritual for both parents and kids. Children like the predictability of family meals and parents get a chance to catch up with their kids. Kids who take part in regular family meals are also:

• more likely to eat fruits, vegetables, and grains
• less likely to snack on unhealthy foods
• less likely to smoke, use marijuana, or drink alcohol

Also, family meals are a chance for parents to introduce kids to new foods and to be role models for healthy eating.

Teens may turn up their noses at the prospect of a family meal — not surprising because they’re busy and want to be more independent. Yet studies find that teens still want their parents’ advice and counsel, so use mealtime as a chance to reconnect.

You might also try these tips:

• Let kids invite a friend to dinner.
• Involve your child in meal planning and preparation.
• Keep mealtime calm and friendly — no lectures or arguing.

What counts as a family meal? Whenever you and your family eat together — whether it’s takeout food or a home-cooked meal with all the trimmings. Strive for nutritious food and a time when everyone can be there. This may mean eating dinner a little later to accommodate a teen who’s at sports practice. It also can mean setting aside time on the weekends when it may be more convenient to gather as a group, such as for Sunday brunch.

Stock Up on Healthy Foods

Kids, especially younger ones, will eat mostly what’s available at home. That’s why it’s important to control the supply lines — the foods that you serve for meals and have on hand for snacks.

Follow these basic guidelines:

• Work fruits and vegetables into the daily routine, aiming for the goal of at least five servings a day. Be sure you serve fruit or vegetables at every meal.
• Make it easy for kids to choose healthy snacks by keeping fruits and vegetables on hand and ready to eat. Other good snacks include low-fat yogurt, peanut butter and celery, or whole-grain crackers and cheese.
• Serve lean meats and other good sources of protein, such as fish, eggs, beans, and nuts.
• Choose whole-grain breads and cereals so kids get more fiber.
• Limit fat intake by avoiding fried foods and choosing healthier cooking methods, such as broiling, grilling, roasting, and steaming. Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy products.
• Limit fast food and low-nutrient snacks, such as chips and candy. But don’t completely ban favorite snacks from your home. Instead, make them “once-in-a-while” foods, so kids don’t feel deprived.
• Limit sugary drinks, such as soda and fruit-flavored drinks. Serve water and low-fat milk instead.

Be a Role Model

The best way for you to encourage healthy eating is to eat well yourself. Kids will follow the lead of the adults they see every day. By eating fruits and vegetables and not overindulging in the less nutritious stuff, you’ll be sending the right message.

Another way to be a good role model is to serve appropriate portions and not overeat. Talk about your feelings of fullness, especially with younger children. You might say, “This is delicious, but I’m full, so I’m going to stop eating.” Similarly, parents who are always dieting or complaining about their bodies may foster these same negative feelings in their kids. Try to keep a positive approach about food.

Don’t Battle Over Food

It’s easy for food to become a source of conflict. Well-intentioned parents might find themselves bargaining or bribing kids so they eat the healthy food in front of them. A better strategy is to give kids some control, but to also limit the kind of foods available at home.

Kids should decide if they’re hungry, what they will eat from the foods served, and when they’re full. Parents control which foods are available to their kids, both at mealtime and between meals. Here are some guidelines to follow:

• Establish a predictable schedule of meals and snacks. It’s OK to choose not to eat when both parents and kids know when to expect the next meal or snack.
• Don’t force kids to clean their plates. Doing so teaches kids to override feelings of fullness.
• Don’t bribe or reward kids with food. Avoid using dessert as the prize for eating the meal.
• Don’t use food as a way of showing love. When you want to show love, give kids a hug, some of your time, or praise.

Get Kids Involved

Most kids will enjoy deciding what to make for dinner. Talk to them about making choices and planning a balanced meal. Some might even want to help shop for ingredients and prepare the meal. At the store, teach kids to check out food labels to begin understanding what to look for.

In the kitchen, select age-appropriate tasks so kids can play a part without getting injured or feeling overwhelmed. And at the end of the meal, don’t forget to praise the chef.

School lunches can be another learning lesson for kids. More important, if you can get them thinking about what they eat for lunch, you might be able to help them make positive changes. Brainstorm about what kinds of foods they’d like for lunch or go to the grocery store to shop together for healthy, packable foods.

There’s another important reason why kids should be involved: It can help prepare them to make good decisions on their own about the foods they want to eat. That’s not to say they’ll suddenly want a salad instead of french fries, but the mealtime habits you help create now can lead to a lifetime of healthier choices.

Check out some healthy recipes for kids of all ages.

Health benefits of eating well – Food and nutrition

A well-balanced diet provides all of the:

• energy you need to keep active throughout the day
• nutrients you need for growth and repair, helping you to stay strong and healthy and help to prevent diet-related illness, such as some cancers

Keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet can also help you to maintain a healthy weight.

Deficiencies in some key nutrients – such as vitamin A, B, C and E, and zinc, iron and selenium – can weaken parts of your immune system.

More about vitamins, minerals and nutrients

Type 2 diabetes

Maintaining a healthy weight and eating a balanced diet that’s low in saturated fat and high in fibre found in whole grains can help to reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

More about type 2 diabetes

Heart health

A healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy can help to reduce your risk of heart disease by maintaining blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

High blood pressure and cholesterol can be a symptom of too much salt and saturated fats in your diet.

Eating a portion of oily fish – such as salmon and trout – each week can also help to lower your risk of developing heart disease. The high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish are good for heart health.

Strong bones and teeth

A diet rich in calcium keeps your teeth and bones strong and can help to slow bone loss (osteoporosis) associated with getting older.

Calcium is usually associated with dairy products, but you can also get calcium by eating:

• sardines, pilchards or tinned salmon (with bones)
• dark green vegetables – such as kale and broccoli
• calcium-fortified foods – such as soya products, fruit juices and cereals

As vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, make sure you get outside (your body gets vitamin D from the sun) and have plenty of foods containing vitamin D in your diet – such as oily fish and fortified cereals.

More about vitamin D

How to manage your weight

Eating a healthy diet that includes lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and a moderate amount of unsaturated fats, meat and dairy can help you maintain a steady weight. Having a good variety of these foods every day leaves less room for foods that are high in fat and sugar – a leading cause of weight gain.

Together with exercise, eating a healthy diet in the right proportions can also help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol levels and blood pressure and decrease your risk of type 2 diabetes.

More about how to lose weight safely

Healthy eating basics | Heart and Stroke Foundation

A healthy diet includes:

1. Eating lots of vegetables and fruit

• This is one of the most important diet habits. Vegetables and fruit are packed with nutrients (antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibre) and help you maintain a healthy weight by keeping you full longer.
• Fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit at every meal and snack.

2. Choosing whole grain foods

• Whole grain foods include whole grain bread and crackers, brown or wild rice, quinoa, oatmeal and hulled barley. They are prepared using the entire grain. Whole grain foods have fibre, protein and B vitamins to help you stay healthy and full longer.
• Choose whole grain options instead of processed or refined grains like white bread and pasta.
• Fill a quarter of your plate with whole grain foods.

3. Eating protein foods

• Protein foods include legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, fortified soy beverage, fish, shellfish, eggs, poultry, lean red meats including wild game, lower fat milk, lower fat yogurts, lower fat kefir and cheeses lower in fat and sodium.
• Protein helps build and maintain bones, muscles and skin.
• Eat protein every day.
• Try to eat at least two servings of fish each week, and choose plant-based foods more often.
• Dairy products are a great source of protein. Choose lower fat, unflavoured options.
• Fill a quarter of your plate with protein foods.

4. Limiting highly and ultra-processed foods

• Highly processed foods — often called ultra-processed — are foods that are changed from their original food source and have many added ingredients. During processing, often important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fiber are removed while salt and sugar are added.  Examples of processed food include: fast foods, hot dogs, chips, cookies, frozen pizzas, deli meats, white rice and white bread. Learn more about ultra-processed foods here.
• Some minimally processed foods are okay. These are foods that are slightly changed in some way but contain few industrially made additives. Minimally processed foods keep almost all of their essential nutrients. Some examples are: bagged salad, frozen vegetables and fruit, eggs, milk, cheese, flour, brown rice, oil and dried herbs. We are not referring to these minimally processed foods when we are advising you not to eat processed foods.
• Heart & Stroke funded research found that ultra-processed foods make up almost half of Canadians’ diets. Read more about it here.

5. Making water your drink of choice

• Water supports health and promotes hydration without adding calories to the diet. 
• Sugary drinks including energy drinks, fruit drinks, 100% fruit juice, soft drinks and flavored coffees have lots of sugar and little to no nutritional value. It is easy to drink empty calories without realizing, and this leads to weight gain.
• Avoid fruit juice, even when it is 100% fruit juice. Although fruit juice has some of the benefits of the fruit (vitamins, minerals), it has more sugar than the fruit and less fiber. Fruit juice should not be consumed as alternative to fruits. Canadians should eat their fruits, not drink them.
• When safe drinking water is not available, quench your thirst with coffee, tea, unsweetened lower-fat milk, and previously boiled water.

Top 5 tips from the experts

1. Prepare most of your meals at home using whole or minimally processed foods. Choose from a variety of different proteins to keep things interesting. Using catchy names for each day can help you plan. Try “Meatless Monday” with this meatless recipe.
2. Make an eating plan each week – this is the key to fast, easy meal preparation. Check out our shopping tips here.
3. Choose recipes with plenty of vegetables and fruit. Your goal is to fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit at every meal. Choose brightly coloured fruits and vegetables each day, especially orange and dark green vegetables (click here for more information). Frozen or canned unsweetened fruits and vegetables are a perfect alternative to fresh produce. Try this recipe.
4. Avoid sugary drinks and instead drink water. Lower-fat, unsweetened milk is also a good way to stay hydrated. Keep a reusable water bottle in your purse or car so you can fill up wherever you are going.
5. Eat smaller meals more often. Eat at least three meals a day with snacks in between. When you wait too long to eat you are more likely to make unhealthy food choices. Keep easy-to-eat snacks (like this) in your purse or bag for emergencies.

Related information

Are you a healthy eater? Take the Healthy eating check-up (PDF) to find out.

Do you want to change your eating habits? Take control.

Make a plan for healthy changes.

Assess your risk with the Heart&Stroke Risk Assessment

Plan healthy meals ahead of time using our healthy meal planning toolkit.

Listen to Dr. Carol Greenwood talk about foods to eat for brain health.

Learn about women’s unique risk factors.

90,000 The healthiest food for the whole family every day

Greetings, my friend. I think you know that a full-fledged diet of a modern person is impossible without a correct and balanced diet, in which healthy food, wholesome and tasty, is of paramount importance.

Therefore, in today’s article, I will tell you what food can be considered healthy and give you a list of foods necessary for excellent health and guaranteed longevity.

Healthy food, of course, is impossible without healthy food, which should equally include –

1. proteins and fats,
2. vitamins and minerals,
3. carbohydrates and micro-macroelements,

whose value for the health of any person can hardly be overestimated.

The modern food products we buy are to one degree or another both useful and harmful, so some of them have a positive effect on human health, making him healthier, while others have a negative effect, bringing certain health problems.

A short list of products useful for any person

The very concept of healthy food has a fairly broad designation, since it includes the quantity and quality of food consumed, and therefore the preparation of an individual well-designed diet with the correct constant meal time.Eating a healthy diet includes the following list of healthy foods such as:

• tomatoes and peppers, courgettes and turnips,
• carrots and beets, herbs and garlic,
• celery and watercress, cabbage and broccoli,
• apples and pumpkin , grapes and kiwi,
• avocados and pineapples, bananas and dates,
• cottage cheese and eggs, fish and chicken,
• pomegranates and figs, oranges and tangerines,
• cranberries and persimmons, olives and mountain ash,
• oatmeal and buckwheat , nuts and dried fruits,

which, of course, could still be continued, however, I will give only some of the most useful of them, these are:

Bee honey is an ancient and unsurpassed natural product, unsurpassed in value and usefulness,

, which has a high calorie content and the richest source of vitamins, proteins and amino acids, is necessary for any person, as it has the most valuable nutritional and antibacterial properties.Dairy products, given to humans by wildlife, reduce the negative impact of an unfavorable environment in ecological terms, saturating the body with calcium, which in turn has a positive effect on the entire bone apparatus. Drinking a glass of milk every day will save you from osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Chicken eggs are the most useful natural source of protein and lutein, preventing the formation of cataracts and blood clots, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases – heart attack and stroke, and eating one egg a day will reduce the risk of cancer by 50%.

Whole grains of our agriculture in the form of grain breads and cereals maintain the energy balance of the whole body due to the huge amount of carbohydrates and natural biofibers, the consumption of which reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and obesity, cancer and diabetes, while lowering bad cholesterol. Seafood from our water spaces in the form of fish and seaweed contain a large amount of phosphorus, fatty acids and minerals – potassium and iodine, iron and calcium.

They are freely and quickly absorbed, lowering cholesterol and blood clots, protecting against cancer and strengthening the walls of blood vessels, as well as bone and cartilage tissue, strengthening nails and hair.And regular use of them 2-3 times a week will prevent depression and memory loss.

Chicken meat from our food industry increases energy and brain function by stabilizing the bone apparatus, as it contains B vitamins, selenium and a large amount of proteins, preventing cancer, and white meat from skinless breasts does not contain excess cholesterol.

Garlic and spinach grown in garden beds are beneficial for diabetics and for the eyes, reducing acute pain and terrible swelling, improve stable immunity, and have anti-inflammatory properties, as they contain vitamins C, A, K, antioxidants, iron and lutein …

They protect against cancer, cardiovascular diseases – heart attack and stroke, as well as diseases of the bone apparatus – arthritis and osteoporosis, strengthening hair follicles.

Forest blueberries and foreign bananas prevent cataracts and glaucoma, strengthen the cardiovascular system, stabilize blood pressure and varicose veins, neutralize acidity due to the presence of a large amount of antioxidants, biofibers and potassium, helping to cure hemorrhoids, cancer and stomach ulcers, coping with diarrhea and constipation, softening the work of the digestive system and impaired brain activity.So we found out with you what kind of food is healthy. This fresh and healthy food for every day is so tasty and necessary that I recommend consuming it regularly if you want your body to be always full and healthy, and what recipes for delicious and healthy food for every day you decide for yourself.

Time of intake and amount of food you need

Today, most food products can hardly be called healthy food, as the amount of nutrients needed for health is sharply reduced, so I recommend that you think about what healthy food is and take very seriously that you eat.

Along with the quality of the food you eat, it is very important at what time and in what volume you take it, because if you do it wrong, then your stomach will face oppressive heaviness and excruciating heartburn, and your body will be prematurely tired, so let’s find out at what time of day and how much you need to eat. Morning breakfast is the time when the human body is just starting to wake up and weakly function, processing morning food, so it should not be very dense and contain 1/3 of the daily intake of food, and an acceptable meal time with 7 am to 8 am.

At this time, the digestion process is not yet so active, therefore, all the food you eat for breakfast should be saturated with slow carbohydrates, which are just beginning to be difficult to digest, subsequently being quickly and efficiently assimilated.

Lunch time does not have such a strict time frame, so lunchtime can be in the range from 12 to 14 hours, right now digestion is most active. At this time, you can already eat a dense and satisfying meal, consuming more proteins, fats and carbohydrates, since all this lunch food will be perfectly digested and digested as much as possible without noticeable heaviness for your stomach.Evening dinner is a time when there is a certain feeling of hunger, for which the best meal time may be from 18 to 19 hours.

The small amount of food you take should not consist of too salty and spicy, smoked and fatty, but only vegetable fats with proteins and carbohydrates that do not overload the stomach before bedtime, since your body is already preparing for a night’s rest.

Do not overeat in the evening, because the food must have time to digest before you go to bed.

For normal functioning, any body needs to replenish its energy reserves and it is better to do this if you use the right recipes for healthy food every day. Eat healthy food and then you will definitely be healthy and energetic.

The amount of food eaten is considered very important, since systematic malnutrition or excessive overeating negatively affects the human body as a whole, therefore, how much and how to cook healthy food is up to you, especially since the recipes for healthy food today are so diverse that you can find there are a lot of them on the Internet.

If your stomach is 2/4 full of food, ¼ water and ¼ air, then the digestion process will be the most maximal and effective, and the first belching will serve as a sign of a full stomach, indicating a decrease in air in the stomach, so do not overeat. the amount of food taken, in breakfast it should be no more than 30%, at lunchtime – 50%, for dinner 20%, it is such a daily amount of food that will allow you to adhere to the correct diet, and your body to work without much effort and unacceptable overloads for your health …

The secret of longevity and excellent health

Each of us dreams of a slim, beautiful body and good health, so if you want to achieve all this, then eat right. And proper healthy nutrition is the key to a long and happy life with a full-fledged diet, where fats must be – 20%, proteins – 30%, carbohydrates – 50% in products such as:

1. meat and fish,
2. cereals and dairy products,
3. fresh fruits and vegetables,

because these products are reliable companions for a healthy diet.The human body at any time of the year needs all these nutrients to maintain acid-base balance, normal weight and well-being. A correct or healthy lifestyle implies not only a properly balanced diet of healthy food, but also regular exercise, of course, rejection of all bad habits, and without fail the harmony of personal life with a positive outlook on the world around you, without all this you will not be able to discover the secret of excellent health and longevity.

To get all this, you need genuine interest and a powerful incentive, which can be –

• stable weight and excellent health,
• pristine beauty and blooming health,
• state of mind and high efficiency,
• excellent mood and healthy sleep,

After all, you need to constantly take care of your appearance and the state of your body and spirit. Only systematic observance of all these principles will preserve your health for many, many years.Even the modern science of proper nutrition recommends eating one ripe apple every day, and then you will forget what diseases and ailments are.

Strive for the maximum vitamin content of your dishes, that is, during the ripening season of fruits, vegetables and berries, eat them as much as possible, and replace the amount of animal fats with vegetable oils,

and of course, reduce the consumption of refined sugar and table salt, which can be replaced with bee honey and spices.

Healthy food for weight loss is not only a set of certain foods, but also a lifestyle in which you need to know when to stop using different healthy foods, and you will be rewarded with a normal weight and excellent health.

However, for all this to work 100%, do not forget about good rest and physical activity.

Basic principles and rules of healthy eating

At any age and at any time of the year, you can safely switch to a healthy and proper diet, but this should be done gradually so that your body does not experience a state of stress from the very first days, which means it fully assimilates everything essential nutrients obtained from food.

Healthy food for the whole family primarily involves a complete diet that keeps the human body in constant tone throughout the day, giving it vitality and physical performance. Therefore, in order to start eating right, you must follow the following recommendations on the rules and principles of healthy eating, which are not so difficult –

1. eat only fresh and high-quality food products – purchased with an unexpired expiration date in trusted places and from your regular sellers,
2. cook correctly and in small portions – do not combine two protein dishes at once, since proteins are not very compatible with fats – fish and meat, bread and potatoes, acidic foods with starch, carbohydrates and sugars, fruits with proteins, and the best way of cooking is cooking , and cooking with steam or in an electric grill,
3. diversify the food ration with all food groups – be sure to eat fresh vegetables and fruits containing useful substances for the body that normalize metabolism and acid balance,
4. observe the food regimen – food intake should be strictly scheduled time, at least 3 times a day with a break For more than four hours, and to speed up the metabolism (metabolism), eat often, but in small portions,
5. daily drink at least two liters of clean, unboiled, filtered water, observing the drinking regime and improving the digestion process, thereby removing various harmful toxins from the body ,
6. Check product compatibility or compatibility to avoid indigestion and bloating.Do not eat food with a different composition at the same time:

protein – fish and meat, eggs and poultry, dairy and seafood,

and carbohydrate – potatoes and pasta, cereals and baked goods, candied fruits and bananas, since these groups of products are split by differently,

7. try to eat light, freshly prepared food with a low calorie content and always liquid dishes on meat and vegetable, fish and mushroom broths, which contribute to the abundant secretion of gastric juice, as they help in the digestion of thicker second courses of cereals and potatoes, and sweet eat dessert at the very end,
8. eat regularly, that is, in no case skip the next meal that triggers metabolic processes in the body, since you will eat much less at the next meal.Listen to your body and only eat when you are hungry,
9. portions of food should be moderate to keep the amount of food in line with your energy expenditure. With age, reduce the calorie content of the daily diet due to fats and carbohydrates, leaving only the amount of protein the same,
10. once a week do a fasting day, since the body needs to cleanse itself of toxic toxins, if it is difficult for you to do this, then arrange yourself once a healthy food week day.After forty years, eat more non-fatty fermented milk products, and after fifty years – use table salt, watching the water-salt metabolism,
11. The most important rule is to chew the food you eat thoroughly, making at least 20 chewing movements before your food is swallowed. Do not be distracted by talking, reading books and watching TV, take your time to eat, and enjoy every bite you eat. While eating, think only about your food, about what benefits it will bring you, since thinking about problems at work or household chores, the food you eat will not bring you true pleasure,
12. during the off-season, feed your body with a vitamin and mineral complex in the form multivitamin supplements, since all foods do not always contain all the vitamins and minerals the body needs.

Eat everything, but in limited quantities, since the diet must necessarily consist of different food groups, that is, the food you cook should be varied in composition – vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, cereals and dairy products.

Foods such as fruits and watermelon, milk and melon are difficult for the stomach to digest, so they must be eaten separately.

Especially fragrant aromatic melon is a food product incompatible with anything – it inhibits the digestion process, and if you eat it separately, it will perfectly cleanse a full stomach.Cow’s milk, on the other hand, has the ability to envelop food, preventing its normal digestion.

Following these simple dietary guidelines will help your body get the most out of your food intake. You will forget about stomach pains, upset and bloating.

For your body to work smoothly like clockwork, you need to monitor what you eat, enriching it with all the necessary substances.

• eat only freshly prepared foods – fish, poultry and meat,
• foods containing saturated fatty acids Omega 3 – vegetable oils, red fish and nuts,
• foods containing natural bio-substances (fiber) – dried fruits and cereals, vegetables and fruits,
• reduce the consumption of animal fats,
• replace milk with lactic acid products – yogurt and kefir, ayran and fermented baked milk,
• eat more fresh green herbs – parsley and dill, lettuce and celery, green onions and cilantro, etc.
• give up canned food and smoked meats, salted and peppered foods,
• never fry in butter or margarine, replace them with vegetable oil – sunflower and olive oil,
• eat freshly prepared various salads every day – vegetable and fruit,
• Eat porridge from various cereals and cereals every day, because they are tasty and healthy, give the body energy and create satiety, it is lean porridge cooked in water that is the best calming agent for the nervous system.

They say that today all diseases are from the nerves, where the strongest stress and various mental disorders with emotional experiences are much more dangerous than any food products and strict diets, so try to live in harmony with your inner world, bypassing all stressful and conflict situations. Many people know that you need to eat right, but not everyone does it, because sometimes it is not so easy to overcome your ossified habits.

However, if you strive for excellent well-being, full development and enviable longevity, start eating right and then many diseases will bypass you, and you will live happily ever after, and be healthy!

And that’s all for today.I hope you enjoyed my article on healthy food, I hope you learned a lot from it. Maybe you already use it in your daily diet or are just going to eat it, write about it in your comments, I will be curious to read about it. Now let me say goodbye to you and see you again.

I suggest you subscribe to blog updates. And also you can rate the article on the 10th system by marking it with a certain number of stars.Come to visit me and bring your friends, because this site was created especially for you. I am sure that you will definitely find a lot of useful and interesting information here.

Food and a healthy lifestyle Text of a scientific article in the specialty “Veterinary Sciences”

FOOD AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE N.A. Voronov, Cand. biol. sciences, associate professor

Yaroslavl Higher Military School of Air Defense of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Russia, g.Yaroslavl)

Abstract. This article examines the issues of proper and rational nutrition, because both physical and emotional state depend on quality products and proper preparation. After all, nutrition is the basis for the life of the body. It is also important to maintain hygiene, which is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. that a clean body prevents the occurrence of many diseases and also helps the human body to function better.

Keywords: physical culture, physical exercises, students, food hygiene, food, vitamins.

Many modern people choose two main things for their physical and emotional development: firstly, proper nutrition as a factor in a healthy lifestyle, and secondly, physical activity. In fact, these two concepts are inseparable, since only together they provide a person’s success.

Eaten foods supply the body with the necessary building materials and energy. In humans, and especially in women, there is a constant cellular renewal, these processes are reflected in energy expenditure [4]. Food is also a source of substances that are involved in the synthesis of enzymes, hormones, and other regulators.

Metabolic processes are entirely dependent on the food intake. Its composition, properties, as well as quantity are able to determine the rate of growth of a person, as well as his physical development.The basis of the food consumed affects the individual’s ability to work, his life expectancy, the frequency of diseases and the state of the nerves. With food, we get a sufficient (although not always) amount of proteins with carbohydrates, as well as fats, important minerals, a complex of vitamins and essential microelements.

All basic theories describing how to eat right [2], constantly

strive to solve the main problem: to prolong the active life of a person.

Nutritionists identify several basic rules on which proper nutrition is based:

Food should not be a cult. Nutrition is the basis for the vital activity of the body, and only secondarily is the consumption of food a pleasure and a ritual.

Fresh and natural products. You should try to eat only freshly prepared food.You should not buy ready-made food in stores.

Balanced diet. Meals should include all available food groups, it is better not to replace or exclude any of the groups. At the same time, it is imperative to maintain proportions and try to diversify the menu.

Snacks. If you really want to have a snack, you can eat some fruits, dried fruits or nuts. Do not snack on chips, crackers, sweet cookies or chocolates.

Food restrictions. If possible, you should eat foods low in fat, limit the use of sugar, alcohol, salt, give up chips, soda, mayonnaise.

Physical activity. The amount of food eaten should be balanced with appropriate physical activity.

Cooking food. For a healthy lifestyle, it is better to refuse (or limit as much as possible) fried, spicy, smoked food, and give preference to boiled, stewed and baked food.

Plant and animal food. The basis of the daily diet should be vegetables and fruits, and it is advisable to use them fresh or steamed. This does not mean that meat should be abandoned altogether, just the proportion of vegetables in the diet should be several times higher.

Calories. It is important to monitor the calorie content of the daily diet – the calories consumed should be exactly as much as the body “burns” per day.It is necessary to calculate the individual daily calorie intake and use the food calorie table.

Power supply mode. The nutritional menu for a healthy lifestyle should be broken down into 4-6 meals. Such a food system does not allow a person to get hungry, does not overload the gastrointestinal tract and improves metabolism.

Nutrition with herbal ingredients. Vegetable proteins are more useful than animal proteins, and their intake is sufficient to satisfy human needs.Hence the conclusion: it is better to abandon meat and dairy products in favor of vegetable products. This gives you a greater likelihood of delivering “excellent quality” protein with your meal.

Fats are complex materials in their structure. When they enter the human body, and especially women, when they eat, they decompose under the action of gastric juice into simple materials: vitamins and microelements. In addition, they provoke the secretion of bile, which stimulates intestinal peristalsis.

Animal fats, which include milk and dairy products, are harmful enough for the proper functioning of the human body. They contain dangerous for our te-

la enzymes. Some people generally get poisoned from drinking milk because they don’t digest lactose well. Therefore, vegetable fats are considered more useful, since they lower cholesterol in the blood and contain polyunsaturated acids that are required for the restoration of the heart and blood vessels.

Carbohydrates are an excellent fuel for women. They are different: fast substances are instantly absorbed, but complex components are first processed by the digestive canal, which secretes simple elements from them. The main difference between various carbohydrates is the speed of penetration of glucose into the blood. It is the main constituent of carbohydrates. The rate of increase in blood glucose with the use of various carbohydrates determines their benefits and harms, this is especially important for patients with diabetes.Knowing the properties of the food consumed, one can easily control weight, preventing the appearance of fat accumulations.

We advise you to monitor the correct ratio of incoming proteins, carbohydrates, fats in the body – this is the basis of proper nutrition [3]. These proportions have long been known and on average are 1: 4: 1 in fractions. This proportion is true for both women and men.

Diet and calorie content.Particular attention is required to be paid to the calorie content of the dishes. The number of calories taken with food should fully cover the energy costs of women and men. It all depends on the age, the nature of the daily work performed and the usual way of life. Correctly calculate your own calorie intake for the daily diet, using the calorie table for this.

Diet has an important role in the well-organized lifestyle of women and men.You need to eat food in small portions. The menu is divided into 6 receptions. Such a power supply system will not allow

overload the digestive tract, improve metabolism and easily satisfy the feeling of hunger.

Morning food intake should be about 25% of the daily diet, 35% – lunch, afternoon tea – about 15%, and in the evening – the remaining 25%. The last time you eat should be no later than 3 hours before bedtime. For lunch, eat well-digestible foods such as vegetables and fruits.In the evening, do not abuse foods that cause flatulence, burdening the motor and secretory activity of the digestive system. When drawing up a diet, you should also devote time to such issues as the intervals between meals, the time spent on the process itself.

If food is quickly absorbed and chewed poorly, this can lead to excessive stress on the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in poor absorption (digestion).During too hasty meals, women and men feel hunger very slowly, which can lead to overeating. Therefore, the duration of lunch should be at least half an hour. Regular irregularities in food intake contribute to metabolic disorders, which leads to the appearance of diseases: gastritis, ulcers, acute pancreatitis, myocardial infarction.

It should be understood that proper nutrition in compliance with all recommendations will help slow down the aging process in women and men, reduce the risk of heart disease, vascular system, prevent the development of diabetes, hypertension.

You can be sure that the transition to a balanced diet will give a quick result [1], and for this you just need to start. Physical activity will help with this. Only in combination with it will sleep normalize, immunity will increase, more energy will appear: a person will begin to feel physically and emotionally healthier and more confident.

A few tips: Keep a dietary diary for a healthy lifestyle.Write to

every day

your daily planner for everything you eat. After a few weeks, you can analyze all the entries in the diary, and analyze all your dietary mistakes. Try to draw the right conclusions and form a plan of action for the future. Keeping a diary will give you a visual assessment of your implementation of a healthy eating plan.

Be hard on yourself and do not give in to temptations.There are many moments in life when you can turn off the intended path, justifying yourself by the action of others or by the invincible force of circumstances. Avoid pastry shops, cafes, and other places where you might be tempted. In turn, meet less with people who force you to break promises made to yourself. If a friend invites you to a sushi bar several times a week, get by with one visit.

All changes take time. The habit of eating right will not arise in one day – it takes at least several months, and maybe more.It won’t be easy at first, but then you’ll feel proud of yourself when you see the first inspiring results.

Find additional motivation or support from a loved one.

Hygiene. Maintaining hygiene is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. And besides the fact that a clean body prevents the occurrence of many diseases, and also helps the body to function better, a person who is firsthand familiar with the rules of personal hygiene still looks much more attractive.

Abandonment of bad habits. Addictive habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol or even drugs cause serious damage to human health [2]. With the intention of starting to lead a healthy lifestyle, first of all, it is necessary to refrain from anything that destroys health.

Disease prevention. Strengthening, under stress, or simply lazy human health and prevention, being in constant stress of diseases – a rather difficult task, experiencing anger or other dacha, requiring a person to be patient, negative emotions, more susceptible and stability of the nervous system.to diseases. Therefore, one of the

In addition to various procedures that promote a healthy lifestyle are beneficial to human health, there is the elimination of negative emotions. also a psychological factor. Person –

References

1. The phenomenon of student socialization in the educational process of physical development / N.A. Voronov, I. P. Gladkikh, A.V. Lyusin // In the collection: Education and pedagogical sciences in the XXI century Collection of articles by the winners of the International Scientific and Practical Conference. Under the general editorship of G.Yu. Gulyaeva. 2017.S. 162—165.

2. Physical culture and healthy lifestyle of a student: Textbook / M.Ya. Vilensky, A.G. Gorshkov. – M .: KnoRus, 2013 .– 240 p.

3. Physical culture and sports of workers / P.A. Vinogradov, Yu.V. Okunkov. – M .: Soviet sport, 2015 .– 172 p.

4. Physical culture. Physical activity lessons. / EAT. Elizarova. -M .: Soviet sport, 2013 .– 95 p.

FOOD AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

N.A. Voronov, candidate of biological sciences, associate professor Yaroslavl highest military college of air defense of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Russia, Yaroslavl)

Abstract.This article considers questions of the healthy and balanced diet, both the physical, and emotional state depends on qualitative products and the correct preparation. Food is a basis for activity of an organism. Also maintenance of hygiene which is an important component of a healthy lifestyle since that the clean body prevents developing of many diseases and also helps to function better to a human body is not unimportant.

Keywords: physical culture, physical exercises, students, hygiene of food, products, vitamins.

90,000 How easy it is to lose weight and get used to eating healthy food – The Idealist

By James Clear

I want to start living a healthy life without breaking my habits
across the knee.

I want to make an effective diet
and eat right, because it allows me to achieve more in life,
but I also don’t want to spend all day thinking about what I eat.

Instead of such thoughts, my
time and energy must be spent creating things that matter,
seeking adventure and exploring the world, networking and sharing experiences with
people around me, as well as to achieve goals that are important to me.

For this purpose, I spent the last
several months testing different strategies. The main task was to develop
ways to stick to healthy meals without much effort.

Most people get hung up
on the details and strategies of a specific diet and as a result cannot
stick to.I like to keep things simple. I wanted to give up
details, understand the main idea and make your own adjustments.

Of course, I have no answers to
all questions, but here’s what works in my case right now.

How to eat a healthy diet without much thought

The basic idea behind most good
diets are the same: there are whole foods that are not processed and
grown outdoors. Some have different variations – without
products of animal origin, free of cereals, etc.- but most are
the general formula “eat real food.”

The problem is – if you
something like me – you will eat everything that is at hand, regardless
from the origin of the food. In this case, the best strategy is to surround yourself with healthy
food.

This is how I do it …

When I go to the grocery
store, then they visit only the racks with “real food”: fruits, vegetables, lean
meat, fish, eggs and nuts. And this is what I eat as a result.

Other racks contain
packaged, processed and canned foods. Don’t walk past them and you
do not buy these items. Do not buy these items and they will not end up in your
refrigerator and on your table.

Try a similar approach in
next time you go to the store and do your best not to
make exceptions. There will of course be times when you need to walk through
aisle to grab a spice or a bottle of olive oil, but it happens
seldom.

I know that I will eat everything that
will come to hand, so I try to surround myself with good products. This is still
one way I design my successful environment.

Eating less without thinking about it

Many people want to lose weight ,
burn fat and build a slim body. Maybe you are chasing a similar one too
purpose.

In my experience, the simplest
the way to do this is to buy healthier foods and eat less.If you
combine these two strategies with exercises, the result will sooner or later
will come. Above, I talked about my approach to buying healthier food, below –
the two best strategies to help you eat less.

Important note: as in
For most diets, these strategies should be used in moderation. In our
there is tremendous social and cultural pressure in the world to convince people
that you have to “be thin.” The strategies I will share below do not advocate
similar type of behavior.My goal is to offer ideas that will make life more
healthy. Your ultimate goal should always be to recover
your health and love yourself.

1. Use small plates, bowls, pans, etc.

Cook & Serve
less, and then you will obviously eat less. This strategy works a lot
better than counting on willpower or counting calories . But numerous
studies show that a person subconsciously tends to finish their food.

In addition, the transition to
dark green plates can also be a good idea as it will increase
the amount of green vegetables you eat.

2. Eat less often, but more

Intermittent fasting –
is a mealtime regimen where you eat twice a day for 8 hours instead of
three or four small meals throughout the day. The rest of the 16 hours you
“Starve”.

I have been using this approach for more than 2
years old. The first time I eat usually around 12 noon, the second around 8 pm.

In theory, you can eat
the same amount of food in two meals as in three (right now I
trying to gain muscle mass, so I try to eat a lot more than usual).
In practice, however, most people eat less as a result.

What you eat is more important than when

Intermittent fasting
helps you burn fat and maintain muscle. It also makes life easier
because it takes less time to cook and wash dishes.These are my reasons for
using this practice.

However, it is important to understand that the content
food will always be more important than the timing of the meal.

Intermittent fasting better
total works in conjunction with healthy diet . Do not swallow
a few big macs at 12 noon and 8 pm and think that extra pounds in
as a result, they will magically disappear. Intermittent fasting – simple
another weapon that can be used in the fight against fat, just like the small
plates and stuff.

I think life is meant
in order to live joyfully. I have no desire to judge myself for what I ate
pizza or feel guilty about drinking a beer.

But I also know how I feel
myself much better when I eat healthy foods. Also, I like the idea
maximizing your potential and transforming your body into a sports car.

This is how I do it
achieve.

I start by saying that in
in most cases it is easy for me to make the right choice.Purchase strategy
the products described above led me to eat healthy foods 80%
time.

Since I know that a large
some of the time I already make the right choice, I don’t worry about eating
soft pretzel for tea in the office or go for a pizza with friends.

I also have a simple
the rule that I try to follow: whenever I eat something harmful, the next
eating is necessarily a healthy meal.

Avoid radical change, strive for simplification

I like simple rules.

I am not following the strict diet plan .
Instead, I focus on buying wholesome foods.

I’m not counting calories .
Instead, I stick to the rule of eating twice a day.

I Don’t Judge Myself When I Eat
something unhealthy. Instead, I try to follow a healthy diet
most part of time.

Thanks to these simple strategies
I was able to stick to healthy eating without much effort or thought.

And most importantly, I actually followed
on the way of progress, and not bogged down in the details of a specific diet . When the case
comes to diets and nutrition, I think you better move in the right
direction than to develop the ideal to the smallest detail.

Less effort, better food, and more time for what’s important.

Original: JamesClear

90,000 From the era of convenience foods to detox: the history of the fashion for “healthy eating”

Afisha Daily set out to track how the concept of “healthy eating” has evolved over the past 80 years.The food industry was rocking like a pendulum: semi-finished products and fresh farm products, a meat diet and vegetarianism, fast food and fast-casual – we will tell you how, why and why these trends changed.

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Creating a fashion for anything, including food, is an integral part of the culture of human development.The concept of “wholesome food” certainly existed long before the XX century – in Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt there could well have been their own food of power. This topic is very broad, but over the past century, “healthy food” has come a long and exciting path of market niches, and the American market has played a significant role here.

What is “healthy food”

“Healthy nutrition – a rational, balanced diet, providing the intake of food, biologically active substances, in accordance with physiological needs, maintaining the functional state of the body at a high level, organized taking into account the principles of sparing nutrition”, – written in the guidelines “Hygienic assessment of food rations students “, approved by the head of the department of Rospotrebnadzor in the city of Moscow and the director of the Scientific Research Institute of Hygiene of Children and Adolescents, SCCH RAMS in 2008.

“Health food is an organic, vegetarian food, no additives, eaten for dietary purposes,” according to the Collins English Dictionary.

“Health food is food that contains only natural substances that is beneficial to health,” – written in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

“Health food is particularly healthy food, usually organically produced without the use of chemicals,” says the Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

“Health food – products that are healthy because they do not contain chemicals and too much sugar and fat,” – written in the Cambridge Dictionary.

As you can see, there is neither special harmony in opinions, nor clarity of wording. In Russian dictionaries, the concept of “healthy food”, as well as “healthy food”, “healthy food”, “healthy food”, “healthy food”, is simply not there. At the same time, of the above, it is the first explanation that seems minimally speculative.

There is a lot of controversy, but scientists have not yet proven that natural and organic products are healthier than genetically modified ones. Or that spirulina, gluten-free bread, and yogurt can help you live longer or noticeably improve your health. But real examples from history prove that the propaganda of the benefits or harms of this or that product, it happened, turned out to be a session of mass hypnosis. Sometimes harmful, sometimes neutral, but always accompanied by the leakage of money from the consumer’s pocket to the companies involved in the conspiracy, well, or, say, a joke.

40th

“Green revolution” and new technologies

American geneticist and breeder Norman Borlaug

© Micheline Pelletier Decaux /GettyImages.ru

The Green Revolution began in the 40s with the creation of new technologies in agriculture: crop failures in Mexico prompted the government to seek help from the Rockefeller Foundation, which sent a group of agronomists there; it included a geneticist and breeder Norman Borlaug, who developed new disease-resistant, high-yielding wheat varieties.This made it possible for the Mexicans not only to provide themselves with products, but also to earn by exporting. The United States imported about half of Mexican wheat, and after, in the 50s and 60s, they themselves became its producers and exporters. The term “green revolution” itself appeared only in the 70s, when Borlaug received the Nobel Prize for his contribution to agriculture. The name does not refer to sustainability, as one might think, but to the introduction of new technologies, including the use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture, which helped to establish mass production and save a growing population from hunger.

In parallel, another branch of agriculture is developing – organic farming. In 1940, Lord Northbourne’s “Look to the Land” manifesto was published in Great Britain, which was the first to use the term “organic farming”.

50th

Megalopolises, advertising of semi-finished products and fast food

Until 1958, Layʼs had only one taste: the original. Later, a second appeared – a barbecue, and in the late 70s – a third, with sour cream and onions

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Maxwell House spent a lot of money on advertising in the 1920s and by 1925 had become the most famous coffee brand in the United States

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In the era of pop art in the late 50s and early 60s, Campbell products became a symbol of the era of mass consumption, becoming famous throughout the world thanks to the American artist Andy Warhol

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Smoking and children – why not! If it’s 50th in America

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Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring” on the environmental impact of industrialization in general and the negative effects of pesticides in particular

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The post-war period and the era of the baby boom led to the active development of industrial production: everything cheap, multifunctional and easy to prepare poured into the market.Chips, breakfast cereals, toast bread, instant coffee, canned meat and much more – new products have appeared, and existing local brands such as ready-to-eat have entered the national level. The turnover of Frito-Lay, which produces Layʼs, reached $ 100 million at that time; Instant coffee Maxwell House, whose history began in Tennessee after the war, began to be drunk throughout the country; Campbell’s canned soups, which made artist Andy Warhol famous, became a symbol of the era of mass consumption, and SPAM ham was encouraged to be added to every dish.

The cult of the working woman appeared: now her task was not to stand all day at the stove, but to work a shift and, returning home, quickly cook a hearty dinner. This could be done not only from semi-finished products – it was this idea that was well sold to the population. So the food industry, which involved conveyor technologies, began to develop at lightning speed. The population began to face health problems and excess weight, people began to pay attention to what they eat.

In general, in the middle of the 20th century, much that is now considered harmful was promoted as useful.And one of the most surprising examples is smoking. Cigarettes on advertising posters and magazine covers were smoked by celebrities, doctors, pregnant women, and babies said: “Before you scold me, mom, maybe youʼd better light up a Marlboro.” The promotion of smoking was associated with both ignorance and aggressive marketing of manufacturing companies. Cigarettes were affordable, legal for everyone, positioned as an elite product and therefore symbolized success in society.

Organic farming has grown slowly but steadily: in 1953, Natural Food Associates appeared in Atlanta, bringing together buyers and suppliers of organic products.And in the early 60s, the book “Silent Spring” was published about the environmental impact of industrialization in general and the negative impact of pesticides in particular. She attracted attention and influenced the development of the popularity of everything “natural”.

60s and 70s

California Vegetarian Fitness

Diet for a Small Planet by Francis Moore Lappé, published in 1971, greatly influenced the popularization of plant foods

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A group of hippies who created The Farm eco-village in Tennessee

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In the wake of the passion for healthy eating, literally green products have become popular.For example, avocado, which was already eaten in California

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As for smoking, in the 70s, the US Congress finally banned its advertising

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California, the most progressive region of the United States with its fertile lands and concentration of minds and financial flows of Silicon Valley, becomes a cult place: in the 70s, the hippie movement and the beginnings of fitness – a hobby for aerobics and jogging – appeared here.Food is a great tool to promote the values ​​of all kinds of movements and political views. In the late 60s – early 70s, vegetarianism became one of such tools: at first, not in the aspect of healthy nutrition, but as an idea of ​​universal harmony as a response to industrialization and aggression in the world. This leads to the fashion for everything natural in food – but more on that later. In the meantime, briefly about vegetarianism.

Vegetarianism

The cover of the 2016 Vegetarian Times magazine

Plant food was an important part of the human diet long before the appearance of the term “vegetarianism” in the 1840s in Great Britain: such food was practiced in Ancient Greece, India, Ancient Egypt and other regions, and its adherents were called Pythagoreans.Until the beginning of the 20th century, meat was an inaccessible product for most of the population: production and storage technologies were not so developed. But in the middle of the 20th century, the situation changed radically. The development of technology has led to a drop in prices, made meat more affordable and thereby influenced an increase in meat consumption.

In the 70s, people saw the idea of ​​giving up meat not only unhealthy, but generally unsuitable for survival, but in spite of everything, vegetarianism was gaining popularity. Several books have influenced the spread of vegetarianism in the United States.The first is Francis Moore Lappé’s 1971 Diet for a Small Planet, which promotes plant-based foods. The idea, apparently as a protest, was picked up by the man – the icon of the American counterculture and the hippie movement Stephen Gaskin. He and a group of like-minded people went on buses to Tennessee, where he founded The Farm commune (still exists), in which they promoted life in harmony with nature. At the same time, a fashion for local products began (in the commune, by the way, a vegetable garden was set up), small industries and a fetishization of life in the countryside as opposed to urban.

The Vegetarian Times magazine on vegetarianism appears (the printed version still exists, there is also a website) and vegetarian restaurants. Vegetarianism got a new wave of development in 1987 with the publication of the book “Diet for a New America” ​​by John Robbins, which collected all the information in support of vegetarianism: the horrors of the meat industry, stories about the dangers of meat and the benefits of plant foods, and so on. New ideas also come to megalopolises, where people, living in a frantic pace, begin to think that the reason for their poor health is their lifestyle.

Fashion for craft production

The fashion for artisan bread is still relevant now, in 2017. This photograph, for example, shows bread from the Pechorin bakery in Moscow

In response to the faceless industrial bread, there is a fashion for artisan bakery; Nathan Mayrwold, the mastermind behind the Modernist Cuisine culinary laboratory, which publishes an epic series of books under this title (recently released a collection about bread, Modernist Bread: The Art and Science), on the website of the American edition of Eater.

The market for organic products continued to develop, demand for local products and environmental friendliness grew. In 1973, Californian farmers founded California Certified Organic Farmer, the first organic certification organization in the United States.

Industry of False Opinions

In the 70s, there was also a new wave of fashion for yoghurts, they became a panacea for everything – up to dysbiosis. The Danone yoghurt production company, which has been operating since 1919, in the 70s, after merging with a glass company, went international.The success was due to the fact that, unlike the main instigator of the myth about the endless benefits of fermented milk mixtures, Ilya Mechnikov, Danone guessed to cook fruit and sweet yoghurts, which were also promoted throughout their life as products that promote longevity. Danone published books and posters with Ossetian and Georgian old men on the cover. They were really old-timers, but they obviously drank not yoghurts or kefir. Nevertheless, the advertisement was successful. Benefiting manufacturers, corporations and politicians from the industry of misconception is one of the biggest reasons we all ended up in 2017.You can read more about this in the lecture notes of the bartender and amateur biologist Ivan Yufryakov.

Topic details

The whole truth about bifidobacteria, fructose, GMOs, glutamate and E

The whole truth about bifidobacteria, fructose, GMOs, glutamate and E

80s and 90s

Organic, green logos and fast-casual

© Iris Schneider / GEttyImages.ru

The idea of ​​healthy food is primarily the idea of ​​megalopolises. It arises where there is good agriculture, and develops where there is money – soon we will return to California, but for now Texas.

In the late 70s, under the influence of protest culture, a dozen small vegetarian stores appeared in Austin, two of them, SaferWay and Clarksville Natural Grocery, merged into one – this is how Whole Foods Market appeared, at that time the largest store of “healthy” means the word whole in the name) of the products.Whole Foods has successfully developed: in 1984 it opened outside in Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, and five years later outside Texas – in California. In 1990, the company acquired several stores of this kind, and in 1999, the 100th store under this name opened in California. The main purchasing department is now located there; the company was recently bought by Amazon.

Sales to the organic food industry in the United States grew exponentially, and in 1990 Congress passed legislation regulating national organic standards.

Fast food to fast casual

In the early 90s, Panera Bread appeared with decent designer bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill with the idea of ​​artisan production, maximum freshness and no frozen food – the first fast-casual establishments. This term was coined in 1993 by Paul Barron, author of The Chipotle Effect, an American sociologist and analyst of the restaurant market, gave it this explanation: people want better ingredients, products from manufacturers with faces, interesting dishes and new experiences – in short, food with history.And for it to be fast, but not necessarily the way it used to be – people are ready to wait, as long as the product is of high quality. The idea of ​​mass healthy food came just from his serve.

Chipotle developed spontaneously until, in the late 90s, McDonald’s, operating since 1955, noticed a new trend and invested money in the company. Before that, Chipotle owned 16 restaurants in Colorado, and after McDonald’s sold it in 2006, the chain had about 500 outlets across the country – this certainly speaks of the potential of the segment.The Chipotle phenomenon is analyzed by the same Eater. However, fast-casual becomes mainstream later – only in the early 2000s.

Irina Avrutskaya

Like4Like Foodservice Consulting Founder, Business Consultant

“The fashion for healthy food would not have appeared if the fashion for unhealthy food did not exist. Almost all fast food giants are considering transitioning to a healthy track for themselves, but for them it is difficult on a large scale, and for everyone in their own way.One business develops because the opposite business needs it – from these initially small companies they collect human resources with new knowledge. Alternative steaks are needed by those who produce premium steaks, and so on.

Coca Cola invested in Innocent Drinks, McDonald’s in Chipotle, although globally from this deal did not draw conclusions about switching to healthy food lines. The international market is younger and more flexible, and all of McDonald’s healthy food experiments take place there.An example of innovative campaigns: in Hong Kong, you can build your own burger, and in Italy, the land of pizza and pasta, they launched a gluten-free burger. In many markets, McDonald’s has switched from ready to made for you format, when a guest’s order is started to be collected directly in front of him – this idea, by the way, came under the influence of fast-casual. Now fast food is still growing as a traditional format, but at some point it will inevitably begin to decline and will definitely die in developed markets. ”

An unfair fight against fat

Another landmark direction of the early 80s is the anti-fat campaign.This is the subject of a long article by Brian Welch in Time, in which he writes that scientists were wrong when they declared fat as enemy number one, and analyzes the attitude towards it in the United States for decades. He talks about how skim milk tasted like his childhood (it was in the early 80s), because the dangers of fat were trumpeted everywhere: the US Senate published a set of dietary rules that urged Americans to replace fatty meat and dairy products with vegetables and fruits ; The USDA has released dietary guidelines to avoid cholesterol and all kinds of fats.

It worked, and American habits began to change rapidly: supermarket shelves were filled with low-fat yogurt, and breakfast eggs were replaced by cornflakes. This, of course, changed the business. From 1977 to 2012, consumption of “high-calorie” foods in the United States did fall, while consumption of supposedly “healthy” carbohydrates increased – after all, bread, cereals and pasta were at the heart of the USDA pyramid. Decades later, studies have shown that Americans are not getting healthier from such a diet.And the new idea will again play a huge role for everyone in the world – from manufacturers and businessmen to ordinary people.

Movement Slow Food

Another example of opposition to industrialization and the fast food system is the Slow Food movement, which emerged in 1989 in Italy. Slow Food is: preserving local culinary traditions, using and respecting local products, understanding the importance of knowledge about the origin of food and its quality. The adherents of the movement believe that all aspects of our life – food, culture, politics, agriculture, environment – are closely interconnected, and making a choice towards certain food products, we influence the manufacturing industry, and ultimately the world.

The movement immediately became international: 15 countries signed the Slow Food manifesto. Now the organization has thousands of representatives all over the world, including in Russia. The philosophy of the movement is professed by chefs, restaurateurs and producers.

2000-present

Fight against GMOs, farming and organic fashion, superfoods

The main trends of 2010 – gluten-free food, organic foods, superfoods, farm products, vegetarianism, vegan and raw food, all kinds of diets and detox.All this existed in different forms before, but now it is, perhaps, at the peak of its popularity.

Gluten-free labeling has been in use in the US since 2004, and it was done freely until 2013, when the rules were not regulated. There are tons of interesting articles about gluten myths with a lot of historical facts and links to scientific research, such as in the New York Times. Read more about these topics in the materials of “Afisha Daily”: about superfoods lying to us, what you need to know about gluten and yeast, and everything about detox.

Industrial food pretending to be “healthy”

McDonald’s went green. But only conditionally, in the colors of the exterior and interior

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The interior of K Pro, a new KFC restaurant in Hangzhou, China, which offers salads and other healthy foods instead of breaded chicken

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Is this healthy food? According to KFC – yes

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The emergence of these and many other trends is a logical development of a large trend towards everything “natural”, which also manifests itself in the corporate style of brands and the interior of establishments.The rebranding of McDonald’s in recent years is a prime example. In recent years, the company has started using the phrase “farm products” in advertising, changed the corporate identity (using green and wood in the interior) and the menu – removed some classic items like makchiken and introduced Gourmet burgers. As Paul Barron said – albeit more expensive, but of better quality. The same thing happens with other similar networks. In early July, KFC opened its first “healthy food restaurant” in China.Why healthy? Because the aprons are green, the interior is green and the counter with trays is wooden. The same inedible salads and fries, but in a new wrapper. Imagine it, unfortunately, it works.

Quality food that doesn’t scream about yourself

French Fries with Cheese Sauce and Cheeseburger – Shake Shack Classic

© Mark Boyarsky

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Chicago Hot Dog at Shake Shack

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Interior of Shake Shack on Arbat

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The very first Shake Shack – Madison Square

© Richard Levine / GettyImages.ru

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Fast-casual continues to gain momentum, in 2001 the first Shake Shack opens in New York in Madison Square – a cafe with burgers, hot dogs and milkshakes from the famous restaurateur Danny Meyer Union Square Hospitality. The big restaurateur opened a place with a menu similar to the conventional Burger King, but with food made to his usual high restaurant standards.

At that time there was nothing similar in the world, today such a cafe is a fashionable widespread format.After 2010, Shake Shack began to open throughout the country and abroad, including in Russia. Seemingly simple food, but prepared not from frozen semi-finished products, but very high-quality products, according to recipes, inventiveness not inferior to truly interesting restaurants, but quickly and without white tablecloths.

GMO vs. natural

Fashion for everything “natural” also means fashion for something historical. The idea of ​​returning to the origins (for example, the fashion for the paleo diet, that is, the Stone Age) and, accordingly, the fight against innovations is being promoted.The fight against GMOs fits exactly under this topic: more on this in the comments below. We only note that in 2012, the American Medical Association officially stated that there was no scientific justification for special labeling of genetically modified foods.

The same companies are lobbying for opposite tendencies

Summing up, we can draw one main conclusion – the fashion for certain products and formats does not arise by itself. The main role in the formation of trends is not played by ourselves, as we would like to believe.The consumption of semi-finished products, canned soups, yoghurts for breakfast, skim milk and organic products is imposed on us by manufacturers, businessmen and politicians.

Andrey Tumanov

Amateur agronomist, founder of the newspaper “Vashi 6 acres”, former deputy of the State Duma

“If you do not rotate crops, the yield drops dramatically due to the accumulation of diseases and depletion of the soil. In our country, as a rule, tendencies are set by large farms.If they plant another crop on the field, they do it in large quantities, and, of course, all this needs to be sold. If the product is new, it is quite difficult to do this – there must be demand. Therefore, they begin to create it.

In the past few years, Latin American quinoa culture has become famous outside its homeland. In the near future, there will be a second injection: while it is being transported from the Andes, but recently a large European company “Alsur” has taken up growing on an industrial scale. Quinoa is a very profitable crop: it is easy to grow, it has not accumulated pests and diseases, it practically does not need to be treated with anything, it itself suppresses weeds and generally grows like grass.Therefore, now we will hear everywhere that quinoa is the most useful of all beneficial crops.

Who benefits from putting GMOs in a bad light?

Another striking example of lobbying is the harm of GMOs. The first genetically modified crops were created for conveyor technologies: for complete mechanization of production, so that even weeding machines were not needed. The main application of gene modification was the consolidation of resistance to herbicides, in particular to Roundup: it is watered with it, it poisons all weeds, but genetically modified plants, into which the chain of protection is inserted, remain.The introduction of new technologies led to the struggle of transnational concerns for the championship. Roundup is produced by Monsanto Corporation, the world leader in plant biotechnology, which, of course, is disadvantageous to manufacturers of agricultural machinery and chemicals such as the pharmaceutical company Bayer.

The ultimate beneficiary of GMO harm propaganda has not yet been found, and, most likely, he is not alone. You can blame Bayer, harvester manufacturers – there are a lot of those who lost their earnings due to the introduction of new technology.There is a version that the American Soy Association is behind the stuffing of information about the dangers of GMOs: it is beneficial for them that everything is grown only in the USA – for soybeans there is a flow of money from all over the world, people are provided with jobs, and if the technologies are transferred to Russia, the demand will be less , because we ourselves will begin to grow according to their technologies. In parallel with the attitude to GMOs in Russia, the feeds used by our producers contain genetically modified soybeans grown in the USA. We prohibit GMOs at home and buy everything from the Americans, and it is very beneficial for them.By the way, each new variety and hybrid in Russia must be registered, and in the United States, hybrids of two lines of registered GMOs are registered according to a simplified scheme – there it is considered safe and natural. So, when the State Duma unanimously votes to ban GMOs, American specialists at Monsanto ride with laughter: it’s like banning cars and introducing horses now.

Considering that this entire century will be marked by genetic engineering – and it is used in pharmacology, cooking, food industry, agriculture, construction – the one with the greatest potential will take over the world.Now it is the States – more than half of all world research is concentrated there; they invest billions of dollars in science. This was understood by the Chinese, who gave 43 billion dollars for the multinational company Syngenta, which is also engaged in biotechnology. Bayer underestimated genetic engineering and is now merging with Monsanto in order not to be sidelined, because otherwise China will rule the world. ”

Speculation on the topic of use, labels

Chia seeds are the seeds of the plant Salvia hispanica (Spanish sage), which historically grows in Central and South America.While they are rich in fiber, protein, fats, and minerals (such as calcium and magnesium), claims about their health are exaggerated. Possibly because chia studies have been done in animals rather than humans

© iStock

In Russia, product labels are not equated with advertising: the federal law does not apply to information about a product, its manufacturer, importer or exporter placed on the product or its packaging.You cannot write in an advertisement for a laptop that it is the fastest if this is not a proven fact, but this does not apply to the packaging of goods, and we get what we get: “from everyday stress” on cans of sweets “Tasty help”, “normalizes weight” on a package with spirulina, “farm” where there is nothing farmer, and “cholesterol free” on labels with vegetable oil, even though it cannot be there.

In addition to exaggerating useful properties, there is another interesting point – giving false meanings.For example, GOST R 51074-2003 obliges to indicate on the label the presence of non-typical protein components and genetically modified substances in the product. Nothing is said about the need to indicate their absence, but manufacturers generously decorate the etiquette of their products with stickers “No GMO”, “No soy”, “No glutamate”.

Moscow

All of the above tendencies are developing in Moscow as well. “Local products”, “seasonal products”, “bio”, “eco”, “organic”, “non-GMO”, “gluten-free”, “from farmer so-and-so” – such phrases are generously used by restaurants and supermarkets.Of these, only “organic” has the right to exist, that is, it has a state standard in Russia. And if a few years ago the general trend for natural products was of a point nature, now it has become quite widespread. The rapid growth of the Vkusville chain of stores with healthy food products is a good confirmation of this: in 2012, the first four stores were opened, and then they began to appear in almost every district of the city: by the end of 2016, there were 300 of them – and there will be even more. This is also the opening of the Lavkalavka farm cooperative market in Mega Khimki.We will probably write a separate article about what is happening in the capital.

Verdict

The concept of “healthy eating” in the modern world is really closely related to vegetarianism, organic products and green labels. But what is it really? Are farm products really equally healthy? Are cereal bars a panacea for all ills or a brief injection of energy into the body that does not contribute to better health? Is green in your corporate identity the magic wand that turns fast food into fast casual? There are many questions, and the answers to them are just beginning to appear.In the meantime, our main task is to listen to ourselves and shake the noodles off our ears. Don’t be like the heroes of this Funny Or Die video about a time-traveling doctor trying to keep people from consuming “junk” food. Check it out, this is a crudely abbreviated but funny version of the article you just read.

90,000 Healthy eating – why is it important?

Category: Healthy food.

Healthy eating … so often we hear this phrase.What do we need to do to eat right and why do we need it?

Satisfying hunger is one of the body’s most important instincts to keep alive. First, all cells and tissues of our body are formed from the food we eat. Secondly, food is a source of energy for the body to function.

Therefore, our health depends on what we eat, in what quantity, when and how.

What is a healthy and healthy diet?

Proper nutrition presupposes that many nutrients – proteins, carbohydrates, fats, water, minerals and vitamins – must be supplied to the body regularly, in the required amount and in optimal proportions. A deficiency or excess of certain nutrients becomes the cause, first, of temporary inconveniences, and then the risk of developing various diseases.

A healthy diet makes it possible to stabilize weight without violent restrictions, helps to get rid of diseases and prevent their development, and helps to restore intellectual and physical energy. Healthy eating is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

To eat right, you need not only desire, but also knowledge.

The ABC of healthy eating or 20 facts about what and how to eat

one.Food is essential for life. Any food is not just a pleasure or a ritual. Any food eaten supplies the body with energy and substances to maintain health.

2. Eat well. The ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrates per day should be approximately equal to 1: 1: 4. You can memorize the correct proportions with a simple trick: imagine a plate divided into three equal parts. Two of them are occupied by carbohydrates, and the third is equally divided by proteins and fats

3.Diversify your diet. The same foods on the table are boring and fraught with a lack of important nutrients.

You can get the necessary set of vitamins, trace elements and minerals only from a long list of products, most of which are quite affordable: vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, nuts, dairy products, legumes, bread, durum wheat pasta, berries and greens.

4. Eat more often. Paradoxically, in order not to gain weight, you need to eat more often.Have a hearty breakfast, have a normal lunch and have a modest dinner, in between – snack on fruit, and before bed – a fermented milk drink. This way you will not feel hungry and will be able to control the quality and quantity of food you eat.

5. Carbohydrates are vital. This is the main source of energy, since the body uses glucose for its needs.

Carbohydrates are easily digested and quickly enter the bloodstream. When there is a lack of carbohydrates, the body begins to draw energy from proteins that are found in muscles, thereby depriving the body of the building material for vital hormones and antibodies.

6. Carbohydrates are simple and slow. In the understanding of the layman, carbohydrate food is something sweet. But foods that contain too much sugar are a way of providing the body with energy, which in the end is enough for a very short time, and the feeling of hunger quickly arises. Therefore, it is better to eat complex or, as they are also called, slow carbohydrates, which will be absorbed gradually: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, pasta from durum wheat and cereals.

7.Less sugar. Excess sugar in your diet is another cause of excess weight. Read labels carefully.

The added sugar is hidden under other names: sucrose, maltose, corn syrup, molasses, sugar cane, corn sugar, raw sugar, honey, fruit concentrate.

Avoid refined sugar and sugary drinks. One glass of sweet soda contains up to 8 teaspoons and 130 kcal.

Control the sugar content of “healthy” foods.Muesli, cereals, breakfast cereals, and low-fat yoghurts with fruits contain sugar. It is also added to products for children.

8. Eat more whole grains. They contain complex carbohydrates that digest slowly and reduce sugar cravings.

Include in the diet cereals from unpolished grains, bread with bran, and wholemeal bread. All of them are high in fiber and therefore help reduce hunger and protect the body from cardiovascular disease.Whole grains have fewer calories, but there are vitamins of group B, E, calcium, potassium, zinc, copper and other useful substances.

9. Proteins should always be. The cells of the body, in particular muscle tissue, are formed from proteins. Hormones, antibodies are also proteins. If the food lacks proteins, immunity decreases, hormonal balance and restoration of body tissues are disturbed.

10. Fats cannot be completely ruled out. The membranes of nerve fibers consist of fats, they are part of the structure of the cell wall, and are also necessary for cell division and the synthesis of important hormones.Lack of fat leads to a deficiency of vitamins that it contains, disruption of the nervous and hormonal systems.

Please note that among the consumed fats, animals should make up only a quarter, the rest should be vegetable.

11. Fats should be limited. Excess fat is not only stored by the body in reserve and forms excess weight, but also disrupts the liver and pancreas.

Fat can even be found in foods that seem fat free.For example, in “Doctor’s” sausage, the fat can be about 30 percent. There is fat in chocolate and cookies, the latter containing an average of 20 percent fat. Animal and vegetable fats are equally high in calories.

12. Cutting fat in your diet is pretty straightforward. Low-fat dairy products taste just as good as whole dairy products, and can be used to cut calories by nearly half.

Choose lean meats and skinless poultry. Bake the meat on a wire rack or a special skillet with grooves to drain the fat.Avoid fatty sour cream, mayonnaise and heavy cream. Choose foods that are low in fat, replace fried foods with boiled or baked foods, and use non-stick cookware to reduce cooking oil.

Remember that vegetable oils also contain fat, and limit yourself to a teaspoon of oil per person when dressing your salad.

13. At least 600 g of fruits and vegetables per day. Vegetables, fruits and berries contain vitamins that are not found in other foods.In addition to ascorbic acid – vitamin C – they contain carotenoids, folic acid and flavonoids, collectively called “vitamin P”.

It is better to eat vegetables and fruits raw or sparingly thermally processed – this way they retain more vitamins and nutrients. Eat green and orange vegetables regularly – they contain flavonoids – natural antioxidants that protect the body from aging.

14. Consume fish at least once a week.Fatty fish – mackerel, herring or salmon – contain a lot of essential omega-3 fatty acids, which fight diseases of the heart and blood vessels. For a positive effect, it is best to consume at least three fish meals a week.

15. Include dairy products in your diet. The daily intake of calcium can be obtained from half a liter of milk, and vitamin B2 from a glass. Fermented milk products are also suitable for those who cannot tolerate regular milk. They are as useful as milk, are well digested and help maintain the intestinal microflora in order.

Eat milk porridge. Milk and cereals complement each other well in composition and are easily digested together, without creating additional stress on the digestive tract.

16. Teach children to eat right. Adults are usually overweight because of how they ate as a child. Children are not capable of self-restraint, so sugar should be especially limited. Teach yourself and your children to eat fruits instead of baked goods and sweets, and reduce the consumption of sugary drinks.

17. Excess weight: excess nutrition or lack of movement. Weight increases when the body gets more energy from food than it needs. If the body receives more energy than it can expend, this leads to weight gain.

In Russia, excess weight is most often caused by an excess of animal fats in the diet. Such products include, for example, sausages, butter, hard cheeses, and fatty meats such as pork and lamb.

18. It’s easy to check your weight. You can understand if you are overweight by calculating your body mass index (BMI) using a special formula. BMI = body weight in kilograms / (height in meters x height in meters). Or just enter your data into the calculator on the Takzdorovo.ru website. If you received a value from 18.5 to 25, then you do not have excess weight.

19. The number of calories depends on your lifestyle. The amount of energy the body needs depends on how active you are.If you sit in the office all day, then you spend about 1600 kcal – this is very low activity. With daily fitness classes, up to 2500 kcal is spent per day – this is an average load.

Heavy physical labor takes 4000 or more kcal per day. Therefore, the calorie content of the diet must be selected, having previously determined how much energy you spend.

20. Healthy eating is simple and inexpensive. The healthiest cereals are the cheapest. In winter, it is better to buy frozen vegetables instead of expensive fresh ones, low-fat dairy products are cheaper than whole foods, and vegetable oils are cheaper than butter.And cooking at home is more profitable than buying semi-finished products on a regular basis. Changing your eating habits will have a beneficial effect on your health, appearance and well-being.

It is also important to know:

• which foods are useful, which are harmful and why;
• which cooking technologies should be used and which not, after the use of which of them there will be more necessary nutrients;
• what food additives are in the finished products you buy;
• what a diet is and why is it important.

Proper nutrition must be selected taking into account the person’s age, body size, existing and other factors.

Take a step towards your health and the health of your loved ones.

“Hot line” for healthy eating: 8-800-200-0-200 (free call from any region of the Russian Federation).

90,000 Russians are getting fat – the poor cannot afford healthy food – Articles – Economy

Most of the population of Russia is overweight, and about a quarter of citizens are obese.This statement was made by the head of the Federal Research Center for Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Tutelyan .

“60% of the Russian population has an overweight of ,” Viktor Tutelyan said in an interview with RIA Novosti. According to the academician, about 20-25% of Russians are obese, which is one of the causes of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The RAS Academician stressed that this is the main cause of death and a reduction in life expectancy in the country.

But the inhabitants of Russia are not getting fat from a good life, but because, due to falling incomes, they cannot afford proper nutrition. This opinion was expressed by the economist Evgeniy Ilyin to the Ridus edition.

“Increased prices for cereals pulled the rest. All processes in the economy are interconnected: the prices for animal feed have increased, which means that the price of food will inevitably rise , – he comments on the situation in the agricultural industry. – The modern food industry can reduce the cost of baked goods, confectionery, but it is impossible to make fruits and vegetables more affordable.Accordingly, many in our country simply cannot afford to eat right and replace this cheap waffle cake with a salad of fresh vegetables – they simply will not financially support such a style of eating. ”

According to the economist, in order to change the situation, a state scale and a state program are needed.

“What is the point of telling people about the benefits of the same fish, if they have no money for it? You can theorize as much as you like on this issue, but as long as there is no real, in-kind assistance to certain categories of citizens, nothing will change.They have both saved on products and will continue to do so, no matter what. They simply cannot afford a different way of eating , says Evgeny Ilyin. – In addition, you need to think about the future. It is difficult to imagine what the burden will be on health care in a few years, when “feeding the poor” has dire consequences. Medicine, I think, will suffocate from such a flow of patients. ”

The law “On agricultural products, raw materials and food with improved characteristics” is intended to improve the situation with healthy eating in Russia.It comes into force on March 1, 2022. It contains many restrictions on environmental, sanitary and epidemiological, veterinary and other requirements. But the most important thing is that in order to obtain the appropriate “green” mark in the production of such products, the use of cloning and methods of genetic engineering, genetically modified and transgenic organisms, and ionizing radiation is prohibited.

In general, nothing glamorous. Simply delicious, healthy and wholesome food. Previously, almost any Russian could afford this by simply arriving in the village or going to the nearest market.

And now the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation has been holding the Tastes of Russia competition for several years, the mission of which is to acquaint consumers with the variety of tastes of Russia and to show the potential for the development of regional food brands, to draw attention to the achievements of small and medium-sized businesses in the agricultural sector and help create new points of growth and development drivers for rural areas of Russian regions.

But before that they could not even think that it could come to such a point that all this variety of flavors in our country would become accessible to the majority only within the framework of such an exhibition, almost a museum format.

– Due to the fall in income, many Russians cannot afford healthy food, they are forced to make a choice in the direction of cheap food, limited in complete protein, which is especially dangerous for children and adolescents, says associate professor of the restaurant business department of the PRUE. G.V. Plekhanova Elena Myasnikova. – The problem of obesity of the population is acute all over the world, and in recent years the situation with the increase in body weight in adults and children is unfavorable in our country.There are many reasons, but one of the main ones is eating disorder. We began to consume a large amount of foods containing carbohydrates, primarily sugar. Overly refined foods, eating foods rich in flavor enhancers and other food additives lead to weight gain starting in childhood.

It should be noted that the principle of nutritional adequacy is violated: the diet of many exceeds the energy consumption of the body in terms of calories. A sedentary lifestyle dictates the formation of a less high-calorie diet, and this, unfortunately, is not understood by everyone.And with low energy costs, many consume high-calorie foods.

SP: – But this is not happening because Russians have bad taste and excessive appetite?

– The fall in incomes of the population has led to the fact that many cannot afford to include enough meat, fish and seafood, milk and dairy products, vegetables, fruits in their diet. Low incomes are forcing people to opt for cheap food, high in carbohydrates and limited in complete protein.

Eating disorders leads to a decrease in the consumption of complete animal protein, which is especially dangerous for children and adolescents. The exclusion of high-grade protein from the diet negatively affects the formation of bone and muscle tissue, leads to a decrease in immunity, hormonal disorders, a deterioration in the function of hematopoiesis, and others. Excess body weight is associated with indigestion, the risk of increased sugar levels and the occurrence of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases.

– Most Russians cannot afford healthy seafood. The majority in our country eats what they have enough money for, – says Alexey Korenev, analyst at FINAM Group of Companies . – The problem of excess weight is most acute in the most prosperous country in the world – in the United States. This is where a huge number of fat people are. And chickens do not peck money in the country, as they say. The problem is ambiguous. First, the food culture – Americans are traditionally used to eating fast foods, hamburgers and other cheeseburgers, they eat excessively high-calorie foods, which affects weight.And it seems like a high income, it would be possible to approach nutrition more selectively.

“SP”: – In our country, as studies show, almost half of the citizens sometimes eat fast food, but only 4% eat only fast food …

– As for Russia, our situation is different, we really are not from a good life we eat unhealthy, unhealthy food, and because people do not have the opportunity to eat, for example, the same fish, it is expensive in terms of income for most Russians.Meat, in general, is also not cheap. Also, most Russians cannot afford to buy healthy types of vegetables on a regular basis and in the required quantities. As a result, Russians sit on cereals, cereals and pasta. And it must be borne in mind that pasta in the human body is quickly deposited in fat.

“SP”: – Soon food products with “improved characteristics” will appear in Russia. But it is clear that the cost of such products will be higher than usual, which means that they will again be inaccessible to the majority of Russians?

– I think that the list of improved products will not include buckwheat with pasta, but some more complex products that most Russians still cannot afford.The majority, as they say, have been interrupted from kvass for bread, so they will. Although, I am afraid that any improvement will inevitably lead to a rise in prices. Prices will continue to rise due to a number of other factors. Here it is quite obvious that costs and expenses are growing along the entire food chain from the field to the counter. And any improvements will add a pretty penny to the cost price. Targeted state programs to curb prices for products of special social significance can help out here.

“SP”: – But this control of prices for this high-quality, improved product is unlikely to spread …

– Most likely, it will turn out that way.It will be outside of the socially significant grocery basket.

Kamis – What is organic food?

Recently, the term “organic food” is gaining more and more popularity. Healthy eating is one of the key components of a modern lifestyle, which is why organic food that does not harm our body attracts people’s attention.

Organic food is natural and healthy

Many people wonder what organic food is. This is the name of food products in the production of which chemicals were not used, primarily synthetic pesticides. Avoiding the use of such substances allows you to avoid disease, obesity and other unfortunate health consequences.

In pursuit of the quantity of products produced, farmers and, moreover, agro-industrial “giants” forget about the quality of products and the health of the consumer.

Therefore, people seeking to lead a healthy lifestyle try to purchase healthy organic food. Distinctive characteristics of eco-products are safety and high quality. Natural products are tastier and healthier than food based on the use of chemical fertilizers.

By the way, organic food includes not only meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, but also herbs that we use as seasonings for dishes. You should not be permissive about the choice of seasonings and spices, forgetting that they can have a serious impact on our health.It is worth choosing only products from reliable manufacturers. For example, Kamis spices are produced without the use of chemical additives, from environmentally friendly herbs.

What are the benefits of organic products?

People who eat natural foods get more antioxidants, which help to increase a person’s lifespan. Such food contains less heavy metals that have a negative impact on human health.For example, such products contain four times less cadmium.

Organic meat and milk contain more omega-3 fatty acids, which contribute to the health of our skin, prevent the risks of joint diseases, and have an anti-inflammatory effect.

As a result, studies show that people and animals that receive organic food grow faster, are less prone to obesity, allergic reactions, and their immunity is much stronger than those who eat conventional foods.

How organic food is produced

Organic farming has a number of significant differences. Therefore, it is impossible to understand what organic food is without talking about how it is grown and produced.

Firstly, in the production of organic products, farmers try not to harm the environment and use various types of natural fertilizers, on which our ancestors have grown healthy food for centuries and millennia.

Secondly, if we are talking about livestock and poultry, then their food is also organized without the use of chemicals. The slaughter is carried out using the most humane methods. Meat of livestock raised without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones, on natural feed, is very different in its taste.

Thirdly, the farm must undergo appropriate certification, during which the conditions of growing, keeping and slaughtering livestock and poultry, and the particulars of growing plants are checked.

Organic food producers are rejecting the use of genetically modified organisms. Many of them believe that subsistence farming is the last frontier in the path of GMO triumph.

However, since the harm of GMOs has not yet been proven by science, one can only assume that the health benefits of organic food are also due to its freedom from genetically modified organisms.

Freedom from flavorings

The production of organic food does not use flavor enhancers and additives that are abundant in conventional foods.But organic food only benefits from this in quality. Eating organic foods can lead to a healthier life.

However, people who are inclined to eat organic foods are generally more concerned about their health – they lead an active lifestyle, go in for sports. Maybe that’s why they are physically healthier than those who are indiscriminate in food.

***

We see that organic food has great benefits and people, having learned what organic food is, are showing more and more interest in it.In any case, there is simply tasty, or tasty and healthy – your individual choice.