Healthy Lifestyle – Back To Basics 101
We all want to feel a little better, a bit of exercise and a healthy diet goes a long way to making that happen. There is no doubt that its hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle. One part of that is a healthy diet.
To ensure a healthy diet it’s beneficial to go back to basic cooking practices, which uses food in their natural state, free of preservatives, which can sometimes have an adverse effect on some peoples metabolism.
How to maintain a healthy lifestyle with basics
Eating organically as possible is certainly one way of having a healthy diet. All you have to do is adjust the food that you consume to suit your personal tastes, food allergies and religious beliefs.
Due to a worldwide problem with mercury contamination, it is advisable to keep fish intake to a minimum, unless you know the source it’s coming from.
When shopping for groceries look for foods that are free of additives, pesticides, preservatives, colours and artificial flavours. Organically grown food, unfortunately, is quite expensive, so to help keep you on track with your budget, try to grow as much fresh fruit and vegetables yourself.
If that is not possible then purchasing the commercially available produce is okay so long as you clean it thoroughly to minimize any residue of pesticide. It is far better to eat commercial vegetables than not to eat them at all, as we all need them in our diet.
Dairy food
Soft cheese is an excellent source of protein that is easily absorbed, fat-soluble vitamins, beneficial bacteria and food enzymes. Sheep’s milk cheese is very healthy and useful in re-establishing “friendly” bacteria to your system.
Butter is a natural fat, unlike margarine which is an artificial, man-made concoction of chemicals. Not only does butter taste better, but is it good for you. Butter is a source of fat-soluble vitamin A,D,E and K.
The saturated fat in butter helps our immune function and helps to protect the liver from toxins and provides nourishment for the heart in times of stress. It may come as a surprise to many to learn that heart disease is lowest among the French who nationally consume higher amounts of butter.
Eggs
Eggs are essential for a healthy diet and for detoxification. They have every nutrient in them except Vitamin C and are nature’s perfect food. Where possible purchase free-range eggs, they are much healthier than factory-farmed eggs.
As much as possible avoid disease-promoting foods. Keep away from foods like:
- white sugar
- food or drinks containing high quantities of
- sugar
- margarine
- white flour
- rice
- boxed cereals including granola.
All commercial oils, which include, soybean, cottonseed, canola, and mixed vegetable oils. Avoid food made from any type of vegetable oil, which are things like salad dressings and mayonnaise.
Deep-fried foods are usually made with heated vegetable oils.
Always buy full-fat dairy products, not skim or low-fat dairy products. Avoid using artificial sweeteners or any food/ drinks containing them. Read the labels on canned fruit and vegetable to find the sugar content and artificial products that they may contain.
Avoid drinking fruit juice as it is a concentrated sugar source. If you feel that you must have fruit juice, make sure it is fresh and is diluted with water. Raw apple, grape, lime or lemon juice are the exception. Make sure that you have no more than 3 pieces of fruit a day.
So there you go, some back to basics healthy living tips 101 to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I really hope that helps.
