A balanced diet is not just about calories; the source of those calories will influence the overall quality of your diet and the true nutritional value.
Ideally we should be aiming for 50% of our calories being provided by carbohydrates, 35% by fats and 15% by protein. That really isn’t very helpful, when we can’t visualise those calories to start with but there’s a useful Public Health England graphic known as the eatwell plate …
Do you ever crave specific foods when you’re having a bad day? Do you get snappy when you miss meals and make do with snacks, or you ‘go on a diet’? Do certain foods (or drinks) make you feel mellow?
Yes, there certainly seem to be some strong links between mood and food.
Many people will ‘go on a diet’ each and every January. Their willpower and self control will last for a while, maybe long enough to shed the extra pounds, but maybe not. Most successful weight loss regimes…
How many do you have in your kitchen?
Chia seeds, goji berries, wheatgrass, white tea… the list seems to get longer every week as another ‘superfood’ hits the headlines. Some less exotic everyday foods fit the bill, some may have even more antioxidants than the superfoods and many may already be in your fridge, freezer or cupboard.
Constant snacking can be harmful to teeth. Eating sugary foods or drinks produces acids that attack teeth. Our saliva takes an hour to neutralise those acids after each snack.
But don’t despair! There are lots of snack choices that are healthy for teeth as well as for our bodies.
Sounds a bit like painting by numbers, doesn’t it?
A healthy diet needs to contain adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, but you might need to make a study of nutrition in order to work out where to find all these good things.