The Healthiest Foods You Can Eat

If everyone were to just eat fruits and vegetables instead of fast food and junk food, people could easily avoid obesity. Becoming overweight can accelerate aging even faster than smoking, this has been shown to be true, according to scientific research.

The North Carolina Research Campus provided a study, which looked at the effects of eating healthy fruits and vegetables. Many famous scientists collaborated together to study the benefits of healthy foods, and what impact it would have on all areas of your life.

The result of this is a listing of the healthiest foods on earth which you should eat. These should become the mainstay of your diet. Just by including as many as these foods in your eating plan each day, you are doing wonders for your life and your body.

• Apples: Eating apples helps to support your immune system. They also help to fight lung and prostate cancer, as well as lowering your risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
• Artichokes: This will help with blood clotting and lowering your bad cholesterol. As well it is an antioxidant super food.
• Arugula: Lowers your risks of having birth defects. Reduces the risk of developing fractures after a fall. Also protects your eye health.
• Asparagus: Helps to nourish good stomach bacteria. Protects against developing birth defects. Helps you to develop and maintain good heart health.
• Avocado: Helps to limit damage to your liver. Reduces risk of oral cancer, and helps to lower your cholesterol levels.
• Banana: Increases your body’s fat burning ability. Lowers risk of colorectal and kidney cancer along with leukemia. Reduces asthma symptoms in children.
• Blackberries: Helps you to build bone density. Suppresses your appetite and enhances fat burning abilities.
• Broccoli: Reduces diabetic damage. Lowers risk of prostate, bladder, colon, pancreatic, gastric and breast cancer. Protects the brain in case of injury.
• Blueberries: Helps to reverse brain decline. Prevents urinary tract infections, and restores antioxidant levels.
• Butternut Squash: Increases your night vision. Helps reduce and delay the appearance of wrinkles. Promotes your heart health.
• Cantaloupe: These will help bolster your immune system. Protects your skin against sunburn. Reduces inflammation on your joints.
• Carrot: Antioxidants defend your DNA. Carrots help to fight cataracts and offer protection against certain cancers.
• Cauliflower: Stimulates detoxification. Suppresses breast cancer cell growth and protects against prostate cancer.
• Cherries: Helps alleviate arthritic pain and gout. Lowers your bad cholesterol. Reduces joint inflammation.
• Cranberries: Alleviates prostate pain. Fights lung, colon and leukemia cancer cells. Prevents urinary tract infections.
• Green Cabbage: Promotes healthy blood clotting. Reduces your risk of prostate, colon, breast and ovarian cancers. Helps to activate the body’s natural detoxification systems.
• Kale: Counters harmful estrogens which can feed cancer. Protects your eyes against sun damage and cataracts. Helps to increase your bone density.
• Kiwi: Helps to combat wrinkles. Lowers blood lipids and lowers your risk of developing blood clots. Helps to prevent constipation.
• Mango: Supports your immune system. Lowers your bad cholesterol levels. Helps to regulate homocysteine to protect your arteries.
• Mushrooms: Promotes natural detoxification. Reduces your risks of colon and prostate cancer. Helps to lower blood pressure.
• Oranges: Reduces your levels of bad cholesterol. Lowers risks of mouth, throat, breast and stomach cancers. Helps to prevent childhood leukemia. The pectin in oranges helps to suppress your appetite.
• Papaya: The enzymes aid in your digestion. Helps reduce risk of developing lung cancer. Enhances your fat burning abilities.
• Pineapple: Promotes recovery from surgery, helps with joint issues. Reduces asthma inflammation.
• Plums & Prunes: Helps to combat constipation. The antioxidants defend against DNA damage. Protects against post-menopausal bone loss.
• Pomegranate: Enhances sunscreen protection. Lowers your bad cholesterol. Helps fight prostate cancer.
• Pumpkin: Protects your joints against polyarthritis. Lowers risk of lung and prostate cancer. Helps reduce inflammation.
• Raspberries: Stops the growth of oral, breast, colon and prostate cancer. The antioxidants help defend your DNA. Lowers bad cholesterol levels.
• Red Bell Pepper: Reduces cancer risks for your lungs, prostate, ovaries and against cervical cancer. Promotes a healthy heart. Protects you against sunburn.

Spinach: Maintains mental sharpness. Reduces cancer risks for your liver, ovaries, colon and prostrate.

• Strawberries: Protects against Alzheimer’s. Reduces bad cholesterol. Suppresses the growth of colon, prostate and oral cancer.
• Sweet Potato: Reduces your chances of having a stroke. Lowers your cancer risk. Protects against blindness.
• Tomato: Reduces inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Lowers your risk of developing esophageal, stomach, colorectal, lung and pancreatic cancer.
• Watermelon: Helps support male fertility. Reduces your risks of prostate, ovarian, cervical, oral and pharyngeal cancer. Protects your skin against sunburn.

As you can see these are easy foods to find. By using the foods which are in season, you will not be increasing your grocery bill. The only expense will be the one of improving you and your family’s health.

HOW TO EAT HEALTHY

As you have just learnt, by simply adding in fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet, you can easily protect your body against developing many cancers and other diseases.

Just by limiting your exposure to cigarettes, fast foods, trans fats, alcohol and other junk foods, you can also help slower the aging process down. Many of today’s fast foods can be directly linked to you developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even Alzheimer’s.

By eating fresh fruits and vegetables you are decreasing your exposure to chemicals, pesticides and additional additives which can harm your body.

To lead a healthy lifestyle you must learn to eat correctly, you want to become conscious of what you eat. If you constantly overeat or eat unhealthy foods you will undermine your efforts to make a healthy lifestyle change.

Try to become more aware of what you are eating, these helpful tips and techniques will help you adjust to your new healthy eating plan more easily.

1. Eat whenever you are hungry. Many times a strict diet will leave you craving foods that are just not good for your body.
2. Eat only when you are hungry, before taking a mouthful, think about why you are eating. Is it because it is lunch or dinner time, or are you truly hungry? You might just be bored or lonely, think before taking that bite. If you are not hungry, don’t eat.
3. Eat the foods you really like. You have only so many calories to consume each day. Avoid eating foods you dislike. Make sure your kitchen is stocked full of good, healthy choices which you love to eat.
4. Concentrate on eating. Don’t read or watch TV while eating. Savour the food in your mouth and be aware that you are chewing your food. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to send a message to your brain that you are full. Eat slowly and stop eating when you are not enjoying the food anymore. Stop, before your plate is empty and wait a few minutes. You may find that you are full and don’t require any more food. Wrap up your leftovers and have them for lunch the next day.
5. Don’t think about dieting. Stop telling yourself you are on a diet. These words alone can set you up for failure. Know that you are making permanent healthy lifestyle changes, and you will be more comfortable with your new food choices.

Just by taking time to be more aware about what you eat, you can be assured that you will be successful at maintaining your new healthy lifestyle.

WHY SNACKING IS GOOD FOR YOU

If you understand that eating helps you burn calories, then snacking can be fun and good for you! It is very true that up to 15% of your daily energy is spent digesting, absorbing and storing the foods you eat. This whole process is actually called diet-induced-thermogenesis and it is the main reason why snacking is good for you. Snacking can actually help you burn fat and lose weight quickly.

To make snacking work for you, you must snack “smart”. Your food choices will either make or break your diet plans. Avoid sugary, starchy and fat laden treats. You want to focus on snacks that provide you with a little protein and fiber. Protein and fiber will provide you with slow burning energy and allows you to feel full longer.

The best snacks to choose from include:

Almonds: Eat ¼ cup when hungry. Almonds are great for your heart and provide you with additional Vitamin E.

Edamame: These little soy beans are full of protein and fiber. A ½ cup of these are less than 100 calories.

Celery with Peanut Butter: One stick of celery with a tablespoon of peanut provides the perfect snack.

Cottage Cheese: Mix ¼ cup of cottage cheese with tomatoes, peppers or salsa. The veggies go a long way in spicing up the taste of bland cottage cheese.

Hard-boiled Egg: This snack is around 80 calories and is great to take to work or school.

Protein Shake: Eat a 10 gram portion of a high protein shake. This makes an easy to prepare snack, just add fruit to include additional fiber.

Low Fat Cheese: A 1oz portion of low fat cheese provides you with about 6 grams of protein and comes in at 80 calories. String cheese is an easy take along snack too.

Veggies with Hummus: Two tablespoons of hummus has 60 calories just choose your favorite veggies and you have a fiber rich snack.

Try to incorporate at least one of these healthy snacks into your healthy eating plan each day. As you become accustomed to eating these foods, add them more often. Remember to keep a watch on your caloric intake for the day. You don’t want to go over your daily allowance.

WHY ADDING IN EXERCISE IS IMPORTANT

One of the biggest benefits of exercise is that it is a fantastic stress reliever. Stress can be a killer and it is crucial that we don’t allow stress to envelop our lives. If you are trying to cope with high stress levels, do you know that it can kill you?

Research has shown that your body reacts to stress by releasing chemicals. These are the same chemicals which have been linked to chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. By overeating, not sleeping and not exercising enough, your body can easily be put into a downward spiral.

There is a Japanese custom which is called “shinrin-yoku”, translated this means “forest bathing”. With this form of stress management, you immerse yourself in a forest or place with plenty of trees for an hour or so. You simply take a walk and breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the aromas, and sounds of the forest.

By becoming aware and enjoying your forest environment you are actually promoting physiological changes within your body. These changes do more than just help you relax. They have been shown to empower your immune system and reverse the harmful effects of stress.

So next time you are feeling really stressed out, try going for a long walk in a forested area and see if you don’t feel more relaxed afterwards.

Any form of exercise is going to be beneficial. You don’t have to go all out on a major exercise routine. Just add in extra walking, cycling and even dancing whenever you can. You will find that exercising regularly provides you with more energy and helps you to sleep better too.

YOUR HEALTHY RESOLUTIONS

You can make healthy resolutions at any time of the year, even though it is most common at New Year’s. Instead of waiting for New Year to come around, start your resolution at the beginning of a new season, or at the start of the new school year.

When you make your resolution to start a new healthy lifestyle, then be serious with your decision and plan ahead for it. Make sure you have purged your kitchen cupboards and your fridge from all those temptations. Have a healthy meal plan prepared and your shopping list written.

By setting yourself up for success from the beginning you are more likely to keep with your resolution. Remind yourself of what it is you want to gain from this, better health, losing weight or ensuring your children grow up healthy and strong. It is a good idea to write your reasons out on paper and post them somewhere you can easily see them.

Speak your reasons out loudly each morning. This helps to keep you motivated and on track. Take each day one at a time and incorporate some form of healthy living into it. One day try a new recipe, another day go for a long walk. Making small steps is an excellent way to turn a small improvement into a major lifestyle change.

Your environment affects your body, if you breathe in bad air you are more likely to suffer from respiratory problems. You wouldn’t think twice about taking action to improve the air quality. The same goes for the foods you eat. Unhealthy food choices will directly affect your body. Your weight increases, your liver and kidneys start to work harder. It just makes sense to take steps to rectify this.

By making healthy food selections, you will benefit in so many ways, your weight will decrease, your health will improve and you will save money by not purchasing all that expensive junk food.

So no matter what the time of year, start your New Healthy Resolution today.