Eating healthy foods provides the body with the nutrients it needs daily, and reduces the risk of heart disease and other health problems, and at the same time eating unhealthy foods can cause some health conditions, so you should think carefully when choosing foods to eat during main and light meals.
What are the most important healthy foods?
When planning a healthy lifestyle, there are many healthy foods to choose from:
- grains: Whole grains are more useful like as: Brown rice, whole oats, whole rye, whole wheat, quinoa, etc. As for the sources of refined grains such as White bread, white rice and pasta.
- Dairy products: Milk and milk products contain calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and other nutrients, as milk products support bone health.
- Protein Protein builds muscles, bones, skin and blood, and it is preferable to choose a lean protein, and it is one of the most important sources of protein. Beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, and vegetable sources of protein such as: Nuts, lentils, beans, peas, and soy.
What are the most important healthy foods?
Unhealthy foods have proliferated in recent times, and it is preferable to limit or avoid eating them, among them:
Added sugar Sugary drinks are the worst nutritional options, and when consuming large quantities of sugar, insulin resistance can increase, the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease increases, and is associated with type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.
- Vegetable butter Vegetable butter is a highly processed pseudo food that is made to look like and taste like butter, and is usually made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, and this may increase the content of trans fats significantly.
- French fries and potato chips: It is very high in calories and it is easy to eat very large quantities of them, and eating French fries and potato chips has been linked to weight gain, and it may contain large amounts of acryl amide, which are carcinogens that form when potatoes are cooked.
- Sweets The dessert is rich in sugar, refined wheat flour and processed fats, and it is very low in essential nutrients. The dessert may cause some satiety in the short term but it causes hunger very quickly.
Benefits of healthy foods
Eating healthy foods has many benefits for the body, among them
- Eating fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
- Eating healthy eating can improve your mood and reduce stress.
- Increased alertness and attention from children and adolescents.
- A healthy diet balances the body and allows it to work more effectively.
Unhealthy food damage
Unhealthy foods have spread a lot in the world and may differ in their types, but the most famous are fast food, and they have many negative effects on the body, including:
- One of the causes of obesity and weight gain is fast food that contains processed food.
- It affects the brain and mental health which may lead to depression, mental illness and other problems.
- Eating junk food once a week increases your risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 20%.
- It may lead to other problems such as: Blurring of consciousness, mood swings, anxiety, violence and aggression.
