Every day in the media there is a new interesting information about healthy nutrition. Individual items change so quickly that we do not have time to follow these changes. We are confused, what is useful, and what is harmful, what you can eat and what you can not. In fact, absolutely balanced diet for all can not be. This is purely individual. But the basic principles of healthy nutrition are unchanged. So, a balanced diet: essence, principles - the topic of discussion for today.
Unfortunately, the common information about healthy nutrition is often catchy news, rather than reliable and verified facts. There are thousands of published works on nutrition, but remember that they are all experimental, sometimes based solely on the expectations of researchers. On their basis, general conclusions can not be drawn. And only because diet and nutrition have become a very important social problem, such information is in high demand. What is balanced nutrition? What is behind these words and is it possible to create an ideal diet at all?
The food should be balanced - this is beyond doubt. What does it mean? The daily diet should contain several hundred different substances necessary for life, but in certain quantities. For example, 60 mg of vitamin C, or 5 grams of salt. To eat healthy and feel good, we must eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. This does not mean that you need to eat five times during the day to clear the entire bowl of salad. Just a handful of grapes can fill one serving. You will have to calculate your personal "dose" of vitamins with your own age, sex and weight.
The consumption of sugar should be reduced
This advice should primarily concern juices in cardboard boxes that contain an unreasonable amount of sugar. Experts recommend careful reading of labels. Remember that sugar is a difficult question. The important thing is how exactly it is called. Glycemic index (GI), that is, information about what will be the level of glucose in the blood after eating the product. The higher the GI, the higher the blood sugar level. The use of foods with high GI leads to a sharp jump in the level of sugar in response to a large "shot" of insulin. Thus, at the time of the famine, you will be so eager for the sweet appetizers - they cause a sharp increase in the level of sugar in the blood. Temporarily you feel a rising mood, you have a lot of energy and mind to solve life issues. This is the essence of the action of sugar - "false" energy. But this is a short-term effect, as a result of which you do not even return to the same low blood sugar level, and this level is even lower. Then you feel even more hungry, but too sleepy. Some fruits such as fresh peaches, cherries, plums and grapefruit have a low glycemic index, so they do not cause such rapid fluctuations in insulin. Do not forget also that fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of so-called "biologically active components", as well as vitamin C.
But be careful: the level of sugar in the blood is very serious! It is impossible to exclude it completely from the diet in any case. One piece of quality chocolate will not hurt you - on the contrary, it will strengthen your brain and improve your mood. But some products, even in small doses, can shift the level of glucose, which in such cases is responsible for the collection of adipose tissue.
How about fat?
People who dream of having a beautiful silhouette, often completely deprive themselves of the consumption of any fats. They consider this to be the basis of a balanced diet, an entity whose principles have not been studied at all by them. This is fundamentally wrong! Again, note that some unsaturated fats are necessary for life. Dietary fats should predominate in the diet, especially rapeseed oil, which is now experiencing a renaissance. Animal fats are not necessary for life, as evidenced by millions of vegetarians and official medicine.
However, they are especially dangerous trans fats, that is, those that have been subjected to repeated heat treatment. Mostly, because so many doctors are calling for a fast food diet. It is in the sphere of "fast food" that they use repeatedly heated oil. It goes for cooking, for example, french fries or donuts, hot dogs or hamburgers. This oil produces substances that promote weight gain after the first dose and can be carcinogenic. Fast food also has a very high calorie content. One lunch when visiting a fast food restaurant is about 1000 calories, whereas in a normal daily life you need to consume no more than 1500 calories per day. that is, one dinner is almost the entire daily rate.
Reduce salt intake
Salt is also one of the substances necessary for life, but only in the amount of 5 g per day. This can be easily achieved without adding additional nutrition to our food. The fact is that salt is already contained in most foods. Experts believe that saltcellars should even disappear altogether from our kitchens, because modern food products are already too salty. For example, in traditional bread and sausage salt contains almost a daily dose for every 100 grams. We all love salt, it's not only a tradition, it's also a bad habit. Instead of the prescribed 5, we consume about 12-15 grams of salt per day. Unfortunately, the bodies responsible for public health in our country underestimate this problem. In developed countries, such as Denmark, the Ministry of Health issued a decree to minimize the amount of salt in food products. The principles of such decrees are clear, and the consequences of excess salt in the body are very serious. Just one fact for example: in countries where per capita consumption of salt is exceeded, there is a disproportionate number of strokes and deaths of up to 60 years. Remember that salt intake in food is just a bad habit. Let's try to work on this, because scattering the white particles in any dish really kills the deep and wonderful taste of vegetables, meat and dairy products. And in passing harm our health.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is necessary for the functioning of the body - without it there would not have been substances such as hormones or bile acids necessary for digesting fats. But when it is too much, it begins to accumulate in the blood vessels, causing atherosclerosis. In the artery, the blood flow is hampered, and then the tissues of ischemia and heart are affected. Thus, lowering cholesterol is of paramount importance.
But it is important to know that there are concepts of "good" and "bad" cholesterol. The most accurate information we get, if we pass a blood test, which shows the level of cholesterol in the blood, dividing it into fractions. Cholesterol actually has two incarnations: good (HDL) and bad (LDL). We want to reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol, which is easily introduced into the walls of the arteries. According to experts, the level of "bad" cholesterol should not exceed 130 mg / dl. A "good" cholesterol should be at least 35 mg / dl. in men and 40 mg / dl. in women, while the total amount of cholesterol in the blood should not exceed 200 mg / dl.