Healthy Eating Habits
Disadvantages of unhealthy eating habits
- Overweight
- Tooth decay
- Heart diseases
- Cancer
- High blood pressure
- Cholesterol levels
- Headaches such as migraines
- Muscle loss
- Anxiety and stress
What steps can one take to eat healthier?
- Incorporating vegetables into your diet
- A glass of milk every day (preferably low fat or skimmed)
- Proteins such as beans and chicken
- Avoid sugar (fizzy drinks, sweets, etc.)
- Replace sugar with healthier alternatives such as Stevia
Introduction
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”- Mahatma Gandhi.
Healthy eating habits are as important as anything when it comes to leading a well-balanced, quality life. Without healthy eating habits, you are prone to several diseases. Ever wondered why your mood throughout the day remains off or why you keep failing to maintain your body weight despite exercising religiously? Well, it’s not because you are feeling stressed or the fact you are not doing your gym exercises properly; it’s because of your eating habits. A lot of people don’t know that their eating habits are directly proportional to their healthy lifestyle. The more you eat healthily, the merrier the chances of leading a successful life.
Disadvantages of eating unhealthy
Eating unhealthy junk food such as cheeseburgers, pizzas, and doughnuts may taste good, but it comes at a price, both literally and figuratively! Consuming such food can have drastic effects on one’s health:
- Overweight
Junk food items contain surplus calories that can over-burden your body. Eventually, it will lead to obesity. This obesity will then pave the way to major respiratory problems such as difficulty breathing and shortness of breath.
- Tooth Decay
Because of added sugar and salty contents found in various junk food items, unhealthy eating habits can cause several oral health issues. When fragments of salt and sugar contents from consuming stuff like candies get stuck in teeth, they can build up over time hence causing cavities
- Heart Diseases
This is one of the main disadvantages of consuming unhealthy items. High blood pressure — caused by obesity and high cholesterol level — can lead to blood clotting up in the coronary arteries, which becomes the reason for heart attacks. 11% of Australia’s population dies due to heart attack, which indicates the graveness of this issue
- Cancer
Chocolates, chips, pizzas, and other processed food items are rich in fat and calories, which may over-burden the body to circulate more estrogen and insulin hormones. This can invigorate cancer growth.
- Muscle Loss
Junk food items lack protein nutrients. The human body requires such nutrients to help repair muscle tissues. This is why people who go to the gym with such a diet don’t get results. Because you are consuming fats instead of proteins; therefore, there aren’t enough nutrients to help repair the tissue after an intense workout session. So, you will end up only exhausting yourself and gaining fat.
Steps to eating healthy
For every question, there’s an answer, and in this case, there are plenty. After discussing the disadvantages of unhealthy eating, here are some steps (and their importance) to eating healthy which you can follow in order to lead a well-balanced life:-
- Eating Vegetables
Vegetables are not only less in calories but also very rich in fiber. It reduces the risk of contracting heart diseases and lowering blood pressure. Similarly, it mitigates the risk of cancer. It would help if you tried including vegetables on your breakfast plate. Because they are lower in calories and rich in fiber, they can make you feel full longer and keep you active throughout the day. Fruits like apples, bananas, mangoes, oranges, and strawberries should also be considered in your routine as they are rich in vitamins and minerals which can help keep your heart healthy
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
- Eating Protein Foods
Protein foods like eggs, yogurt, nuts, seeds, lower-fat milk, beans, peanut butter, skinless chicken, and lean beef ensure speeding recovery after an injury. Protein nutrients can help reduce muscle loss after an intense muscle workout session by repairing tissues, thus, helping build lean muscle. Low-fat or skimmed milk is another excellent source of protein, and you should try adding a glass of milk to your routine. It is rich in Vitamin B, D, and Potassium.