Your food habits define you!

Your food choices each day affect your health — how you feel today, tomorrow, and in the future. Eating well is fundamental to good health and well-being. Healthy eating helps us to maintain a healthy weight and reduces our risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

Healthy Food! Happy Mind!

Why is eating well important?

Healthy eating has many other benefits. When we eat well we sleep better, have more energy and better concentration – and this all adds up to healthier, happier lives! Healthy eating should be an enjoyable social experience. When children and young people eat and drink well they get all the essential nutrients they need for proper growth and development and develop a good relationship with food and other social skills.

What is healthy eating?

Healthy eating isn’t about cutting out foods – it’s about eating a wide variety of foods in the right amounts to give your body what it needs. There are no single foods you must eat or menus you need to follow to eat healthily. You just need to make sure you get the right balance of different foods. Healthy eating for children and young people should always include a range of interesting and tasty food that can make up a healthy, varied and balanced diet, rather than denying them certain foods and drinks. Although all foods can be included in a healthy diet, this will not be true for people on special/medical diets.

A healthful diet includes a variety of fruits and vegetables of many colors, whole grains and starches, good fats, and lean proteins.

Eating healthy also means avoiding foods with high amounts of added salt and sugar.

Few top benefits of eating healthy:

1. Weight Loss- Losing weight can help to reduce the risk of chronic conditions. If a person is overweight or obese, they have a higher risk of developing several conditions, including:

- heart disease
- non- insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
- poor bone density
- some cancers

Whole vegetables and fruits are lower in calories than most processed foods. A person looking to lose weight should reduce their calorie intake to no more than what they require each day.
Determining an individual's calorie requirements is easy using dietary guidelines published by the United Government.

Maintaining a healthful diet free from processed food can help a person to stay within their daily limit without having to count calories.

2. Diabetes Management- Eating a healthful diet can help a person with diabetes to:

- lose weight, if required
- manage blood glucose levels
- keep blood pressure and cholesterol within target ranges
- prevent or delay complications of diabetes

It is essential for people with diabetes to limit their intake of food with added sugar and salt. It is also best to avoid fried food high in saturated and trans fats.

3. Heart health and stroke prevent- According to figures, as many as 92.1 million people in the U.S. have at least one type of cardiovascular disease. These conditions primarily involve the heart or blood vessels.
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, up to 80% of cases of premature heart disease and stroke can be prevented by making lifestyle changes, such as increasing levels of physical activity and eating healthfully.

4. The health of the next generation- Children learn most health behaviors from the adults around them, and parents who model healthful eating and exercise habits tend to pass these on. Eating at home may also help. In 2019, researchers found that children who regularly had meals with their families ate more vegetables and fewer sugary foods than their peers who ate home, less frequently.

In addition, children who participate in gardening and cooking at home may be more likely to make healthy dietary and lifestyle choices.

5. Better mood- Emerging evidence suggests a close relationship between diet and mood. A few years ago, researchers found that a diet with a high glycemic load may cause increased symptoms of depression and fatigue.
A diet with a high glycemic load includes many refined carbohydrates, such as those found in soft drinks, cakes, white bread, and biscuits.
Vegetables, whole fruit, and whole grains have a lower glycemic load.

6. Getting a goodnight sleep- A variety of factors, including sleep apnea, can disrupt sleep patterns. Sleep apnea occurs when the airways are repeatedly blocked during sleep. Risk factors include obesity, drinking alcohol, and eating an unhealthy diet.
Reducing the consumption of alcohol and caffeine can help to ensure restful sleep, whether or not a person has sleep apnea.

The Importance of eating healthy

Healthy eating has many other benefits. When we eat well we sleep better, have more energy and better concentration- and this all adds up to healthier, happier lives! Healthy eating should be an enjoyable social experience. When children and young people eat and drink well they get all the essential nutrients they need for proper growth and development, and develop a good relationship with food and other social skills.

By choosing healthy over skinny, you are choosing "self-love" over self- judgement!

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