A healthy diet is not only about choosing foods that are rich in essential nutrients but also about avoiding harmful additives and preparing food in a way that preserves its nutrients.
Nutritionists refer to live whole foods when they discuss diet. Whole foods are more healthful since they don't include any potentially hazardous components. A plant-based diet is rich in phytochemicals, which help prevent disease and maintain good health. These nutrients act as our first defence against cancer and free radicals.
Foods that supply important phytochemicals include celery, berries, flax, garlic, green tea, seeded watermelons, and tomatoes. It's essential to follow a diverse diet to optimize your phytochemical intake. Simply eating a lot of fruits and vegetables isn't enough to achieve biodiversity in your diet. A biodiverse diet includes more than just consuming at least 8 to 10 servings (½ cup each) every day; it also entails maximizing the diversity of food groups.
Avoid Foods That Contain Additives and Artificial Ingredients
Additives are used in food for various purposes, including extending shelf life and enhancing colour, texture, or flavour to make a product more appealing and easier to prepare.
There are two types of additives: those derived from natural sources and those made synthetically. For example, sugar comes from a plant, while aspartame is man-made. Another natural sweetener used in Splenda is sucralose.
Sucralose is a novel and sweet chemical that has been shown to have beneficial health effects in animal studies. It appears to be metabolically inert, making it ideal for individuals with diabetes. However, because this manufactured molecule is never found in nature and the body cannot metabolize it, sucralose may be stored in the body indefinitely.
This additive/artificial sweetener is not recommended for daily usage. Anyone who consumes a lot of processed foods will undoubtedly ingest a lot of additives and artificial components.
A variety of foods have been manufactured with the use of additives. Many products that were once deemed safe have later been banned or only permitted if accompanied by warnings. The artificial sweeteners cyclamate and saccharin are just two examples of such items. Other additives, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame, are sometimes used without warnings. The long-term effects of most sugar-substitute additives, including sucralose, are unknown. Fresh, organic fruits are the safest replacement for these types of sugars.
At their best, additives and artificial ingredients simply add little or no nutritional value to a food product. At their worst, some additives could pose a threat to your health.
Increase Your Consumption of Raw Produce
The healthiest fruits and vegetables are those that have been produced organically without the use of pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilizers, or growth-inducing chemicals. Organic food may be found at certain health food shops, as well as in some supermarkets and green markets. Food co-ops are another alternative.
Look for fruits and vegetables at their peak of ripeness when purchasing your produce. Vitamins and enzymes are more present in these than in underripe, overripe, or stored for any length of time. The longer a food is stored, the more nutrients it loses.
Running water and a vegetable brush is usually all that are needed to prepare organic produce for the table after you get it home. However, if the food isn't organic, you'll need to wash it more thoroughly to remove any chemical residues. Scrub the foods using a soft vegetable brush before leaving them in salt, lemon, or vinegar water for 10 minutes.
You can also clean your produce using nontoxic rinsing solutions, which you can find in most health food stores. If the products have wax on them, be sure to peel them because wax cannot be washed away.
Try to take off as little of the peel as possible. With most fruits and vegetables, you should consume all parts of it, including the skin. The skin often contains many nutrients that are beneficial for your health. When eating citrus fruits, get rid of the rinds but eat the white part inside since it is packed with vitamin C and bioflavonoids.
It's typically recommended to cook your vegetables before consuming them. Still, both fruits and vegetables should be eaten raw whenever possible. Enzymes and vitamins are heat-sensitive and usually destroyed during cooking. If fresh produce is unavailable, frozen fruits or vegetables can be used as an alternative.
Avoid highly processed foods because they have unhealthy levels of salt, sugar, and other additives. If you can't stomach raw produce, lightly steam your vegetables until slightly tender using a steamer, cooking pan, or wok. Even if fresh fruits and vegetables are not available to you, it's better to eat them in any form rather than none at all--this includes frozen-, canned-, and juiced forms.
The health benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables have been published in many studies. These findings applied regardless of the type (organic or nonorganic) or state (freshness/ripeness) of the produce consumed.
Avoid Overcooking Your Foods
As we just discussed, cooking foods for extended periods can ruin many essential nutrients. Carcinogens are also produced when food is cooked to the point where it browns or chars due to changes in its structure from the high heat.
Barbecued meats seem to pose the worst health threat in this regard. When fat drips onto an open flame, dangerous carcinogens called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed. When amino acids and other chemicals found in muscle are exposed to high temperatures, other carcinogens called heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are created. In fact, many of the chemicals used to produce cancer in laboratory animals have been isolated from cooked proteins.
It's worth mentioning that cooked meats aren't the only hazard. In fact, even bread crusts that are browned or burned contain harmful carcinogens. The dangers of cooking food at high temperatures until it's browned or burned shouldn't be underestimated.
Although people's eating habits differ considerably, it appears that many individuals consume a lot of overcooked meals every day. By comparison, only half a gram of this same dangerous material is breathed in by someone who smokes two packs of cigarettes daily.
Eating produces raw or lightly cooked and limiting your meat consumption will help reduce your chances of developing cancer and other disorders.
Use the Proper Cooking Utensils
While raw foods have many benefits, cooked foods can be just as healthy if made with the right cookware.
When preparing food, use glass, stainless steel or iron pots and pans rather than aluminum cookware or utensils. Foods cooked in aluminum produce a substance that nullifies digestive juices, inducing acidosis and ulcers.
In addition, the aluminum in cookware can leach into the meal. The metal is taken up by the body and deposited in the brain and nerve system tissues once it has been eaten. Alzheimer's disease has been linked to higher than normal levels of these aluminum deposits.
All pots and pans with nonstick coatings should be avoided. The metals and other substances in the cookware's finish flake or leach into the meal too frequently. These chemicals eventually make their way into your body.
Limit Your Use of Salt
Although salt is necessary for survival, not having enough of it is rare. (If you're deficient in sodium, you may experience lightheadedness or muscle fatigue.) Experts recommend consuming 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily for optimal health. This amount helps maintain normal fluid levels and healthy muscles while keeping blood at the proper acidity (pH) level.
Excess salt consumption can lead to fluid retention in the tissues, which can cause high blood pressure (hypertension) and a variety of medical issues, including congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
You can decrease the amount of sodium in your diet by eating home-cooked meals and being aware of the type of salt you use. Processed and fast foods are often times loaded with unhealthy levels of sodium. Still, cooking at home allows you to control how much salt goes into your food. When seasoning your food, opt for healthy types of salt such as Himalayan or Black salt.
Source: Balch, Phyllis A. “Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition.” A Practical a-To-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Food Supplements, Penguin Books, 2010.
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