Focus On – 8 Healthy Eating Tips! | Jurassic Climbing Academy

8 Healthy Eating Tips

Our top 8 healthy eating tips will make an immediate difference to your health.

1) Never skip meals, especially breakfast. Research shows that people who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat this meal, probably because you end up eating more during the day because you are very hungry and then eat more than you need.

2) Eat fewer processed foods. Processed foods encourage weight gain and chronic disease because they’re high in sugar, fructose, refined carbohydrates, and artificial ingredients, and low in nutrients and fibre. They are addictive and designed to make you overeat and also encourage excessive food cravings, leading to weight gain. Eating processed foods also promotes insulin resistance and chronic inflammation.

3) Use a small size plate. Dinner plates have increased massively in diameter over the past 40 years. Large plates encourage you to fill them up with more food and so you eat more. The same amount of food on a small plate looks a larger meal than when on a large plate. Try it, it really works!

4) But, don’t be scared to pile your plate with extra vegetables or salad in addition to those listed in the recipes. Try to have at least five servings of fruit and vegetables every day and make your plate colourful at every meal. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables may help reduce the risk of many diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and some cancers. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals that help you feel healthy and energised.

5) Salads are great, but we often find them dull. So think outside the box and add things like apple, nuts, and seeds. Try this homemade, fat-free vinaigrette to liven your salad – blend 50ml water with 200ml balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp mustard, 50ml lemon juice, 2 tsp crushed garlic, 11/2 tsp honey, 1 tsp dried parsley and lots of black pepper. Chill before serving.

6) Eat high fibre starchy foods such as wholemeal bread, wholegrain cereals, brown rice and wholewheat pasta. The extra fibre in them will help to fill you up and keep blood-sugar levels steady. Keep away from processed white grains such as white bread and pasta.

7) Have at least two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oily such as salmon, mackerel, trout, sardines or fresh tuna. Oily fish are rich in omega-3 fats, which help to keep the heart healthy.

8) Don’t add salt to meals when you’re cooking or at the table, most diets contain enough salt already. Research says that cutting excess salt from your diet can lower the risk of heart attack by 25%.