Healthy eating: how to organize proper nutrition for a healthy life. Proper nutrition All about proper healthy nutrition

Sooner or later, we all think about our diet: problems with weight, skin, health in general force us to open our refrigerator and skeptically examine its contents. We ask ourselves the questions "what to exclude from the diet?" and “how can I start eating right?”, looking for our way to a healthy and beautiful body.

Meanwhile, healthy and proper nutrition is not a strict exhausting diet, not a mockery of the body and not depriving it of its joys, this is just a number of rules, if followed, you can radically change yourself, acquire new healthy habits, a beautiful figure and significantly extend your life.

Our body is a reflection of what we eat

It's no secret that obesity has become a huge problem for modern people - we move less, consume a large amount of fatty foods, high-calorie sauces, sweets. There are endless temptations everywhere, and manufacturers are competing who will offer the next super-product, against which no consumer can resist. The result of this race can be observed on the streets of any metropolis - according to statistics, almost every second inhabitant of developed countries is overweight. Obesity, unfortunately, leads to problems not only in aesthetics and self-esteem, but also to serious consequences for the body: the risk of many diseases is directly proportional to the amount of excess weight. Diabetes, problems with the heart, gastrointestinal tract, with reproductive function - this is only a small part of the possible diseases that arise when the diet is not adhered to.

The good news is that in recent years, caring for your body has begun to come into fashion: more and more calls for sports are being heard from the state, public organizations, organic and dietary products appear on store shelves, and tips on how to eat right are distributed in the press ...

The basics of healthy eating, or how to eat right

When drawing up a healthy food menu, you should remember a few general rules: first, you need to eat often and in small portions. Your best bet is to have a small plate that holds a handful of portions. No need to be afraid of hunger! A healthy diet involves 5-6 meals a day. It is also good to train yourself to eat at the same time - this will stabilize the stomach and will contribute to weight loss.

The second important rule is to remember about calories. There is no need to scrupulously calculate them throughout life every time after a meal, it is enough to follow your diet for a week or two, and the habit of automatically "estimating" the calorie content of food will appear by itself. Everyone has their own calorie rate, you can find it out, for example, using a special calculator, which is easy to find on the Internet. For example, a woman of 30 years old, weighing 70 kg with a height of 170 cm and little physical activity per day needs about 2000 kcal. To lose weight, you need to consume 80% of the calories from the norm, that is, in our example, about 1600 kcal per day. Additionally, there is no point in cutting back on the diet - the body will simply slow down the metabolism, and the harm from such a diet is more than good.

Rule three - we observe a balance between "income" and "expenses", that is, the energy that is spent by the body for basic metabolism, work, sports, and calorie intake. Food contains four main constituents: proteins, fats, carbohydrates and dietary fiber - all of which our body needs. The only question is which of them (fats and carbohydrates are different), in what quantities and proportions to use. The indicative recommended values \u200b\u200bare 60 g of fat, 75 g of protein, 250 g of carbohydrates and 30 g of fiber. The fourth rule is to drink water. Often we do not want to eat, our body simply takes the lack of fluid for hunger and forces us to eat what is actually not needed. One and a half liters or more of clean drinking water will help get rid of pseudo-hunger, make the skin more elastic, improve the general condition of the body, and accelerate the metabolic process.

And the fifth rule is to choose your products wisely. Read labels, composition and calorie content of products, exclude fast food, mayonnaise sauces, products with chemical additives, preservatives, dyes from the diet. You must know what you eat, and then the path to beauty and health will be quick and pleasant.

Healthy food

We will try to answer the age-old question "what to eat to lose weight?" The main thing in compiling a menu for a healthy diet is maintaining a balance between costs and consumed products.

So, be sure to include in the diet of a healthy diet for every day:

• cereals, in the form of cereals and muesli, rich in slow carbohydrates, which will provide our body with energy;
• fresh vegetables (cabbage, carrots) provide the body with dietary fiber - fiber;
• legumes are a rich source of vegetable protein, especially necessary for those who rarely or do not consume meat at all;
• nuts, especially walnuts and almonds, have a beneficial effect on the entire body and are a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-6 and omega-3, trace elements;
• fermented milk products: natural yoghurts (without added sugar), kefir, low-fat cottage cheese provide calcium and improve the digestive tract;
• sea \u200b\u200bfish contains protein and essential omega-3 fatty acids;
• fruits and berries - a storehouse of vitamins, heal the skin and protect the body from diseases;
• lean meat - chicken breast, rabbit meat, beef - a source of protein.

Healthy products should not contain preservatives, artificial colors, palm oil. It is better to limit pickles - you can pamper yourself with them from time to time, but you should not get carried away.

If you have a problem of excess weight, then sugar should be abandoned altogether, even if you have a sweet tooth and cannot live without a cup of sweet coffee in the morning - sweeteners will solve this problem. You shouldn't be afraid of them, quality substitutes on a natural basis are harmless, practically do not contain calories and taste good.

Under a strict ban!

We have decided on healthy foods, let's look at a list of foods that are incompatible with a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition:

• Sweet carbonated drinks. They do not quench thirst, irritate the stomach lining, as a rule, they contain a monstrous amount of sugar - about 20 g in each glass, artificial colors and flavors, preservatives.
• Deep-fried food. French fries, chips, croutons and anything fried in a lot of oil should be eliminated from the diet. Carcinogens, lack of nutrients and fat are not what a healthy body needs.
• Burgers, hot dogs. All such dishes contain a mixture of white bread, fatty sauces, meats of unknown origin, appetizing seasonings and a lot of salt. What do we get as a result? A real high-calorie "bomb" that instantly turns into folds on the body and does not carry any nutritional value.
• Mayonnaise and similar sauces. Firstly, they completely hide the natural taste of food under spices and additives, forcing to eat more, and secondly, almost all mayonnaise sauces from the store are almost pure fat, generously seasoned with preservatives, flavors, stabilizers and other harmful substances.
• Sausages, sausages and semi-finished meat products. This point hardly needs any clarification - just read the product label. And this is only official data! Remember that under the items "pork, beef" in the composition, most often hide, cartilage, fat, which you would hardly eat if they were not so skillfully processed and beautifully packaged.
• Energetic drinks. They contain a loading dose of caffeine combined with sugar and acidity, plus preservatives, dyes and many other ingredients to avoid.
• Fast food lunches. Noodles, mashed potatoes and similar mixtures, which are enough to pour boiling water, instead of nutrients, contain a large amount of carbohydrates, salt, spices, flavor enhancers and other chemical additives.
• Flour and sweet. Yes, our favorite sweets are one of the most dangerous foods. The problem is not only in high calorie content: the combination of flour, sweet and fatty multiplies the harm several times and instantly affects the figure.
• Packaged juices. Vitamins and other useful substances almost completely disappear during processing. What is the use of a concentrate diluted with water and flavored with a fair amount of sugar?
• Alcohol. Enough has already been said about its harm to the body, we just note once again that alcohol contains calories, increases appetite, interferes with the absorption of nutrients, and if the minimum doses are not observed, it slowly destroys the body, because ethanol is a cellular poison.

The transition to a balanced, healthy diet will not be a burden if you follow simple guidelines.

First, don't starve yourself. If you feel uncomfortable, eat an apple, some nuts, dried fruit, or muesli.

Second, drink a lot and choose healthy drinks. Chicory helps to lose weight well - it suppresses the feeling of hunger due to the large number of fibers in the composition, has a beneficial effect on the body. Green tea is also helpful, especially with ginger.

Diversify your diet! The more different healthy foods you consume, the more the body receives various microelements, vitamins, amino acids.

If you really want something forbidden, eat it for breakfast. Of course, it is better to give up harmful products altogether, but at first the thought that sometimes you can still pamper yourself helps.

The fewer unnatural ingredients in food, the better. If you want to eat healthy foods, it is better to choose a piece of meat instead of sausage, fresh vegetables instead of canned ones, muesli instead of buns.

We compose the menu "Healthy food"

How do you start eating right? First of all, you need to find out how many calories your body needs. Let's say it's 2000 kcal daily. In order to lose weight, you need to consume 1600 kcal per day, distributing them over 5-6 meals.

So, let's put together a healthy food menu for every day:

Breakfast. Should be rich in slow carbohydrates and proteins, it can include:

• oatmeal, muesli or grain bread;
• kefir, unsweetened yogurt or a slice of cheese.

Second meal - a light snack between breakfast and lunch:

• any fruit weighing about 100-200 grams, or a little nuts, dried fruits;
• 100 grams of cottage cheese or unsweetened yogurt.

Lunch should be the heaviest meal of the day:

• 100 grams of buckwheat or brown rice, durum pasta. You can add carrots, onions, peppers to the dish;
• boiled chicken breast;
• Fresh vegetable salad dressed with yogurt, a little soy sauce or flaxseed, olive oil.

Afternoon snack, between lunch and dinner - another light meal:

• A small fruit or a glass of freshly squeezed juice, preferably vegetables.

Dinner - light and tasty:

• 100-200 grams of lean beef, rabbit, turkey, chicken, fish, or legumes;
• Salad made from cabbage, carrots and other vegetables rich in fiber.

Finally, a couple of hours before bedtime:

• A glass of kefir, chicory, or drinking unsweetened yogurt.

You can drink unlimited amounts of water, green tea and chicory drinks with natural extracts of rose hips, ginger or ginseng throughout the day.

Serving volumes are indicated approximately and will depend on individual parameters - daily calorie intake, weight loss rate and other individual factors. In any case, it is best to consult a nutritionist.

Every day more and more people are interested in proper nutrition as one of the most important elements of a healthy lifestyle. On our site there is even. Food is something without which the life of any person is impossible, and health directly depends on the diet. Poor quality or unhealthy food can damage the body, so it is very important to be able to draw up the right nutrition program for every day. Healthy food is not always the standard of taste, but in terms of benefits, it has no analogues.

Proper and healthy nutrition today is no longer an indicator of aristocracy, but a response to the pace and conditions of life. More and more people today are involved in sports, which are inseparable from a healthy diet. Choosing a diet and drawing up a menu for the day, week, month is becoming an urgent task for everyone who is asking questions about losing weight, losing weight or growing muscles, improving overall well-being. In this lesson we will cover the basic principles of proper nutrition.

Please, take these advice critically, as there are no strict laws in proper nutrition, but there are recommendations that can be supported by some experts and criticized by others.

What is proper nutrition?

In the sources, you can rarely find a clear and specific definition of the concept of healthy and proper nutrition. The most complete formulation of this term is as follows:

Proper nutrition(or healthy food) is a balanced diet of natural and high-quality products that satisfy all the needs of the body, in addition, are beneficial to it.

One of the famous authors of books on nutrition is the American naturopath, alternative medicine, vegetarian Herbert Shelton ( 1895-1985 ). His idea of \u200b\u200bthe benefits of natural food became progressive: Shelton believed that nature took care of human needs for food in full, which means that our body only needs natural products.

Shelton also developed the nutritional concept of separate meals in the book “ Correct food combination". The idea behind this diet is the incompatibility of certain foods when consumed at the same time. For example, the author argued that you cannot combine protein-rich foods with carbohydrate-containing foods, combine milk with other foods, and fats with proteins. Separate meals interested not only those wishing to lead a healthy lifestyle, but also specialists in the field of dietology and physiology. Clinical studies were carried out, as a result of which it was possible to establish that it is not so much a separate diet as the use of healthy food that is beneficial, since weight loss and good condition of the body are influenced not by the principle of separation of food, but by a general decrease in its calorie content.

Also relevant for proper nutrition are the postulates set forth in one of the most popular modern books on healthy food, The Chinese Study. This work was written by a renowned expert Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Department of Food Biochemistry, Cornell University, National Institutes of Health Award. Here are some takeaways from this book:

• nutritional vitamin supplements will never replace natural products containing the same set of vitamins;
• almost all nutrients are better absorbed from plant foods than from animal foods;
• proper nutrition helps to control the influence of negative external factors on the body;
• a properly formulated diet will never harm the body.

Summarizing the information from these works, there are several recommendations on what you need to know about proper nutrition and healthy eating:

Rule 1. Food is primarily the basis for life, "Fuel" for the body, from which energy is generated, and only then - ritual and pleasure.

Rule 2. A healthy diet will protect your body from premature aging, will help to avoid many diseases of the cardiovascular system, some types of cancer, diseases of the digestive tract, diabetes, hypertension. In addition, there is a certain list of products that help improve mental performance, read about them in this article.

Rule 3. There is no room for compromise in healthy eating. Soda, chips, mayonnaise and other harmful products should be discarded. You can and even need to eat sweets, but not all the time and not everything.

Rule 4. Baked, stewed and boiled foods are healthierthan fried and smoked.

Rule 5. Trust but verify. With the development of the Internet, a huge number of different blogs and sites have appeared on the Internet, containing information on healthy eating and giving recommendations for improving the figure. However, do not forget that the authors of blogs are not always professionals who really know their business. That is why, before you start applying this or that technique on yourself, you should familiarize yourself with the reviews of other users as much as possible, read additional information about the author of the theory and analyze the results he has achieved. This simple advice will help you weed out unverified theories and thus avoid the risk of causing irreparable harm to your health by trusting lay people.

So, the basis of a healthy lifestyle is proper nutrition, which depends on the food we consume. According to the content of various nutrients and vitamins, all products can be divided into groups that will make it possible to form an optimal diet during the day.

Based on the principles of good nutrition, specialists from the Harvard School of Public Health, under the guidance of American nutritionist Walter Willett, have developed a universal scheme for human nutrition throughout the day, the food pyramid. Foods located at the bottom of the pyramid are recommended to be eaten as often as possible, and foods from the top of the pyramid should be eaten in limited quantities or completely excluded from your diet. In addition, it should be noted that physical activity and sufficient intake of fluids, preferably mineral water, are also at the base of this pyramid.

Here is the structure of the pyramid with a list necessary products and their properties from bottom to top:

Whole grain bread, oatmeal, rice, and pasta

This is the foundation of a healthy diet. These foods provide the body with complex carbohydrates, an important source of energy. Whole grains are rich in B vitamins, minerals and fiber that everyone needs. Contrary to popular belief, these foods do not add weight unless you add butter, cheese, or sauces to them.

Vegetables

Vegetables provide us with vitamins, are an excellent source of protein, and they are not rich in fats. The maximum amount of nutrients is found in rich green, yellow and orange vegetables, as well as in starchy vegetables such as potatoes and yams. Vegetable juices are also very beneficial for the body.

Fruits

Fruits are a rich source of vitamins, primarily vitamin C. These are low-calorie foods with virtually no fat. Fruits are useful in any form: fresh, frozen, canned, dried, and also in the form of juice, with the exception of highly sweetened nectars and fruit-based syrups.

Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts

Animal foods are excellent sources of protein, iron, zinc, and B vitamins, as are beans, nuts and seeds. Tofu (bean curd) and white beans are rich in calcium that the body needs. Almonds are a good source of vitamin E.

Milk, kefir, cheese, yogurt

Dairy products are irreplaceable sources of calcium. They also provide the body with protein and vitamin B12. For consumption, you should choose low-fat dairy products, since they contain a minimum of cholesterol, saturated fat and, of course, calories.

Fats, oils and sweets

These foods are high in calories and highly nutritious. They should not be abused, but they should not be completely abandoned. The diet must necessarily contain vegetable oils, which are a rich source of vitamin E (1 tablespoon per day is enough for the body). Foods containing molasses can be beneficial as a source of iron.

Daily Diet Options According to the Food Pyramid

Many different dishes can be prepared from these food groups. A typical daily menu for the average person might look like this:

Option 1

• Breakfast: a small piece of meat, a portion of rice and 200 g of salad, a cup of tea with lemon, a small fruit.
• Snack: unsweetened fruit.
• Lunch: two bread toasts with lean fish, green salad without dressing, mineral water with lemon.
• Snack: kefir or yogurt.
• Dinner: stewed vegetables with toast, a glass of water with lemon.

Option 2

• Breakfast: chicken breast sprinkled with parmesan, boiled potatoes with green beans, a cup of tea with lemon, a small fruit.
• Snack: a handful of nuts.
• Lunch: a portion of brown rice with stewed vegetables, a glass of mint tea, a small fruit.
• Snack: kefir or yogurt.
• Dinner: 150 g low-fat cottage cheese, a small fruit, a glass of water.

It is worth noting that such a diet meets the nutritional needs of the average person. For those who want to lose weight or gain muscle mass, the menu should be adjusted in accordance with the individual characteristics of the body and the goal.

The desire to lose weight leads many people to turn to proper nutrition, as the main cause of obesity is eating unhealthy food, fast food and a lot of sweets. The path to a beautiful healthy body is through building correct diet and diet.

In search of the optimal weight loss program for yourself, you should not immediately go to the Internet and study "revolutionary techniques" that allow you to lose weight without the slightest effort and food restrictions. You should be careful with all the methods offered on the network, since quite often they are compiled by people who do not have vocational education in the field of nutrition, and cannot guarantee a positive result. If you have the opportunity, be sure to make an appointment with a nutritionist who will conduct an individual study of the characteristics of your body, and based on its results, he will offer a nutrition program that is suitable for you in accordance with your goals. If the consultation of a professional nutritionist for any reason is not available to you, you can use the advice of experts, leading sites, forums and blogs on weight loss, read books on this topic, not forgetting to check the information offered to you, read in detail the reviews and recommendations of people, experienced this technique on their own experience.

Any nutritionist can tell you with confidence that you can lose weight by reducing the number of calories a person consumes per day. The minimum number of units of energy required by the body of an adult every day is 1200 kcal. You can calculate the number of calories needed to maintain your weight at the current level by determining your total daily energy expenditure or, as it is called, TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). It is calculated from the level indicator basal metabolism - the number of calories needed to maintain a calm state (BMR) multiplied by the activity factor.

The formula for calculating basal metabolism based on a person's weight, height, and age is shown as follows:

Men: 66 + (13.7 X body weight) + (5 X height in cm) (6.8 X age in years) basal metabolic rate.

Women: 655 + (9.6 X body weight) + (1.8 X height in cm) (4.7 X age in years) basal metabolic rate.

The result obtained must be multiplied by the activity factor, which is equal to:

• 1.2 sedentary lifestyle;
• 1.375 average activity (light exercises 1-3 per week);
• 1.55 high activity (intensive classes 3-5 times a week);
• 1,725 \u200b\u200bvery high activity (heavy physical activity 6-7 times a week);
• 1.9 extreme activity (very hard physical work, or intensive training 2 times a day).

You can find out how many calories per day you need in the form below:

After you determine how many calories per day you need to maintain your existing weight, you can easily calculate how many calories you need to lose weight. Without harm to the body, you can reduce the daily calorie intake by 10-15% of what is required to compensate for energy expenditure.

What you need to know when planning to lose weight?

1. It is important to understand that a diet for weight loss without sports will not bring quick results. To speed up the process, having previously deduced the formula for the number of calories, taking into account physical activity, of course, and, having calculated the daily diet from it, you can only do special exercises. You will learn about them in next lesson.

2. When choosing a diet, it is best to consult with a specialist doctor, or at least opt \u200b\u200bfor a well-known program, the effectiveness of which has already been tested by other people.

3. If you begin to sleep poorly or feel constant fatigue and irritability, your general health has worsened - these are sure signs that the diet is bad or the amount of food consumed is insufficient, which can damage your health and, therefore, the program needs to be revised or changed.

4. Most low-carb diets need to be approached carefully. Carbohydrates are the basis that energizes our body. It is necessary to distinguish between fast and slow carbohydrates, while you cannot completely abandon some and replace them with others. More details. Express diets, which allow you to lose weight in a short period of time, should also be considered carefully. It should be remembered that after losing weight with the help of a cucumber or buckwheat diet, you will soon gain weight again when you return to your usual diet.

5. The number of meals - 4-5 per day. It is better to make small portions. It is advisable not to skip breakfast.

6. Useful products for losing weight, allowing you to maintain a balance of vitamins and minerals in the body: apples, broccoli, wild berries, pomegranate juice, beans, garlic, nuts.

7. The main thing is a positive attitude, willpower and determination. The rest will definitely work out.

Finally, an example of a menu for a day for women:

• Breakfast: oatmeal on the water, 1 apple, coffee with milk.
• Lunch: a glass of kefir, 2 peaches.
• Lunch: 1 baked potato, fish slice, vegetable salad with a tablespoon of oil.
• Snack: grated carrots with olives.
• Dinner: boiled broccoli, stewed chicken breast.

Eating a healthy diet is just as important to gaining muscle mass as exercising. Food serves as a building material from which the body takes everything it needs for muscles.

In the case of gaining muscle mass, the same principle works as with losing weight, only in the reverse order. If you want to gain weight, you need to consume more calories than your body spends per day. At the same time, you should avoid large amounts of fast carbohydrates and fats, which, unlike protein, are not directly involved in the process of building muscle tissue and can accumulate in the body, creating an extra fat layer. However, it is fats and carbohydrates that are the main source of energy for training, and therefore, they cannot be completely abandoned: they must be consumed at the right time and in the right amount (according to the TDEE).

If you are actively involved in sports, it is important to get enough carbohydrates for breakfast and lunch, because they provide us with the energy that we need for intense workouts. But proteins play a major role in muscle growth. A well-known common truth - in order to grow muscles, you need to consume 2 g of protein for every kilogram of body weight. In general, the nutrition process should be organized as follows: meals - 5-6 times a day every 3 hours, medium portions.

What you need to know about proper nutrition for muscle growth?

1. Muscles grow when the amount of energy supplied in the form of food exceeds the amount of energy expended per day. Calculate the daily calorie requirement using the formula described in the weight loss block and increase it by 15-20% (on average + 300-500 kcal daily).

2. If you follow the rules and do everything right, but the muscles do not grow, increase your carbohydrate intake at breakfast and after training by 40-50 g.

3. Do not panic when muscle growth stops. Muscles grow in leaps and bounds. After several weeks of progress, stagnation may occur, and after a week or two, growth will begin again.

4. Smoking and alcohol abuse are unacceptable, not only if you play sports, but also do not correspond to a healthy lifestyle in general.

5. To achieve the growth of muscle mass, you need to follow such a daily ratio of consumed macronutrients: protein (proteins) 25-30%, carbohydrates 55-65%, fats -10-15%.

• Proteins. One gram of protein contains 4 kcal. The main sources of protein are: chicken, turkey, meat (beef), fish, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, protein powder, nuts, beans, peas and soy. Proteins of animal origin (meat, poultry, milk, fish) are more nutritious than proteins from plants (nuts, beans, peas, soy).
• Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates contain 4 kcal per gram. The main sources of carbohydrates are oats, potatoes, yams, rice, pasta, sugar, fruits, vegetables, bread, fruit juices, milk, cookies, chocolate, corn, cereals.
• Fats. Fats contain 9 kcal per gram. The main sources of fat: butter, fatty meat, fatty fish, egg yolks, sauces, milk fat, cheese, biscuits, potatoes, nuts, olives, chocolate. Animal fats are more harmful to the body, primarily to the cardiovascular system, than vegetable fats.

7. Drink plenty of water. ...

An approximate daily diet for muscle growth for a man weighing 75-80 kg is as follows:

• First breakfast: 2 whole eggs, 7 egg whites, 1 bun, 3 teaspoons of jam, large banana.
• Lunch: 150 g of chopped boiled breasts without skin, 1 slice of low-fat cheese, 4 tbsp. tablespoons of fat-free mayonnaise, 1/2 onion, 3-4 tomatoes, 2 unleavened cakes.
• First lunch: 250 g grilled beef, 100 g pasta, 3/4 cup tomato sauce.
• Second lunch: 150 g grilled chicken breasts, 240 g boiled potatoes, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of fat-free mayonnaise, 1 cup vegetable salad.
• First dinner: 500 g skim milk, 2 scoops whey protein, 3 tbsp. spoons of honey.
• Second supper: 240 g of boiled fish, 240 g of boiled beans, 1 cup of boiled carrots.

Drinking regime

A drinking regimen is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Water is the basis of any living organism, including the human one. Water regulates the water-salt balance in the body, body temperature, serves as the basis for the construction of new blood cells, normal functioning of ligaments and joints, kidneys. Drinking enough water can help control your appetite.

What is the correct drinking regime? There are recommendations for diets, according to which you need to drink no more than 1 liter of water per day. In no case should you follow such diets. You will get the desired -5 kg \u200b\u200bper week, but the body will be dehydrated, which will affect well-being and functionality. Once you start drinking again when you feel like it, the weight will return. Remember, the norm of water for an adult per day is 2-2.5 liters, divided into equal doses after the same amount of time. Scientists derive this figure at the rate of 30 ml of water per day per 1 kg of body weight.

It is important to drink the right amount of water for those involved in sports. If the body is dehydrated, energy is absorbed 10-30% worse, which directly affects the intensity of training and fatigue. It is recommended to drink a glass of water with lemon immediately after waking up - this speeds up metabolism and has a beneficial effect on digestive system.

Useful information

• A detailed and convenient table of calorie content of individual products and ready-made meals, indicating the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates and an analyzer of recipes for the content of biologically significant nutrients.

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge on the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. In each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you have selected one of the options, the system automatically proceeds to the next question. The points you receive are influenced by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are mixed.

How to start eating right is a question that worries many today. The popularization of a healthy lifestyle and an attentive attitude to our bodies made us more responsible in terms of the choice of products that will be on our table. Another thing is that all this sounds good only in theory.

In fact, irregular work hours, weekly meetings with friends at the bar, skipping meals and having to eat on the run make us put off healthy lifestyle until better times. But we know what to do: in this material - everything you need to know in order to switch to proper nutrition.

Balance

The best diet is a balanced diet. That is, you should consume enough fat, protein and carbohydrates, eat 4-5 times a day, and make sure that the portions are small. Do not deny yourself the pleasures, but replace purchased desserts with yoghurts with fresh fruit, homemade granola ( cereals + honey + nuts) or banana smoothie.

In addition, try to cook yourself, but do not resort to the help of delivery services and fast food - this will not be able to control the amount of oil and salt used.

Track calorie intake

Calories are the energy found in food. The more active you are, the more important the calorie content of your diet should be (and vice versa). The number of calories you need per day also depends on age, gender, and certain characteristics of the body, including pregnancy, breastfeeding, and a number of chronic diseases. Here are the general rules:

Women and the elderly - 1600-2000 calories per day;

Active women and less active men - 2000-2400 calories per day;

Active men - 2,400-3,000 calories per day.

You don't have to count every calorie you eat; it can turn eating right into an unpleasant routine, and forever discourage you from trying again. But if you have a rough idea of \u200b\u200bthe calorie content of each dish in the diet, it will help you learn how to form a healthy menu without additional effort.

Listen to yourself

Nutritionists say that if you are just starting out on the path to healthy nutrition, it will be helpful to adopt the “trick” that is typical for children. For example, young children only eat when they are really hungry and stop when they feel full.

Adults tend to ignore these signals: we continue to eat even when we are not hungry (for example, when we are bored, cold, or sad). This, in turn, threatens overeating, breakdowns, and in the long term - a loss of the ability to notice signals of satiety and the risk of obesity.

Remember that:

Hunger is when you want to eat something. The body sends a signal to the brain indicating that the stomach is empty and blood sugar is low. Hunger symptoms may include small stomach cramps or rumbling. For a while a person is able to ignore hunger, but the longer this continues, the less able to concentrate on something other than food, he becomes.

Saturation is a feeling of satisfaction. Saturation occurs when the stomach sends a signal to the brain that it is satisfied, and you can be confident about how you feel for 3-4 hours.

Appetite - this is the desire to feel the taste of food, as well as the pleasure that we get from our favorite dishes. Usually, appetite is associated with the organs of sight and smell, as well as with thoughts about food.

Add variety

Eating a variety of foods can help you get all the nutrients you need without resorting to vitamin supplements. As a reminder, our body needs a balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates to get enough energy for work and rest. It is these elements that help our heart beat, our muscles function normally, and our brains stay active.

Top Nutrient Sources:

Unsaturated fat: olive and rapeseed oil, nuts and fatty fish;

Carbohydrates: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, and lentils) and low-fat dairy products;

Lean protein: all types of fish, skinless poultry, dairy products and legumes;

Add to this minerals (so you shouldn't give up salt, but you should reduce its amount) and water (you must drink at least two liters of water a day).

In addition to nutrients, food contains other elements that are critical to health:

Fibers that help control blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and are also responsible for normal bowel function. They can be obtained from whole grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts;

Phytochemicals are active components of plants that can fight cancer cells;

Antioxidants, also found in vegetables and fruits, protect cells from free radical damage.

Remember moderation

Moderation is the key to a healthy and balanced diet. If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt, sugar, or calories, limit them or look for healthy alternatives.

Healthy eating is incompatible with strict dietary restrictions, malnutrition, and prolonged fasting. There is no need to strive for abnormal thinness by depriving yourself of food that brings pleasure. Most likely, we are talking about the fact that at the expense of good nutrition feel great, have optimal energy reserves, improve your health and stabilize your mood.

Correct healthy diet

This material should not be taken as intrusive nutritional advice for everyone and a guide to action. The article provides interesting observations and useful factsscientifically proven. When planning a diet, you need to focus on your own needs and build on your health. To plan a menu for serious illnesses, you need the advice of your doctor.

It is worth noting that today you can find quite a lot of clearly contradictory data on nutrition. For example, one nutritionist talks about the unambiguous usefulness of a certain product, another expert gives completely opposite facts. In fact, it’s better to pay attention to proven, accepted norms, avoiding confusion and effortlessly creating tasty, varied and healthy meals that are a healing remedy for the body and mind of all family members.

Proper nutrition means proper menu planning without starvation and overeating. The universal advice is fractional meals, that is, eating small portions of food every 2-3 hours. In total, you should get 5-7 meals a day.

It is better not to drive yourself to a state of severe hunger, without food and snacks for many hours, because in this state you can easily overeat, eating more than you need. This excess can be harmful to health, create a feeling of heaviness and be deposited as fat stores in the most undesirable places on the body.

• vegetables and fruits;
• cereals;
• protein foods;
• legumes;
• dairy products;
• fats;
• carbohydrates;
• salt;
• and drinks.

Nutrition for the heart and blood vessels - health products

The transition to healthy food helps to maintain body weight in the norm, adds energy for a full life, normalizes the percentage of cholesterol and another important indicator - blood pressure. People who embark on a healthy lifestyle at any age notice dramatic changes and clear improvements in health.

It is believed that it is beneficial to eat seeds, nuts, fruits, various whole grains and vegetables every day.

A lot of nutrients are found in olives, oils, low-fat yoghurts, milk and cheese.

It is good if fish dishes and various seafood are prepared 3 times a week.

Instead of consuming large amounts of salt, it is advisable to switch to healthy spices and natural herbs.

Protein lovers can eat eggs for health up to 6 pieces per week. Beans and other legumes - Ideally cooked twice a week.

The benefits of vegetables and fruits for the body

The simplest way preserving health is adding more vegetables and fruits to the menu. Studies have shown that most people lack nutrients due to the fact that they neglect fruits and vegetables. These products are especially valuable for humans because they contain a large percentage of fiber, a lot of vitamins, natural antioxidants and minerals. When the diet contains a lot of vegetables and fruits of different types, the predisposition to certain types of oncology, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular pathologies decreases.

It is a well-known rule that the menu should include colorful fruits and vegetables, they contain different nutritional elements. In addition to fresh products, you can use dried, from the freezer or canned, since the latter are not inferior in usefulness to fresh ones. When buying products, you need to carefully read the label and make sure that the composition does not contain a lot of sugar and salt. It is reasonable to give preference to affordable seasonal vegetables and fruits only of the first freshness.

It is good for the average person to consume 2 servings of fresh fruit and 5 servings of vegetables every day. This norm is irrelevant for children and women during lactation, they have their own norms. And we will return to ordinary adults, it is useful for them to use apples, pears, oranges, bananas, kiwi, apricots, plums, canned fruits, natural juice and dried fruits. Boiled vegetables and various salads from raw vegetables also help to maintain health. For example, they are inexpensive and useful for the body: peas, lentils, corn, beans, potatoes, beets, carrots.

How to enrich your daily menu with vegetables and fruits, you can read about this below.

It's helpful to get into the habit of adding fruit to your breakfast meal. For example, you can use the following recipe: make fruit and vegetable puree with low-fat milk.

A healthy diet is unthinkable without cereals and other cereal dishes. They can be used together with fruit pieces, it is a harmonious combination.

If you have to eat away from home, you can add vegetable sauce to pasta, order pizza with vegetable filling, eat fries with herbs.

It is useful to put lettuce leaves on any sandwiches. Most delicious sandwiches obtained by adding grated cucumbers or carrots to cream cheese or put mushrooms, chopped onions, tomatoes, spinach on the bread with the ham.

It is useful to arrange a fasting day once a week and use legumes instead of meat.

Many have a tradition of arranging a tea ceremony in the morning or after dinner, along with this it will not be superfluous to eat cucumbers or carrots, this is an easy food. It is also good to stock up on food for a healthy snack: as soon as you feel hungry between meals, eat prepared chopped fruits and vegetables, they are conveniently stored in the refrigerator in plastic containers.

The diet should be dominated by vegetables. To increase the proportion of vegetables on the menu, you can add a small portion to each meal. Eating lentils, beans and peas along with poultry and meat is not only healthy, but also tasty and economical.

Grain food

Experts say it is good to eat grains, mostly whole grains. Such food helps to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and a number of complex chronic pathologies.

Wheat, corn, rice, millet, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, semolina, bulgur, quinoa are available to us. Whole grains are added by producers to noodles, breakfasts, pasta, and bread. It is also useful to eat muesli, bread is a dietary product.

Whole grain cereals contain a lot of nutrients, valuable B vitamins, dietary fiber, healthy fats and vitamin E. A huge plus of whole grain foods is a positive effect on the digestive system.

It is advisable to reduce the proportion of cakes, muffins, cookies, pastries in the diet to the limit. Such food often contains harmful elements, such as saturated trans fats, which are high in sugar, salt, low in fiber, and are poor in minerals and vitamins. Of course, you can eat such food, but occasionally and little by little.

Breakfast cereals are healthy when they are high in fiber and whole grains, low in saturated fat, and low in salt. By carefully studying product labels, you can learn to choose the best one. When buying bread, you need to pay attention to what it is made of. It is good when bread has a lot of fiber, little salt, whole grains, seeds and coarse flour prevail.

It's good if you have 4-6 servings of cereals every day, and preferably whole grains.

Of course, proper nutrition for a healthy life looks different from the point of view of each person, since individual dietary norms are associated with age and other characteristics, so you need to make a menu to your liking, and not eat according to someone else's schemes.

Regular pasta is fat, which means it is advisable to replace them with whole grains. It's also a good idea to cook brown rice. Brown rice has many virtues and is easier to cook than white rice.

Pasta and rice go well with vegetables and make many delicious and nutritious dishes. Breakfast will energize and add comfort if it's a fiber-rich meal like oatmeal, muesli or any other favorite cereal. Instead of white bread, it is better to buy baked goods with coarse flour or whole grains at the store. It should be noted on the package that this is whole grain bread.

What is protein food and how is it useful

The benefits of protein foods

• low-fat animal meat;
• poultry meat;
• eggs;
• different types of fish;
• seeds and nuts;
• beans and all legumes.

Such food contains a huge amount of benefits, it contains the following nutrients:

• a valuable protein that helps nourish muscle tissue on a diet;
• iron;
• selenium;
• zinc;
• a whole range of vitamins.

For example, protein food contains the B vitamins necessary for the proper functioning of the whole body and maintaining health.

Meat of animals (beef, lamb, pork, rabbit, goat, venison) and poultry (chicken, duck, turkey) of minimal fat content has a good effect on humans. When cooking, it is best to separate the fat from the meat and remove the skin from the chicken.

The taste of meat dishes can be improved not by adding oil and salt, but thanks to spices, herbs, and lemon. For adherents of a healthy lifestyle, it is customary to eat more vegetables and legumes with meat. Protein food should be consumed daily in 1-3 portions.

Harm to processed meat products

It is important that, compared to natural meat, processed meat products are much less beneficial to the body. These products are familiar to each of us: sausages, sausages and other products. They are loaded with various nutritional supplements and are high in salt and saturated fat. Scientists associate the development of cardiac pathologies and oncology, besides other factors, with the consumption of large quantities of such food. Many people cannot imagine their menu without sausages and various meat delicacies, but it is better to minimize their consumption and choose the safest products in the store.

The benefits of fish and seafood

Without fish and seafood, the diet will be inadequate. It is useful to eat such food 2-3 times a week. It has been noticed that fish lovers have a lower risk of developing heart pathologies, they are less prone to stroke. Such nutrition compensates for the deficiency:

• squirrel;
• selena;
• omega3;
• iodine;
• zinc;
• vitamin D;
• vitamin A.

Canned tuna, salmon, mackerel, sardine, bream contain a lot of omega-3 and other useful substances. Scallops, mussels, harmoniously fit into a healthy menu. The main thing is to purchase quality products that are not contaminated with mercury.

Correct consumption of fish is a guarantee of health and well-being. It is recommended to cook 2-3 fish dishes a week, consume different types of fish and seafood, including those with high fat content. One serving in volume should be close to the human hand. About 150 grams.

Several fish recipes:

• Fish in the oven. Use your oven to cook fish tasty and healthy. We take fresh fish, add lemon slices, your favorite herbs and minced garlic, wrap it all in foil and cook in the oven. The cooking time can be varied to your taste - about 30 minutes, until softened. The oven temperature is about 200 degrees. This fish goes well with salads.
• Steam fish. Steamed fish is a dietary meal for the whole family. Steamed fish is cooked in a double boiler, combined with ginger, sesame oil, shallots and garlic are added to it.
• Fish sandwich. Open canned sardines and knead them with a fork, add ground pepper. Put tomatoes and fish mass on toast.
• Fish salad. Mix canned tuna without pits and liquid (100 grams), chopped seedless tomatoes (250 grams), chopped cucumbers and peppers (100 grams each), iceberg lettuce, basil, clove of garlic.

Eating healthy foods: an important part of a healthy lifestyle

Eggs in a healthy diet

Useful properties of eggs

Eggs are considered a natural source of quality protein. The product contains more than a dozen important vitamins and minerals, omega-3 fats. The introduction of eggs into a variety of diets is encouraged by experts. Eggs contain fats, and unsaturated ones significantly prevail over saturated ones.

IN balanced nutrition It is customary for the average person to eat 6 eggs a week without increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This number of eggs can be distributed as you like - eat one daily or make 2-3 servings of them.

Cholesterol in eggs

Everyone has heard of cholesterol in eggs. Many experts say that this substance has little effect on a healthy body, without increasing the percentage of cholesterol in the blood. True, in some people who are sensitive to cholesterol in food, the level of cholesterol in the body does increase when eating a large number of eggs.

Eating eggs

The best ways to cook eggs are soft and hard boiled. They can also be consumed as a cocktail along with low-fat milk. An affordable and easy-to-prepare product is always useful in the home kitchen, it is suitable for adults and children. Eggs are a component of a large number of salads and other delicious dishes healthy food for holidays and weekdays.

Nuts and seeds in a healthy diet

Useful properties of nuts and seeds

A variety of nuts and seeds are excellent daily foods that can help fill your body with healthy fats. In the composition of such food, not only unsaturated fats, but also proteins, a lot of minerals, vitamins. Due to the content of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated fats, seeds with nuts help reduce the predisposition to heart disease. With a regular diet of nuts, the percentage of bad cholesterol in the blood is reduced. If you consume these foods wisely, then they do not lead to fullness.

The best varieties of seeds and nuts

It would be wise to pay attention to:

• walnut;
• almond;
• brazilian nut;
• peanut;
• cashew nuts;
• chia seeds;
• sunflower seeds;
• sesame seeds;
• pumpkin seeds.

Some foods contain seeds and nuts, such as peanut butter (no sugar or salt), walnut oil, and tahini sesame paste.

How to use nuts and seeds?

For every day, a small handful of nuts and seeds is enough; you can eat about 30 grams at a time. It is advisable to eat uncooked, unsalted and the freshest foods. Sunflower seeds, almonds and others in this category work well in salads. Cashews are also common in cooking. Yoghurts go well with nut crumbs, for example, almond.

Legumes in a healthy diet

Legumes: benefits for the body

The most popular legumes products are:

• beans;
• soya beans;
• lentils;
• peas;

Legumes are bought dried or canned. Canned food is convenient as it saves the hostess time. All nutritional experts recommend including legumes in proper nutrition for a healthy life, as they contain an impressive proportion of vegetable protein and very little fat.

Legumes have a low glycemic index and contain dietary fiber. Such food helps to fill the stomach, so the feeling of satiety after consuming it is persistent and long-lasting.

Legumes on a vegetarian menu

When refusing animal food, various seeds and nuts are very helpful. From these, the body receives zinc and iron. For vegetarians, it is good to include green vegetables, tofu, seeds, nuts, and whole grains. You can eat well and not experience vitamin deficiency even without meat and dairy products, but the diet should be very rich and thoughtful.

Legumes in the kitchen

Plant-based protein foods - beans, lentils, peas and other foods from this category should be prepared for yourself and your family at least a couple of times a week. Fresh or canned products without salt are encouraged. When buying canned food, some wash and dry the product, and then add it to the dishes, that's right.

Peas and beans are great fillings for hearty and nutritious salads. There are a huge number of homemade soups, meat sauces, casseroles with the addition of beans. By reducing the proportion of meat and the addition of legumes, the overall fat content of meals is reduced and money is saved. Not everyone likes to cook beans as they are tough even after boiling. To improve the taste, the product is soaked in water without salt for several hours. Braised beans with minimum amount salt can be added to any meal and even eaten for breakfast.

Dairy food

Low-fat or skim milk, like products made from it, is an important part of a healthy diet. It is believed that most people are deficient in various nutrients due to insufficient consumption of high-quality dairy products, therefore, in order to prevent diseases, you need to introduce such food into your menu. Everyday dairy products include milk, yoghurts and cheeses. They are useful for children and adults. Milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese contains:

• vitamin B2 (riboflavin);
• vitamin B6;
• zinc;
• vitamin A;
• vitamin D;
• protein;
• calcium.

Such food helps to compensate for the lack of calcium as the foundation of strong bones and beautiful teeth, and reduces the predisposition to osteoporosis.

Scientists argue that eating low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese as part of a healthy menu reduces the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and reduces the susceptibility to stroke and some types of oncology. Authoritative sources report that such food works well for almost everyone from 2 years old. Almost all fats in milk are saturated, it is better to choose products with a reduced percentage of fat, they can be found in stores.

Cream, butter has a higher saturated fat content. The same is true for ice cream, to which sugar is also added. It is for this reason that ice cream, butter and cream are not equal in terms of the health benefits of low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, and they are recommended to be eaten in small quantities.

If children refuse milk and say they don't like it, then they are offered various flavored yoghurts and other products. A great option is to puree milk, yoghurt, and fresh fruit. Skim milk, yogurt, cheese, or substitutes (soy milk, high calcium rice milk) can be consumed 2 to 4 times a day.

Before going to work, it's good to have a Latte with a minimum of fat and no sugar. A great start to the day is breakfast with a serving of whole grain porridge along with low-fat milk or yogurt, seeds, nuts and fruits.

Some put butter or cream in the soup at the end of cooking. It is much healthier to use non-fat foods like condensed milk and yogurt, which also make the dish creamy. To indulge your diet, you can make sandwiches with whole grain crackers, low-fat cheese, and tomatoes.

The role of fat in the body

Omega3 and Omega6 fats

It is known that healthy fats reduce the risk of heart and vascular diseases, and heal the body as a whole. We call healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in food, that is, omega6 and omega3 fats. These substances have a positive effect on humans, as they balance the cholesterol content in the blood, increasing the proportion of good cholesterol.

People who follow healthy diets and lead healthy lifestyles strive to replace trans fats and saturated fats in foods with healthy fats in order to maintain heart health and improve quality of life.

Here are the best dietary sources of monounsaturated fats that will always find a place in a balanced diet:

• rapeseed oil (improves regeneration processes in the body, helps to lose weight);
• sunflower oil;
• olive oil;
• sesame oil;
• peanut butter;
• rice bran oil (rice oil);
• avocado;
• peanut;
• cashew;
• almond.

Best Food Sources of Polyunsaturated Fats, List:

• a fish;
• chia seeds;
• tahini;
• flaxseeds;
• safflower oil;
• soybean oil;
• rapeseed oil;
• sunflower oil;
• brazilian nut;
• pine nuts;
• walnuts.

It is good to add fatty fish to your diet in reasonable amounts. For example, mackerel, tuna, sardines, salmon. Mussels and scallops are just as useful. Chicken, eggs, and beef also include healthy fats.

If a person does not get enough healthy fats from food, then they can easily make up for this deficiency with fish oil capsules.

To feel good, it's good to start a tradition of cooking fish three times a week, one serving is about 150 grams and theoretically can fit in one or two human palms.

Do not neglect the nuts in the morning, as they complement the breakfast perfectly. For example, eat yogurt with crushed almonds or add flaxseeds to any cereal dish - porridge.

A 30-gram serving of unsalted nuts is a healthy snack that will relieve hunger and overeating during the day.

To make your sandwiches healthier, you sometimes need to change your regular butter for avocado, tahini, nut butter or margarine based on rapeseed, sunflower, olive, safflower oils.

Whole grain bread with flaxseeds is useful. Some vegetable dishes are well suited for seeds and nuts. For example, you can add peanuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts to fries.

Trans Fat Information

The abundance of so-called trans fats in food increases the risk of heart disease, provokes a rise in bad cholesterol in the blood, so many are calling for limiting the proportion of saturated fats, as well as minimizing the consumption of products with trans fats.

The body obtains saturated fats from meat, dairy products, and some plant sources such as coconut oil, palm oil. Also, this component is found in fast food, cakes, cakes, cookies, which contain palm oil (on the package it may appear as vegetable oil).

To protect against heart malfunction, doctors advise reducing the intake of saturated fat to 7-10% of the total calorie intake. In fact, it can be seen that the majority of people consume much more saturated fat. For example, on a 2,000 daily calorie diet, saturated fat should be 14-20 grams.

The abundance of trans fats causes heart and other diseases, and increases the level of bad cholesterol. Small doses of trans fats are found in lamb, beef, veal, much more in fried and baked foods, such as rolls, pastries, cookies, cakes. A healthy diet, according to some experts, should include only 1% of total calories from trans fats. Translated into food, this is about one cookie.

To add healthiness to your diet, it is better to purchase yoghurts, cheeses, low-fat milk. Studying the information on the packaging of goods, you need to know that the presence of partially or completely hydrogenated oils in food is undesirable. Many reputable sources advise to eat as little cakes, cookies, and similar goodies as possible. Also, fast food does not work in the best way, for example, pizza, chips, hamburger - of course, if you love them, then you do not need to completely give up, but you will have to limit at least a little. Remember to remove the skins and fat from the chicken before cooking. A good substitute for butter is nut butter. You definitely need to avoid the aforementioned processed meat products - sausages and salami, which contain a lot of trans fats.

Carbohydrates in food

The human body needs carbohydrates as a source of energy. Our task is to choose healthy carbohydrates for nutrition and reduce the consumption of simple carbohydrates (they are also called fast carbohydrates).

What applies to carbohydrate foods:

• potato;
• pasta products;
• grain and grain products;
• fruits;
• vegetables;
• sugar and all kinds of sweets.

Subtype of carbohydrates - sugar is labeled differently, for example, molasses, fructose, malt extract, lactose, cane sugar, sucrose; raw sugar, glucose, dextrose, fructose corn syrup, and maltose.

Scientists believe that sugary drinks cause tooth decay, predispose to heart disease and increase the likelihood of gaining excess weight.

It is better to opt for healthy, so-called complex carbohydrates, which are found in fresh vegetables and fruits, durum flour products, whole grain breads and cereals.

Occasionally and little by little, you can consume fast carbohydrates in the form of cakes, white bread, sugary drinks, cookies and various confectionery products. If possible, then the proportion of simple carbohydrates should be minimized.

What do we know about salt?

Salt is necessary for the normal functioning of the human body, but studies show that most people eat this product in doses that are dangerous to health. With the systematic overeating of salt, hypertension, heart and other ailments develop.

A good way to reduce your salt intake is through proper diet planning. The menu is designed in such a way that it is dominated by products and dishes with an optimal percentage of salt in the composition. These are fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits, grain and whole grain products, seeds, nuts.

Consuming too much salt and salty foods can increase your predisposition to these disorders:

• pathology of the heart muscle;
• heart failure, heart attack, and stroke;
• the formation of kidney stones and other kidney abnormalities;
• osteoporosis;
• fluid retention in tissues and edema.

Water and other healthy drinks

All health experts agree that you need to supply yourself with clean water every day, it is inexpensive, calorie-free and best thirst quencher.

In addition to water in reasonable doses, these drinks are welcome:

• carbonated and non-carbonated mineral water;
• vegetable juices;
• diluted fruit juices;
• low-fat milk;
• herbal teas;
• drinks with ginger;
• coffee (without sugar and milk, as a last resort with skim milk);
• tea and milk tea.

As mentioned above, sugary drinks are not good for you. Here's a good tip for everyone: always carry a bottle of clean water with you, it won't take up much space in your car or bag. And also stock up on water at home, put it in the refrigerator.

To get a magic diet drink, you need to add pieces of cucumber, mint leaves, lemon wedges and other fruits to ordinary water.

Alcohol will definitely have to be ruled out, if only because it, in any form and dose, causes esophageal cancer and a host of other terrible irreversible disorders. Alcoholic beverages act differently for each person: one is killed or disabled in just a few years, while for the other, after decades of consumption, all organs remain relatively healthy. The mechanism of destruction of the body by ethyl alcohol does not depend on the quality of alcohol, the amount and frequency of its intake, the decisive role is played by the regenerative capabilities of the body of a particular person.

It is deadly for people with heart problems to drink alcohol. In any case, discuss the benefits and harms of alcohol with your doctor. Obviously, it is better to remove this potentially harmful component from the diet altogether, since there are few really high-quality drinks in mass grocery stores.

In this post, we discussed healthy foods in detail and basic guidelines on how to organize proper nutrition for a healthy life. If desired, everyone can switch to a healthy lifestyle, replenish energy reserves, have a beautiful body, excellent health, high self-esteem and self-confidence.

Foods for proper nutrition form the basis of a healthy human diet. What kind of nutrition is considered correct? What is included in the concept of "products for proper nutrition"? How to choose the right diet that best suits the needs of the body?

Proper nutrition: what to eat to be healthy?

Before determining what foods are for proper nutrition, it is necessary to understand the concept of proper nutrition itself, what is there from the foods, in what quantities and in what ways to process them. Proper nutrition presupposes an integrated approach to organizing nutrition that meets all the body's needs for nutrients and energy value, contributing to its growth and development. The system of proper nutrition includes the organization of the diet and the actual diet. Proper nutrition is regulated by certain principles:

• The balance of the energy value of the diet and the energy costs of a person - the correct organization of the diet;
• Balance of vitamins, micro- and macroelements, as well as proteins, fats and carbohydrates;
• Correct distribution of food throughout the day - correct organization of the diet;
• The actual diet (number of meals, intervals between meals);
• Cooking methods;
• Individual factors: age, weight, social status, lifestyle, general health, which determine the body's need at a certain point in time.

Having organized a proper diet, what to eat and what products to give preference to remains the primary task. Products for proper nutrition, first of all, must be safe for human health, which is determined by their freshness and shelf life, the content of harmful plant impurities, biological objects, hazardous chemical compounds in their composition.

Any "healthy" product can be classified as "harmful" by using heat treatment methods (for example, frying on animal fat), adding fatty sauces, unnatural seasonings, combining with easily digestible carbohydrates.

Foods for good nutrition: the basis of a healthy diet

Conventionally, all products present in the human diet can be divided into harmful and useful. The list of harmful products includes:

• All fried foods. However, the roasting methods used should be considered. For example, light frying on olive oil will be less harmful than frying products with animal fats;
• Sweet carbonated drinks, as well as drinks made from dry mixes;
• Sausages and semi-finished products, smoked meats and fish, canned food;
• Dairy products with a high fat content, cottage cheese desserts, fruit yoghurts;
• Most confectionery;
• Snacks (chips, nuts, crackers and other delicacies);
• Products containing dyes in high concentrations;
• Chocolate bars, milk chocolate with and without fillings;
• Fatty meats;
• Animal fats;
• All dishes from the menu of fast food restaurants, as well as fast food products;
• Any alcoholic drinks;
• Pastries and bakery products.

The list of healthy foods for proper nutrition includes:

• Cereals - buckwheat, oat, wheat, rice groats;
• Low-fat varieties of meat and fish;
• Dairy products with low fat content;
• Fresh fruits and vegetables;
• Purified water, green tea, fresh juices;
• Dark chocolate, honey, dried fruits
• Vegetable fats;
• Whole wheat bread;
• Eggs;
• Legumes.

The choice of foods for proper nutrition is not limited to these lists, but it is the basis of a healthy diet, which today will help to eliminate unhealthy foods from the diet, replacing them with “healthy” alternatives.

Proper nutrition: which food is best for a person?

Nowadays, there are many tips from nutritionists for organizing proper nutrition. What is the best food for a person? The organization of a healthy diet should be approached on the basis of individual factors. The choice of products for proper nutrition is determined not only by the parameters of their safety, harmfulness and usefulness, but also by the person's age, health status, concomitant diseases, and lifestyle.

During the period of active growth, the body needs foods of high nutritional value. The range of foods for proper nutrition can be significantly limited by diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, as well as by the human condition (nutrition during pregnancy and after childbirth, during the recovery period after illness, nutrition for an athlete before competitions).

The way of life largely determines the energy value of the human diet, its composition. With concomitant problems of excess weight, impaired metabolism, it is also necessary to carefully approach the choice of foods, enriching the diet with fiber, foods low in fat.

The main principle of proper nutrition, which contributes to the normal functioning of the body, is moderate food intake. Excessive consumption of even foods for proper nutrition will cause significant harm to the body in the form of dysfunction and gastrointestinal diseases, hormonal imbalance, mental disorders, discomfort, severity, obesity, and limited lifestyle.

Food safety: what to exclude from the diet

Food safety is one of the most important factors in a healthy lifestyle. The safety of products is determined not only by their quality, composition, but also by their freshness at the stage of their use. The content of chemical compounds, radionuclides, biological substances, harmful plant impurities in products is a threat to human health. Contamination of food products can be of physical, chemical and microbial origin (the content of impurities of foreign bodies in products, the content of pesticides and nitrates, microorganisms in them).

How to keep your diet safe? When choosing safe foods for proper nutrition, you must exclude:

• Products containing GMOs - legislation regulates the mandatory presence of labels on product packages indicating the presence or absence of GMOs in their composition;
• Products with a high content of additives that change their aroma, color and taste;
• Long-term storage products.

Food safety also depends on where it is sold (specialty stores, spontaneous markets). Long-term use of products containing additives and GMOs significantly worsens the quality of the diet and significantly affects the state of human health, manifests itself in the form of increased fatigue, decreased ability to work, mental disorders, discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract, its dysfunction, and allergic reactions of the body. The main products containing the greatest amount of food additives are smoked meats, fish and meat delicacies, sausages, yoghurts (products undergoing industrial processing, mixing process).