2 days ago
5 Keys to a Healthy Diet
Ask any reputable dietitian or nutrition scientist about how to eat healthfully, and they will probably tell you to avoid dieting.
Many diets emphasize restriction, whether it's of calories, carbohydrates, fats or something else. And that's not a healthy strategy, said Alison Brown, a nutrition researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Diets like these can cause you to miss out on the range of nutrients your body requires, she said.
A much better way to maintain healthy eating habits, she added, is to focus on foods that are not only nourishing, but also bring you joy.
That can be challenging when nutrition fads are coming and going with seemingly increasing speed, and often conflicting advice. Is saturated fat the enemy or not? Are we all deficient in protein? Turns out, the best ways to foster healthy eating are also the simplest. Here's how.
1. Prioritize whole foods.
Not all processed foods are unhealthy, but they're often stripped of beneficial nutrients like fiber and certain vitamins and minerals, Dr. Brown said. And they may contain high levels of ingredients that can be harmful to health, like added sugars and sodium.
Because of this, it's best to consume foods 'as close as possible to how they exist in nature,' Dr. Brown said.
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