Often in the world of nutrition, we focus on what not to eat. Well, the last 20 years have clearly shown us, it doesn’t work. The latest research tells us we should be focusing on what we can eat more of.
In other words what foods give us a boost when it comes to health, wellbeing & vitality? Consider these four simple steps to do more of when it comes to our diet.
In our modern, fast-paced world we often get caught up, worrying about what we shouldn’t eat. Yet the last 20 years of research shows us it just doesn’t work. Instead, why not focus on consuming foods known for our health benefits? And why not have fun doing it? That’s where HealthStyle Habit #2 comes into play:
FEAST from mother nature’s garden by falling in love with your FRUIT & VEG.
When it comes to feasting, what should we do more of? Well, it’s pretty simple:
- Eat more fiber
- Eat more plant protein
- Eat regularly with a 12-hour break
- Eat a greater variety of foods
1. INCREASE YOUR FIBRE INTAKE
Fibre only comes from plants. By increasing your fiber intake, you’ll decrease your fat intake. A simple goal for your fruit and veggie intake is to aim for five to nine serves of fruit and vegies combined per day. Remember a serve is a medium-sized piece of fruit, two small pieces of fruit or a cup of diced fruit, half a cup of cooked veggies, or a cup of salad.
You can also increase your fiber intake by eating whole-grain foods such as wholemeal bread, cereals, and pasta. The other benefit of increasing your fiber intake is that both fiber and less fat may protect you against cancer.
TIPS FOR INCREASING FIBRE
- Include fruit as part of your meals. It’s great with breakfast, a perfect snack and good with a desert.
- Switch to bread such as fruit bread, wholemeal, multigrain, or high fiber white.
- Eat breakfast cereals with high fiber content.
- Make vegetables the main part of your meal.
- Snack on veggies, fruit, and dried pasta.
2. EAT MORE PLANT-BASED PROTEIN
The idea of the more protein the better is a false one. Strong, quality research has repeatedly shown that high protein intake speeds up the aging process. Remember disease, especially our chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, & diabetes are just meant to occur very late in life.
When it comes to what type, again when we look at the long term outcomes of clinical and population-based studies, those that consume a diet high in plant and low in animal protein live a life with less disease. For example, Professor Valter Longo found that in 50-65-year-olds who reported high protein intake had a 75% increase in overall mortality and a 4-fold increase in cancer death risk during the following 18 years.
When people consumed the same amount of protein, but in plant form, these problems didn’t exist.
3. EAT REGULARLY WITH A 12 HOUR BREAK
Eating regularly doesn’t mean eating more. In fact, it can mean you eat less because your hunger is better satisfied by small, regular intakes of food. The first thing this means is that everyone needs to eat breakfast! Then, if possible eat every four hours. To do this use fruit as snacks. This way you can also hit your fruit and veggie targets.
There have been bucket loads of research into intermittent fasting & time-restricted feeding. We will explore those in more detail another time. Benefits of creating a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16-hour break from food show normalization of blood glucose, reduction in inflammatory markers and improvements in cognitive performance, and reported vitality. The easiest approach is to limit feeding to 12 hours. This delivers the benefits mentioned above whilst being a little easier to comply with.
The added benefit, if you start eating at 8 am with breaky, and finish eating with dinner by 8 pm is you cut the late-night snacking, which is often high in calories and low in nutrients.
4. EAT A GREATER VARIETY OF FOODS
It’s not only important to manage how much food we eat and when. It’s also essential that we are nourished. This means getting all of the essential macro & micronutrients we need to allow our immune system to do its thing and ensure our cells are functioning in an optimal way.
The best way to achieve this is not by chasing the latest and greatest supplement but to increase variety. Ensuring you get a variety of legumes, a variety of fruits & vegetables, including some fungi into your week, and enjoying as many different colors from the plant kingdom. Even including fermented foods (not alcohol) along with fiber above is the perfect platform for a healthy gut.
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