Balanced Nutrition and Lifestyle: Practical Tips for Busy People

Health News

by Shradhha Joshi

January 15, 2024

All of us are often told by others always to have a well-balanced diet and maintain a healthy lifestyle. So, what should mankind understand about Balanced Nutrition and Lifestyle? This blog post can help readers get a proper understanding of Nutrition and Lifestyle.

In it, we are talking about healthy eating, the foods that must be incorporated into a balanced diet, and the importance of good nutrition and lifestyle.

What is meant by healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle?

Healthy eating means the intake of a variety of foods in the right proportions to get all the nutrients required to maintain good health. When talking about having balanced nutrition, it means the same as healthy eating.

Nutrition refers to the regular eating of foods containing two major classes of nutrients: Macronutrients and Micronutrients. Macronutrients include proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Micronutrients consist of water and fat-soluble vitamins microminerals and trace minerals.

If people are asked to define a ‘healthy lifestyle’, likely there are a variety of answers that can be received. That’s because many factors play a role in providing good health to an individual. In simple terms, a healthy lifestyle means including things in daily routine that provide good feeling and happiness.

In general, a healthy lifestyle means engaging in regular workouts, having a healthy diet, quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol intake, sleeping well, managing stress, prioritizing mental health, and drinking plenty of water.

Why is eating healthy important?

Our daily choice of food and drinks that we consume can have a significant impact on our bodies and general health. That’s why eating healthy is important.

Healthy eating has many benefits. It can:

Maintain a healthy body weight in an individual.
Help in proper functioning and maintenance of good health of the brain, muscle, bone, skin, nerves, digestive system, and immune system.
Protect an individual from illnesses and diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancers.
Support healthy pregnancies and healthy growth and development in children.
Make an individual energetic by supplying energy in the form of calories.
Help people sleep properly.

When proper nutrition and lifestyle go together, an individual can stay healthy, well, active, and feel good all day long and even far in the future. Healthy nutrition and lifestyle can lengthen the lifespan of an individual.

The Effects of Poor Nutrition and Lifestyle:

Poor nutrition means not receiving all the essential nutrients in the right proportions from the diet. This can happen when one does not include a range of foods and drinks that are nutrient-rich; adds highly salted, sugary, and fatty foods to the diet; and does not eat enough or eats in excess. Some of the effects of poor nutrition include obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke, and cancer.

Poor lifestyle is when an individual does something that is not right or chooses to avoid or neglect things that must be done to maintain good overall health. Some of the negative lifestyle choices include smoking, alcohol/drug abuse, having a sedentary lifestyle, not sleeping properly, staying dehydrated, delaying treatments for illnesses, not being physically active, having an unbalanced diet, or taking unnecessary harmful health-related risks.

The implications of a poor lifestyle can be on both mind and body in the short and long term. Some of the ill effects of a poor lifestyle include depression, stress, overweight/obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, cancer risk, poor muscle tone and posture, osteoporosis, more falls in aged people, and reduced life expectancy.

After looking at the many bad effects of unbalanced or poor nutrition and lifestyle, one can now take a step forward in making the necessary changes for maintaining proper nutrition and lifestyle. A further section of the article points out what needs to be done.

How to begin eating healthy?

To start eating healthily and stick to it for a long time, there are dietician-approved changes that can be made by all beginners. It is important to have a personalized ‘eating healthy’ plan. When trying to eat healthy, if you fall back on old eating habits, don’t get discouraged.

Moreover, do not try to treat yourself or have food of your choice as guilt can make you give up on your efforts at healthy eating. You should try cutting down on your intake of unhealthy foods and switch to their healthier alternatives, wherever it is possible for you.

What foods should we eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

A healthy, balanced, nutritious diet that should be taken to maintain a healthy lifestyle typically consists of:

Fresh fruits and vegetables (minimum of 5 portions daily).
Dietary fiber-rich starchy foods such as rice, potatoes, wholegrain, and whole wheat products.
Dairy and its alternative products such as soya.
Small portions of healthy, unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils and fish for omega-3 fatty acids.
Proteins such as eggs, beans, pulses, and meat.
Plenty of water and other fluids.

Healthy Eating Tips for people with a busy lifestyle:

If you have decided to start eating healthy, here are some of the tips that you must go with:

Start slow: Try healthy recipes every week or month to make healthy changes in your diet plan.
Be mindful about food choices: Take time to decide what to eat and how much to eat daily. To figure out what’s best to take in the first place, talk to a dietician.
Limit or avoid intake of ultra-processed foods: Ultra-processed foods are convenience foods that are rich in sugars, salts, and unhealthy fats.
Have a plant-based diet: Vegetables contain more healthy fats, essential vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds. It is recommended to eat a minimum of 5 portions of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.
Balance foods on the plate: Take small portions of all categories of healthy foods and have small portions of meals at a time.
Make reasonable swaps: Take foods with added sugars, high sodium, white flour, and unhealthy fats in moderation. Sodas can be switched with sparkling water; olive with water; or mayonnaise for mustard.
Try out volume eating: This means eating a nutrient-dense, balanced, low-calorie diet without going hungry.
Avoid ditching the carbohydrates and fats in meals: Having a serving of carbohydrates is necessary for energy and healthy fats like avocado oil, olive oil, and others for reducing heart problems.
Increase water intake: Drinking adequate water daily is necessary to regulate body temperature, waste processing, and spine and joint protection.
Take out enough time and be high in energy: With a busy routine, it can be difficult to maintain good nutrition and lifestyle. Busy people or people who are low in energy always get tempted by convenient foods. If want to start eating healthy, people must take out enough time and avoid being low in energy so that they can purchase healthy groceries and prepare healthy meals to eat for themselves and family.
Base your meals around fiber-rich foods: Instead of white bread, rice, and pasta go for their wholegrain and wholewheat versions.
Limit intake of red meat: Red meat like beef, pork, and lamb is a good protein source but its excess intake can increase the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol.
Have oily fish once a week: Salmon and trout are fishes containing omega-3 fatty acids which are best for heart health.
Eat plenty of legumes: To bulk meals and get enough protein and fiber, have beans, lentils, and peas.
Have dairy or fortified dairy alternatives: Milk, cheese, and yogurt are calcium-rich foods good for bones and teeth. Oat milk or soy products are fortified daily alternatives that contain calcium as well as other essential vitamins and minerals.

Following the above-mentioned healthy eating tips can help you maintain good overall health and reap the benefits of good nutrition and lifestyle.

FAQs:

Is it healthy to eat eggs every day?

It’s safe to have one to two eggs including their yolks daily if you are not suffering from any cardiovascular problems and have healthy levels of blood cholesterol. In case you have high cholesterol or are already at risk of heart disease, it is best for you to not eat more than 4 to 5 every week.

Is eating vegan healthy?

Eating vegan means having plant-based foods such as vegetables, grains, nuts, and fruits. It can be a healthy eating tip as it can fulfill all the nutritional requirements that are needed to support good health. But, if proper food choices are not made in a vegan diet, balanced nutrition cannot be achieved.

Is it healthy to eat once a day?

Having only one meal in a day is unlikely to provide enough calories and nutrients that the body needs to thrive unless the meal is carefully planned. A nutrient-dense meal once a day can be healthy as well as help in weight loss. However, if one eats only one meal daily, probably enough nutrients and calories would not be provided to the body as the stomach can quickly fill up.

How does eating healthy affect your mental health?

Proper nutrition and lifestyle help maintain good mental health. Eating healthy nourishes the brain and protects it from oxidative stress. Having a healthy, balanced diet helps an individual think clearly and feel more alert. It can even improve the concentration and attention span of an individual. An improper diet can cause fatigue, impair decision-making ability, reduce reaction time, and even result in anxiety and depression.

Why is an eating disorder, not a healthy lifestyle choice?

Eating disorder refers to a deadly disease, a mental illness characterized by dangerous eating behaviors. The signs of this are frequent dieting, calorie counting, chronic weight changes, anxiety related to eating certain foods, facing shame and guilt associated with eating, and performing rigid or excessive workout routines. The most common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and bulimia nervosa. They impact overall health. As nutrition and lifestyle are related to one another, eating disorder leads to poor nutrition and so is not a healthy lifestyle choice.