Dr. Y.S. Bagal, Dr. Meenakshi Anand
To stay fit and healthy, we need to eat enough and eat food that is good for us. Your health is directly related to your dietary habits, including what you eat, how much, when, and how you consume. Your mental wellness is just as important as your physical appearance. You should read a few number of books on self-improvement, but always use your own common sense when putting the advice of others into practice. It is important to keep in mind that all experts have a bias towards their particular field of study, thus it is up to you to put their claims to the test using your own knowledge and experience. There are many metabolic variances from person to person, so you should give some thought before mindlessly adopting any diet, fast, vegetarianism, no breakfast plan, unfired food, Kneipp’s water-cure, sun-bathing, etc., that you may read about. Really, it’s like an illness to be so preoccupied with calculating calories all the time. According to Maya Feller, MS, “it takes the attention away from the meal itself and puts it on its calorie content.” To function, your body need fuel from food, but there is no benefit to eating too much of it. Calorie counting may work for a while, but it’s not usually a good long-term strategy. Feller argues that calorie monitoring is not a viable lifestyle choice for everyone. It needs to be done exactly as planned, with no changes. Many people’s lives aren’t like this, and it’s impossible to keep up in a manner that’s pleasant over time. There are other methods to lose weight and get in shape than focusing on calorie tracking.
It is more likely that people may gravitate to diet foods and drinks that offer less calories when they are calorie conscious, according to Feller. These foods still taste and feel the same, but they feature chemicals, fillers, and preservatives to make up for the calories that have been cut. A focus on quality over quantity is frequently appropriate. Maintain a diet high in flavorful, nutrient-rich natural foods with minimum processing. The focus of calorie counting is on the food’s energy content rather than the nutrients it provides. This has the potential to cause unhealthy diet restriction.
Don’t eat at set times, but rather whenever hunger strikes. Never force food into your system if you don’t need it; listen to your hunger cues. The quickest route to an early grave is a diet high in calories. The Golden Rule of Eating states that one should never finish a meal feeling completely full. You should be able to consume half as much after leaving the table as you did before eating. The words of L. Cornaro, “what we leave after creating a substantial dinner does us more benefit than what we have eaten”. Putting this theory into practice will be more beneficial than utilizing scales and calorie counters.
Do you often snack between meals even if you aren’t hungry? If so, a new research cautions, you may be putting your health at serious risk. Nowadays, individuals seldom eat because they are hungry, but rather because they have access to a wide variety of tasty foods. Widespread marketing of these products also constantly reminds people how delicious they are. According to recent research conducted by David Gal of the University of Illinois at Chicago, it may be better for people’s health to eat when they are just mildly hungry rather than when they are really hungry. Forty-five university freshmen took part in the research, during which they rated their hunger and subsequently had a lunch high in carbohydrates. After eating, participants’ blood glucose levels were monitored to see what effect the meal had on their health.
Maintaining a healthy diet requires careful consideration of meal combinations. The plate technique might help you ensure that you are receiving enough of the nutrients you need. Fill half the plate with non-starchy veggies, a quarter with protein, and a quarter with carbohydrates. To avoid the hassle of keeping track of calories, this is an excellent approach to limit portion sizes and measure visually.
People measure out their food a few times to see what a serving looks like. Most of us tend to underestimate things, such as how much cereal we put in the bowl or how many handfuls of trail mix we eat. It is suggested starting by reading the nutrition label and figuring out if the portion size is right for you. The key to optimal health is a diet that is both simple and focused on providing all the nutrients the body needs. Too much variety at once might cause stomach distress, so try to limit the number of courses you consume and the complexity of your cooking. Do not overtax our stomachs.
For optimal health, stick to simple foods that can be properly chewed. One must keep in mind that the stomach is not a replacement for the teeth. Smaller, more frequent bites of food provide for more time for saliva to help break down the meal before it is ingested. There should be 32 teeth in a mouth, 32 bites in each mouthful, and the number of bites should be raised by one for each missing tooth, as advised by Sir Andrew Clark.
(The author are Assistant Professor, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab and EX PhD Scholar, Department of Home Science, University of Jammu, Jammu)
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