Healthy Lifestyle & Exercising LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOPIC
Did you already eat some fruit today? Did you move your muscles? An unhealthy diet and lack of exercise are one of the biggest risks to health worldwide according to the World Health Organization!
A healthy diet helps to protect you against diabetes, heart disease, heart strokes and cancer. These diseases are the world’s largest killers, with an estimated 38 million deaths annually.
A healthy diet consists of six main nutrient groups; water, carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins & minerals. This info booklet will give you an overview of why these nutrients are important and how you can incorporate them into your diet to create a healthier lifestyle.
Did you know that: It is recommended to drink 4-6 glasses of water a day? Water has many important jobs in the human body?
Water carries nutrients and oxygen to your cells helps to maintain the mineral balance in the body helps your digestive system regulates your body temperature helps cushion your joints protects your organs
Carbohydrates Did you know that: It is recommended to limit the amount of ‘free’ sugar (sugar added to food and drinks, juices, honey) to 5% of your daily energy intake (kcal)? That translates to 7 sugar cubes or 30 grams of sugar a day!
Our brain needs the most energy of all organs? It uses half of our sugars for its functioning When you eat a food containing carbohydrates, the digestive system breaks it down into sugar?
Complex Carbohydrates, that can be found in whole-grain foods, do not only consist of sugar! They also contain fibre, vitamins and minerals. The complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and make you stay energized for longer.
Fats Did you know about fat that: it is recommended to limit your fat intake to 30% of your daily energy intake (kcal)? it can be broken down to fatty acids, which are used as the building blocks for the protective outside layer of our cells, called the cell membrane?
fats that are liquid at room temperature are called unsaturated. They can be found in fish, vegetable oil and nuts? unsaturated fats are very beneficial to the body, since they improve cholesterol levels, stabilise our heart rhythms and ease inflammation among other things?
Proteins Did you know that: It is recommended that adults get a minimum of 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day? The protein that we eat gets to be broken down into building blocks called amino acids. From these amino acids, the body can make its own protein?
Proteins power many chemical reactions in your body? Protein can not only be found in your muscle? It is in every part of your body! It can also be found for example in your bone, in your brain, in your skin, in your blood.
Vitamins and minerals Did you know that: you get the most vitamins and minerals if you put some colour in your diet? Each kind of fruit and vegetable contains different vitamins and minerals, so the best you can do is to put a rainbow on your plate.
Vitamins and minerals are essential to our body? They fight infection, aid wound healing, regulate hormones and make our bones strong.
Some vitamins can act as antioxidants? They fight toxic molecules called radicals that can cause harm to our bodies. Radicals are generated when there is an infection or disease and can also come from air pollution, sunlight, and cigarette smoke.
Did you know that with diets there is no onesize fits all?
High Protein and low carb diets (such as Atkins or Keto) High protein and low carb diets are believed to have benefits for weight loss. It is recommended to use them as a jump-start into weight loss, rather than a diet for life. These diets have proven benefits to your gut and big short-term effects on weight. However, in the longterm, if the diet is associated with a caloric restriction, weight loss is similar to other diets.
Paleo The Palaeolithic diet, also known as Paleo, is based on mimicking prehistoric hunter-gatherer food. It claims to optimize your health, protect you against chronic disease and result in weight loss. Scientific research indeed found health benefits to your gut, and it reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Be aware however that this diet also can lower your intake of certain essential nutrients, like vitamin D, calcium and iodine.
Gluten-free diet Celiac disease or wheat allergy and non-celiac gluten sensitivity are treated by removal of all gluten-containing food. However, a gluten-free diet has become popular with other people as well. The gluten-free diet claims to improve your health and reduce your body weight. However, it is not proven yet by science.
Plant-based diets (vegetarian and vegan diets) If you do not eat animal products, this can lower your intake of nutrients. For example, your intake of protein, iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamins D and B12 might be lower. Nevertheless, a plantbased diet is beneficial to protect you against chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and some cancer types.
Plant-based diets (vegetarian and vegan diets) Additionally, it has been associated with weight loss in science since vegetarian products, in general, contain fewer calories. If adapted well with supplementation a plant-based diet can therefore be beneficial for your health.
Fasting diets (such as 5:2 diet, alternate-day fasting, time-restricted feeding, and religious fasting) Fasting diets can help you lose weight, but they are not superior to other calorie restriction diets. The health benefits of fasting, such as protection against diseases are not proven yet by science. Fasting is safe to do for adults but is not recommended for children, the elderly, and underweight individuals.
Did you know that small changes can already make a big difference?
Try these healthy food swaps for example!
Swap your white rice, bread noodles and pasta for wholewheat versions Swap your savoury snack to unsalted nuts or vegetable sticks with hummus
Swap your sweets with strawberries or watermelon Swap your icecream for some fruity water ice
Don´t know yet what to cook?
Here is a healthy, fast and easy recipe to inspire you!
Ingredients (4 persons) Vegetable oil 1 onion 1 clove of garlic 1 thumb-size piece of ginger 1 tablespoon of curry powder 1 teaspoon of cumin powder 1 teaspoon of ground coriander 1 teaspoon of ground paprika
I400 g chopped tomatoes (fresh or tin) 400 ml coconut milk Tin of 400g chickpeas (drained and rinsed) 1 teaspoon of salt 0,5 teaspoon of ground black pepper Zest and juice of ½ lime 300 gr brown rice
Instructions 1. Cook the rice following the instructions on the rice package 2. Put a pan on medium heat and heat the vegetable oil 3. Slice the onion and garlic and add to the pan 4. Grate or slice the ginger and add to the pan
Looks tasty! Doesn't it?
Instructions 5. Add the spices to the pan and bake them for 30 seconds 6. Add the chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and chickpeas. 7. Add the lime juice and zest 8. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with brown rice, enjoy!
Resources: 1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet 2. https://www.who.int/activities/preventing-noncommunicablediseases 3. Cena H, Calder PC. Defining a Healthy Diet: Evidence for The Role of Contemporary Dietary Patterns in Health and Disease. Nutrients. 2020 Jan 27;12(2):334. doi: 10.3390/nu12020334. PMID: 32012681; PMCID: PMC7071223. 4. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-much-watershould-you-drink 5. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/how-does-sugarin-our-diet-affect-our-health/ 6. https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publicationsarchive/brain/sugarbrain#:~:text=Brain%20functions%20such%20as%20thinking,communicati on%20between%20neurons%20breaks%20down. 7.https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/carbohy drates-and-blood-sugar/ 8. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.str.31.11.2751? cookieSet=1
Resources: 9.https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/Inside-LifeScience/Pages/what-do-fats-do-in-thebody.aspx#:~:text=Triglycerides%2C%20cholesterol%20and%20other%20 essential,helping%20proteins%20do%20their%20jobs. 110. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-youeat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat/ 11. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-youeat/protein/ 12. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/phytonutrients-paint-yourplate-with-the-colors-of-the-rainbow-2019042516501 13. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/antioxidants 14. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/#the%20bo ttom%20line%20on%20antioxidants 15. Freire, R. (2020). Scientific evidence of diets for weight loss: Different macronutrient composition, intermittent fasting, and popular diets. Nutrition, 69, 110549. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.NUT.2019.07.001