3 Benefits To Eating A Healthy Balanced Diet
While weight loss is the primary reason people choose to eat a healthy, balanced diet there are other benefits as well. A balanced diet incorporates the right amount of the right foods, eaten consistently for a properly functioning mind and body and when you eat this way on a daily basis, it shows both inside and out. Here are three main reason to eat for health.
1) Energy
Ever been too exhausted after school or work to fix a healthy dinner for yourself so you grab fast food instead? Hungry and reaching for that brownie instead of going over to the fridge to get carrots because you just are too tired to think about it? Skipped working out again because you needed more sleep? Without energy, it can be truly difficult to make the right choices regarding your diet, let along maintain an exercise program.
When you choose processed, high fat, high sugar foods over fresh, natural foods, you are going to come up short on energy at the end of the day due to your blood sugar level fluctuating and also due to the lack of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to keep your body going. Eating healthy makes it easier to have the energy to have willpower.
2) Cognitive Function
Along with more energy, eating a balanced diet will also help you think more clearly throughout the day. Just as a car engine needs a steady supply of quality fuel to keep running, so does your brain as it processes the demands of every day life. Protein like chicken and complex carbohydrates like brown rice keep the fuel in your brain (glucose) running on an even keel, so you don’t experience a sudden moment of forgetfulness, fuzziness, or spaciness that can be a result from poor eating habits.
3) Appearance
Dry hair? Brittle nails? Splotchy skin? All of these are the result of nutritional deficiencies that occur when poor food choices are made consistently over time. Sugary foods not only do not supply any nutritional value, they can even block other nutrients like Vitamin C from being absorbed. Processed foods like white bread tend to cause the blood sugar level to elevate, causing inflammation throughout the body, including the skin. A lack of essential fatty acids, like those found in salmon and walnuts, shows up in dull hair that breaks easily and nails that split or crack.
When losing weight, it’s important to remember the goal is not just in the numbers. It’s in the way you feel, how you look and how you think, too.