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Healthy eating and controlling your nutrition


Nutritious plate of salad

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Foreword


Starting off! Healthy eating and Nutrition is yet another vital area of health and wellbeing, and hopefully this blog post will shed some light on the subject with some detailed, evidence based information, some useful recommendations and also some online resources.


I believe its everybody's duty & responsibility to understand their body and to learn how it works and nutrition is one of the most important areas of health and wellbeing.


If you would like a personal structured programme or if you have any questions regarding the subject, feel free to place a comment on the blog post, or you can get in contact through the website or socials!


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What actually is nutrition?


Your nutrition is all the substances which you consume and with such a wide variety of consumables out there, its important to know that some are better than others for you.


Its also good to know what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, and how to make sure that we are getting the right nutrition for our individual lifestyles.


This can be done by understanding the basics of nutrition, including what foods are beneficial for our bodies, and how different nutrients affect our overall health.


Additionally, it is important to understand the support options available and how they can help us stay healthy.


With this knowledge and support, we can make informed, sound decisions about our nutrition to help us to live life to the full and keep healthy!



A brief explanation of the food groups


Carbohydrates - Short / long chain sugars which provide your body with quick release energy, if they're not used straight away, our bodies change them & store them as fat for later use


Proteins - Short / long chain amino acids which help your body to repair its cells


Fats - Not all as bad as some make out and we actually need the good ones for some important processes - some are good, some are bad, more about this below


Saturated fats - Big bad fats which are often disguised as tasty treats - while we do need a few of these, many people eat far too many of these on the reg


Fibre - The parts of consumables which the body cannot process / use and which are left as waste - most people don't get enough fibre in their daily intake


Vitamins & minerals - Super useful nutrients, found in nutritious consumables. Our bodies need these to keep their important natural processes running nice and efficient and healthy


Water - We are made up of around 60% of water so its rather important to keep drinking this



Recommended balance of food intakes


Government guidelines recommend to use the Eatwell guide as a generalised, eating pattern, containing appropriate, balanced amounts of each of the food groups. While these guidelines


Here is the guide:

The Eatwell plate / guide

Amount of food & portion size


While this is how our diets are recommended to be layed out so we get a good intake of all the food groups, it is recommended that the amount of food we consume should reflect our daily activities / daily energy expenditure and should be controlled with this in mind.


A portion size for each food, is normally about the size of your clenched fist.


So, if you've got bricks for hands, lucky you!



Nutrition alongside physical activity


For those who are more active & exercising for long periods of time and therefore expending more calories on a regular basis, consuming more of particular food groups might be necessary to promote muscle recovery and restore energy levels.



How bad nutrition effects the body


Having an unbalanced diet where you are consuming foods which are high in specific macronutrients, can cause negative effects on the body. Below is a list macronutrients and the symptoms / long term health effects associated with each:


Saturated fats: This nasty stuff clogs up your arteries which leads to an increased risk of heart and circulatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks & strokes !


You really don't want to be eating this regularly.


Carbohydrates & Sugars: These give us short term energy by raising the sugar levels in the blood!


However, if its not used up in a short amount of time, our body creates insulin to break the sugars down and turn them into fat.


This can lead to being overweight or even obese!


Furthermore, if our blood sugars are elevated consistently for long periods of time, the insulin can become less effective at bringing that blood sugar back down to safe levels (and if it doesn't / can't then your body's natural processes will not be performing optimally).


This 'insulin resistance' is called pre-diabetes which can also eventually lead to Type 2 diabetes.


As we find out more and more about this mysterious and debilitating condition, studies are now leading us to understand that this is reversible!


Salt

Salt promotes water retention in the body which can lead to high blood pressure - see our article on blood pressure here



Dietary myths & fads


We've all heard it in the news, one minute, eggs are bad for you and the next they're the healthiest thing you can eat.


Don't trust everything you hear / read & don't believe the hype.


Do your own research and make informed decisions based on evidence.


Here's a little list of common misconceptions around nutrition from the BHF: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/healthy-eating/dieting-myths


And no, eggs aren't bad for you. They are in fact highly nutritious and healthy in a balanced diet.


Evidence based & reliable nutrition


Here's a little list of science backed diets / nutrition programmes.


If your going to try any of them, just make sure you run it by your GP or a healthcare professional prior to starting just to make sure its appropriate.


The Mediterranean Diet (detailed on the Eatwell plate above)


This diet centres around vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, whole grains, legumes, dairy & extra virgin olive oil and has been associated with reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease


Intermittent Fasting


This method exposes your body to longer periods of fasting.


You eat all your food for the day in a 6 hour window, say 12pm till 6pm.


As your body has no additional fuel from 6pm till 12pm the next day, your body is fasting for an extended period.


Due to the limited fuel, your body will be forced to burn its fat = weight loss


Low carb diet


Reduces the amount of sugars consumed so that your body is more likely to burn fat stores to create your energy instead.


Gluten Free Diet


Similar to the gluten free diet, by eliminating all those beige foods, it helps to remove the empty calories from your diet. Stick to the colourful ones!



Give yourself a break every now and then


While its great and super healthy to keep on top of your nutrition, sometimes it can be a little bit difficult, resisting the big fat chocolate birthday cake in front of you.


And you know what, its your lucky day - have it!


While eating super healthy all time is great for the body, if you never indulge in the occasional treat, your psychological health may take the hit instead.


So occasionally, treat yourself and satisfy your craving..


But make sure it is occasionally.


90% super healthy, 10% treat is a good structure of balance to have.



Supplements


If you find that you are unable to get all of your nutrients, vitamins and minerals from your foods, supplements can be a good option to give you a little booster.


You can buy these in local shops but be warned, some are better others!


Look up the recommended amounts and the amounts provided on the label.


I myself use British Supplements for my boosters because they are genuine and offer brilliant clarity on their website: https://www.british-supplements.net/



Jamie's Recommendations - What can I do?


Eat colourful & taste the rainbow!

If your plate looks beige then its probably full of empty, useless calories. On the other hand if it has all the colours it normally means its also got all the good nutrients and minerals too!


Skittles don't count!


Food diary

Try keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks so you can see everything you've eaten and

Download & print the My Movement Medicine food diary here


Don't use the word diet!

Using the word diet implies to yourself and others that you're going to go back to your previous ways of eating after a period of time and we certainly don't want that!

I know its difficult but don't use it!

Use words like intake / eating / nutrition / programme but never diet.

Now I've got to go back to check if I've used the word diet ^



Some useful resources:


Healthy eating: Some more useful information about healthy eating https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/healthy-eating

BHF's Recipe finder: Brilliant resource with 1000's of heart healthy recipes. Put in your dietary requirements, cooking time and your food type and it will give you some super tasty healthy recipes! https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/healthy-eating/recipe-finder




 
 
 

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