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The food you consume can have a direct impact on your health and wellness. That’s why understanding the relationship between nutrition and wellness is so important. Making smart choices about your diet may enhance how you feel, allowing you to live your best everyday life. Follow along below to learn more about nutrition for wellness and how it may potentially benefit you.
Nutrition And Wellness: The Basics
Eating can be one of the great joys of life. And, it can be a way to actually support good health. Unfortunately, some foods are also bad for your health. But, nutrition for wellness is all about discovering and celebrating those foods that are actually beneficial to your physical and mental well-being. By understanding what foods to eat and cook, you can make wise food choices that benefit you in the long run.1
Understanding Food’s Role For Your Body
Every part of the human body — from the heart to the brain — requires energy to function. This energy comes primarily from the food you eat. As you eat and digest your meals, your body uses chemical reactions to transform that food into fuel to power most of your bodily functions.2
Your Brain On Food
Your brain exclusively uses glucose for energy. This glucose typically comes from carbohydrates in your food. But, there are two types of carbohydrates — simple and complex — that your body uses very differently.
Complex carbs from starchy foods, like vegetables, fruit, and dairy absorb slowly into the body for a more consistent source of energy for your brain. Simple carbs from sugary foods or drinks do the opposite. They give your brain a big dose of energy but then cause you to crash and lose focus.3
Additionally, the chemicals created by food may also affect your mood. When you consume nutritious food that’s high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, it can help protect your brain against oxidative stress, which helps maintain a positive mood. Diets high in refined sugars aren’t good for your brain, and your mood might suffer as a result.4
Bodily Energy For Your Everyday Tasks
Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins provide the three main sources of energy for your body. Carbs are converted into glucose and distributed to your body’s cells for energy. If all the glucose isn’t used, the body stores it in fat cells to use later.5
However, it’s also worth noting that not all energy is the same. Consuming quality, nutritious food provides your body with a stable and effective source of energy. Conversely, eating unhealthy foods that are high in sugar, calories, or unhealthy fats can cause disruptions to your body’s ability to function properly.6
Potential Benefits Associated With Healthy Living
As explained above, food plays a complex role in sustaining how your body functions. Good food provides you with the energy you need to stay active as well as the nutrients your body needs to repair to prevent illness. These are some of the main potential health benefits associated with a wholesome diet.7
Heart Health
Healthy eating can have a huge impact on your heart health and the quality of your daily life. A diet that’s high in plant-based foods and low in processed foods can support healthy cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels.8
Weight Management
It should be noted that nutrition for wellness is not simply some fad diet. Healthy food is meant to support your general wellness over the long run. Instead of empty claims about drastic weight loss, wholesome food can offer a more sustainable option for healthy weight management.
For example, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are digested slowly and tend to keep people fuller for longer periods of time. Ultimately, this can help manage weight gain and support weight loss goals.9
Bone Health
A balanced diet can also support bone health. Leafy vegetables, cheeses, and nuts that are all high in calcium and vitamin D may build up bone strength, which is critical for good overall health.10
Guiding Principles Of Healthy Living
Current nutritional guidelines suggest that people get their calories primarily from whole grains that contain carbs, proteins, and indigestible fiber. These foods tend to be low or even no-calorie, so they provide crucial, stable energy and contribute to a steady calorie balance.11
Foods To Avoid
One of the most significant improvements you can make to your diet is to try and eliminate ultra-processed foods. Processing changes natural food by adding ingredients like fat, sugar, salt, and preservatives. One study found that people who consume a diet of processed foods eat around 500 more calories a day than those who eat unprocessed foods.12
Typical examples of highly processed food include:
- Chips
- Candy
- Soda
- Chicken nuggets
- Packaged soup13
Foods To Include For Nutrition And Wellness
To enjoy optimal health benefits, try to include mostly vegetables, fruits, and beans in your nutritious meals. These foods tend to be low in calories but high in healthy nutrients. Plus, they often contain lots of dietary fiber, which can help you feel full longer to decrease hunger.14
Simple Tips To Follow: Nutrition For Wellness
Include those healthy foods from above as much as you can in your daily diet by following a few of the tips below.
- Plan your meals to reduce the risk factors of any last-minute junk food choices.
- Try to avoid excess calories that you won’t burn off during the day.
- Eat a variety of different vegetables that are many different colors.
- Read labels so you know what’s in your food.15
Food Paves The Way Toward A Healthier You
An intimate bond exists between nutrition and wellness. The food you eat has a direct impact on how you feel, but also on your overall health. A diet that consists of whole grains, vegetables, and fruit can help support a healthy body and mind — and help support weight loss goals.
Making smart daily choices about food is not simply a diet, it’s a life-long habit designed to support your total health. Plus, wholesome and nutritious foods can be delicious and a joy to eat. So, try to include these foods in your everyday life to enjoy not only your meals, but a boost to your overall sense of well-being.
Learn More:
-How To Stop Eating Unhealthy Food When You Snack
-Top 10 Healthiest Foods in the World That You Can Eat Every Day
-Healthy Diet Tips: The Best Veggies To Eat
Sources
1 https://hopeway.org/programs/integrative-therapies/nutritional-wellness
2 https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/colorado/health-wellness/healtharticle.how-our-bodies-turn-food-into-energy
3 https://www.britannica.com/video/187008/chemistry-carbohydrates-humans-fats-proteins
4 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626
5 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/food-energy
6 https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/colorado/health-wellness/healtharticle.how-our-bodies-turn-food-into-energy
7 https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/food-and-nutrition/eating-well/health-benefits-of-eating-well
8 https://www.heartandstroke.ca/healthy-living/healthy-eating/healthy-eating-basics
9 https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/diet-and-weight/
10 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/bone-health/food-for-strong-bones/
11 https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/food_supply/student_materials/1196
12 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-are-ultra-processed-foods-and-are-they-bad-for-our-health-2020010918605
13 https://www.heartandstroke.ca/articles/what-is-ultra-processed-food
14 https://www.midcoasthealth.com/wellness/newsletter/the-benefits-of-healthy-eating-pg415.aspx
15 https://www.midcoasthealth.com/wellness/newsletter/the-benefits-of-healthy-eating-pg415.aspx
