You have probably heard the phrase, “You are what you eat!” Yes. Your diet impacts your health and adopting a healthy eating habit can help in lowering your risk of medical conditions like diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and various types of cancer.Here is a Shot Health guide to 8 facts about how healthy eating will help you prevent disease.
Healthy eating and obesity
Obesity is a risk factor for many conditions like heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes. Eating healthy means taking foods that will limit adding weight to your body. Food with extra calories, fats, and a lot of sugars increases your body weight and makes the organs work harder, increasing the risk of obesity.
How do certain nutrients affect specific parts of the body?
Nutrients like calcium are used to make your bones strong and healthy. A diet high in calcium will prevent osteoporosis which occurs when your bones become unhealthy, weak, and brittle. Limiting the amount of fats in your diet also prevents cardiovascular disease as fats can raise your blood pressure.
Food and mood
Eating the right foods makes you happier and more active. This leads to better social relationships and more instances of healthy exercise. Regular exercise would then reduce the risk of diseases.
Healthy eating cleaning the body
Healthy diets boost the levels of “good cholesterol” in the body. “Good cholesterol” within the body cleans the unhealthy triglycerides and directly reduces the risks of diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.
A plant-based diet?
A plant-based diet including nuts, legumes, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables provide your body with minerals, vitamins, and other compounds that prevent cancers. The plants also have fiber which prevents colorectal cancer. Naturally, plants ensure you have lower calories to maintain a healthy weight
Processed foods and added sugar
Processed foods and added sugar make the liver dump high amounts of fats into the blood, increasing your risk of heart and blood vessel disease. High sugar in your diet also causes your tissues to become resistant to insulin, disrupting the endocrine system. These foods will therefore make your cells not get enough energy, add extra weight and your organs will need to work harder. Limiting the amounts of processed foods and added sugar on your foods will reduce your risk of numerous illnesses like diabetes, and cancers.
Red meat and processed meats
Research has shown that too much red meat (lamb, beef, and pork) increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer. While meat is a good source of zinc, vitamin B12, protein, and iron, you need to take only small amounts of it. Reducing the amount of red meat, you eat will therefore ensure you get the necessary nutrients and stay healthy.
Alcohol
Despite studies showing that alcohol has some cardioprotective effects, only small amounts of alcohol achieve this. Too much alcohol consumption causes many negative health effects including dementia, heart failure, increased blood pressure, and increased risk of different cancers (esophagus, throat, mouth, liver, breast, and colorectal). Limit the amount of alcohol to at most one drink per day.
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