Tuesday, May 10, 2011

How you can increase your nutrient intake

Why you need to walk the path of easy healthy eating, the path that leads to good health and happiness, motivation, cleared some misconceptions about healthy eating menu, explained what body fat means in relation to your weight, have sought to clear some misconceptions about sugar free alternatives, have explained why fruit should not be made into a juice.
By nutrients I mean carbs, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Of these elements, carbs, proteins, fats and water are called macro nutrients because our body needs them in higher quantities. Minerals and vitamins are called micro nutrients. Here are my six basic rules for increasing intake of all these essential elements:

1. Serving sizes of food that is prepared fresh. Consume it within 3 hours of cooking. Do not freeze or deep freeze cooked food. Remember that food begins to decompose at an average rate of 10%+ per hour. After about 3 hours 30% to 40% of its nutritive value is lost. Also, bacteria begin to build up to unhealthy levels. Reheating will kill the bacteria but will not recover lost nutrition.

2. Cook food in small quantities. The larger the quantity, more the time required preparing and cooking and therefore greater the nutrition loss before the food even reaches the dining table. Canteen and restaurant food is least nutritive because it is usually cooked many hours before it is served. Always prefer to use portion plate and bowls for perfect diet.

3. Eat your fruits and healthy salad dressing whole instead of cutting to pieces. Unless you can’t chew (as in after an operation), never ever turn your fruit into a juice. Fruits contain anti-oxidants that oxidize on contact with air (which is why the pulp beings to turn black when exposed to air). When you cut the fruit you are exposing a large part of it to air. And if you make it into a juice then all the oxidants i.e. the most beneficial part of the fruit is lost. Bigger fruits such as melon or papaya should be carved to large slices and bitten into – not cut into pieces.

Vegetables should be stored whole – never cut. Wash and cut the vegetable immediately before cooking.

4. Eat local. Do not eat food that is not locally grown. You are made up of the soil where you and your forefathers were born – it is in your genes. Fruits, healthy vegetarian recipes and animals too are made up of the nutrients from the soil they were grown in. When you consume exotic meats, fruits or vegetable, sugar free salad a lot of these nutrients will be foreign to your body and difficult to digest.

5. Eat fresh local seasonal healthy eating food. Climate, altitude, humidity, wind, soil and water influence our digestive system. Believe it or not your body is mated to the region you were born and live. Nature produces crops that are best suited to the weather, soil condition and animals (includes humans) in the region. Therefore eating fresh local seasonal food and portion sizes of food ensures compatibility with your digestive system making it easier to absorb the nutrition.

6. Healthy eating food with a calm state of mind. An agitated mind impedes digestion. Nothing in our body works independently. Everything is interconnected. An agitated mind impedes the secretion of gastric juices that are required for breaking down the healthy eating diets we eat. And we all know what improper digestion can do. In one of my previous blogs I mentioned that the dining table should be peaceful and quiet. Concentrate on the food you are eating and savor every morsel. I guarantee you will not only enjoy your meal, it will digest better.

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