RealFood - Alimentação

Health

Tips to make a Health Alimentation

Make better your feeding habits adopting these tips on your daily routine and keeps a healthful life and a good life quality.

Eat four or five times per day: Making four or five balanced meals you make your body to use more of your “fuel” reserve (fats on your body) in addition to it you will have more control over your appetite and craving to have junk foods or snacks.
Eats at regular breaks: The ideal is to make a meal every three hours. If this is not possible, take with the maximum of 4 hours between the meals. Once fixed these schedules, there is a maximum tolerance of half hour, so there are a maximum breaks time and a minimum. If you make the foreseen number of meals, at regular times, you will be preventing hypoglycemia (low level of sugar in the blood) and will reduce the possibility of having no control of the foods to be ingested.
Always eat at the same schedules: Make meals schedules in a way that you can follow the times and make the possible to really follow them. Feeding yourself systematically in the same schedules, your organism will get used to the new rhythm and will be conditional to only wait the food in these schedules. If you to wake up later, losing the breakfast time, make this meal instead snack and keep the other meals as planned.
Eat slowly and pay attention on what you are eating: Look first what you are going to eat. Chews well, and slowly, to feel the texture and the flavor of each food, trying to feel pleasure in every thing you eat. Feeding yourself in this way, your brain will receive a greater number of information, that will contribute to set the motion center of the satisfaction, leading you to be satisfied with less amounts of food. Avoid to eat while doing other activities, such as to read, to watch television, because these activities step in the reception of these information.
Respect the amount and the quality of the allowed foods: As said previously, the foods must be ingested in amount and quality adjusted to supply all the nutritionals necessities without excess of calories. Each individual needs a specific menu.
Avoid the monotony: A usual and disastrous mistake is to always eat the same kinds of foods, because the feeding monotony makes with the alimentary plan to be abandoned. Diversify sufficiently amongst each group of food. Cook new dishes. Make a good job in setting the table. Make the meal time a pleasure time.
Drink a lot of liquid: drink sufficiently purified water, mineral water (without gas) and natural juices (without sugar) to hydrate yourself. Avoid drinking coffee and sodas.
Do not adopt any radical diet: You will not stand it a lot longer and you will come back quickly to the old and bad habits. Furthermore, a great loss of weight in a short period of time is harmful to the body's metabolism, because there is a great loss of good fat, that reduces the total waste of energy, leading to a possibly increase of the bad fat after the restrictive diet.
Avoid having in the kitchen-closet caloric and healthful nutrients poor foods so you will be protected of a surprise hunger attack risk.
Always leaves in the office cereals bars, whole wheat crackers (ingests the maximum of 3 units), or if possible, a fruit or natural yoghurt, in this way, when you feel hungry you will have something healthful to eat.
If you crave a sweet thing, eat it. But remember: only one piece or one unit. This is better than devouring a full box of candy at the end of the day.
Avoid using industrial oils and industrial spices to season salads: if you want you can use a little bit of olive oil, but aromatic spices such as oregano, basil, parsley, bay leaves, are better because will make the salad tastier. You can also use vinegar or lemon juice (rather than vinegar, as it is rich in vitamin C).
Preparations with white sauce, four cheeses, Bolognese, or with mozzarella and ham should be avoided because they are very caloric. Give preference to sauces to “plain tomatoes sauces” and use the aromatic spices to make dishes tastier.
Energy drinks should be avoided. Even people who practice regular physical activities do not have energy or mineral needs of these sorts of products. Water still is the best moisturizer.
Use sweetener in juices and coffee instead of sugar.
Give preference to lean meats without visible fat: because they have less fat and fewer calories examples: fish, chicken (lean meat, skinless), turkey, duck, and rib-eye. The cooking way is also important: baked, grilled or baked.
Avoid canned foods, industrialized spices and smoked ham: they have high sodium level and are dangerous for people with a predisposition to high blood pressure.
Yellow cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, Parmesan) should be avoided: there much more fat in than white cheeses (frescal, ricotta and cottage).
Alcoholic beverages are caloric’s: Consume sporadically and in small quantities (save for the weekend). Also, avoid snacks such as peanuts, potato chips, cashew nuts, dried meat or pastries that accompany the alcoholic beverages because they are caloric´s and high in saturated fat.
In self-services restaurants: first go through all the options before choosing a food. This will avoid exaggerations. Chose options such as vegetables, cooked vegetables (without sauce or mayonnaise), lean meat, pasta without sauce and white with mozzarella and ham or white rice (or with assorted vegetables) and for dessert choose fruits.
On summer time, avoid ice-cream, ask for a Popsicle.
Shopping at the grocery store - Do not go hungry, this will prevent you to pick up candies, chocolates and snacks. Do not buy foods that are not health. Always look at the nutrition information on food labels: calories, amounts of carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and sodium.
Be careful with light and diet products: despite it shows a reduction of some nutrients, not always, this restriction is in calories or fat.
Move around: You do not need to go to the gym! Walking 3 times a week around the neighborhood for 40 minutes each session will help you get more health!
Healthier substitutions: Try light cream cheese (even these should be used sparingly), cottage cheese is better once it has fewer calories and offer more nutrients such as calcium and protein.

*Consulting: Dr. Josefina Bressan, coordinator of the Department of Nutrition and Metabolism of the Brazilian Society and Diabetes (2004/2005).