By: Rashi Chaudhary
Food Choices: What is the Impact of Dietary Choices on Our Health?
Food is the main source of energy that keeps us all going. Good nutrition helps to support our body and ensure that everything is able to work effectively.
The food choices we make affect our health everyday. Eating good food keeps us healthy, energized, and fit whereas constantly consuming unhealthy food puts us at a much higher risk of getting infections and acquiring chronic diseases in the long run.
In fact, your entire well being is dependent on dietary choices. Want to know how? Let’s find out.
The Impact of Food Choices
Many people out there will have a sweet tooth and need to satisfy their cravings for sugary foods. Whether it’s chocolate, biscuits or any form of dessert, they might indulge in unhealthy snack foods that, while comforting and enjoyable in the moment, can result in a sudden drop in energy levels referred to as a sugar crash and possess various health risks in the long run as well.
In contrast to this, consuming healthy alternatives for natural sugars found in foods like fruits will not only curb your cravings, but also provide hundreds of health benefits that can improve your mental, physical and spiritual health. Given below are some of the other benefits that may help you to understand the importance of switching to a healthier lifestyle.
Weight management
Including healthy foods in your everyday diet like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and grains will help in keeping your weight in check as well as actively promoting weight loss. However, consuming unhealthy processed and junk food does the exact opposite as you will put on weight quickly when eating foods that are bad for you.
Keep Blood Sugar Levels In Check
Cutting back on refined sugars and adding natural healthy sugar alternatives like honey, fresh fruit juices and coconut sugar can help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes, as well as being considered a great option for anybody suffering from diabetes to be able to enjoy sweet foods in a healthier, moderated manner.
Lower Risk of Dietary Deficiencies
If your diet is lacking in certain essential nutrients, it can lead to a variety of health problems called either dietary deficiency or nutritional deficiency. If you’re eating a strict diet by limiting several foods from your daily intake or indulging in unhealthy foods, you are increasing the risk of succumbing to several different diseases.
However, eating a varied diet helps lower the risk of these diseases caused by a lack of certain nutrients in your body. It really is that simple!
Helps in Elevating Mood
Eating a healthy balanced diet keeps the bad moods at bay. Surely, you must have heard about how good food and healthy diet leads to a positive mood. As per Kaiser Permanente, eating nutritious food not only improves mood but overall health too. It is essential to establish a schedule of healthy meals that helps you stay focused, energized and promotes good mental health throughout the day.
Keeps the Gut Happy
The immune system is responsible for fighting back various germs and viruses that will be attacking your body. A person with a healthier gut can effectively fight back and will be at a lower risk of contracting any diseases when compared with a person with weak immunity who will not only be more susceptible to infections, but will also have a longer recovery time as well.
Immunity boosting foods like spinach, ginger, garlic, mandarin, pomegranate, amla, orange, sweet potato are crucial to helping improve your body’s immunity.
Slower Down Skin Aging
Vitamin C is accountable for keeping your skin in good health by promoting the growth of collagen. Adding this vitamin in your diet through fruits like orange, mandarins, berries, and kiwis helps give a natural glow and brightens up the skin too.
You can see now how our food choices significantly impact your health. Our health today, tomorrow and into the future is highly dependent on our dietary choices now. Moreover, eating a well-balanced diet can help in reducing the risk of serious illness like heart diseases, strokes and some cancers as well.
You will likely come across hundreds of good reasons about why eating nutrient-enriched food in your diet is necessary. Sure, exercise always comes along with a diet in order to keep you in shape and both need to work together to be effective.
What’s more important right now is to acknowledge the factors that may affect our dietary choices apart from the most common “cost factor” and find a way to overcome these hurdles. Here they are:
- As per a recent study, we tend to eat less while eating alone and eat more while in company of loved ones
- A person’s mood also impacts upon the food choices. For example, eating something when you are not hungry but stressed, depressed or feeling low
- Lack of knowledge about the consequences of eating unhealthy food
- If you follow a sedentary lifestyle and do not work out at all, you are more interested in unhealthy eating
- Cultural influences can also make you eat a certain type of food. The eating behavior of your peers strongly influences your choices. It can also make you restrict certain types of food that may be beneficial
- Lack of accessibility to shops or vendors selling fresh fruits and produce
- Your social group influences a lot of your eating habits. If your friends or family tend to eat junk, you will naturally be interested in it while eating with them
Final Thoughts
Now, since you have the benefits of mindful eating and the factors that may lead you towards unhealthy eating, you can now easily establish a healthy meal schedule.
Slowly bring about good changes into your diet by incorporating more fruits and veggies & less processed food. Consult a doctor or dietician that can provide more helpful tips for eating a wholesome diet. Educate yourself more about healthy eating to easily acquire a healthy lifestyle and reap the benefits of this new lifestyle!