Eat For Life

Eating right doesn’t have to be difficult. Research continually links chronic diseases to our plates. Society revolves around making things easy and convenient for the “on-the-go” family, but these meals are slowly killing us. Due to these easy meals, we deprive our body of the essential vitamins, minerals, and fuel it needs.

Every day we turn on the television, something else is being blamed for our growing cases of obesity, a new pill is formulated, or a new fad diet is found making nutrition overwhelming. What if it doesn’t have to be that hard? No more counting calories, no more balancing acts—just learning how to eat right.

The food you put in your body affect how you think, feel, and move. Food should not hinder you—it should propel you. Food can trigger chemical processes leading to chronic inflammation. This chronic inflammation is linked to chronic diseases, weight gain, and general health problems.

The Mayo Clinic provides a good guideline to follow for composing meals, but if you want to make it easier, follow these three simple guidelines for the whole family.

1. Back to basics. Eat meals composed of lean meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. This will provide a baseline for the correct type of fats, vitamins, and minerals needed for healthy living.

2. If it can’t go bad, it’s bad for you. Foods are chalked full of preservatives to make shelf life longer, but these chemicals trigger reactions in our body that promote inflammation.

3. Eat in moderation. There are temptations all around us and expecting someone to never have a treat again is insane. If you decide to eat something that isn’t a lean meat, fruit, nut, or vegetable, do so in moderation. A whole pizza to yourself, a cupcake every day, four cups of coffee in the morning, or eating dessert after every meal is unnecessary.

Teaching your children how to eat well at a young age, prepares them for a full life. Start good habits now and help your child avoid major health problems in the future.