4 arguments for a balanced diet
Balance is a critical element to the success of any exercise goal, whether it's building muscle, losing fat, or improving athletic performance. It's a crucial aspect in every part of our lives, between balancing free time to maximize potential additional visits to the gym and balancing our caloric intake. All of this plays a big role in the results we want to see.
A balanced diet provides important vitamins, minerals and nutrients to keep the body and mind strong and healthy. A good diet can also help ward off numerous diseases and health complications, maintain a healthy body weight, provide energy, allow for better sleep, and improve brain function. A balanced diet provides the body with the right proportions of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and fluids. It is important not to omit essential macronutrients such as fats or carbohydrates, but to be aware of portion control.
1. control of body weight
Eating a healthy variety of nutrient-dense foods leaves less room for those high-calorie foods that typically lead to weight gain. These include processed foods and fatty or sugary snacks with little nutritional value. The body has little use for these foods and will tend to store them rather than use them for energy. Eating carbohydrates such as whole grains, oats, vegetables, fruits, legumes and quinoa, which have a low glycemic index, allows the body to stay more satiated for a longer period of time. These complex carbohydrates are broken down and released into the bloodstream over a longer period of time, preventing stimuli in the brain that trigger cravings for simple sugary snacks. Along with lean proteins (chicken, most seafood, eggs, lean cuts of pork, etc.), metabolism can be maintained longer, limiting hunger pangs after a short period of time.
2. fight against diseases
In a balanced diet, essential nutrients will produce and help maintain important germicidal cells in the immune system, and greatly improve vascular function. The immune system is highly dependent on blood flow, so better vascular function helps to quickly deliver disease-fighting cells to areas in need. Deficiencies in certain nutrients can impair immune system function, such as vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc and iron. A diet filled with fruits and vegetables also increases the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and materials that help prevent bacteria and infections from attaching to cells in the body.
Some of the most important aspects of a balanced diet is reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin C increases levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and lowers blood pressure-two very important potential stresses on the cardiovascular system that need to be monitored. Vitamin C also helps inhibit the conversion of fat to plaque in the arteries. Essential fatty acids also protect the body from damage caused by overreactions to infections. A balanced diet limits the amount of excess body fat that can develop and put additional stress on the cardiovascular system, eventually leading to serious problems.
3. have more energy
The foods we eat have a huge impact on the energy we have throughout the day. Nutrient-rich foods are digested and therefore released into the system over a longer period of time. In contrast, easily digested foods (sugary/simple carbohydrates) are digested much more quickly, leaving the body hungry again in a much shorter period of time. This can lead to spikes in the release of energy into the bloodstream - immediately followed by lows. Ideally, the goal is to maintain energy levels throughout the day without these extreme highs and lows. When we eat well, our energy stays at a relatively high level from morning to night. Protein can provide satiety much more effectively than processed foods or simple carbohydrates. Eating a protein source every 3-4 hours can be a very important rule to follow to avoid unnecessary snacking. Also, make sure to increase healthy fats that the body uses more energy compared to unhealthy saturated and trans-saturated fats. These unhealthy fats can make you feel sluggish as the body works to break them down and digest harmful byproducts. Foods that are also rich in iron, such as dark leafy greens, can also contribute to an energy boost, as iron helps to oxygenate working muscles and the brain.
4. more brain power
What could possibly be more important than our brains? We have the opportunity to keep it healthy and functioning at a high level based on our eating habits. Omega-3 fatty acids provide a number of important benefits, such as improved memory and the ability to learn. They also help combat debilitating mental disorders such as depression, dementia and schizophrenia. Foods such as salmon, walnuts, avocado and kiwi contain these important fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids may provide long-term benefits to support synaptic plasticity, through which our memory and learning are developed and potentially improved.
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