By the motto “better to prevent than to cure” we recommend to adopt a healthy diet in 2021. Healthy eating is not only about what you eat but also about how you combine food. With these 5 easy hints from Time2Reconnect and Ellen Van den Branden you’ll make your first progress.
A healthy outside starts from the inside
Believe it or not, our bowels are our second brain. So we’d better take very good care of them. They contain millions of nerve cells and are responsible for the production of the happiness hormone serotonin. Moreover, two-thirds of our immune system is in our intestines. Think about that the next time you sit on the toilet! These days, bowel transplants are no longer an exception, and just like the blood bank, the bowel transplant bank also exists. In order to manipulate our health, bacteria can improve our intestines through bowel transplantation.
Here’s how you can adopt a more healthy lifestyle and food intake:
1. Start the day with fruit
Start your day with a fruit breakfast and leave the bread for a while. If you have breakfast with lots of fruit every day, your digestion will be healthier and you’ll get a lot more energy. That’s because your metabolism doesn’t have to make a lot of effort to process it. It also offers several benefits for your body during the day. After all, fruit is seen as the only food that is able to make your brain work faster. And, of course, your brain affects all your other organs!
2. Don’t mix carbohydrates with proteins in one meal
First of all, what are carbohydrates? Potatoes, bread, pasta, rice and grains are concentrated carbohydrates that release their sugars very quickly, causing your blood sugar level to peak. We also sometimes call them ‘comfort food’.
And what are proteins? Fish, meat, cheese, soy, Quorn. It’s not a good idea to eat both of them together. The problem actually lies in the fact that your body digests carbohydrates slowly, but proteins digest quickly. If you combine both components in one meal, your body gets out of balance.
So from now on make a choice and set up your menu based on one of these combinations:
1. Fish & Vegetables
2. Meat & Vegetables
3. Cheese & Vegetables
4. Carbohydrates & Vegetables
3. Don’t save on olive oil
Olive oil is a natural antioxidant and is an effective natural pain reliever. Thanks to ingredients such as omega 3 and 6, carotenoids and plant sterols, olive oil can lower your cholesterol, prevent facial diseases and prevent skin aging. So, the more, the merrier…
4. Experiment with herbs
Herbs used to be applied as medicine and is still used as such in some countries. In Europe we tend to take high doses of herbs in supplements. There is a lot of scientific evidence about the positive effects of certain herbs. Herbs are not processed, do not contain calories, but give your food and drink as much taste as sugar or sauces. Moreover, they also provide healthy antioxidants, which are extremely useful for your body. They wake you up in the morning and stimulate digestion in the evening.
5. Water anywhere, anytime
We can survive for weeks without food, but only a few days without water. This is because 70% of our body consists of water. Water carries nutrients, hormones, antibodies and oxygen through our blood and lymph vessels. Moreover, we need the water in our body for the disposal of waste products. If we drink too little water, our body has to conserve and reuse our water, so toxins in our tissues, fat, joints and muscles are stored instead of being drained away. Symptoms of insufficient water use include headaches, poor concentration, fatigue, urinary tract infections and constipation. Try to drink two liters of fluid a day (= 8 glasses). That may seem like a lot, but know that your body loses up to twelve glasses of fluid a day through sweating, breathing and peeing.
You want more healthy insides and want to be kept up-to-date? Be sure to read Ellen’s column every week. And follow her Instagram page @time.2.reconnect.
