Caught up between fad diets and gimmicks? The world’s prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016. Good nutrition and exercise is the pillars of a healthy life! A combination of physical activity and diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic diseases and develops strong immunity. An individual’s food choices each day affects their health that is related to how you feel today, tomorrow and in the future!
Sometimes the best way we learn is through questioning. These are some of the questions that one may ask to a nutritionist about weight:
- Is it necessary to avoid sugar completely in all forms for losing weight?
- Is fruit sugar harmful too?
- Do supplements help in weight loss?
- Are sugar substitutes safe?
- What kinds of supplements are recommended to help speed up weight loss?
- Do I need to eat less for weight loss?
- Why it is said that portion control is important?
- Within how many days can I see a drop in my weight?
- Within how many days, people ideally lose weight?
- Should I avoid junk food completely?
- What is meant by healthy weight loss?
- Is there a chance that cravings may develop more often?
- If I’m on a medication, can it affect my weight loss process?
- Will I start to feel starved when on weight loss program?
Importance of Good Nutrition in one’s life
Good nutrition can be defined as consumption of food in right amount where the body gets all the nutrients which include all the vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, healthy carbs, dietary fibre and other plant compounds.
Even for people with a healthy weight, a poor diet is associated with major health risks that can cause chronic illness which includes hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer. Hence, a healthy weight loss diet is extremely important to lead a healthy a life!
Good nutrition can actually help in the following ways:
- Improves your well-being
- Reduces high blood pressure
- Supports mental health
- Increases your energy levels positively
- Lowers high cholesterol levels
- Improves metabolism
- Strengthens immunity levels
Role of Nutritionist
A nutrition consultant creates meal plans as per the body type while keeping other key factors in mind that can help the clients develop better eating habits. Also, consulting a nutritionist keeps an individual motivated to meet their nutritional goals. Some of the responsibilities could be:
- Presenting and advising a balanced nutritional strategy.
- Discussing on weight-management plans.
- Assisting clients with nutritional goals and offering a suitable customised nutritional plan for optimizing health.
- Modifying dietary approaches for different age groups.
Tips for eating well
- Choose lean protein: Lean protein and poultry have less fat and fewer calories but are still good sources of protein.
- Choose low-fat or skimmed milk: This rich source of calcium and Vitamin D is helpful in keeping teeth and bones strong.
- Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables: Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Fruits and vegetables provide dietary fibre. Also, opt for fresh fruits and veggies instead of juice.
- Have good quality protein: Replace meats from poultry, fish, beans and tofu.
Dietary habits inculcated and established during childhood leads to a healthy adulthood. So, teaching your kids how to eat healthy at a young age will help them stay healthy throughout their lives.
Value of a life isn’t that too inexpensive that you take it for granted. Therefore, it is important to maintain a positive relation between nutrition and a healthy body. By making smart food choices, you can help protect yourself from various health problems. By taking baby steps- starting right from eating healthy and keeping yourself active, you’ll be on your way to getting the required essential dose of nutrients.
Adopting small changes in your diet can go a long way and it’s easier than you think!
