Tag Archives: healthy fats

How to Find the Right Foods for Your Health and Lifestyle

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right foodsHow to Find the Right Foods for Your Health and Lifestyle

The foods you choose each day have a direct impact on how you feel, your energy levels, and even how well you sleep. With so many diets and food trends, the key is to focus on balance and personalization.

The right foods for your health and lifestyle are the ones that nourish your body, fit into your daily routine, and leave you feeling better and more energetic.

The Foundation: Carbohydrates, Proteins, and Fats

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the three main nutrients your body relies on for energy and repair. Choosing the right sources makes a big difference.

  • Healthy carbohydrates Vegetables and fruits are the healthiest carbs you can eat.  Chose ones that you enjoy and eat at least twice as many veggies as fruits.  Other good carbs include brown rice, potatoes, oats, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and beans.
  • Desserts, white flour, white rice, sugar, and concentrated fruit juices can spike one’s blood sugar and lead to energy crashes.  The whole-food carbs above can provide good fiber and steady energy to support digestion and health.
  • Healthy proteins such as salmon and other fish, meat, chicken, turkey, eggs, natural cheeses, and Greek yogurt, help to build muscle, keep you full longer, and stabilize blood sugar.
  • Healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and all types of nuts, are essential for brain health and hormone balance.

Adding these foods to your meals, one at a time, or eating them separately, can help you notice how each affects your energy and mood. A food journal is a useful tool to track which foods leave you feeling satisfied and which may cause adverse effects.

Diet and Sleep: Calcium and Magnesium

What you eat can also affect your sleep. Calcium helps the brain produce melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, while magnesium calms the nervous system and supports deeper rest.  Foods like spinach, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, yogurt, and cheese are excellent sources. (Stick to the veggies and seeds if you are dairy intolerant).

To see what works best for you, introduce some of the above mineral-rich foods, one at a time, and record how it impacts your sleep in a journal. Sleep mineral supplements can also be used. For these, its best to stick to a 2 to 1 ratio, meaning it contains twice as much calcium as magnesium in the supplement. Vitamin D and zinc are also good minerals for improving sleep.

Matching Your Diet to Your Lifestyle

Your daily routine often determines how easy it is to eat well. For those with busy lifestyles, portable whole-food snacks can prevent eating fast foods and having energy crashes. Good options include a banana with almond butter, apple slices with cheese, carrot sticks with hummus, or a handful of cashews or almonds. These balance protein, fiber, and healthy fats to keep the energy steady.

Foods That Help or Hurt Energy

Everyone’s body responds differently to foods, which is why journaling is so valuable. Many people feel energized with colorful fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and slow-digesting carbs like oats or brown rice. In contrast, sugary drinks, fried fast food, bakery items, and too much caffeine or alcohol often leave people sluggish or restless.

Putting It All Together

The best diet isn’t about strict rules but about learning which foods truly work for you. By balancing carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, eating sleep-supportive minerals, keeping whole-food snacks on hand, and limiting energy-draining foods, you can design a way of eating that fits your lifestyle and helps you achieve the greatest health possible!

This health news is shared with you by Nutrition Breakthroughs, maker of the effective natural sleep aid Sleep Minerals II, and the natural solution for joint relief, allergies, pain relief and increased energy, Joints and More.

***** Wendy R. of Honolulu, Hawaii says: “My friends know that I’ve had chronic insomnia for a long time. Surprisingly, I received the Sleep Minerals II and began taking it and found this thing really works. In the past if I ever got a good night’s sleep I’d say ‘I slept like a baby’, but that’s the wrong comparison. Those little guys get up every two hours. I am actually beginning to sleep like an adult — a much-rested adult.”

References

Healthy Fats for Good Skin, Hair and Nutrition

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healthy fatsEating healthy fats helps us create glowing skin and hair, as well as good nutrition for the organs and hormones.

All hormones are formed with healthy fats, so eating more of these foods can nourish our health in many ways.

Healthy fats can play a vital role in helping us sleep better and achieve greater health as these provide the basic building blocks for cholesterol production — a surprisingly healthy substance in our bodies.  The best fats to eat are nutrient rich foods like eggs, natural butter, salmon, sardines, fish oils, avocados, nuts, seeds and coconut oil.

For example, a healthy heart and long life are associated with eating walnuts.  They have been shown to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and also extend life spans in general. Walnuts contain the amino acid l-arginine, which offers protective benefits for the heart.

Walnuts can also be a good sleep inducing food.  Eating a handful of walnuts before bedtime may be a good way to calm down sleeplessness and insomnia. Russel Reiter, Ph.D., a professor of cellular biology at the University of Texas says, “Relatively few foods have been examined for their melatonin content. Our studies demonstrate that walnuts contain melatonin and that it is absorbed when it is eaten.”

Avocados are a healthy, creamy, tasty food, whether they sit on top of a sandwich, an omelet or a salad, or become transformed into guacamole. The healthy fats in avocados help balance hormones and this food features over twenty vitamins and minerals.

In summary, eating healthy fats can enhance one’s health in many ways. This information is brought to you by Nutrition Breakthroughs, maker of the effective natural insomnia remedy Sleep Minerals II.

Essential Fatty Acids: Healthy Joints, Eyes, Heart

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essential fatty acidsEssential fatty acids are natural, healthy fats the body cannot make on its own:  hence the term “essential”.

These are called Omega 3 fats and Omega 6 fats. Omega 3 fats are things like fish, fish oil, olive oil, avocado, seeds and green vegetables.  Recent research studies are finding these fats benefit the eyes, joints, heart, lungs, immunity and more.

Omega 6 fats include vegetable oils like safflower oil and corn oil, as well as mayonnaise, fried foods, dairy and beef.  Many people eat more Omega 6 fats than Omega 3’s and when the balance between the fats becomes imbalanced, health problems can occur – particularly high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

One study of people with dry eyes was recently published in the journal “Cornea”.  They were given a daily dose of fish oil and flax oil.  At the end of the 90-day study, 70% of the participants with dry eye had no symptoms and also had an increase in tear production and volume.

In the journal “Proceedings of the Nutrition Society,” researchers analyzed several controlled trials of fish oil use for arthritis.  The trials showed a reduction in tender joint counts and a decreased use of anti-inflammatory drugs with fish oil supplementation.  An important research note was that anti-inflammatory drugs can adversely affect the heart.  Fish oil is known to have a direct, positive effect on the heart.

This natural health news is provided to you by Nutrition Breakthroughs, a provider of nutrition articles and effective natural remedies since 2001. Nutrition Breakthroughs makes the original calcium and magnesium based sleep aid Sleep Minerals II, as well as Joints and More, the natural solution for joint relief, aches and pains, stronger hair and nails and more energy.