When it comes to good eating habits, the little things make the difference. In this article, I explore little tweaks to make to your eating habits this year in order to get the best out of your health. Here are five good eating habits to adopt this year.
1. Eat Slowly
This may seem too little, maybe even too simple, but it is one of the best things you can do for yourself this year. Slow down a bit, and eat slowly.
Eating too fast can make you enjoy the food less and prolong your satiety so that you eat more than you should. Whereas eating slowly can make you feel full when you ought to and, eventually, help you with weight loss.
A study shows this. 60 percent of children who ate too fast in the study were seen to overeat. They also gained a lot of weight.
Read: 5 Health Benefits of a Home-Cooked Meal
2. Don’t Eat Too Late
This year, you should try as much as you can to eat earlier than 9 p.m. Bedtime meals are not so much of a good idea because they can make you gain weight. And they can also hamper the quality of your sleep.
When you eat at night, you are likely to wake up a couple of times during the night and may even have some trouble falling asleep.
If you must eat at night, you should go for light foods which do not contain so many carbohydrates.
3. Eat More Fiber
Your body needs fiber to maintain optimal gut health. Fiber is an indigestible, nonglycemic carbohydrate. What this means is that even if it is a carbohydrate, it does not have an effect on increasing your blood sugar. In fact, it may even have an effect on reducing it.
Fiber also promotes bowel health by providing a rich environment for the growth of the normal flora of your colon.
This can help pass stools a lot easier and tremendously reduce the risk of constipation.
Read: 5 Low-Cost Meals That Are Absolutely Healthy
4. Reduce Your Salt Intake
Another eating habit you must try to form this year is reducing how much salt you take. Table salt is a compound consisting of sodium and chlorine.
Sodium is known to cause water retention in the kidneys. This means there will be an increase in blood volume soon after a salt-rich meal.
For people who have got hypertension, this may further increase the blood pressure and put a bulk of the pressure on the heart.
Eventually, this might amount to some form of heart failure.
5. Avoid Junk
Junk does too little good. In fact, the worse it does outweighs the good so much that you are better off without junk food.
This year, try as much as you can to have only homemade meals. If you must have junk, have so little that the effect is barely seen.
Bonus: be happy about your food!
Read: 5 Healthiest Fruits to Try This Season
Summary
This year, I advise that you eat slowly, show more gratitude for your food, and pay more attention to what you eat. It is going to be an amazing year.
