Patrick Brian O'Neill

5 Proven Tips for Eating Healthier Meals If two of your four major food groups are take-out and delivery, you might just be looking for ways to eat healthier. You understand that processed food, fast food and restaurant food, energy drinks and sodas are probably not that good for you. You have heard the many statistics which doom you to a shorter than possible life filled with sickness and disease if you continue to make drive-throughs, processed food and little to no fresh produce elements of your diet. Eating healthy can be tough. In some cases, unhealthy fast food is incredibly inexpensive. You can pick up a cheap heart attack in a sack from multiple fast food companies, the food is convenient and quickly served, and you don't have to do any cooking or cleaning. Still, you probably understand the need to eat smarter, even if you can rationalize and justify eating unhealthy food. The following 5 best practices lead to the development of healthy eating habits. At first, you may have to make a conscious effort to eat healthy. Follow the 5 proven tips for eating healthier meals regularly, and over time you can convert your conscious efforts to unconscious and automatic habits that deliver multiple health rewards. 1 – Not All Carbohydrates Are Evil There are eating plans like the ketogenic diet that tell you carbohydrates are out to get you. This is not true. The problem is that people eat the wrong types of carbohydrates, and too much. Simple carbohydrates are quickly processed by your body and stored as fat. Complex carbohydrates take a lot longer to be processed, and are found in natural foods like whole grains. Simple carbohydrates like refined sugar and white flour have just about no nutritional value, and eating too many can lead to overweight and obesity. Being overweight is linked to a much higher risk of developing diabetes, some cancers, and a list of cardiovascular diseases, heart attack and stroke. Eat simple carbohydrates, those found in fresh and natural nuts, seeds and whole grains. Avoid simple carbohydrates found in baked goods, sugar, white flour, sodas and energy drinks. 2 – Eat More Fiber What are some healthy high-fiber foods? Natural foods high in fiber include beans and lentils, pears and broccoli, peas, berries and artichokes. Dietary fiber helps remove waste products in your system and helps cleanse your body of toxins and other harmful compounds and components. High-fiber foods also help regulate your blood sugar level, while simultaneously improving your digestion and promoting weight loss. 3 – Drink Lots of Water Daily Humans can survive for more than 30 days without consuming any food. However, after just a couple of days of no water entering the body, a multitude of health problems appears. Between the liquid in the foods you eat and the water in the things you drink, you need to consume about 1 gallon of water each day. The properly hydrated body is a healthy body. You also need to drink a lot of water to keep your brain healthy. Drinking a 12 to 16-ounce glass of water when you think you are hungry can reveal that you were actually just thirsty instead. Drinking water throughout the day keeps you feeling full so you don't overeat, and water is an extremely efficient detoxing agent. 4 – Eat the Rainbow Eating healthy means getting a wide range of nutrients, minerals and vitamins into your body. You can do this by eating all the colors of the rainbow. This doesn't mean you can choose multiple processed foods that are different colors. Focus on raw and minimally cooked organic vegetables and fruits, and think color variety. Choosing dark green, orange, yellow and red colored natural foods is a good way to start eating healthier. 5 – Shop the Outer Aisles at Your Grocery Store If you look at the outer aisles of your grocery store as a racetrack, you can use this area on your next shopping trip to speed your way to healthier eating. Most of the highly processed foods your grocer offers are located in the interior aisles. If you stick to the outer lanes when shopping for groceries, here is where you will find produce, dairy and meat products which are minimally or totally unprocessed.