Healthy eating means giving your body the high quality, nutrient-rich food it needs to function. Healthy eating means balance, variety, moderation, and flexibility. Healthy food choices come from all of the food groups and provide high amounts of vitamins and minerals with fewer calories. Healthy eating is the foundation to help you live a longer, healthier life.
How do I eat healthy?
There is no simple answer that will work for everyone, but there are a few basic nutrition principles that are good to know. Our bodies need three nutrients, called macronutrients, to function properly. These nutrients provide energy and are equally important for your body.
Carbohydrates: the preferred energy source can be found in fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products
Protein: the building blocks for muscles, tissue, and organs can be found in meat, seafood, eggs, beans, legumes, and dairy products
Fat: an essential nutrient stored throughout the body can be found in animal proteins, dairy products, nuts, and oils (coconut and avocados too!)
Vitamins and minerals, called micronutrients, are also necessary for our bodies to perform chemical reactions and processes.
Eating is a learning process. We learn to like and dislike certain foods. We learn to avoid foods that make us sick. We learn to prepare secret family recipes. And we learn to love processed convenience foods that easily fit into our busy lifestyles. Healthy eating is also a learning process. We can learn to crave the sweetness of fruit rather than candy. We can learn to appreciate crisp and crunchy vegetables in place of some snack foods. We can learn to savor the creaminess of real cheese. This process of healthy eating takes a lot of time, courage to try new things, and freedom from rules that restrict/limit/deprive you.
We believe in positive food choices that focus on providing the nutrients you need to maintain good health. We aim to provide information about what you can eat because everything can fit into a balanced eating style!
What's else do I need to know?
You can find links to more information below or through the navigation tabs at the top of this page. If you have specific questions, contact us to get some answers!