5 tips for a healthy and SIMPLE diet!

With the current situation with COVID-19, many seek to educate themselves to optimize their health. Nutrition information can become overwhelming, and you can quickly get confused in the wake of the advice you receive. Here are 5 tips for adopting healthy eating habits without complicating your life.

1-Hydrate throughout the day, mainly with water

It is best to use water as the main source of hydration. However, certain foods such as fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, vegetable drinks and broths also provide a certain volume of liquid.

The first piece of advice is to have a reusable water bottle on hand and make it a goal to drink it completely twice a day. Bottles have an average volume of 750ml which is equivalent to 1.5L per day of water if you drink twice the volume of your water bottle.

To enhance the taste of your water, you can steep frozen fruit or fresh herbs, such as mint or lavender, in it for about 3 hours.

Here's an interesting article that describes flavored waters in more detail:

https://www.fraichementpresse.ca/cuisine/inspiration/5-idees-eaux-aromatisees-1.8502489

You can also make yourself some tea or herbal tea and let it cool. To do so:

- Infuse 2 tablespoons of tea leaves or herbal tea in 300ml of hot water according to the instructions for infusing the tea or herbal tea.

- Fill a 500ml container with ice and pour in the tea.

- Store it in the refrigerator and consume it preferably within 24 hours.

Instructions inspired by David’s Tea. How to make an iced tea to perfection. June 2019. Retrieved from http://blog.davidstea.com/fr/comment-preparer-un-the-glace-a-la-perfection/

 2-Consume fruits and vegetables with each meal as much as possible

At midday and evening meals, aim to consume twice the size of the fist of your hand of fruits and vegetables as an accompaniment.

At lunchtime, consuming a glass of juice is a long-standing habit for many people. Replace that glass of juice with a whole fruit. The fiber in fruit slows down the digestion of the sugar contained in the fruit and thus provides a good level of energy that remains stable for longer.

3-Follow the balanced plate for your meals

Here is the approximate distribution of your plate:

- 1/2 fruits and vegetables

- 1/4 protein

- 1/4 whole grains

Fruits and vegetables: Vary the colors as much as possible!

Protein: See Nutrition Month Article 3 - Protein: How to get it right? for more information on getting the right amount of protein.

Whole grains: Rice, quinoa, pasta, whole grain bread, oats, etc.

4-Consume protein with each meal

Meals should ideally contain between 20 and 30g of protein. Snacks should provide around 10g of protein. By consuming protein with every meal and snack (if you have snacks), you make sure you are eating enough protein and spreading your intake throughout the day.

For more details on getting enough protein, take a look at the article from last week - Protein: How to get it right?

5-Vary the foods eaten

Variety remains a guarantee of nutritional quality in food. We are often inclined to eat the same foods over a long period of time. However, vary its fruits and vegetables, its sources of protein (tofu, fish, chicken, shrimp, legumes, turkey, pork, etc.) and its starches (rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, couscous, etc.) etc.) maximizes the nutrient richness of your diet.

We hope that these 5 tips will guide you in adopting a healthy diet. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that it is not possible to "strengthen" our immune system as such. However, by adopting a healthy diet, you make sure that you are meeting your nutrient needs, which in turn optimizes your health.

Kinatex makes sure to provide quality service to its customers. For this reason, a nutritionist is among their team of professionals.

Contact us to learn more about the nutrition services offered at Kinatex Saint-Léonard!

© Kinatex Sports Physio St-Léonard Inc.