What does healthy eating mean anyway?

When it comes to healthy eating, you’ve probably been bombarded with a bunch of random information from different people with conflicting opinions and somewhat questionable credibility. Well you’re not alone! It’s normal to be lost in the sea of “health facts”.

In a sentence, healthy eating means eating fresh, unprocessed foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, grass-fed and free-range meats and healthy fats. A healthy diet is basically a diet high in plant foods and low in processed foods. It’s also a good idea to reduce one’s consumption of white foods, i.e. foods containing white sugar or white flour such as white pasta, white rice, white bread and pastries.

Always go for quality over quantity and choose nutrient dense foods over empty calories. Not all calories are created equal. It’s easier to eat an entire bag of crisps than to eat two apples. Whole foods are nutrient dense - they fill you up and fuel you - whereas empty calories don’t.

An essential aspect of healthy eating is healthy drinking. If you’re only willing to do one thing for your health, it should be to drink lots of water. Plain clean water. Fruit and vegetable juices do not replace water. Juices can be a good refresher in the summer. Some smoothies can occasionally replace a meal when they contain all the essential food groups. But one shouldn’t live or detox on juices. You should therefore aim to have a glass of water regularly throughout the day and remember to drink before meals.

Last but not least, if you try to eat well most of the time and some days you find yourself craving junk food, go for it: it’s the only way you’ll realize you don’t really enjoy it anymore!

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