How to Maintain a Healthy Daily Diet

Good nutrition helps us function and feel better.

George Bernard Shaw said, "There is no sincerer love than the love of food," but an affair with junk food leads to regret. A brownie cannot provide the critical nutrients needed to replenish the body on a cellular level. Instead, sugar feeds cancer. This news is startling enough for a person with fatigue or chronic illness to rev up her defenses. Yet the body responds kindly to even gradual changes over time, and by maintaining optimal daily food choices you help to maintain a healthier immune system.

Instructions

1. 

   Maintaining a healthy diet begins with daily choices.

   Think of food as your best medicine. Build your knowledge base of wholesome, nutritious foods and embark on a delicious journey. This shift in thinking will energize your efforts.

2. 

   Make a master grocery list of favorite healthy foods.

   Purge temptation and junk from your pantry. Get rid of bad fats: hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils hidden in cookies, crackers, pastries, chips and other common snack foods. Banish processed foods from the grocery list, and ditch foods made with high fructose syrup, white flour products, sugar and artificial sweeteners.

3. 

   The power of produce is considered remarkable.

   Believe in the power of a plant-based diet. Load up on fresh fruits, and eat colorful vegetables; eat organic fruits and vegetables when possible. No single food protects against illness, but eating a wide variety is good insurance because nutrients often work together.

4. 

   Small portions of organic meat are fine on occasion.

   Eat less animal protein, limiting it to small servings of antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat. Select clean grass-fed beef, wild-caught salmon or organic omega-3 eggs as protein options, not as the mainstay of every meal.

5. 

   Good fats such as olive oil provide essential fatty acids.

   Increase omega-3 fat intake. These are good fats: fish, flax seed, avocados, almonds, walnuts and extra virgin olive oil. According to David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., author of "Anticancer: A New Way of Life," the best sources of fatty fish are small fish, such as whole anchovies, small mackerel, sardines and salmon.

6. 

   Green tea is loaded with anti-oxidants.

   Drink green tea every day. Green tea detoxifies the body and provides anti-oxidants, known as "catechins." The National Cancer Institute website states catechins may inhibit cancer growth.

7. 

   Water hydrates the body and enables healthy organ function.

   Drink eight glasses of filtered water daily. You may use either an inverse osmosis filter or carbon filter. Mineral or spring water is also good.

8. 

   Consume garlic, turmeric and other herbs and spices.

   Employ the healing properties of herbs and spices. Eat garlic, the "Russian penicillin," along with onions, leeks and turmeric. Cooking herbs such as basil and oregano defend against cancer cells by "blocking the enzymes they need to invade neighboring tissues," wrote Servan-Schreiber.

Tips & Warnings

• Prepare your own meals and sack lunches. This helps you avoid fast foods, fried foods and processed or packaged foods.

• Don't let hunger catch you off guard. Keep a supply of nutritious snacks: fruit, nuts, almond butter, hummus dip and sliced veggies instead of cookies and chips.

• Build your menu around wholesome plant-based foods.

• If you have a diagnosed illness, dietary recommendations may vary according to your condition. Check with your physician.

References

• MayoClinic.com: Nutrition and Healthy Eating--Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork with These Nutrition Guidelines
• FruitsAndVeggiesMatter.gov: Fruit and Vegetables Benefits
• Anti-cancer: A New Way of Life; David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D.; 2009
• National Cancer Institute: Tea and Cancer Prevention Fact Sheet
• MayoClinic.com: Nutrition and Healthy Eating: Water: How Much Should You Drink Every Day?

Resources

• Anticancer: A New Way of Life: Book and Author Information
• Mercola.com: Natural Health Information
• Mercola.com: Non-GMO Shopping Guide