10 Ways to Eat Healthy

It's long past January 1st and you've already broken your main New Year's resolution: Eat healthier. Put down that doughnut. It's not too late to reverse the damage and change your eating habits so you can improve your health, not only for the present, but for the rest of your life. With a few dietary changes, you can eat healthier and help reduce your risk for disease.

Salt

Do not consume more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. This is the recommended intake, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. By staying below this limit, you will have less of a chance of contracting and possibly dying from heart disease, as consuming too much sodium causes your body to retain more water and raises your blood pressure. Watch for high sodium levels in many canned and powdered instant soups, condiments such as soy sauce, salty snacks and greasy fast food.

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Consume at least 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day to lower your blood pressure, reducing your risk of stroke or heart disease. Potassium can be found in fruits and vegetables such as bananas, squash, potatoes and orange juice.

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Drink more milk and eat more milk products. Young adults typically consume less than the daily recommended amount of 1,000 milligrams of calcium need to maintain strong bones and teeth and prevent chronic diseases that may arise later in life, according to a 2009 University of Minnesota study.

Eat more foods with vitamin B-12. B vitamins give you energy and help maintain healthy hair, skin, eyes. Vitamin B-12 is found in eggs, dairy, fish and some meats. Eating enough vitamin B-12 helps to prevent anemia, which occurs when you do not have enough red blood cells in your body and which can cause fatigue and weakness, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center's guidelines. Consuming the daily recommended 2.4 mcg of vitamin B-12 can also reduce your risk of contracting heart disease.

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Eat grapefruit. The round and juicy citrus fruit contains a flavonoid that may stave off the risk of contracting Type 2 Diabetes, a University of Western Ontario researcher found in a study published in the journal "Diabetes" in 2009. However, the effect may not apply to people taking certain medications and grapefruit juice may in fact interfere with them.

Stop drinking alcohol or drink less than you are used to. Over-consumption of alcohol can lead to breast, rectal and liver cancers, British researchers found in a 2009 University of Oxford study conducted on middle-aged women. Consuming even one drink, equal to about half a pint of beer, a 125 ml glass of wine or a shot of liquor, a day increased the risk of all types of cancer by 6 percent in women up to the age of 75, the study found.

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Change your daily food intake to include mostly vegetables, legumes, grains and fish. In other words, eat a Mediterranean-style diet found in countries like Greece, Turkey, Italy and the western Middle East. A 2009 study led by Nikolaos Scarmeas from Columbia University Medical Center found that people who consume such foods on a regular basis and also exercise moderately will have a slower cognitive decline and are are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

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Incorporate garlic cloves in your daily diet. Garlic can help ward off heart disease, medical studies have found. In a 2009 study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers from the University of Connecticut found that rats who consumed fresh crush garlic had better cardiac performance than those fed dried crush garlic. Note that you may want to brush your teeth after eating garlic.

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Opt for more raw or steamed vegetables in your diet. In an experiment with broccoli, researchers from Zhejiang University in China found that boiling and stir-frying the vegetable reduced its level of vitamin C and other nutrients.

Make sure there is enough variety in your healthy diet. Healthy food may not be as tempting as junk food. If you eat the same healthy meals every day, you will likely get bored and may start sniffing around for unhealthy snacks. Make sure your meals are balanced and contain a variety of meats, fish, dairy, vegetables, fruits, legumes or what ever types of healthy food you prefer. Also, add spices or lemon juice for an easy way to make your meals more interesting.