Food Pyramid Healthy Eating GuidelinesAre you eating the right foods? The food pyramid healthy eating is a food guideline showing us what foods to eat and how much of each food we should eat. But the pyramid is only a guideline to healthy eating. There are many other healthy food guidelines that can and should be included in your diet.
Food Pyramid Healthy Eating Guidelines: What Your Body NeedsYour body needs proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fibers, minerals and vitamins in the right amounts for it to run efficiently. The food pyramid gives us an idea of how much and how little of these things the body needs.Eating meat, and or fish, eggs, grains, beans, and dairy products will provide the body with plenty of protein. Only ten to fifteen percent of our daily calorie intake should be from protein foods. The first food group comes from refined sugars and refined sugar food sources such as cakes, donuts, and other refined flour foods. These sugars absorb very quickly into the blood stream, offering a quick energy boost, but it doesn’t last. Soon after eating these types of foods (refined) we are sluggish and tired again and need more sugar or caffeine to perk us back up. What a vicious cycle! Also this type of sugar when not burned through exercise is stored in the body as fat. These types of carbohydrates are what cause fat and cellulite in the body. The best carbohydrates for energy are those that absorb slowly into our system, offering energy reserves throughout the whole day. They also don’t make us tired and sluggish after eating. These complex carbohydrates come from whole grains, beans, brown rice, whole grain pasta, potatoes, and whole-wheat products. These types of foods take their old sweet time metabolizing into the blood stream, which offers the body a more steady flow of energy throughout the day. This meets our body’s needs and demands more efficiently. Fifty to sixty percent of our daily calories should come from these kinds of carbohydrates.
Food Pyramid Healthy Eating Guidelines: FiberFiber is the indigestible parts of food. It is a very important part of any diet. Fiber rich foods provide the bulk needed to carry wastes efficiently out of the body. Low fiber diets are associated with constipation, hemorrhoids, IBS, colon cancer and other digestive disorders.The more fiber foods you eat, the less toxic your body will be simply because of the efficiency of ridding toxins from the body. Good sources of fiber are fruits, vegetables and whole grains, such as whole-wheat products, oatmeal, and brown rice.
Food Pyramid Healthy Eating Guidelines: Minerals & VitaminsThe body needs minerals, such as copper, zinc, sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium to be healthy. A diet that includes a variety of natural whole foods is the best way to receive the minerals your body requires.The body also needs vitamins. These help to create new blood cells, hormones, and maintain healthy organs. As you can see, a well balanced diet is vital towards having good health.
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