This blog focuses on healthy eating habits or healthy living habits so we talk frequently about healthy foods. Well, just what is a healthy food? Does that conjure up pictures of bland, boring foods for you with little or no variety? I hope not. In very general terms a healthy food is a food that gives your body fuel or energy that it needs without giving it things that it does not need. This does not translate into the same dull food all the time because variety in what you eat is a vital part of giving your body the nutrients it needs.
Our bodies need a lot of different things to function at their best so no one food or type of food is going to give your body everything that it needs. In, fact one very unhealthy eating habit is to eat exactly the same thing all the time because you won’t be getting the variety of nutrients that you need. So, a balance of food types is very important to a healthy diet.
Our bodies need low-fat protein for sustained energy and muscle development, they need complex carbohydrates for fueling the brain and for quick energy, and they need a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that come from fruits and vegetables. If any one of these components is deficient in your diet it can cause unhealthy results.
I like to think of a healthy meal as a “colorful meal”. By making meals colorful I include a variety of fruits and vegetables of many different colors. I know I am getting a variety of vitamins and minerals because these differences contribute to the color differences in the vegetables. I also know I can fill myself up with fewer calories when I have a small serving of lean protein (serving size the palm of my hand) and then have as many vegetables as I feel like eating.
Calories start piling up when we add heavy sauces to what we eat. Fortunately, each vegetable has its own flavor and can taste great all by itself. However, if there is a vegetable that has a flavor that just doesn’t suit you there are a lot of spices that you can add as you boil, steam, broil, or grill your vegetables to improve the flavor without adding to the calorie count.
So, when I think of healthy foods I think of a wide variety of minimally processed foods. I also think of lots of exciting flavors and enjoy discovering ways to enhance or modify those flavors. I like having choices!
What do you think of when you think of “healthy foods”? Would love to hear your comments below or join our conversation on facebook.
