How to choose the best foods
Can you count the number of times you ended up reading food labels at a store wondering if a product is good for you or not? Here’s a list of things you should do in order to make your shopping experience more pleasurable.
The first step is checking if a product of your choice meets your daily macronutrient and micronutrient requirements for a balanced diet. As you’re probably well aware by now, the key to a healthy diet is finding the right balance, that is choosing wisely when it comes to food quality. Bear in mind, the daily energy intake for the average adult is 1800-2100 kcal, where important dietary elements are divided into two groups – macronutrients and micronutrients.
Macronutrients refer to carbs, proteins, fats and fibers, whereas micronutrients include vitamins, minerals, enzymes, aromatic compounds and plant pigments.
Carbs should take up 55-65% of your daily energy intake which you can get from grains, fruit, vegetables and leguminous plants. You shouldn’t avoid fats, just go for the healthy ones. There goes the 30% of your daily energy intake. Moreover, choose cold pressed oils, as well as animal fats but in moderate amounts. Leave room for proteins (10-15%) found in meat, eggs and diary products.
The next thing you should consider is checking if a product contains any harmful substances such as artificial colors, flavors and trans fats. Most people just check the best before date and that’s about it. But since we know how big of an impact the food we eat has, we should definitely dedicate more time to finding out just what it is we have on our menu day in, day out.
Did you know that numerous studies have shown that different sweeteners, colors and flavor enhancers are related to a number of severe diseases? Also, more often than not you’ll come across products that don’t list all the ingredients but mention a lot of different “flavors” and “colors”.
The last thing you should remember is to exclude all the foods rich in trans fats from your diet. You see, trans fatty acids can increase the so-called “bad” cholesterol, that is, LDL cholesterol, and at the same time reduce the “good” cholesterol aka HDL cholesterol, which can lead to cardiovascular diseases.
So the next time you happen to be at a store choose your foods wisely and don’t forget to read the small print on the labels.
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