The Truth About Good Eating Habits By Gary Holdon At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Good eating habits are the foundation for good overall health. Poor eating habits, or lacking a good diet, means that your body is not getting the amount of nutrients it needs keep you healthy, active, and disease free. Exercise is very important too, but good eating habits even make working out yield more noticeable results.

The best kind of eating habits you can develop are ones that allow you to enjoy what you eat (not a complete feel good diet however), but have a balanced and good diet that doesn't leave you getting too much of one thing and not enough of another. One nutrient that is commonly out of proportion is carbohydrates. Typically people in modernized western cultures have feel good diets that lead to a higher than necessary carb intake, which leads to those carbs being broken down and stored as fat. Carbs are essentially complex sugars, which are burned for energy, unless they are unneeded. Unfortunately most of the foods that taste the best are loaded with carbs. However, they are not altogether bad, but eating too many carbs can cause you to gain weight. Good eating habits and a good diet plan cause your carb intake to be balanced so that excess carbs are not being stored as fat and you actually feel good instead of having a completely carefree feel good diet.

A balanced diet that is the product of good eating habits will provide your body with the required amount of fat and cholesterol, even though many diets recommend avoiding these nutrients altogether. Oddly enough, fatty foods may be slightly better than food that is high in carbs since it takes more energy to break down fat than cholesterol. However, you do need some fat and cholesterol in your diet for your body to function properly.

Although a good diet plan is going to be a little different for everyone, good eating habits should incorporate foods from all the food groups: grains, meats, dairy, and fruits/vegetables. The classic food pyramid says that you should get about six servings of grains, about three servings of fruit, three servings of vegetables, two servings of meat, and two servings from the dairy group. There is also a designated 'other' group that consists of junk food and beverages, like soda, that have little positive nutritional value. The food pyramid indicates that foods from this 'other' group should be used sparingly, and perhaps should not be part of your good diet plan. However, your intake of food from the 'other' group will depend largely on your metabolism and your health goals.

Maintaining good eating habits can be challenging, especially since it is difficult for most people to find time to prepare all their meals, and most quick meals or meals at restaurants, namely fast food, are not very healthy overall. However, being aware of what you are eating is the most important thing. Generally, it is not possible to eat correctly all the time, but as long as you keep good eating habits in mind, you will be much more likely to practice them.

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