Diet and Nutrition

Our body needs the correct fuel

To stay healthy and to live a long happy life is really very simple.

A healthy diet, regular exercise program, and a positive and happy mindset gives increased energy, less illness, and keeps us younger by reducing the progression of many age related changes.

There is no one diet that everyone should eat, for example someone doing manual work will need more calories than someone sitting in an office all day. Also food choice, we need to eat the foods we enjoy providing they are healthy, life should be fun and enjoyable, and eating a delicious meal is part of this.

Healthy food can be delicious.

We should be eating at least 70% fruits and vegetables each day to obtain the nutrition we need. The fruits and vegetables should also have a varied range and different colours because each one will have different vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. By eating lots of different coloured vegetables during the week we shall obtain the nutrition we need.

The other 30% can be made up of a combination of grains, nuts, seeds, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, lean meat, fish, herbs and spices.

We should try to only drink water, because soft drink can have up to ten spoons of sugar added, as does fruit juice. The World Health Organization says no more than five spoons of sugar a day for health.

Why should we eat healthy food?

Our body is like a finely tuned car, it needs good fuel and maintenance to run smoothly, and just like a car, if you neglect it then it will break down.
 

I know it takes a little longer to prepare healthy food than eating fast food, but let's look briefly at the consequences of eating fast food that is typically full of fat, sugar and salt.
 

Type 2 diabetes is a crippling disease that is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, lower limb amputation, and many other complications. 

The global statistics for Type 2 Diabetes is 9.3% of the world population, and it is estimated that 46.5% of the world adult population has undiagnosed diabetes. China has 116 million people suffering from type 2 diabetes, India has 77 million.  In America the national diabetes statistics for 2020 show that 10.5% of the population have type 2 diabetes, and 1 in 3 adults have pre diabetes.

Heart disease is another consequence of unhealthy living, also sweeping the world. Each year 735,000 Americans have a heart attack and about 610,000 die from heart disease. Only 31% of the American population are considered normal weight, the rest are either overweight (33%), obese (35%), and 6% are extremely obese. The list of health problems associated with living an unhealthy lifestyle are enormous, not just type 2 diabetes and heart disease, cancer is on the rise, bone problems like arthritis, Alzheimer's and dementia, the list is endless.
 

The entire world is having a health crises, in Australia it is estimated that between one in four hospital beds are occupied by people with diabetes related complications, and it is the leading cause of blindness in working age adults in Australia. It is also the leading cause of kidney failure leading to dialysis. In England diabetes patients take up one in six hospital beds.
 

Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other terrible health problems are sweeping the world, yet less than 50 years ago it was almost unheard of for someone under the age of 60 to have type 2 Diabetes. Now children are becoming inflicted with diabetes.
 

What happened is most people are now less active than in the past and the diet changed, instead of a more healthy home cooked meal with freshly cooked vegetables, many people now consume fast foods that are high in fat and sugar, and low fat is even worse because they add more sugar to improve the taste. Sugar causes more health issues than fat. Also meals tend to be fried more in oil now, causing trans fats and this is as damaging as sugar and processed foods.
 

There is another problem also arising, and this is happiness. Many studies have found a link between eating unhealthy food and depression, and sugar is now considered the leading cause of depression. 

Inactivity also decreases happiness and contributes to health problems and a shorter life, while being active increases happiness by releasing happy hormones, leading to a stronger and healthier immune system and life. 

The bottom line here is happiness. Life is too short to be unhappy, and when we are sad, angry, lonely, and any other negative emotion, then life is less exciting, in fact all we do is exist. But life has so much to offer, life can be fun, fulfilling, exciting, the choice really comes down to us and our attitude to life.
 

Life is too short to worry, causing stress that leads to unhappiness. Stress also effects our health and having a happy mindset goes a long way towards good health.
 

Energy is another problem, low energy, low motivation, do not feel like doing anything. But an unhealthy diet and inactivity contribute to less energy. Changing the thinking from cannot, too tired, do not feel like doing anything, to making or even forcing yourself to change and becoming more active will lead to an increase in happiness and increased energy. There are many times I feel like doing nothing, the last thing I want to do is go for a long walk, but I force myself and not long into the walk I feel good, and when I return home I feel so good, happy and full of life and grateful I made the effort to do some activity. Being active really does increase your energy and makes you feel good.
 

Often, when our energy increases from having a more active lifestyle, we tend to want to eat a more healthy diet, we want our energy and happy feeling to continue.
 

I hope I can show the benefits of healthy eating and encourage anyone wanting to improve their diet. I go into detail in my books and I also write Facebook blogs about happiness and having a healthy lifestyle.
 

Please take care and have a great happy day
 

Baz Gale
 

13 February 2016, updated 26 January 2021.