This week is celebrated as National Nutrition Week. The week aims to create awareness about good nutrition and how it has a huge impact on our health. We all know that nutrition is the science of consuming food that provides our body with essential vitamins, minerals, nutrients and phytochemicals that keep us healthy and enhances our body’s various functions. This year’s theme to celebrate Nutrition Week is: Feed Smart, Right from the Start, and focuses on consuming the right kind of food from the start to keep yourself healthy and fit.
As they say, everything in life starts for a reason and unless you have a strong reason you won’t be able to stay committed and consistent to follow your health goals. However, here are a few tips that anyone can follow to make that change with or without any specific reason.
■ To begin with, have a glass of warm lemon water in the morning to keep the body in an alkaline state and to start your day fresh. In case you are allergic to lemon, try to have warm water or infuse some spices in the water to get your digestive enzymes going. An alkaline body enhances healing and overall body performance.
■ Walking is the best exercise. It is easy and you don’t require any high-end type of equipment. Walking helps in improving blood circulation and releasing feel-good hormones which reduce stress and improve sleep quality. Try and target around 8,000-10,000 steps daily to stay active throughout the day. As movement is important, we also have to make sure we don’t overdo it. Over-exercising also creates negative stress in the body which affects various internal functions.
■ Eating less is always good for health, that doesn’t mean you need to starve yourself. Let your body decide what a good portion is for it and focus on chewing your food slowly. Once you start working on this lifestyle change you’ll automatically notice that your portion size has started reducing and you don’t end up feeling bloated. So, be mindful and start chewing your food well.
■ Your mind should concentrate only on one particular thing while sleeping and eating. Avoid TV, mobile phones, laptops for at least one hour before bedtime to improve melatonin production which is a natural sleep hormone, plus avoid any distraction when you are eating. All of these distractions divert our mind from doing its sole function that is either digestion or getting the body ready to sleep. Such distractions can cause many issues like insomnia, indigestion, gas and bloating issues, etc.
■ Avoid drinking water during or immediately after meals as it can dilute the digestive juices which put more pressure on the digestive system that causes acidity, bloating and other gut issues. Make sure you drink water 30 minutes either before or after the meal.
These tips may look very basic but still many of us are struggling to get them right and start leading a healthy life. So, keep following these few tips to improve your health. All the best for a healthy start to this Nutrition Week!