You're not going to explode if you eat processed food or get cancer from some added sugar, but a healthy body does require a balanced diet.
Now, it DOES NOT need to be complicated. So, I have put together ten nutrition and health hacks that, if you follow them most of the time, will put you on the path to better health.
This post is all about nutrition and health hacks.
Disclaimer: Healthy eating advice is not appropriate for everyone. If you are underweight, have a poor appetite or have a history of disordered eating, a lot of this advice is not relevant for you.
Number 1: Fill Up On Fibre
There is so much hype about protein, but fibre is the forgotten health hack here. Fibre can make us slimmer, happier, and healthier in so many different ways.
And most of us don't eat enough of it. 80% of Irish adults don't eat enough fibre, and most Americans don't come close to meeting their fibre needs either
This can affect our health and our waistlines. A study commissioned by the World Health Organization revealed that people who eat more fibre are slimmer than those who don't.
Beyond weight, diets higher in fibre are linked to a reduced incidence of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.
Some foods are naturally very high in fibre, including linseeds, chia seeds, berries, pears, beans, peas, lentils, and mangoes. So, trying to eat more of these is a great way to start. But in general, choosing more whole grains, like brown bread and brown pasta and eating more plants of any kind will really help with your fibre needs.
If you want a number, generally, adults should consume at least 25-30g of fibre daily, ideally more. In the US, fibre intake among adults averages at 15 g a day, only half of the recommended amount!
The recommended amount of fibre for children is generally their age, plus 5g of fibre per day. So, a five-year-old should get 10 g a day (5 years + 5g of fibre). However, the new WHO guidelines suggest significantly higher fibre intakes for children, starting at 15 grams of fibre per day for children aged two years and older.
If you do not know where or how to start increasing your fibre intake, you can access my free COMPLETE Guide To Fibre Resource here.
Number 2: Sit Down To Eat Without Distraction
Eating on the go or while working on your laptop and watching the TV interferes with our body's ability to listen to our satiety cues. So, being present while eating is the first step to avoiding overeating. It has been shown to help people better control their portion sizes, eat less without even intending to, lead to more weight loss, better blood sugar levels and even lower cholesterol. So put down the phone, limit the noise, and eat your meal slowly and without distraction.
Experience your meal with all your senses! Pay attention to what your meal looks like, its texture, smell, the sound of your chewing and, of course, the taste. I know it's not always practical with busy lives, so even if you manage to do this a little more often, it can really help.
Number 3: Keep A Food Diary On Occasion
The interesting thing about keeping a food diary is that it often leads to better food choices and weight loss, with or without the intention to do so. This was shown in a study conducted in 2019, where people who were overweight were asked to track their food intake every day using a free smartphone app. Although they did not follow a particular diet, the average weight loss within the study was significant.
In a different study that included nearly 1,700 people, keeping a food diary was shown to double a person's weight loss.
Keeping a food diary doesn't have to be a super formal exercise. It doesn't even mean meticulously counting calories. It can be kept in a diary, an app, or even an email or text to yourself. However, one of the benefits of documenting what you eat is that it starts the process of reflection. If you reflect on what you eat, you become more aware of your habits, leading to behaviour change. Being able to self-monitor is a key aspect of behavioural change.
Now, this does not need to become an obsessive behaviour; you don’t need to track what you eat all the time, but it's a good check-in to do every now and again. It is all the picking between meals and the mindless grazing that sneaks in that can add up, and doing this can help you realise that you have been doing that.
Number 4: Have A Diversity Jar For Better Gut Health
So, I want you to think of a soccer or football team. The best soccer team doesn't have 11 amazing strikers. Instead, they have a really good goalkeeper, a really good defender, a really good striker, a captain, a coach, and so on. If you had a team of loads of really good strikers, the team likely wouldn't do very well. Yes, they might be amazing at scoring goals, but it still won't get you very far.
Now, in your gut, it's quite similar. There are many different types of bacteria, and they all do different things. So, one species of bacteria might help our mental health, the next helps control our food cravings and blood sugar, and so on. But again, you want diversity here; you don't just want hundreds of the same type.
The best way to achieve this diverse team of gut bacteria is to have a varied diet, as a variety of foods will encourage more different types of bacteria to flourish.
So the goal is to eat 30 different types of plants a week, which can seem like a lot for some people. A diversity jar is a jar you keep on your countertop, and it contains a mixture of your favourite nuts and seeds. You keep the jar on your countertop within your eye line. Then, throughout the week, this jar is very versatile; you can sprinkle the contents over oats in the morning, add them to a salad for some crunch, or throw them into the smoothie, and you could easily get ten different types of nuts or seeds here.
Little steps like this will help you add more diversity to your diet.
Number 5: Include Protein In Each Main Meal
Protein is especially important if you're trying to manage your weight or prevent overeating and mindless snacking. This is because protein is filling and somewhat self-limiting. To give you an idea of what I mean by this, a slice of toast with butter contains the same amount of calories as one chicken breast. If you were hungry, how many slices of toast could you eat? Probably 2-3, maybe even more. But would you sit down and have three chicken breasts? Probably not - you would start to feel pretty full from that.
We know that eating protein prevents the secretion of the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates the secretion of the satiety hormones PYY (peptide YY), GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1), and CCK (cholecystokinin).
So, it is important that every meal contains some source of protein; you don't need to go overboard and start chucking back protein shakes, but you shouldn't omit it either.
Great sources of protein include meat, poultry, fish, beans, peas, lentils, tofu, and dairy. This article explains the exact amount of protein you should eat for your needs and weight.
Number 6: Smart Breakfast To Curb Late-Night Snacking
A breakfast that is high in fibre and protein will not only set you up nicely for the day; studies suggest it improves our food choices throughout the day, too. Studies have shown that those who eat a high-protein breakfast are less likely to engage in late-night snacking on foods high in sugar and fat in comparison to people who skip or have poorly balanced breakfasts.
Now, I know some people will tell me they don't like eating breakfast or they're not hungry first thing, and that's fine; I rarely will tell someone to eat if they really don't want to. But whenever you decide to break the fast (a.k.a breakfast), that meal should be balanced. It shouldn't be just a croissant or a coffee. Saving your calories for later in the day often leads to overeating later in the day, too.
But if you are currently having something like oats or porridge made with water that is not very balanced, you need to make it with milk that has protein in it or add some Greek yoghurt. Or if you're having toast, muffins, or pancakes, make sure you add eggs or some cottage cheese to boost the protein, too.
Number 7: Aim To Be Hydrated Before You Eat
Hunger can often be mistaken for dehydration, and lots of people drink water when they eat and are hydrated by the time a meal ends. However, it may be beneficial to aim to be hydrated before the meal begins. In a study, two groups of participants were asked to follow a lower-calorie diet in order to lose weight. One group drank 500ml of water before eating their meals, and the other group did not. Interestingly, the group that drank the water before meals lost approximately 2kg more than those that didn't and showed a 44pc greater decline in weight over the 12-week period of the study. These results are quite significant.
What About Tea & Coffee?
Tea and coffee are good for us as long as we don't have certain conditions like anxiety or IBS. Despite common misconception, they are both also hydrating. However, they often come with extra calories. For instance, a study showed that roughly two-thirds of coffee drinkers and one-third of tea drinkers put sugar, cream, flavourings or other calorie-rich additives in their drinks. Additionally, tea is often joked as being the gateway drug to biscuits! If a biscuit contained 100 calories, every 20 biscuits would equal a day's worth of food.
Number 8: Use Volume Eating To Your Advantage
Foods are different sizes that are not necessarily proportionate to their calorie density. For example, 1 tablespoon of nut butter or a tablespoon of olive oil has 100 calories, but you would need to eat 4 cups of cauliflower to get the same amount of calories.
Fats are more calorie-dense in nature, but they are still really nutritious and essential in our daily diet.
Lower calorie, high volume foods like many fruits and vegetables can be advantageous when trying to eat lower calories overall.
Warning, though: if you try to take volume eating to the extreme and try to fill up on loads of low-calorie foods, that won't work either. You'll end up really bloated and still not feel satisfied.
However, you can use this concept to your advantage. Take your dinner plate, for example; if you're trying to be more mindful of the portion size of rice, psychologically, you might feel deprived if you're trying to cut back on your usual serving size. But, if you add more veggies to the plate or add some cauliflower rice to your regular rice, you may not even notice the difference. So, it is a great option for people who are trying to manage their weight but don’t necessarily want to feel like they are eating less.
Number 9: Try To Eat Homemade Food More Often
This will help not only your physical health but your financial health, too.
Eating out not only costs more money but also has more calories. A study showed that home-cooked meals were associated with diets lower in calories, sugar and fat but not higher monthly food expenses. Lunch is often eaten out for those who are working. Why not consider packing a lunch box? The most important thing is to keep it simple. If it's not something you can do every day, it's not a change that will be sustainable. Perhaps going back to basics and bringing in a sandwich with fruit? A healthy sandwich is made on wholegrain bread, contains a good quality protein source like meat, poultry, eggs or fish and is bursting with veggies! Easy and underrated
Number 10: Stretch Beyond Diet
Lastly, you really need to think beyond diet. As a dietitian, I always advocate for diet changes, but it really is only one piece of the puzzle. Sleep, exercise and stress management all interplay with your diet. If you're not sleeping well, you're going to be reaching for more snacks and making poorer dietary choices, and if you're not exercising, you are going to be low in energy. If you're stressed out, cooking a healthy dinner will be the last thing you want to do. So it all works together.
Conclusion
So there we have it: ten easy health hacks that will help you on the path to better health. In the comments, let me know what change you are going to make today and if any particular one surprised you.
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More about the author:
Hi there! My name is Maria, and I am a Registered Dietitian practising in Ireland and Bermuda. I have extensive experience in helping clients improve their health through the power of good nutrition. I hope you enjoyed this recipe. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Additionally, if there are nutrition topics or recipes you would like me to make in future posts, please let me know. I would be more than happy to help.
Stay happy and healthy 💚
Your Registered Dietitian
Maria xoxo
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