Basics of Healthy Life

The human body is similar to a machine. Just like a car needs petrol to run, a human body runs on what we feed it in the form of food. Most of us focus on the quantity of the food rather than the food quality and at the wrong time. Hence we must intake the right amount of quality food at the right time to maintain our weight and good health. 

 

 

Food Quantity Evaluation:

 Overeating is the king of all unhealthy habits. Even animals living in the jungle do not overeat, but we humans get admitted to the hospitals for overeating. We should eat up to the mark of our appetite, not to fill it like a luggage bag. There are certain practices by which we can stop ourselves from overeating. Two of my favorite ones are below.

 

32 Times Chewing Method:  When we chew food, our saliva gets mixed with it, makes it soft, and helps in the digestion of the food. The more we chew, the more food will be digestible, maximizing its nutrition. Studies show that the best practice is to chew every bite 32 times. When you start doing it, you will feel it will satisfy your appetite earlier than usual and refrain you from overeating.

 

Calorie Evaluation: A normal female should take around 1600 to 2500 calories and a male around 3000 to 4000 calories. It also depends upon the amount of involvement in physical activity. If you are not active in any physical activity, you should restrict your calories to a certain level. Set a specific number of calories for you, and according to it, select your diet. For example, a standard plate full of rice contains 100 to 130 calories.

Similarly, homemade bread contains about 80 calories. So one can measure the amount and adjust it for herself/himself. Once you become calorie conscious, you will never overeat.

 

Food Quality Evaluation:

Does a question arise why we need to evaluate the food quality? Our reason for food consumption is not to satisfy our appetite but to take nutrition out of it, which is essential for our body to function correctly. So we evaluate the food quality to ensure the nutritional value of the food. It includes two types, which are 

1) Sensory evaluation 

2) Objective evaluation

 

Sensory evaluation is based on natural human senses. Our vision, smell, and taste senses evaluate it and help us to decide whether we should consume the food or not. Our eyes judge the food's color, nose to smell its odor, and tongue's taste buds to judge its taste. It is something we do every day as a regular practice.

While in objective evaluation, we analyze the chemical composition of the food to choose the best nutritional value items. For example, meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products are always rich in protein. Fruits like papaya, mangoes, and carrots are a good source of Vitamin A. Hence we can formulate and evaluate our food objectively for consumption. The ingredients are mentioned on tin packed foods, which help us in quality and calorie evaluation.

                             

 

 

Best Time for Eating Food:

We schedule every activity of our life to manage and keep our routine balanced. Similarly, to manage body functions, we need to schedule our food intake timing. The human body is brilliant, and how we feed becomes habitual. Our body reacts differently during the morning, mid of the day and at night basing on our activity level. The meal gap is significant for the stomach to digest food effectively. 

 

 Breakfast: Studies show that the best time for eating breakfast is around 8 am. However, it would help if you did not prey to the myth of eating the most decadent breakfast ever. It would be best to take low-calorie carbohydrates, wholegrain cereals, and some protein to fill up like milk, eggs.

 

Lunch: 1 pm is the appropriate time for taking lunch, like 5 hours break is enough after a healthy breakfast. Salads, vegetables, and protein-rich foods such as fish, meat, and chicken are the right choice for lunch.

 

Dinner: 6 pm-7 pm is when you should take your dinner as after that the body tends to slow down its metabolism and wait for 9 pm will be too late and unhealthy. It would help if you kept it low calorie with salads, vegetables, and grills. Unless and until you are involved in intense exercising during the evenings, you should avoid eating portions of pasta or energy-dense rice in the dinner.

 

I hope this article will help you evaluate your food quantity, quality, and timing as these are the most important factors if you want to live a healthy life.