Healthy eating habits not only contribute to maintaining good health, and can also improve students performance in physical activities, mental development, and improvement in their grades at school. Healthy eating results is of utmost importance and here are some benefits:
- Healthy eating means a healthy immune system. A healthy immune systems helps fight pathogens and germs that try to invade our bodies;
- Good focus and performance in the classroom. Charging yourself with nutritious foods helps our bodies produce energy and focus a lot better in class;
- Consuming a healthy diet can heal skin problems such as acne. It can also bring a natural glow to our face and vibrant skin;
- A diet full of nutrients and vitamins helps improve vision;
- Healthy eating is very important because it can decrease our chances of having serious diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and obesity;
- Avoid chances of getting blood sugar by consuming natural sweets such as fruits.
The importance of freshly cooked food can not be ignored over the processed, canned, and packaged foods. Here are some important tips to decide what we should eat:
- Eat at least five fresh fruits and vegetables everyday;
- Choose an item of whole grain foods for meals such as whole wheat flour, oatmeal, and healthy cereals;
- Choose water and milk over pop and store bought juices. Pop and Juice can be terrible for teeth and can cause cavities and plaque to build up on our teeth. Pop and juice can also increase our chances of having problems with weight control and type 2 diabetes;
- Use organic sugar like brown sugar to sweeten up your dishes;
- Choose a variety of foods for the different meals such as eggs, fish, meat, whole grain products, vegetables, nuts, and fresh fruits. This website below provides all the important food group and serving required daily; https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/canada-food-guide/get-your-copy/eating-well-2007.html
- Choose fresh cut fruits, vegetables, and healthy sandwiches for snacks rather than artificially flavoured fruit snacks and processed noodles;
- Try not to skip important meals of the day.
It is very important to stay hydrated and drink at least 2 liters of water every day. Staying hydrated is as important as eating a healthy diet. Some of the benefits of staying hydrated are given below:
- Improves brain functioning. Water is like oxygen for the brain and the oxygen wakes the brain up to function for another day at school.
- Did you know water can help improve vision and cure dry eyes.
- Drinking water can help break down food better and provide nutrients for the body;
- Water flushes out the toxins from our body and leads to better health.
Staying healthy has countless benefits and it is very important for students to consume a healthy diet. Health is a vital part of life and it can help students receive academic success, prevent serious diseases, and have a healthy mental and physical growth.
For more information on healthy eating, please visit the links below:
http://www.food.ubc.ca/top-ten-healthy-campus-eats/
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/canada-food-guide/get-your-copy.html
http://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-info/health-topics/healthy-eating/
https://www.heartandstroke.ca/get-healthy/healthy-eating
Guest post by Jasmine Chawla, Grade 12
North Delta Secondary School