Healthy Foods You should Eat Every Day

Healthy Foods You should Eat Every Day

We are aware of the importance of eating a balanced diet, but sometimes it is hard to consume all the healthy foods we should be ingesting every day. When it comes to preparing our meals, we need to make sure that these are going to give us all the nutrients necessary to have energy throughout the day and satisfy our health needs. Fruits, vegetables, protein, carbohydrates, antioxidants... all these need to be part of our daily diet, but we sometimes fail in ingesting them all.

There are some healthy foods you should eat every day in order to have a perfect health and body. These foods will protect your body against illnesses and will make you feel much better if you start adding them in your diet.

Garlic

This vegetable is widely used in the preparation of meats, sauces and fish, and it has great benefits to our body if consumed often. Garlic has antibiotic properties, which protect the body against bacteria. Therefore, eating garlic every day could protect our body against minor infections such as colds.

Also, garlic is anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and it reduces blood sugar levels and cholesterol.

To know the health benefits of garlic in more detail check this OneHowTo article.

Olive oil

A key ingredient in the Mediterranean diet, olive oil is a perfect food to consume evey day. It lowers LDL cholesterol (known as bad cholesterol) and raises HDL cholesterol (the good one). This is due to the monosaturated fats it contains. Moreover, its high content in phenols protect artery walls.

It is recommended to consume one tablespoon of olive oil every day.

Broccoli

This green vegetable is a great cancer fighter due to its sulfur compounds. These compounds work boosting the production of enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing compounds.

If you don't want to consume broccoli every day, you can substitute it by other cruciferous vegetables that will provide you with similar nutrients. Instead of broccoli, you can try kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts or romanesco broccoli.

Yogurt

Yogurt is a great source of calcium, perfect for our bones. This is particularly important for women, as osteoporosis is a big risk during menopause.

But besides calcium, yogurt is packed with beneficial bacteria called probiotics, which help fight off infections in the body, such as those in the urinary tract or in the vagina.

If you're vegan or lactose intolerant, you can opt for soy yogurt, which also provides calcium and protein.

Oats

Eating oats for breakfast is perfect to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Oats contain carbohydrates that are released steadily throughout the day, making you feel full and energized. Also, they contain high amounts of fiber.

Starting the morning with a bowl of oats and fruit is a great way to start the day. The carbohydrates contained in oats will be released during the morning and you won't have the need to eat right after having had breakfast. This makes it a great breakfast to eat every day if you're trying to lose weight.

Cinnamon

This spice has healing properties and it has been proved to improve blood sugar control in people suffering from diabetes. Furthermore, cinnamon has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Tea

Drinking tea has many benefits for human health, but green tea specially is very helpful if consumed daily. Green tea is packed with antioxidants, it reduces the formation of blood clots in our veins, it lowers blood sugar levels and has antibiotic properties for some stomach bacteria. Drinking one cup of green tea every day is great to protect our cells and improve our overall health.

However, green tea has some contraindications and should be consumed moderately. It is not recommended to drink after a meal, for instance as a substitute for dessert in lunch, given that it interferes with the absorption of iron. Moreover, it shouldn't be consumed at night, because green tea is a stimulant substance and it could cause trouble sleeping.

Carrots

Carrots have many benefits for our health. This vegetable is rich in beta-carotene, a component that turns into vitamin A in our bodies and helps the formation of visual retina pigments and the maintenance of cells that cover skin, eyes, mouth and internal organs. Also, they're rich in anioxidants that prevent ageing and certain types of cancer.

Just as with broccoli, you can substitute carrots for other vegetables if you want to get all the nutrients and still vary your diet a bit. Instead of eating carrots, you can vary some days and consume sweet potatoes or pumpkin, which have similar properties to carrots.

Walnuts

Walnuts are rich in Omega-3, protein, fiber, carbohydrates and minerals. Among their great health benefits, the high polyphenol content in walnuts helps our memory and improve brain function, preventing diseases as senile dementia or Alzheimer's.

Other types of nuts are also beneficial for our health. However, none have as many properties as walnuts, so you should consider consuming them everyday. Taking seven walnuts per day should be enough.

Fruits and vegetables

It doesn't matter which variety you choose, you need to eat five pieces of fruit or vegetables every day. There's no need to consume the same fruit every day, in fact, there are endless varieties of fruits that you can eat according to the season or to your taste. Here what matters is that you mix them and you eat as many different as possible, as each fruit has its own benefits for our body.

Five a day may seem hard but if you consume them consciously you'll see that it's not that difficult. For instance, add a piece of fruit to your breakfast, have another one during the morning as a snack and another one in the afternoon or as a dessert for lunch. Doing this you'll already eat three pieces of fruit. Now just add some greens to your lunch and dinner and you'll have the five pieces of fruit and vegetables necessary to consume in a day.

How to eat all this food every day

The list above is long and you might think it is impossible to eat all these foods in only one day. Here what counts is not the quantity you eat, but adding them in your daily meals. As mentioned previously, just having fruits for breakfast and as a snack during the day and adding some greens or salad to your main meals is a great way to consume all these necessary foods. Start adding these foods to your diet and you'll feel the improvement.

This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis. We invite you to visit your doctor if you have any type of condition or pain.

If you want to read similar articles to Healthy Foods You should Eat Every Day, we recommend you visit our Healthy living category.