How Optimal Nutrition can improve Physical Health and Wellbeing healthy eating diet plan weight loss food

Whilst I am not a medical professional, I write about nutrition based on my own personal experiences. When you have experienced something yourself over a period of time, you can be confident that it is true. I have felt strong benefits from relatively small improvements in diet. These are not only in terms of physical health, but also extend to corresponding happiness and uplifted mood. I learnt about this as a result of a medical condition, where a special diet was enforced upon me from the age of twelve.

Regular exercise is useful in maintaining health, but in my opinion diet is even more important. Exercise is only possible on some days, and there are periods of time when you cannot take exercise regularly, perhaps due to work, travel, family or other commitments. On the other hand the food we eat is entering our bodies everyday. We can control it ourselves all the time, regardless of what may be happening in life. This is a major advantage, unlike many other things in life that we cannot control directly.

I believe that improvements in physical health brought about by optimal nutrition leads to feelings of happiness and overall wellbeing. In my experience mood is uplifted and more stable day to day. This helps make you more resistant to difficult or unhappy life events, day-to-day stresses and problems. It also makes you feel better about the way you look, which improves self esteem.

Modern medical knowledge reveals more about nutrition to ordinary people than was known by previous generations. We can utilise power foods with proven medical benefits, effectively providing medicine in our foods. By incorporating these into our diet, we can optimise nutrition and easily make real improvements.

For me at the age of twelve I learnt that I have a family history of high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolemia). It came from my Mum's side of the family, who had a history of heart disease. We learnt that this has a genetic cause, and it was passed to me in my genes. I was told by the doctor that I would have to give up foods high in saturated fats, such as cheese, butter, non-lean meats, chocolate etc. At first I thought that this would spoil my enjoyment of food, but I was wrong. Within a few months I had adapted to the new healthy regime. I found that I was not missing the foods I left behind. Nowadays if the problem went away and I could eat those unhealthy foods again, I would not go back to them. This is because I have experienced real wellbeing benefits from this eating.

I also learnt to incorporate power foods into my nutrition to gain maximum advantage. For example natural products rich in omega 3 are thought to improve the good cholesterol (HDL) level, so I consume oily fish, good oils and flaxseed. I replace butter or normal margarine with the most benficial type available, and increase my fruit and vegetable consumption of all types. Improving my meals turned out to be much easier than I thought possible. It generates real improvements you can feel, and you can control it yourself day to day.

If you are considering making changes to your meals this year, I suggest you go ahead and take the plunge. Once you give it a try I hope you will find the healthy eating diet is easier than you thought possible. It could end up bringing more benefits than you expected to all aspects of your life.