Eat Right, Be Healthy this Summer

After all that has been said, the hardest part in eating well and developing a healthy appetite and lifestyle is still on how to stay away from meat and sweets.  Yes, this heavenly combination is actually the most lethal.

With meat, its fat deposits, that while unbroken stays in our body and blocks the arteries and valves that are connected to our heart.

Sweets also remind us of painful tooth aches, and the most dreaded of it all, diabetes!  Mere mention of diabetes reminds us of its numerous complications – poor eyesight, malfunctioning of the pancreas and liver, bladder and to a certain degree, male-related disorders.

If our food choices for quite a while were limited to oily, fatty and sugary foods, then the best way is for us to neutralize, balance and if necessary, flush out such deposits.  This can be achieved by increasing our intake of vegetables, fruits and more water.

As we now experience the summer heat, we also perspire more.  While this aids us in ridding of unwanted elements from our body, water should replenish our perspiration.  In this case, our need to drink more water is deemed very necessary because we need to flush out food residues that are difficult to digest and excrete.  We also need water to cool our body systems. As told by an acupuncturist, when hot air instead of cool air circulates inside our body, proper digestion is hampered.

Lessening processed refined and concentrated sugar can actually be done by eating more fruits.  Fruits are already composed of natural sugar though not as sweet as your regular candy bar or slice of cake.  Since our body also needs a fair and balanced amount of sugar, eating more fruits will already fulfil this requirement and yet assure us of its natural content.

My doctor once told me to substitute so-called fruit juices or juice drinks with the fruit itself because most bottled fruit juices and fruit drinks are composed more of sugar, artificial/synthetic fruit flavors and other substitutes for natural fruit. So rather than drink bottled fruit juice, why not eat fruits instead?

While it will be difficult to immediately convert ourselves to become pure vegetarians, it is still best to eat a combination of meat/fish and vegetable dished every mealtime.

Vegetables act as brooms that sweep the walls of our stomach as the digestion process starts.  Green and leafy vegetables are most effective thus preparing salads is much encouraged.

Suggested leafy vegetables that can be easily prepared include all varieties of lettuce that go well with meaty dishes and pasta. In Vietnam, aside from spring rolls, restaurants serve rolls of lettuce leaves inserted with steamed or fried fish meat with bean sprouts, tomatoes, etc.  In some Asian countries,  salads made of boiled sweet potato tops or chayote tops are always paired with roasted fish and are commonly served during excursions or swimming parties.  Different Asian recipes can be explored from cook books for more varieties of vegetable dishes that can be prepared.

About the Author

FitFarms are weight loss and fitness boot camps based in the UK and the Middle East. FitFarms run women only and man only courses that are designed to kick start a healthier lifestyle. FitFarms in UK have been voted Best UK Weight Loss Camp by The Sunday Times and awarded No. 1 Weight Loss Camp by Virgin