More and more people want to eat healthy, sometimes to lose weight, sometimes to simply live a healthier life or a combination of course. But how do we actually eat healthy? And how to make a healthy eating schedule?
Different nutrients
Let’s start with the basic substances that we ingest with food and from which all types of food are made up. The energy-providing substances that we know are carbohydrates, fats, proteins and alcohol. In addition, there are non-energy-providing substances such as water, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Our body needs all these substances to a certain extent. The only exception to this is alcohol, although there are studies showing that certain alcoholic drinks can help prevent some diseases. In which products do we find these nutrients?
Carbohydrates: potatoes, pasta, rice, vegetables, fruit, nuts, sugar, etc. Proteins: meat, fish, dairy. Fats: oil, shortening, butter, fish, nuts, cheese, dairy, chips, bacon. (often products contain combinations of nutrients, see the packaging)
Calories
The first thing people usually think about when considering a healthy eating plan is calories. How much of this someone needs varies per individual. This depends, among other things, on the following factors:
- Age
- Sex
- Physique
- Amount of exercise
- Speed of digestion
Usually the standard is that women should get about 2000kcal per day and men 2500kcal, at an average activity level. A very sporty person may therefore need a little more than an almost inactive person. As a rule, older people also need less than young people. If you want to lose weight, the rule of thumb is that you eat about 300-500 kcal less per day than the normal amount, but this also varies per individual.
Ratios of nutrients
In addition to calories, it is of course also important that they consume the various nutrients in the correct ratio. As a rule of thumb, the following ratios can be used:
Carbohydrates : at least 55% of the kcal
Fats: 30% of the kcalProteins: 10-15% of the kcal
Kcal in nutrients
Good, we now know how much we need to consume and in what proportion, what then? Nowadays, most packaging states how many kcal the product contains per portion or per 100g. For precise measurements, you can use programs such as the food meter from the nutrition center. A problem with packaging is that the number of nutrients is stated in grams and not in kcal. The following conversion can be used for this:
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 kcal Proteins: 1 gram = 4 kcal Fats: 1 gram = 9 kcal (Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 kcal)
Different carbohydrates
Both sugar and starch are carbohydrates. However, it is not wise to only eat sugar to get your carbohydrate intake. Sugar belongs to the so-called simple carbohydrates, just like fructose (fruit sugar). Starch is one of the multiple carbohydrates. This difference is in the length of the molecules. Starch is a long string of linked sugars and therefore requires more energy to digest and is also released more gradually. Sugar is digested very quickly and is therefore quickly released as glucose into your bloodstream. This causes fluctuations in your blood sugar and leads to a new feeling of hunger and, in extreme cases, ultimately to diabetes.
Different fats
Fats should provide up to 30% of our daily calorie intake. Fats have been wrongly labeled as unhealthy, because they are indeed very important for our body. How healthy fats are depends mainly on what type they are. There are saturated fats, which are mainly found in animal products such as meat, sweets and chips, and unsaturated fats, which are mainly found in vegetable products such as sunflower oil, fish and nuts. We should try to avoid saturated fats in our food as much as possible (which does not mean that it is never allowed again), while we should consume unsaturated fats. This has to do with, among other things, the digestibility of both types and our cholesterol.
Vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals are important for our body. They help with all types of processes such as digestion, nerve conduction and muscle contraction. The amounts we need vary greatly per vitamin or mineral. The exact standards for this can be found on the food meter and product packaging often also indicates which vitamins it contains and what percentage of the daily amount this is. However, contrary to popular belief, too many vitamins can also be harmful, so don’t try to supplement your diet with endless supplements. As long as you eat a varied diet, the chance of an excess (or deficiency) of vitamins is very small. Please note: A number of vitamins are only soluble in fat. This means that you can only get them through fat. Many people trying to lose weight eliminate as much fat from their diet as possible. This is not the right way, because fats are very good for our body as long as they are unsaturated as much as possible.
Fibres
Fibers are indispensable for our body although they do not give us energy. Our intestines cannot digest fiber. This is exactly why they are so useful. Firstly, they make us feel full because they take up space in the stomach, but especially because they absorb a lot of water. Because we cannot digest fiber, the intestines are stimulated and our stool normalizes. Fibers are mainly found in whole grain products, vegetables and fruit.
Moisture
We need at least 2 liters of fluid every day, of which we get about half a liter from our solid food. Moisture includes not only water, but also coffee, tea, soft drinks, broth, milk and soup. In an extra warm environment or when exercising a lot, our fluid requirements increase. The rule of thumb is to drink an extra half to 1 liter of water for every half hour of moderately intensive exercise. Please note: drinking too much is also not good, water intoxication can have serious consequences. Fortunately, we do not contract this easily, but drinking more than 3-4 liters per day could be harmful under normal circumstances (extreme heat or extreme exercise excluded).
How do I put together my eating schedule?
To really get started with an eating plan, various programs can be found on the internet. Take 6 eating moments per day as a starting point:
- The breakfast
- Morning snack
- Lunch
- Afternoon snack
- Evening meal
- Evening snack
Take into account the ratios between nutrients and the number of calories per day. Plan on 2 pieces of fruit and at least 200 grams of vegetables per day and be careful with a lot of meat, 15% proteins can easily be achieved. Don’t miss out on fats, but use them wisely. And most important of all: vary! This way you run the least risk of deficiencies in your food.
Good luck!