Replenish Root

 Replenish - Fuel up on knowledge to help you tackle your health eating goals

The first step towards building a healthy and vibrant life is nutritious and delicious food. A healthy diet can help prevent chronic diseases and make you feel good, from the inside out. 

According to the World Health Authority a healthy diet helps protect against diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. An unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise are one of the leading risks to health.

Its all too easy in todays busy lifestyles to consume on the go, usually foods which are high in energy, fats, sugars and salt forgetting to eat enough fruit, vegetables, fibres and grains.

So what do the World Health Organisation say are the basic principles of a healthy diet?

Fruit and Veg

Eating 5 portions of fruit and veg a day will reduce your risk of diseases and make sure you get in dietary fibre.

• Include them in your meals
• Include them in your snacks
• Eat them by season!
• Eat a variety

 Get some tips on how to include your 5 a day here Get your 5 a day

Fats

Reducing your Fat intake will help reduce unhealthy weight gain and also your risk of developing diseases

• Swap frying for boiling or steaming
• Replace your butters and lards with sunflower oils
• Reduce those baked, fried and pre-packaged foods such as biscuits, cakes and doughnuts

You can find out more about reducing saturated fat here Reduce your saturated fat

Salt, sodium and potassium

A lot of people consume too much sodium through salt and not enough potassium which can contribute to high blood pressure increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Most salt comes from processed foods such as processed meats, salty snacks and ready meals.  

• Limit the amount of salt you use when cooking
• Limit the salty snacks
• Choose products with lower sodium content
• Check the labels before you buy

Follow this link for tips to lower the salt in your diet Reduce your salt intake

Sugars

The intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake. Excess calories from foods and drinks high in free sugars contribute to unhealthy weight gain. A reduction in free sugar intake can reduce chances of cardiovascular diseases. So, try, if you can, to

• Watch out for the sugary snacks and beverages and fizzy carbonated drinks
• Swap the sugary snacks for fresh fruit and raw vegetables

Click here to find out 5 easy ways to reduce your sugar intake Reduce your sugar intake

Please visit the NHS eat well guide which provides an in-depth interactive guide of how to achieve a healthy and balanced diet. Click here: NHS EatWell Guide

You can find some practical tips here which cover the basics of healthy eating and help you to make healthier choices.  Tips for healthy eating

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Meet Our Root Advocate - Chris Cave

Chris is a qualified health coach and nutrition consultant and is happy to share some useful tips with us around health eating and nutrition. You can find Chris' top ten tips for healthy eating by following this link - Healthy eating tips

Please keeping reading to find out more...