September is Heart Month and eating a balanced diet is an important part of maintaining a healthy heart. Keeping your body and heart healthy doesn’t have to be tough with a few simple changes.
These 5 lifestyle tweaks will make a noticeable difference in your health, and ensure you always feel your best.
1 Eat your rainbow colours
At least five portions of different types of fruit and vegetables a day will give you get a range of nutrients and antioxidants. Try chopping a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for a portion of fresh fruit.
2 Have a fish dish
Fish is an excellent source of protein and contains vitamins and minerals. Try to eat at least two portions of fish per week, including one serving of oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout.
3 Saturated is overrated
Yip, you do need some fat in your diet, but it’s important to know which type you’re eating. Too much saturated fat can escalate the volume of cholesterol in the blood, which increases your risk of developing heart disease. Try to reduce your saturated fat intake, and eat foods that contain unsaturated fats instead, like vegetable oils and avocados.
4 Get moving
Eating healthy goes hand in hand with exercise – the one will be pretty much ineffective without the other. Changing up your daily routine can make a huge difference; take the stairs instead of the lift, get off the couch and walk the dog. Being more active in the smallest way is a step in the right direction.
5 Hydrate
We need to drink about 1.6 to 2 litres of water everyday to avoid dehydration. This is in addition to the fluid we get from the food we eat. Avoid fizzy drinks that are high in added sugars. Water infused with freshly cut fruit like lemon, mint, cucumber or strawberries is healthy and still appetising.
Keeping healthy doesn’t mean you have to skimp out on dessert! Check out these healthy desserts that’ll leave you wanting seconds, and thirds!
