7 Smart Eating Habits You Should Follow

How you eat your food is as important as what you eat. So, keep these pointers in mind every time you sit down to eat. Our eating habits often have little to do with the biological need for food. We get into certain food routines for all kinds of reason, such as convenience and comfort. Let us use our habits to reduce our tendency to overeat without depriving ourselves from food we need. Here’s one powerful strategy: let us listen to slow music while eating, and our meal will take longer to eat and result in our eating less. 1.Eat slowly and chew your food well It takes nearly 20 minutes before our stomach sends a clear message to our brain that we are full and satisfied. If you take the time to chew your food well, you would end up eating less. Ideally, you should have smaller, frequent meals as opposed to larger, infrequent ones. 2.Eat a balanced diet Even when you want to lose weight, starving yourself wouldn’t help – you need to eat a well-balanced diet. Surprised?rnHere’s the explanation: When your body doesn’t receive the required nutrients, your metabolism slows down. Metabolism is the rate at which you burn calories while resting. So, if you don’t eat enough, fewer calories will be burnt and there will be less fat loss. You should eat small meals at regular intervals to keep your energy level high. 3.Add fibre to your diet This adds bulk to your food and prevents constipation. Whole grain like oatmeal, bran, wheat germ, brown rice, fruits (especially with their skin), prunes (dried plums), etc, are all good sources of fibre. rn4.Try to have onion and garlic Onion decreases blood pressure and garlic decreases cholesterol. Any amount of onion and garlic in any form will give you the benefits of their properties, but a raw garlic clove taken in an empty stomach in the morning is the best. 5.Have calcium-rich foods Try to use skimmed or double toned milk and milk products as these contains less fat than toned milk or full cream milk. You should have between one and two glasses of milk a day. Other sources of calcium and protein can be taken instead of milk, if one is allergic to it. Calcium rich food includes almonds, figs, red kidney beans, mustard greens etc… Protein can be found in meats, sprouts, soya, pulse (dals) etc.. 6.Have food that contains Iron These includes red meats, fruit like watermelon and pomegranate; vegetable like spinach, beans, beet and broccoli; whole grains, dried fruits like prunes, sunflower seeds, jaggery etc.. 7.Relish the flavors You may have heard some of these before. But the best food habit, which we all seem to overlook, is to actually taste and enjoy the flavor of the food with your emotions instead of just with your tongue. Remember, food is neither good nor bad. Select food based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. And please do not feel guilty if you love food like potato chips, candy bars or ice creams, just eat them in moderation and choose other food to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.