Eating habits to be avoided to stay healthy

Table of Content

1. Impact of Food on the Body

2. Difference Between Eating and Eating Right

3. Food Habits to be Avoided

4. Bottom line

Given a choice between chocolate chip cookie or celery, what will you eat?

Chocolate chip cookies are full of empty calories and fat, but they are delicious. And then there is a piece of celery, it’s low calorie and nutritious but it tastes, well, like celery. If you’re like most people, you know that celery is the healthier choice but it could be tough to resist that cookie.

Bad eating habits are the single most common reason for unhealthy eating. Binge eating at a social gathering or snacking on junk food once in a while might not be harmful. But when these one-off binges start becoming all too frequent, it can be detrimental to your health.

Impact of Food on the Body

While we all understand the importance of regular workouts in keeping fit, most people do not realise that healthy eating habits have the biggest impact on our fitness. Good food habits not only help lower the risk of illness but can also boost fat loss which helps a great deal in weight reduction.

Healthy food habits help in improving health and good food acts as a great facilitator helping us achieve our fitness goals.

Difference Between Eating and Eating Right

Even though people think they are eating enough, they still might have severe deficiencies.

Over 2 billion around the world suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
These deficiencies occur when the nutrient requirements of the body are not met by the quality of food we eat. It is called Micronutrient deficiencies or hidden hunger. The main reason behind hidden hunger is that the food we eat lacks micronutrients such as the vitamins and minerals that are needed for growth and development. Food habits hold the key to our health and the food we consume provides the materials our body needs to function properly.

Food Habits to be Avoided

The first step of correcting a mistake is to identify it. Listed below are some of the common eating mistakes which can be avoided to lead a healthy life.

1. Distracted eating

   You tend to eat more when you are distracted while eating, be it watching TV or reading a book. Numerous studies have backed the claim that people tend to eat more when they are busy in a secondary activity while eating. It happens because the attention is divided and the person does not realise how much they are consuming.

2. Eating too quickly

   Gorging on food can affect you in multiple ways. It can mess up your digestion and interrupt the flow of hormones that regulate your appetite and signal the brain when it’s time to stop. It is best to take some time between each bite and focus on chewing and swallowing to avoid eating quickly.

3. Poor meal planning

   Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day and it is advisable not to skip it. Apart from the effect that it has on your health, it could also lead to overeating at night which slows your metabolism and leads to weight gain. Try to have multiple meals and snacks during the day to avoid overindulging at night.

4. Eating out frequently

   Food served at Restaurants and fast food joints are generally high in sodium and fat content. Moreover, the portion size is much bigger than what one usually eats at home. Eating out means consuming bigger portions of unhealthy food. It is preferable to avoid eating out but if you can’t do away with it, pick out a healthy meal option on the menu, such as salad.

5. Eating on the sly

   Most of the time we tend to maintain our good eating habits during the day when we are around someone. But once alone, we find ourselves nibbling at food that we avoid most of the day. A recent study found a connection between sneaking food when alone and the risk of metabolic syndrome.

6. Tempting food within reach

   Be it a kid or an adult, it is a bit difficult to resist temptations. Try and avoid keeping tempting food like ice creams, cookies, or candy at home. But if you must, try and keep them away from the reach.

7. Endless eating

   It is one of the most common bad eating habits, compulsive snacking. We’ve all been guilty of it at some stage in our life. The best way to deal with this common issue is to ensure that only healthy snacks are kept within reach.

Bottom line

At the end of the day, you are what you eat. While it is important to keep in mind the eating habits that need to be avoided to stay healthy, it is equally important to pair them with healthy eating habits.

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ARN : ED/08/22/28639