Saturday 12th October
To celebrate Nutrition and Hydration Week, we have got some top tips for how you can improve your diet!
I bet at some point in your life you have googled, “what is a healthy diet” or “what is healthy to eat”… something along those lines. When it comes to diet, what is healthy and what isn’t, there is so much contradictory advice that it can easily get confusing. Every day there seems to be a new fad diet or a new superfood. So we thought we would break it down into some simple, easy to digest (pardon the pun) facts around good nutrition and hydration.
Fruit and vegetables are essential! You should aim to get a good range of colours onto your plate throughout the day to help you get a good variation. The more colour variation, the more likely you are to get a good variation of minerals and vitamins. The best ratio is low fruit to high vegetables.
Make sure you have some sources of oily fish (ideally sustainably sourced!). These types of fish are rich in omega-3 which can help reduce inflammation in the body. You can look up recipes on google to give you some delicious ways to incorporate oily fish into your diet!
Eat healthy fats! When you say fat in relation to a diet, it’s very common to think they are unhealthy. But we need fats as a source of energy, and when in the right type are great for us. Our favourites include avocados and nuts.
Avoid processed foods. The more processed the food, the more chemicals will be in it due to the nature of it being processed and preserved! Non-meat alternatives for protein include beans, pulses and eggs.
Reduce your meat intake. By limiting meals that evolve around meat, it can encourage you to fill your plate and belly up with more vegetables.
Eat less sugar! Treating yourself is not a bad thing and we don’t need to look at all sugar to be avoided, but be aware of how much you are eating, it is in more than you would think! You can also try swapping creamy desserts to fruity desserts.
Hydration varies hugely depending on multiple factors including your size, activity level, climate and gender. Here in the U.K., typically most of us need 2-3 litres of water per day. With an extra litre for each hour of exercise we perform.
Luckily nature has worked out a clever system, if you’re thirsty… then have some water! Satisfy thirst before going for caffeinated drinks/ food.
Remember some foods do contain a lot of water which can contribute to your hydration. Foods also have varying levels of salt and/ or potassium which contributes to hydration levels.
Common sensations we have during dehydration are irritability, lack of focus, lack of coordination and headaches.
We lose some water over night due to perspiration. It can be enough to cause mild dehydration. Go for a pint upon waking. Preferably not beer…. water! Try not to include your daily amount of water in your coffee/ tea allowance. Focus on drinking water to hydrate and tea or coffee for taste.
Having a water bottle with hours of the day marked at different levels can be a great way to get through enough. Another trick can be to infuse water with fruit. The added flavour can make it more enjoyable to drink!
