How to Maintain Healthy Eating Habits
When we steward our bodies by watching over what goes inside, we are bringing honor and praise to God and taking care of his “temple”. This involves eating certain foods in moderation, simplifying what we eat, and adjusting the quantity of what we eat.
The Dangers of Refined Sugar
We’re all aware of the dangers of refined sugar in our diet. It’s added to most foods to make them sell better. The consumer then buys them because they are promoted as less expensive, when in actual fact they are far more expensive health wise. According to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, “We eat more refined sugar today than our parents and grandparents did three decades ago, which has resulted in increasing obesity rates among adults and children.”
Simple dietary changes that you can maintain:
- Eat whole foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruit, instead of processed foods. Avoid processed foods. These are products that are loaded with all kinds of additives, including sodium, sugar, and chemicals to extend shelf life. Often the foods themselves, including canned goods, have had the nutrition cooked right out of them! Instead, eat whole foods—ones that are either unprocessed, such as fruit and vegetables, or minimally processed, such as whole grains.
- Make fiber-rich foods part of your diet. The fiber in fruit, found mainly in its skin, suppresses your appetite to prevent overeating and weight gain. According to the Mayo clinic, eating fiber-rich foods has lots of great benefits! Eating this way normalizes bowel movements, lowers cholesterol levels, helps control blood sugar levels, aids in achieving healthy weight, and helps you live longer!
- Drinks lots of water! In studies, dehydration has been associated with increased fatigue, anger, and confusion as well as mood problems and decreased vigor. You need to be well hydrated for your cells to work properly. Drinking water also helps maintain a healthy heart rate and blood pressure.
- Avoid having refined sugar in your house. If you don’t bring it in, you won’t be as tempted to eat it! If you need a sweetener, try organic stevia leaves. Sugar has been added to many processed foods so they will sell better, but eating these products leads to food addictions—because sugar itself is addictive. This is especially true of sugary drinks, especially pop and juice.
- Beware of fad diets. They usually don’t last, and often the weight comes right back on after the diet is over. A diet you can maintain over the years is always best. By the way--it’s not primarily natural sugars that are present in natural foods that cause weight gain; it's free sugars (those that are not naturally occurring in food) that cause weight gain and lead to other health conditions as a result, such as diabetes.
Action Steps:
- Remove from your home sugary drinks and at least some processed foods. Use stevia leaves as a sweetener instead of chemically-based sugar substitutes.
- Next time you shop—avoid the middle of the store. Stock up on whole foods (such as fresh vegetables and fruits)
- Keep a container of fresh water with you wherever you go and drink as much as you can.
- Read The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life by Rick Warren. We highly recommend this book, but don’t try to do everything all at once. Maybe pick just one thing you can change this week, then go from there.
- Rest your body, mind, and spirit: 30 Day Faith Detox
For further information on other health topics we discuss, visit https://stewardshipandromance.com/healthy-habits-for-life/
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Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.