If your NY’s resolution is to “eat healthier”, welcome to the dizzying world of decision making: spinach or kale? Fresh or frozen? Both? Neither? Let us help you navigate the overwhelming bounty at the supermarket with a few no-stress rules.
Before embarking on your healthy-living journey, some truth. Some nutrition maxims are more flexible than others and some fade or lose favour with changing trends and new research, but you’re never going to get out of eating your fruit and veggies. That’s because a diet high in produce offers a whole bunch of health benefits. We’re not just talking shake-off-the-blahs kind of perks – we mean years-on- your-life ones. Consider this: the risk for premature death from any cause dropped by 10 percent for every 2.5-serving increase (up to 10 total portions a day), according to researchers who examined 95 global studies.
Now exactly how much and what kind of all that healthy goodness you should be eating has been a bit more debated – you’ll hear some support for strict plant-only diets, while others preach that fruit is full of sugar and should be avoided. But there’s no need to obsess over an extra celery stalk here or an extra bunch of grapes there. Instead, know this: the biggest health gains come from increasing fruit and veg intake from zero up to five a day, so focus on getting there and think of the rest as extra credit. With our three simple rules, it’ll be even easier to make that five-a-day goal a consistent reality.
Rule #1: Chill out
If you’re only hitting up the fresh aisles at the supermarket, you might be missing out
This story is from the January/February 2019 edition of Women's Health South Africa.
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This story is from the January/February 2019 edition of Women's Health South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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