I know you’ve probably read a lot about why you should eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly, but I thought I’d summarize the essentials so that this blog kicks off on a sound basis. It’s a short, overview list and some points may need further explanation, and I’ll eventually get to that.
Manage weight. Being overweight means you have increased your risk of getting diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Eating a diet high in plant foods and fibre and low in animal fats and refined carbohydrates and sugars is a key strategy in managing excessive weight.
Exercise regularly. Physical activity assists with weight management and at the same time reduces internal or systemic inflammation, an important factor in lowering your risk of all of the above diseases.
Antioxidants rule. Plant foods contain antioxidants that regulate many factors in the disease process including the immune system, inflammation and tissue repair and protection. Antioxidants include vitamin C, E, selenium, beta-carotenes and many other plant ‘phytonutrients’ including polyphenols.
Cholesterol. Regular physical activity can raise the good cholesterol, HDL, and lower the bad cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides – probably mostly through weight loss. This reduces your cardiovascular disease risk. Yes, I know there are cholesterol ’skeptics’ out there, but I don’t agree with them, and neither does an overwhelming percentage of the medical and nutrition community.
Aerobic exercise (cardio). Increases your heart and lung fitness (cardiorespiratory), which is known to reduce your risk of heart disease — even if you carry a bit too much weight. This means regular repetitive exercise like walking, jogging, cycling, treadmill, swimming or rowing.
Weight training. Resistance exercise increases strength, balance and bone health and both cardio and weight training improve insulin sensitivity, which is important in controlling diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Animal fats. Too much saturated fat raises cholesterol yet also increases insulin resistance, which is a precursor to diabetes and heart disease. Some is okay, a lot is unhealthy.
Vegetable fats. Poly and monounsaturated fats like canola, olive, peanut and sunflower tend to improve cholesterol and heart disease risk. Trans fats, used in many commercial and fast-food products, are probably worse than animal fats. You don’t have to pour on the cooking or salad oils, just eat plenty of nuts and seeds and you get lots of fibre as well.
Fibre regulates. Fibre not only regulates your bowel habits, it also regulates your metabolism. It helps to keep control of those carbohydrates and fats you eat so that they don’t go rushing onward into the bloodstream or storage at too fast a rate, which has benefits for weight control and health.
Refined carbohydrates. These are the bagels, the biscuits, the donuts the white fluffy bread, the lollies and cakes and similar items that have become basic dietary items for many people. Too much is unhealthy, a little is okay, and athletes and hard exercisers can fit in a bit more. Keep them reigned in.
NEAT. This stands for ‘non-exercise activity thermogenesis’ — a fancy term for the activity you do when you’re not doing planned exercise. Gardening, housework, walking to the shops, chores, repairs, mowing lawn and so on. People who do most of this tend to have fewer problems with being overweight. Get off the couch or the internet and mow that lawn!
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