Food is any material consumed to supply nutrition to the organisms. Generally, food is of animal, plant or fungi origin, and has vital nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, or minerals. A typical meal in the western world consists of five main food groups: vegetables, grains, legumes, beans, and nuts. The food you eat can be categorized into two broad categories: animal-derived foods and plant-derived foods. Animal-derived foods include all the meat that an animal can eat, fish and shellfish, milk products, poultry, eggs, organs, bones, honey, fat and feathers, bones, and so on. Plant-derived foods, on the other hand, include all the plants that animals cannot eat, like wheat, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, squash, and corn.
To keep a record of what you eat over a period of time, keep track of your daily food intake. In one study, participants were asked to fill out a food diary for two weeks. At the end of the two-week period, they were given a special recipe that allowed them to eat only a single type of food from that week’s list every day. Those who ate lots of one type of food were able to increase their nutrient intake significantly, especially calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Eat more to lose weight There are many suggestions on how to best calculate your daily calorie needs. However, the easiest way to do it is to add up all the calories of all the food groups you eat and divide by six. This will give you an idea of how many calories you need each day. If you want to lose weight, eat less. For those who have a hard time counting calories, use the “3 small” rule: if you eat 3 small slices of bread with six ounces of skim milk, that equals three small calories.
Go for leaner meats Protein plays an important part in building muscle mass and maintaining good health. Three times as many men and women are in trouble with their diets because they eat too much red meat, according to recent government statistics. The solution? Instead of eating four ounces of red meat, choose poultry or fish. Even if you eat four ounces of red meat a day, you’ll still be far better off with two ounces of poultry or fish instead of the usual 3 ounces of red meat.
Choose brian wanting style foods The star of Hollywood’s diet has developed a whole new way of eating. Brian Wansink, author of the book Eat to Win, encourages people who follow his diet to eat more vegetables and less red meat. The book also teaches readers how to make certain foods more colorful and taste better than ever before.
Hidden forces eat away at our health In addition to overeating, certain foods are known to slow down the body’s natural processes. This includes the consumption of alcohol, caffeine and fatty foods. Brian Wansink says these hidden forces affect your health in ways that you might not even be aware of. To avoid feeling rushed at the gym and hitting a plateau, especially after a big workout, you might want to eat a snack that contains fiber and carbohydrates. For instance, instead of a candy bar, go for a bagel, cracker or small cheese sandwich.