A healthy diet is essential for good health and nutrition.

This protects you from many non-communicable chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It is necessary for a healthy diet to eat a variety of foods and drink less salt, sugars and saturated and industrially generated trans-fats.

A healthy diet requires a blend of various foods. These include:

1-Staples like cereals (wheat, barley, rye, maize or rice) or starchy tubers or roots (potato, yam, taro or cassava).

2-Legumes (lentils and beans).

3-Fruit and vegetables.

4-Foods from animal sources (meat, fish, eggs and milk).

Here are some useful information, and the advantages of maintaining a healthy diet.

1-Breastfeed babies and young children:

1. a) A healthy diet starts early in life-breastfeeding fosters healthy growth and may have long-term health benefits, such as reducing the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing later in life non-communicable diseases.
2. b) For a healthy diet it is important to feed babies exclusively with breast milk from birth to 6 months of life. It is also important to introduce a variety of healthy and nutritious supplementary foods at the age of 6 months, while continuing to breastfeed until your child is two years old and over.

2-Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables

1. a) These are important sources of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, protein from plants, and antioxidants.
2. b) Individuals with vegetable and fruit-rich diets have a significantly lower risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers.

3-Eat less fat:

1. a) Fats and oils and concentrated sources of energy. Eating too much can raise the risk of heart disease and stroke, particularly the wrong kinds of fat, such as saturated and industrial trans-fat.
2. b) The use of unsaturated vegetable oils (olive, corn, sunflower or maize oil) instead of animal fats or oils high in saturated fats (butter, ghee, lard, coconut and palm oil) can help you eat healthier fats
3. c) In order to avoid unhealthy weight gain, total fat consumption should not exceed 30% of the total energy intake of a person.

4-Limit intake of sugars:

1. a) Sugars should account for less than 10 percent of your total energy intake for a healthy diet. Reducing even further to under 5% has additional health benefits.
2. b) Instead of sweet snacks such as cookies, cakes and chocolate, choosing fresh fruits helps reduce sugar consumption.
3. c) Limiting the consumption of high-sugar soft drinks, soda and other beverages (fruit juices, cordials and syrups, flavoured milk and yogurt drinks) also helps to reduce sugar intake.

5-Reduce salt intake:

1. a) Keeping your salt intake to less than 5h per day helps prevent hypertension and decreases the risk of heart disease and stroke in adults.
2. b) Limiting the amount of salt and sodium condiments (soy sauce and fish sauce) when cooking and preparing food helps to reduce the consumption of salt.

Nutrition therapy is a form of assessment or counselling that analyses different diet and exercise-related health needs. A food advisor will help you set health goals that can be met and offers various ways to maintain these goals throughout your life.  Such an assessment supports a wide range of people and can support those with multiple disabilities. The psychologist provides information during this evaluation based on the current state of an individual, helping to improve overall health. Nutrition therapy provides many benefits, and the top five are here.

1-A Healthier Lifestyle

Nutrition is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have enough energy to make it throughout the day without proper nutrition. Without proper nutrition, your health can also decline, making you more susceptible to illness and disease. It is a known fact that an unhealthy diet is causing a lot of diseases today. Whether it’s because the amount of fat and calories contributes to obesity, the lack of nutrients required for a strong and healthy immune system, or the amount of chemicals and trans fats included in processed foods can lead to major health problems. Within eating disorder treatment facilities, diet therapy is usually offered, but many health and fitness centers do provide this valuable service.

2-Getting Fit More Quickly

Most wellness consultants prescribe nutritional supplements and fitness programs. Instead of looking at and testing different foods and exercise plans on your own, time is saved by seeing a food advisor. Basic health needs are met through nutritional therapy and personalized knowledge is given to fit your personal and individual lifestyle.

3-Nutritious & Delicious Foods

Eating foods that are high in nutrients does not mean the rest of your life eating lettuce and cottage cheese!  Salmon, chicken breasts, natural peanut butter, cheese, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and of course all sorts of fruits and vegetables–these are all fantastic food sources and they’re all super delicious!

4-Nutrition Counseling Goes Deep

Nutritional counselling aims to get to the root cause of health concerns, rather than simply addressing the symptoms.  Once you get it all worked out with a counsellor’s guidance, you’ll look and feel better, your energy level will rise, you’ll be able to control your weight and you won’t feel the need to try the latest fad diet any more.  Therefore, because of your increased energy level, your mood will be enhanced and you will have strengthened your memory and concentration.