Eat healthy

Eating Healthy: What Does It Mean?

When we talk about "healthy eating" we generally mean the habit of eating in a balanced, clean and healthy way.

However, due to the influence of various schools of thought that often oppose traditional scientific-academic research, or simply try to modify it (in a more or less legitimate way), the concept of healthy eating is becoming increasingly blurred and difficult to frame.
For this reason, in Italy and beyond, officially recognized research bodies propose rules or principles that can be considered a "guarantee" of correctness; in the Bel Paese, this “vademecum” of the health-conscious (which should be of interest to the practice of any individual) is called: “Guidelines for an Italian Healthy Diet”.
This publication is also available online on the website of the “National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition” (renamed the Research Center for Food and Nutrition since 2013), which is responsible for its creation and dissemination.
However, it should be specified that eating healthy does not only mean maintaining the nutritional balance, but also using foods that can guarantee a hygienic standard. This parameter must then be contextualized both in the biological and microbiological sphere, and in that of contamination.
Readers will already have understood that this is a vast and difficult to summarize topic, especially in a single article. However, without presuming to fully satisfy all learning needs, below I will try to summarize the main criteria of healthy eating as effectively as possible.

Nutritional balance

Nutritional balance is a determining factor in healthy eating, or rather, only by eating healthy is it possible to maintain nutritional balance.
By nutritional balance we mean a parameter that evaluates the quantities and proportions of the individual nutrients and nutritional components taken with the diet. Each of them has a very specific function, which is why over the years we have tried to determine their real needs.
An organism that does not benefit from a "balanced diet has greater difficulties in maintaining the so-called" homeostasis ". Obviously, being an almost perfect machine, as far as nutrition is concerned, the physicist avails itself of an" excellent autonomy; this means that it tends to be designed in order to "survive" every circumstance.
Ultimately, eating healthy guarantees the maintenance of physical balance and, sometimes, also contributes to the psychic one.

Now, the question that arises is: What principles of nutritional balance does the definition of healthy eating depend on?
It is difficult to answer clearly in a few lines, also because the needs are subjective and vary (but not always as much as one might think) based on age, sex, lifestyle and subjective components such as the entity of the skeleton and of the musculature, metabolic predispositions, hereditary diseases, etc.
Since the nutrients and nutritional components are so many and all fundamental, it is necessary to stay on the generic. The table below summarizes some summary notions that could be very useful to newcomers to the topic.
ATTENTION! The recommendations take into consideration an average and adult subject, with an average physical activity coefficient and an equally ordinary job. Sports activities, special pathological or physiological conditions, childhood and old age are excluded.

Nutritional or Nourishing Component Intake with the Diet Waterfall To be taken in quantities of about 1ml for each calorie of energy consumed with the diet. Usually, between that contained in food and drinks, it is better to reach about 2 liters / day. The meals of the day should be at least 5, to correctly distribute the total energy (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner). Power It is the result of cellular processes that use carbohydrates, lipids and to a lesser extent amino acids. The sum of the contribution of the individual three must guarantee the maintenance of all functions and normal body weight. An average adult man needs about 2000kcal / day. Carbohydrates They are the most abundant energetic macronutrients. Their share must oscillate between about 40-60% of the total energy. The simple and discretionary ones (table sugar and foods that contain them) should be as moderate as possible and never higher than 12% of the total energy Lipids Some are energetic and some are non-energetic. The former are mainly fatty acids, the latter sterols, phospholipids, etc. The energetic ones must remain between 25-30% of the total energy; having a variable metabolic function, to guarantee the state of health, most of these must be unsaturated in nature. Cholesterol should be introduced in an amount not exceeding 300mg / die Proteins They have many metabolic functions, but the organism requires only what is necessary to compensate for the losses (the requirement increases especially with the growth of the tissues). There are some recommended percentages, but they are quite variable according to the research institutes; the same applies to the coefficient of g / kg of body weight which, on average, for adults, is estimated between 0.8 and 1.2g / kg. Vitamins It is "such a heterogeneous group that it cannot be summarized effectively. It is sufficient to keep in mind that, in order to introduce all of them in useful quantities, the diet must be very varied and not exclude any food group. Recall that those most subject to deficiency are folic acid and vitamin D. B1 is very present in foods but the liver is unable to accumulate it. Mineral salts The same is true for vitamins, specifying that the elements most easily subject to deficiency are: iodine, iron and calcium; according to some also selenium.Sodium, contained in large quantities in table salt, may also not be used in a discretionary manner, since it is already present in foods in sufficient quantities Dietary fiber To be introduced for about 30g / day, it is essential for intestinal health and to modulate nutritional absorption Non-vitamin antioxidants Very important for combating oxidative stress and reducing the risk of metabolic and / or metabolic diseases. They almost never have a specific recommended ration, but rather safety levels.

Portions and Consumption Frequencies

Since it should not be necessary to rely on a nutrition professional to be assured of healthy eating and maintaining nutritional balance, the research bodies have translated nutritional needs into dietary advice. The most widespread system is certainly that of the food pyramid, continuously revised and updated on the basis of the latest news.
To eat healthy it is therefore essential to choose how much and when to eat the various foods.

Foods of animal origin are those that provide high biological value proteins, some mineral salts (especially iron and calcium) and vitamins (practically all, especially those of group B, D and A); on the other hand, the excess of these foods can cause a surplus of: cholesterol, saturated fatty acids and proteins. Among these, meat and offal should be eaten at least in 2 portions per week (150-250g), fishery products at least 2 more (200-300g), cheeses / ricotta at least one (80-150g) and eggs no more than 3 per week. Then, as far as milk and yogurt are concerned, even more than one portion is allowed daily, although it is good to keep in mind that this depends on the portion, the composition of the diet and the level of milk skimming; 150-300ml of semi-skimmed milk and 1 or 2 pots of natural yogurt of 120g per day are normal. NB. Preserved foods, such as cured meats, canned tuna, etc. they should be a "marginal alternative.

Taking into consideration foods of plant origin, these must be consumed on a daily basis. The group of cereals and potatoes, together with that of legumes, guarantees above all the intake of the necessary complex carbohydrates. They can easily be included in all meals, but it is essential that they always fall within the useful portions. Pasta, rice and other derivatives should respect quantities of no more than 90g, the bread should fill the remaining need or replace the first course and usually range between 20-30g and 100-120g Legumes can be used like cereals.
Sweet vegetables and fruits help increase satiety, provide water, potassium, some vitamins (especially A, C, E and K) and non-vitamin or saline antioxidants. They contain simple carbohydrates and sometimes affect the energy balance to such an extent as to create an excess decompensation.

NB. Some tropical fruits contain a lot of fat, such as avocado and coconut. On average, between cooked and raw, vegetables should appear at least 2-3 times in the daily diet and in portions of 50-200g; fruits about 2 times for 200g ( variable according to the fruit).

NB. Jams, marmalades, dehydrated fruit, canned fruit and candied fruit do not belong to this category, but to that of sweet foods.

Seasoning fats and oil seeds are necessary to compensate for the demand for related fatty acids and vitamins (especially E and A). Carefully chosen, they help to meet the need for essential fatty acids and generally those beneficial to the body. In addition, they provide many non-vitamin or saline antioxidants. As for the oil, about 2-4 tablespoons a day are sufficient. (based on the fatness of other foods); with regard to oil seeds, it is possible to use them in quantities of a few grams and only once a day.

The only recommended drink is water, with a variable saline profile based on subjective needs, and to an extent of approximately 750-1000ml / day (very variable).

Of all the above foods it is necessary to avoid: preserved in salt, in oil, in syrup, canned and overly elaborate recipes. Also, all sweets and junk foods should be drastically cut down.

Food Hygiene

Food hygiene is a cornerstone of healthy eating. Hygiene does not only mean biological and microbiological safety (bacteria, viruses, prions, parasites, etc.), certainly very important, but also protection against all forms of chemical or pharmacological contamination.
Among the various measures, first of all there is the choice between the sources of supply. It may seem disappointing but, to date, the best are the conventional ones of large-scale distribution. Thanks to the very strict hygiene controls, on supermarket counters it is possible to find safer foods; on the contrary, purchases through cross roads often prove to be risky. For example, for fruit and vegetable foods the most frequent fraud concerns the sale of false "organic" products or others that have not respected the disposal times of pesticide treatments .
For meat and eggs, on the other hand, the greatest risk is that they come from sick animals or from animals stuffed with drugs. In this latter context, the slaughtering and conservation phases also play an essential role; obviously, the higher the means and processing technologies, the better the levels of food safety.
Food must therefore be guaranteed starting from production / breeding (diseases, environmental contamination, etc.), up to transport and for all conservation prior to sale (maintenance of temperatures, of the cold chain, etc.).