Eating Right For A Healthy Life

Healthy life? Try eating right!

This month is devoted to eating right and the best ways to reduce nasty cravings. We talk a bit about healthy vs. harmful fats, how coconut oil can benefit so many functions of the body, and an assortment of foods packed with antioxidants!

All of this information, if taken to heart, is sure to leave you happy, healthy, and fit!

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances in foods that remove potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism. Needless to say, they are necessary to guarantee one's greatest level of health and fitness. Antioxidants can be found in a number of foods, but the highest concentrations exist in:

Red Beans
Blueberries
Cranberries
Artichokes
Blackberries

Healthy Fats

Today, people are very quick to try to eliminate fats from their diets when they want to lose weight. The problem with trying to completely eliminate fatty foods is that a lot of foods have high-fat contents, but the fats are healthy fats.

Not all fat is the french-fried, cream-filled fat that immediately comes to mind. In fact, some fats (monounsaturated, polyunsaturated) are very necessary for a healthy diet. These fats can be found in:

Olive Oil
Avocados
Peanut Butter
Walnuts
Fish
Tofu

Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

Recently, coconut oil has been popping up all over the place and it has become known as some sort of natural, miracle oil. The health benefits that coconut oil offers seem to be endless. A few are listed below:

Hair Care - coconut oil is highly effective in reducing loss of protein, which is necessary to give hair the healthy, shiny quality that is so desired
Heart Disease - coconut oil contains lauric acid, which helps to keep cholesterol and blood pressure down (leading causes of heart disease) the Dental Care - coconut oil facilitates the absorption of calcium by the body, which is necessary to develop strong teeth

Coconut oil as also been used a lot, lately, as an additive in coffee. The idea is that the healthy, natural fat from the coconut oil stays in your system longer than other sugars and carbohydrates, and reduces the feeling of hunger, keeping you out of the cupboard, and losing unwanted weight throughout the day!

Good To Read: Go Nuts with Coconuts! - Uses and Benefits

This treat has become known as bulletproof coffee. There is an excellent recipe below to get you started. Obviously, you can tweak and adjust the recipe any way you see fit, but this is the standard go: Coconut Oil Coffee

Best Ways to Eating Right

Eating right is consuming food in its most natural state, or, at least, as close to it as possible. Doing this helps to eliminate a lot of the toxins and chemicals that get into your bloodstream through what you eat, and that makes you sick. Some of the best ways of eating right are as follow:

Limit Processed Foods
Eat More Vegetables/Fruit
Pay Attention to Salt/Sugar
Eat Whole Grains/Get Rid of Refined Grains
Reduce Alcohol Intake

Cutting Cravings

A huge part of losing weight comes from cutting the craving to eat. When you feel hungry, it is necessary to refuel your body, but, a lot of times, cravings are a result of, not hunger, but boredom, aesthetics, etc.

The best way to cut cravings is to eat foods with slow-burn calories. These foods help to reduce the body's desire to eat, while still providing it with the necessary nutrients to progress through the day in an efficient manner. Such foods include: