Healthy Diet Plan - What You Need to Know About Proteins, Fats, and Carbs Fiber comes in two forms, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and insoluble fiber travels through the intestines intact. If you’re a woman, you should be eating over 20 grams of fiber per day (ideally in the mid-twenties) and if you’re a man you should be eating over 35 grams per day. Fiber has a ton of health benefits, including helping you lose more weight by maker you feel fuller, preventing constipation, controlling blood sugar, lowering your risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer, diabetes, and many digestive disorders. Vitamins are natural substances found in plants and animals that are necessary to sustain life. There are 13 essential vitamins, including vitamins A, B (multiple B vitamin), C, D, E, and K. Minerals come from the soil and water and include calcium, chromium, selenium, zinc, potassium, and iron. It is recommended to take a daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement (such as One-a-Day). The fact is, many people have trouble getting the recommended amount of vitamins and nutrition and a multi-vitamin is a great way to combat this. Aim for a multi-vitamin that has close to 100% of each of the 13 essential vitamins. Your body doesn’t need 2000% of your Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin C, so when you see numbers like these, be wary. We all know about water, right. So how much should you drink? Most people have heard of the 8 glasses per day rule, which if fine, but here are two good reasons for drinking more than this: 1. drinking more water decreases your appetite, and 2. drinking 72 extra ounces of water per day increases your metabolism and burns about 100 extra calories. Another little-known fact: by drinking ice water, your body burns roughly 8 extra calories per 8 ounce glass. |
Proteins are nutrients that help build and maintain healthy muscle, skin, and organs and are made up of amino acids, which are essentially the “building blocks” of muscle. The main 
Certain fats are essential to maintaining health. Fats are classified as either saturated, trans, polyunsaturated, or monounsaturated. The healthy fats you should be eating come from sources such as fish, nuts, and heart healthy oils such as olive oil. The type of fat that you should be eating in very limited quantities is trans fat. Trans fats are one of the main causes of high cholesterol and lead to many other health problems and diseases. As a general rule, try not to eat any foods with trans fat. Saturated fats should also be eaten in moderation.
Carbs have been the topic of much discussion the past few years, with the Atkins and South Beach Diets gaining popularity. Carbs provides the “fuel” for your body and are the primary source of energy. They are found in fruits, vegetables, pasta, rice, grains, legumes, and sweets. You DO NOT have to cut carbs out of your diet in order to lose weight. The carbs you want to be avoiding are the refined and processed foods such as white bread, white flour, white rice, white pasta, sugary sodas and snacks, and other processed foods. These have been stripped of their natural whole grains and much of their nutritional content and may contribute to weight gain, interfere with weight loss, and promote diabetes and heart disease. Carbs you should be eating include fruits and vegetables, beans, and whole grain products such as oatmeal, whole wheat and multi-grain pasta, brown rice, and whole wheat bread (see the 