When you think of ‘healthy’ food, what do you think of?
For many of us, this doesn’t exactly bring to mind a gourmet meal. Instead, you might think of healthy foods as being those typical ‘low fat’ sandwiches or crisps that have had all the moisture sucked out of them. Maybe you think of bread that is about as thin (and tasty) as a piece of cardboard!
Whatever the case though, healthy food doesn’t actually have to be this way. In fact healthy food should be all the stuff that you really want to eat. After all, this food is meant to be really good for you; so it makes sense that it would be tasty and satisfying!
Where Diet Food Goes Wrong
Diet food unfortunately is completely unhelpful for the most part. This is food that has had the fat removed from it, based on the incorrect belief that fat causes heart problems. We now know that fat is actually good for us and even slows down the absorption of sugar as well!
What’s more, is that it’s fat that makes us feel fuller! And while it contains more calories, this simply means we need to eat less of it – and less of everything else as well.
What Healthy Food Really Looks Like
The first clue that healthy food should actually be tasty and even indulgent comes from the Mediterranean Diet. This is an entire continent of people who are in fantastic health despite eating a diet that would technically be considered unhealthy by many ‘experts’.
People on the Mediterranean Diet live longer and have great heart health – thanks to the saturated fat content and things like resveratrol found in red wine.
At the same time though, the Mediterranean Diet includes a ton of different fruits and vegetables all arranged beautifully on the plate and displaying a ton of vivid colors. Greek salad contains tomatoes, feta, cucumber and pepper and is packed with goodness!
Meanwhile, the inclusion of oil on top actually ensures that all those nutrients are absorbed better.
When you eat like this, you actually enjoy your food and you feel full and satiated. Thus you don’t get cravings or feel the need to snack and you also get to enjoy eating – the way you should!
It’s not just the Mediterranean Diet that offers these benefits of course. The take home message here is rather a very simple one: eat a varied diet and make sure you enjoy it!