We all want to eat healthily, whether we’re trying to lose weight, have more energy, live longer, or just feel better. It can be challenging, especially when it’s difficult to figure out which nutrition facts ar true. There’s a lot of rookie mistakes healthy eaters can make when they’re starting out. Here’s the nutrition mistakes that lots of different sources, like Healthline, Washington Post, and Bright Side say plenty of people make.
Eating low-fat or diet foods that actually aren’t great for you.
When you’re picking out healthy food to eat, instead of focusing on what food says it doesn’t have, focus on what it does have. A lot of low-fat food doesn’t actually taste very good, so many of these products will be loaded up with sugar or salt to make them taste better. In addition, fat fills you up, so while you’re getting loaded up with sugar, you’ll also feel less full, and more prone to just eating more food later, cancelling out the one good thing you got out of it. You’re better just eating fresh, unprocessed foods, instead. As for what does make you feel full…
Not eating enough protein.
Protein is particularly useful for weight loss, because it makes you feel full, increases your metabolism, and makes you take in fewer calories. Protein could mean meat, eggs, or beans. A favourite way for me to get an injection of protein is to buy a pair of hard-boiled eggs from the Grab-and-Go section of Centennial College’s student-run restaurant, The Local.
Also, not eating enough fibre.
If you’re specifically trying to lose weight, not having enough fibre in your diet will sabotage those efforts, by making food stay in you longer, making you absorb more calories. Plus, like protein, more fibre makes you feel fuller. So, consider switching from white to whole grain bread, eating shredded wheat, broccoli, and other high-fibre foods.
Pay attention to what you’re drinking.
It’s well-known that a good first step to health is cutting out soda, and other sugary beverages. But it’s easy to forget about how many other things you could be drinking that is really bad for you. For example, most cartons of fruit juice contain way more sugar than you think and can be as bad as soda. At the same time, these juices don’t affect your appetite the same way solids do, so you’ll have consumed all that sugar without even feeling full. While we’re here, be careful about how you consume sports drinks, too. They’re specifically meant to be consumed after you’ve sweat a lot from extreme activity, but the sugar and salt in them is not something you need for minimal exercise.
Do some reading.
Really, what it comes down to is paying attention to what’s in your food. What’s on the front of a package is there to try and sell you the product, and make it seem healthier than it is. You can fight that through reading the nutrition labels on the back since those nutrition labels are required by law to be accurate.
Stick to unprocessed food whenever you can.
No matter how healthy it says something is on the package, it’s never going to compare in nutritional value to the whole, unprocessed foods, like a good apple, or banana, or some carrot sticks. In fact, studies suggest the literal weight of the world is mostly due to increases in the consumption of processed foods. So, whenever possible, go with unpackaged, unprocessed, unprepared goods, with as few ingredients as possible.
Did you know that there’s a career to be had from knowing about nutrition? As our population ages, there’s a need in both the healthcare world and just in general, for people knowledgeable about proper nutrition. What kind of nutrition do you need when you’re sick? What kind of nutrition does the elderly need? You can become the expert, and get that career with Centennial College’s Food and Nutrition Management program.
It’s the longest-running program of its kind in the Greater Toronto Area and has won numerous awards for how it prepares students for career success. Over four semesters, on top of learning about nutrition and how to apply it, you’ll also pick up management and business skills, in order to help you throughout your career. At the end of the course, you’ll put your skills to the test in the real world through a supervised field placement in the healthcare industry, before you graduate with the knowledge and abilities needed to make everyone a little bit healthier.
Written by: Anthony Geremia