How Your Eating Habits Affect Your Health

Do eating habits affect your health, or is it just an old wives’ tale to make us all go vegan? Generally, our body is significantly impacted by what we consume each day. Monitoring what you eat is thus a smart way to live. While your financial capacity may also determine the type of food you can afford, you can still get some quality meals at less than Michelin-star prices, depending on your food choice.

It isn’t rocket science to surmise that people with poor eating habits run the risk of developing some health complications. That is why we suggest taking different healthy diets to avoid these complications and ensure a healthy lifestyle.  Suffice it to say that you do need to adopt good eating habits and regulate what you eat, when you eat, and how you eat. And that’s because your eating habits affect your health directly.

Bad Eating Habits: Consequences and Negative Impacts 

Maintaining a properly balanced diet is the safest way to guarantee all the six classes of food appear in the proper measures. These are a few ways an adverse eating habit can impact your life:

You look like what you eat: Ever heard that statement? Well, no six words could have been more valid. Excess food is converted into sugar and then stored as fats until the body requires it. This can quickly result in a bloated, overweight appearance that is as unhealthy as it is unattractive. One of the best ways to maintain a healthy weight is by observing a calorie intake plan. You must be careful of what you eat, as taking foods that are not suitable for your body’s chemistry can cause mild to severe reactions that may manifest physically. Maintaining a properly balanced diet is the safest way to guarantee all the six classes of food appear in the proper measures, leading to your best health.

Unhealthy eating habits also affect your health and increase the risk of diseases: Unhealthy diets involve frequent consumption of fatty foods, unbalanced diets, greasy foods, and sugary foods that can result in harmful excess blood sugar. If you make a routine of consuming these types of meals at regular intervals, you leave yourself open to adverse health conditions such as:

1. Heart diseases: Neglecting a properly balanced diet can prompt a deadly heart condition. Continuing the habit of eating without an eye on health implications can even worsen these heart-related diseases. These categories of food promote heart disease: processed meat, fast-food and junk foods, deep-fried foods, sugary drinks, and greasy foods like certain burgers. There are meals rich in vitamins and nutrients that you can replace the above-listed foods with. The categories of food that nourish the heart includes legumes, oats, seeds, nuts, a glass of wine (about two for men and one for women per day), vegetables (such as carrot, cucumber, and others), fruits (such as paw-paw, tomatoes, oranges, etc), and many more. Maintaining such a diet in the long term will improve the general health conditions of your heart.
2. Stroke and heart failure: Constant intake of food high in salt will increase your chances of developing a stroke. Excess salt in your diet increases sodium content,  thereby increasing the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and a heart attack. Reduce the quantity of salt you add to your food or consume food prepared with non-salt alternatives such as cinnamon, basil, and mint. Forcing yourself to keep good eating habits regarding salt could lessen the risk of or even prevent your body from experiencing a stroke.
3. Type 2 diabetes: A diet heavy on processed red meat, bacon, hot dog, or just red meat can lead to type 2 diabetes. This is due to the high concentrations of nitrites and sodium contained in these types of meats. While sugar does not cause diabetes, sufferers must severely regulate sugar intake according to a physician’s prescription. You will also have to watch your honey intake, maple syrup, and some dried fruits. 
4. Osteoporosis: Frequent intake of food with excess vitamin A can promote osteoporosis by reducing bone mineral density. While this disease has hormonal imbalance as a leading causative factor, the risks go up significantly through what we ingest. Our body only requires a small amount of vitamin A daily, and taking it in excess can lead to some serious issues. Also, alcoholic and high salt food can encourage osteoporosis. Your eating habits can affect your health negatively when your meals are abnormally heavy on vitamin A and these other foods, especially when you are above 40 years of age. Foods rich in vitamin A include eggs, Cod liver oil, spinach, and yellow and green veggies.
5. High blood pressure: Although we have briefly touched on this, it’s worth a paragraph of its own. High blood pressure, particularly for persons older than 40, is a serious condition that can lead to life-threatening health conditions. Basically, watch it when your diet is sodium heavy. Foods like salad dressing, canned soups, processed meats like deli meats, pretzels, peanuts, and other salty snacks can increase the risk of high blood pressure. Other complications that may arise from this condition include aneurysms, stroke, narrowed blood vessels, cardiac failure, and death.
6. High cholesterol: Frequent consumption of foods high in fat can increase your blood cholesterol. Diets that fall under this category are cheese, butter, cream, milk, margarine, etc. Reducing your consumption rate of such foods will maintain your blood cholesterol within safe limits. 
7. Dental diseases: Sugary foods can attract bacteria that cause tooth decay. Candy, sweets, and sweet drinks are some culprits that you must take sparingly to maintain pearly whites. These sweet eating habits can affect your health very adversely. 

Adopting These Eating Habits can Affect Your Health Positively

Providing your body with essential nutrients is a good way of securing good health long term. You can also eat more of low-calorie fruits and vegetables everyday to stay fit and improve your lifestyle. Other foods to add to your balanced meal plan include:

• Garlic: Garlic is high in vitamin C and vitamin B. It is very nutritious and plays a vital role in maintaining good health.
• Potatoes: Potatoes contain vitamins, iron, calcium, and manganese. It also packs a high value of nutrients that support bodily growth.
• Egg yolk: Egg yolk may increase blood cholesterol if consumed in high volumes. Limiting your consumption of egg yolk to a moderate level will help your body obtain a needful nutrient. 
• Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate is rich in nutrients and vitamins that carry several health advantages. It also provides the body with some basic nutrients that will help in fighting high blood pressure as well as improve brain function. 

Study a comprehensive list of foods to find out what your body requires to remain healthy and grow effectively.