How to diversify your diet?
Diversifying your diet is a matter of health. Not having enough diversity in your diet affects you in many serious ways.
Our modern society is limiting our choices because of efficiency and production, but people should always look for diversity in their diets. The food industry seems to only focus on a certain diet, especially fast food, and few restaurants have anything diverse to offer.
Here, we will explore the reasons and benefits of diversifying your diet.
Why you should diversify your diet?
The gut bacteria need a diverse diet to function efficiently. Limiting your diet causes deficiencies that impact the gut bacteria negatively. You should look at your body as an ecosystem and diversity in ecosystems is essential. Thus, you must aim at satisfying the nutritional needs of all the gut bacteria by diversifying your diet.
It will also help your body absorb all the necessary nutrients that it needs in a balanced way.
Eat seasonal food
The best way to diversify your diet is through eating seasonal foods. For example, roots are consumed in winter, while most of the fruits during summer.
Following the seasons has always been something that humans do. Unfortunately, with our modern supermarkets and overall modern lives, it’s hard to do that because everything is available all the time.
The Mediterranean diet is quite recommended
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Mediterranean diet is one of the best choices there are due to its diversity. The diet is very rich. It includes a huge variety of vegetables, olive oil, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and animal products (in moderation).
This diet focuses on fats that come from olive oil, nuts, and seeds, which are a lot healthier than other types.
It’s also a diet that antioxidants-rich, making it a great anti-aging strategy, especially for olives and grapes. Wine is also an important addition that the Mediterranean diet uses. When drank moderately, wine is quite healthy.
Eating colorful foods
Picking food, especially fruits and vegetables, by their colors is very insightful. Different colors have different nutrients. You should know that each color is correlated with a certain kind of nutrients. Therefore, seek diversity through eating all the colors (fruits & vegetables).
Red
Red foods have anti-carcinogenic and anti-diabetes compounds, which makes them very healthy to add to every meal. Berries, strawberries, raspberries, beets, red onions, watermelon, pomegranate, apples, and tomatoes are all good choices for reducing blood sugar levels.
Yellow & Orange
Yellow foods are rich in antioxidants like Vitamin C, which boosts the immune system. They are also a source of vitamin A, an essential nutrient for healthy vision. Always include yellow fruits and veggies like citrus fruits, carrots, yellow and orange peppers, mangos, and pineapples in your meals for a balanced diet.
Green
Green is one of the healthiest colors (duh!). Green veggies are rich in antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, which are vital for healthy eyes. Greens also have iron, vitamin B, isothiocyanate, and isoflavones with phytoestrogen. Try to include broccoli, leafy greens, and fruits like avocado and kiwi, and your weekly diet for optimum health.
Purple & Blue
Blue and purple fruits and veggies are very rich in anthocyanins, antioxidants, longevity proprieties, and many others. Enrich your diet with grapes, plums, eggplants, blueberries, red cabbage, and figs. They will surely help your body stay younger and fitter.
White & Brown
The white and brown foods are protective against cancerous cells, good for the health of the heart, have vitamin B, and are usually very used in the kitchen. Look for mushrooms, cauliflower, garlic, jicama, white onions and, parsnips. They are very great additions to your everyday diet.
Conclusion
In conclusion, no matter how much you love your current diet, please make sure that it’s diverse enough to sustain all of your needs. You need a diverse diet to keep working optimally. With a diverse diet, you’ll never lack certain nutrients that are very crucial to a healthy body, mind, and life.
Try to avoid repetition and eating fast foods. Instead, learn how to cook easy healthy meals. You’ll enjoy cooking them and control the ingredients, making you more conscious of your eating habits. When you realize that you’ve not eaten certain foods for a long period, always remember to include them in your next meals.
