Foods That Help you Stay Healthy and Fit

To maintain a healthy body a proper combination of healthy eating and physical exertion is required. Mostly people chart it out well how to go about their physical work-out schedule, but falter at deciding the food chart for the week. We generally misinterpret the fact that eating healthy means consuming food of particular variety only. Instead, it means to eat a variety of foods from different groups. A person who maintains a balanced intake of different kinds of fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods ensures that his body has adequate amount of all the essential vitamins and minerals.

Here is a list of foods that help you to stay healthy and fit.

Citrus fruits                                         

The foods from the citrus family are widely known to be rich in Vitamin C. Fruits such as lemons and oranges are a rich source of Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps in building collagen in the body and protects it from cardiovascular disease, strokes, cancers and aids in building a strong immunity system. Lemons or other citrus fruits can be consumed in their physical form or their lime can be squeezed into a salad or glass of water.

Vegetables

Dieticians and doctors always recommend including seasonal vegetables in the regular diet. One of the richest sources of essential nutrients that the body requires, vegetables helps in providing potassium to the body. They may also reduce the risk of medical ailments such as kidney stones, cancers, heart diseases, arthritis and high blood pressure. Low in cholesterol and calories, vegetables provide fibers, folic acid Vitamin A & C to the body. Particularly, pregnant women and growing children should consume lots of vegetables.

Legumes

Soybeans, dried beans, peanuts and peas are some of the most easily available legumes which are rich in iron, protein, calcium, minerals and fiber content. Legumes carry a taste of their own even if eaten uncooked. Also, they offer many health benefits to the consumers (at low costs) including prevention of heart diseases, diabetes, food cravings, cancer and reduction in body fats. They also help in reduction of metabolic syndrome. Beans and lentils are easily available in the market.

Olive oil

This oil is known to be one of the healthiest foods around. Generally, one can consume it with salads or as frying oil for other foods. It is one of the best sources of monostaurated fats and therefore good for the heart. Also, there are medical researches suggesting olive oil helps in reduction of chances of cardiovascular disease and prevents obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure and disease related to the immune system related.

Fish

Mutton and chicken are high on fast content and therefore, anyone who is low on physical exertion is bound to develop bad cholesterol leading to cardiovascular diseases. For people who can’t do without non-vegetarian food, should change their preferences towards fish diet. Fish especially Salmon is nutritionally one of the best choices. Salmon fish is rich in Omega-3 oils, which are known worldwide to improve the functioning the brain. The fish is considered as one of the tastiest sea foods especially when served baked with lime seasoning.

Grains

These are generally regarded as one of the richest sources of carbohydrates and other essential nutrients. They should be included in the daily diet along with other mentioned food items. Brown rice in particular is very rich in iron, fiber, thiamin, ribolflavin, and various other minerals. They are good for overall development of the body and treating iron related deficiencies.

One must make sure that they include all the mentioned food items in their daily diet for living a healthy and disease free life.