Benefits of eating healthy

A healthful diet typically includes nutrient-dense foods from all major food groups, including lean proteins, whole grains, healthful fats, and fruits and vegetables of many colours.

Healthful eating also means replacing foods that contain trans fats, added salt, and sugar with more nutritious options. Following a healthful diet has many health benefits, including building strong bones, protecting the heart, preventing disease, boosting mood and energy.

The dietary approaches to stop hypertension diet, known as the DASH diet Trusted Source, includes plenty of healthful foods for the heart. The program recommends the following:

• eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains

• choosing fat-free or low fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils

• limiting saturated and trans fat intake, such as fatty meats and full-fat dairy products

• limiting drinks and foods that contain added sugars

• restricting sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day -

ideally 1,500 mg daily— and increasing consumption of potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

Eating foods that contain antioxidants can reduce a person’s risk of developing cancer by protecting cells from damage. The presence of free radicals in the body increases the risk of cancer, but antioxidants help remove them to lower the likelihood of this disease.

Many phytochemicals found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes act as antioxidants, including beta-carotene, lycopene, and vitamins A, C, and E. According to the National Cancer Institute Trusted Source, though humans trials are inconclusive, there are laboratory and animal studies that link certain antioxidants to a reduced incidence of free radical damage due to cancer.

Certain strains of bacteria also produce vitamins K and B, which benefit the colon. These strains also help fight harmful bacteria and viruses.

A diet low in fiber and high in sugar and fat alters the gut microbiome, increasing inflammation in the area.

However, a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains provides a combination of prebiotics and probiotics that help good bacteria thrive in the colon.

These fermented foods are rich in probiotics:

• yogurt

• kimchi

• sauerkraut

• miso

• kefir

Fiber is an easily accessible prebiotic and is abundant in legumes, grains, fruits, and vegetables. It also promotes regular bowel movements, which can help prevent bowel cancer and diverticulitis.