What’s your New Year resolution? Still, haven’t made up your mind? Choose to improve your lifestyle and create a

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You might be thinking of starting the New Year by eating more nutritious food or by feeling determined to transform your dietary patterns to promote a healthier lifestyle along with maintained weight. But the question is how will you start? Are you getting confused by all the principles of healthy eating? Don’t be! 

We are here to guide you to know more about a healthy eating plan in a simple way. The principles of healthy dietary habits are not about following only one type of dietary pattern or overloading your ‘To-do-list’ with numerous nutrition quotes. Healthy eating is actually listening to your own body and adapting the habits according to your nutritional needs.

It often seems that there are too many paths and principles to live a healthy life but the truth is that there are only a few basic principles of healthy eating which are considered to be important. At the same time, it can be difficult to choose the right one. So as an experienced dietitian, it’s my job to guide people towards what actually works for each individual and their respective bodies. Every person is different, therefore their dietary habits are customised according to their requirements.

Let me start by defining YANA Diet again – It’s a holistic diet plan that helps to lose weight and reduce medicine. It’s not about eating less but is all about eating right. Founded on the saying “YES to eating natural, local, seasonal and fresh,” YANA Diet puts no restrictions on your choice of food, EXCEPT for 3 unhealthy eating habits beyond which, you are absolutely free to enjoy your food!

Here are the 5 basic principles of YANA Diet that I’ll like to share: 

1. Go natural, local, seasonal and fresh:  

Consuming fresh local and seasonal foods is a very good habit as we derive vital nutrients from nature, which help us to deal with the changes in weather. Any fruit or vegetable plucked from the tree at its natural ripening time, is best not only in its flavour but also in its nutrient value.

Some other beneficial roles of having seasonal fresh foods are:

• Consuming tastier foods which contain higher amounts of antioxidants than non-seasonal foods
• Assuring a safe and clean food production practice along with a safer food supply to consumers
• Helping to reach healthy lifestyle management
• Supporting the local economy

2. Eat in moderate portion sizes: 

Our body can only deal with a certain amount of food at a time. Large portions simply add more calories than the necessary requirement of individuals. This contributes to undesired weight gain. If large portions of unhealthy foods like- deep-fried foods, high sugar containing foods etc. are consumed on a frequent basis, then metabolism slows down and individuals become susceptible to fat deposition at their waistlines. Eating the right amount of food helps us to maintain healthy body weight and reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases. Having food more than what we require means that there is no ultimate utilisation of energy and the natural resources that are used to produce that food.

3. Give an interval of 2 hours between 2 meals:

Healthy eating habits including moderate food portions must become a regular part of our daily life. Having three healthy meals along with 2-3 snacks in a day is a good way of controlling the appetite and maintaining the overall health of an individual. An interval of minimum two hours between two meals can also lead to a good metabolism process. This helps to avoid extreme hunger that leads to binge eating. Overweight persons must adopt this habit.

4. Take early dinner at least 2 hours before sleep:

If your dinner time is too close to your sleeping time, then you might experience gas, flatulence and bloating, which can affect your sleep. Having a heavy meal just before going to bed can also cause discomfort if you have gastrointestinal issues. Also, a late night dinner can make you feel less hungry the next morning, which results in skipping breakfast. Further, this can force you to eat unhealthy snacks or overeat at lunch so make sure you have a 2-hour gap between your dinner and snooze time!

5. Fall in love with your food:

Usually, when it comes to choosing the right principle of healthy eating, we spend most of our time judging, ignoring or punishing ourselves because of our food cravings. Over restriction of favourite foods from our daily diet is a big misconception. Such restrictions can activate hunger pangs and increase weight from time to time. Instead of this, let’s indulge in our favourite foods, set health goals and maintain a healthy weight in the long run.

In the end, I would like to say that I believe that everyone though unique can be benefitted by following the principles of YANA Diet. Food is the most vital thing that keeps us alive. If any kind of food makes you feel sick, avoid it. It’s absolutely fine to try out new foods, taste new recipes and see whether they work for you or not. Listen to what others have to say but choose only those items that your health permits, because at the end of the day, ‘Health is wealth’.

Source:

Ms Sreyoshi Mukherjee