52 healthy eating tips, to make your year the healthiest ever.
Eat foods in as near to their natural state natural as possible. Choose organic, and eat food raw, or lightly cooked.
Avoid processed, ready-made, long-life, canned. The fewer processes your food has been through, the better.
Six small meals spread through the day can help to keep blood sugar levels stable and keep you mentally alert and physically energetic all day long.
A healthy eating tip for teenage girls - canned soft drinks like colas rob growing bones of calcium. Too much can affect bone density long-term. Try herb teas, chilled water with lime, warm water with lemon instead.
Garlic is a cancer preventative, helps lower blood cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. Aim to eat 2-3 cloves day. Chopped is milder than crushed, or roast whole, unpeeled cloves, then squeeze out the sweet, mild garlic inside.
Beware the snack bar breakfast. A bought flapjack plus a normal latte clocks up 755 calories. Save 500 calories, and eat a healthy bowl of muesli plus tea or coffee with skimmed milk before you leave home.
Seeds are packed with nutrients. Grind a mixture of pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and linseed in a coffee grinder, and sprinkle on ceerals, or add to baking.
Drink home-juiced drinks when fresh. The Vitamin C content of fruit juices halves after 4 days in fridge.
Choose these, rather than a choccy bar, for a mid-evening snack – plain low fat yogurt, dried or fresh dates or figs, banana, sunflower seeds.
Salt intake higher than 1tsp a day can raise blood pressure. Don’t put salt on the table, where people will automatically reach for it, and always taste before you add.
Always carry a supply of fruit and water on journeys, stave off snack attacks at the fast food counter.
Choose wisely at the coffee bar: Mocha coffee, 11g fat. Cappuccino, 6g fat. Regular white coffee, 1g fat.
Drink plenty of water, every day, for soft plump skin and well-hydrated system.
Spices like ginger, cumin, chilli, coriander, cinnamon add powerful health-giving qualities to food, as well as a shot of flavour. Use often.
Caffeine is in coffee, tea, chocolate, Coke. Take a break for a few days, or switch to decaffeinated for good, and your mind will feel clearer and sharper.
If you’re always tired, and prone to colds and bugs, here's a great healthy eating tip. Cut down on sweetened foods. Sugar makes white blood cells less able to destroy damaging micro-organisms.
Are you getting enough zinc? If you have white marks on nails, a low sex drive and poor skin, you could need a boost of this essential mineral. Eat more nuts, seeds, oily fish, eggs, wholegrains, mushrooms.
For an energy-reviving snack, mix chopped dried apricots or dates, pecans and sesame seeds.
Shift your diet gradually, so it becomes more plant-based than meat-based.
The more vivid your fruit and veg, the more health-giving nutrients inside. Eat a range - yellow, orange, red, dark green, blue/black.
Floss teeth daily to keep on top of gum disease - linked with stroke and heart probs.
Nuts are a great nutritious food – except - you guessed it - when salt-coated.
Choose wholegrain over refined bread, pasta and cereals at least once a day.
At the sandwich bar, follow this healthy eating tip, and go for smoked salmon rather than ham, and give yourself a useful helping of omega3 oils.
Check labels, even when a product claims to be ‘low salt’. More than 0.5g sodium per 100g is too high.
Greens and beans are great cancer-protectors. Think kale, cabbage, spinach, broccoli; French, runner, kidney, soya, chickpeas.
For a healthy breakfast smoothie, blend strawberries, papaya, and half a banana with skimmed milk, ice cubes and a fine line of maple syrup.
The herb oregano is high in antioxidants, and tastes great, finely chopped and scattered over salads, grilled meats and fish.
Supermarkets are starting to remove hydrogenated oils from some own label ranges, but there’s still a long way to go. These killer oils are even more harmful to health than saturated fats. Avoid.
Rinse all fruit, veg and salads thoroughly before use, to remove pesticide residues.
Men should eat tomatoes – raw, cooked, juiced, on pizza – 10 times a week, to cut the risk of prostate cancer.
Store fruits and salads that don’t keep well where they’re visible, on the fridge shelves. To see them, is to remember to eat them.
Are you really hungry – or dehydrated? Lack of water can make you think you’re hungry for food, leading to overeating and weight gain. Drink two litres of water daily, evenly spaced through the day.
Avoid gut-gas by eating fruit on an empty stomach rather than for dessert.
Healthy barbecue choices: more chicken, peppers, aubergines, fish, bananas; less of the high-fat sausages and burgers.
Clingfilm contains plasticisers which can leach into food. Use foil, or reusable sealed containers, especially for high-fat foods like cheese.
Be prepared for snack attacks. Prepare carrots, fennel, cucumber, peppers, celery, and keep bagged in fridge ready for the mid-morning munchies.
Your digestive system works best when food’s at room temperature, so remove chilled food from the fridge a while before you eat.
Before you go out to the gym, for a swim, or simply for a brisk walk – set out a healthy snack or light meal for your return and put the cookie jar AWAY.
Eat smaller portions. A healthy portion of meat weighs 75g (3 oz) - 3 slices, each 0.25 inches (0.5cm) thick and the size of a playing card.
Cut daily calories in small ways – have fewer snacks, smaller portions, chew food slowly and stop when full, have a small evening meal.
Eat mindfully by savouring each mouthful, enjoying the flavours and textures. Pause before you eat more. Do you really want that next mouthful?
If you quaff a glass of wine as you cook, pour a tomato juice instead, or even a glass of water, and drink that before you start on the alcohol.
Organic foods can be pricey, so spend first on staples: fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat and poultry.
Each time you shop, bring home one more organic item for your storecupboard.
At every shop – buy fewer processed foods you purchase, and more of the fresh and simple items you can quickly cook from scratch.
Throw out the deep fryer. Leave your frying pan the cupboard, bring it out for the occasional treat.
When you prepare meat and poultry, trim off all the visible fat, and always choose lean cuts.
Don’t forego chocolate completely – but do choose dark, organic varieties, high in cocoa solids. Linger over a few squares each day, as a ritual indulgence.
Shop locally and frequently, buying just enough for a day or two at a time. Buy food at its freshest, and select unpackaged fruit and veg.
If you buy packaged fruit and veg, check use-by dates, buy the freshest and use up quickly.
Develop a repertoire of simple 10-minute recipes – cut them out, print them off, collect and collate.
