5 Everyday Food and Drinks For Better Health

It’s time to shake off that hangover from the long weekend and start your work week right! To help you, here are five easy tips to incorporate better health and wellbeing into your everyday life.

1. Stay away from soft drinks and fruit juices

While a small coke at lunch can give you an easy energy boost, sugary drinks are one of the most fattening things you can put in your body. Sugar calories from liquids are not registered by the brain in the same way food calories are, so you end up having more total calories. On top of that, sugary drinks are closely associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart diseases.

Fruit drinks, like orange juice, are just as bad and in most cases, contain the same amount of sugar.

2. Eat a packet of nuts as a snack

Instead of munching on chips or some chocolate when that 3pm slump hits, grab a packet of nuts. Nuts are loaded with magnesium, vitamin E, and fibre. Studies have shown that nuts can help you lose weight, help fight type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and even boost your metabolism.

3. Processed foods are doing you no favours

Processed “junk” foods lack fibre, protein and micronutrients, but are high in sugar and refined grains (neither of which are good for you). Studies have shown junk food is engineered to be “hyper-rewarding” and can trick our brains into eating more than we actually need. In some cases, they can even be addictive.

4. Coffee is really good for you

There’s no reason to stop getting that flat white in the morning, studies have shown coffee drinkers actually live longer, have reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s.

5. Eat lots of fish

Fish is universally acknowledged as a very healthy meal, but this is even more true of fatty fish, like salmon. These fish are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids and many more nutrients. People who eat fish have lower risk of heart disease, dementia and depression.

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This article quoted studies and resources found here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16825676

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4259/2

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-coffee-makes-you-live-longer

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/3/562.short

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-13-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coffee

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21999688

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24898229

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10878689

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1829363/