Even if you are doing your best to maintain a healthy diet, for those who are not professional in the field, it is generally very difficult to know everything there is to know about proper nutrition. Often despite your best intentions you end up doing things which could lead to opposing results.
It's never pleasant to find out we're wrong, but when you're making mistakes which directly contradicts with your desired goal (being healthy), it's more than simply annoying. You spend good time, money and often give up things, just to keep your body healthy in a way which may not exactly be in your best interests.
1.Adding flax seeds to your breakfast can have zero effect!
Flaxseed is enriched with Omega 3, fibre and antioxidants - all great for heart health. However, whole flax seeds are a little difficult to digest and may pass through the digestive system as they are, without being digested and absorbed in the body. This means that you will miss all that good they contain. How do you fix it? Buy ground flax seeds or just soak whole flax seeds in liquid for a minimum of 10 minutes to a maximum of overnight. Add to your breakfast and viola - you are set.
2. Health shake…. is a calorie bomb?!
What is easier than throwing a handful of foods on a blender? Some blueberries, chia, cashew butter, kale, bananas, and coconut milk that will turn this paste into a delicious liquid that easily passes through a straw. But these mixes can easily turn a health oar into a calorie bomb. Try to keep your shakes in the range of 300 calories or less. You will do this by reducing the portions to about 300 ml glasses, using mostly vegetables and fruits and not overdoing it with the nuts.
3. Are you cutting down oils in the salad?
Vegetables contain vitamins A, E, and K, and antioxidants that are all fat soluble. They should be eaten along with any fat to soak in the body. If you eat a salad without dressing or without oil - you are not actually maximizing the absorption capacity of these vitamins. If you want to make the best of the vegetables you eat, serve your salad with oil-based sauce or add nuts - which also contain fatty acids
4. Supplements with your coffee…
Caffeine may interfere with your body's ability to absorb some of the vitamins and minerals you may be taking, such as Calcium, iron, B and D vitamins, and more. And by the way, not only is your coffee problematic drinks like tea or cola containing caffeine, are equally harmful to absorption. Make sure to keep an hour's gap between drinking it and taking the supplements (supplements should be taken with water).
5. Are you putting too much trust into labels like sugar free or fat free?
On some food labels its headlines scream things like "sugar free" or "fat free". But what your food does contain, is so much more important than it being sugar or fat free. Highly processed foods may not contain sugar or fat, but they may contain a high amount of preservatives and distilled ingredients instead. When you look at the labels of the food you are buying, you should lean towards those looking closest to their natural state
6. Reduce sugar intake by …. believe it or not…. eating less fruit?! Are you serious?
Sweetened drinks have a much higher source of sugar consumption than fruits. In addition, although they contain sugar, fruits also contain other nutrients such as vitamins, fibre and more while the polluted soft drinks do not have these benefits. It is much easier for us to overdo soft drinks than to eat fruit, because they satisfy us more. Therefore, if you are looking for where to cut sugar, soft drinks are the immediate suspects, not fruits
7. Drinking almond milk, without shaking the carton
Equitable milk substitutes made from soy, almonds, cashews, rice, etc. usually contain calcium and vitamin D. These nutrients, added to the milk, are not well assimilated and tend to sink into the bottom of the carton. When you drink the milk without shaking it first you miss all these good additions…. Sooooo as far-fetched as this may seem don’t forget to give the carton a good shake before pouring.
8. Yogurt - or not?
Yogurt is basically fermented milk, and fermented foods containing probiotic bacteria that are beneficial to the health of our digestive system and supports our immune system. Therefore, logic suggests that all yogurts are rich in friendly and beneficial bacteria. Right? Well not exactly… If the yogurt underwent heating or pasteurization, this process damaged its probiotic content, in some of the manufacturers' products, the probiotic bacteria are added back to the products after they have been pasteurized, but not in all of them. Look out for yogurt that clearly shows that it contains active bacteria, or look for names of specific bacteria in the list of ingredients, such as: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bollagricus L etc.
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