Maintaining a healthy diet is important for your immunity and general wellbeing, having more energy and a better mood to go about your day to day life.
With studies showing that those who are obese are 113% more likely to require hospitalisation with COVID-19, and 74% more likely to be admitted to intensive care, it is a good idea to maintain a healthy diet to reduce weight and have a better immune system.
Eating healthily, in short, means avoiding foods with high amounts of added salt and sugar and having a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. By eating healthily you may find you are now at a reduced cancer risk, have a healthier heart and an improved memory.
The most important components of food to consider when making a change are protein, fat, fibre, calcium and carbohydrates:
- Protein: Energy to get up and go, supporting mood and cognitive function.
- Fat: Bad fats can increase your risk of certain diseases, whilst good can protect your brain and heart.
- Fibre: Grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans are all a source of fibre, helping your digestion, improving your skin and lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
- Calcium: A calcium difficiency may lead to osteoporosis, anxiety, depression and sleep difficulties. Having enough magnesium and vitamins D and K can help calcium do its job.
- Carbohydrates: The main source of energy, coming from complex, unrefined carbs. White breads, pastries, starches and sugar can cause rapid blood sugar spikes as well as mood and energy fluctuations.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends to maintain a healthy diet you should:
- Eat at least 400g of fruit and vegetables a day, reducing risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
- Reduce saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake, trans-fats to less than 1% and replacing saturated and trans-fats with unsaturated fats.
- Reduce salt intake to less than 5g per day
- Reduce the intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake. Less than 5% would provide additional health benefits.
Dr Petrie's Top Tips
We sat down with Dr Petrie this week to discusshealthy living,and he gave us a few of his top tips on how to start living a healthier lifestyle by changing a few habits. He told us how it may not matter which form of diet you actually follow, as long as you follow and adopt the below principles:
- Snacking the right foods before dinner may mean you have less on your plate during a main meal.
- Never take a bag of crisps with you when you sit down.
- Be sure that there is no medical reason for your weight issues, such as your thyroid.
- Avoid drinking alcohol.
- Stop smoking before trying to lose weight as this is priority; quitting can cause you to want to eat more.
- When on a walk, push yourself a little harder each time.
- Never go hungry, have a handful of nuts instead of chocolate.
- Avoid having sweets, cakes, biscuits or fizzy drinks in the house.
- The desire for sugar will go after the first few weeks of change.
- have a smaller plate at meal times and pack with vegetables.
- Do not go for low calorie fizzy drinks, a study found those who had soda or diet soda still put on weight compared to participants drinking no soda at all.
Headed by Dr Peter Petrie, My Weight Solution is a prescription only weight management solution for those concerned about their weight and find it difficult to lose the weight on your own. This is suitable for almost anyone and has the best result if you have a BMI of over 30.
Clinical trials have found 33% of patients lose more than 10% of their body weight, however some achieve even more.
The treatment will include nutrition and exercise advice and plans, means to inform, monitor and encourage you as you shed the pounds to reach a healthier build.
If you would like to know more about the 12 week programme, why not email or phone us to book in a consultation? If you are unsure if your BMI is over 30, we are offering a 15 minute free BMI assessment and brief discussion of eligibility, which would be followed by a £130 consultation appointment.
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