Lily Soutter
Lily is a Nutritionist BSc MSc. Her passion is to simplify the science around nutrition, to provide health hacks and smarter eating strategies to empower people to enjoy a healthy ...
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What can I do to change my diet?
When it comes to changing your diet, what I would suggest is making small sustainable changes, which can make big impacts. If you feel overwhelmed by following a healthy lifestyle. What I would suggest is making sure you don't get swept up into doing any crazy crash diets. Picking one sustainable change, whether that's drinking more water, eating more fruit, thinking about what you can include within your diet rather than exclude, can make bigger impacts over a longer period of time.
What is a healthy diet?
A healthy diet is a balanced starch, which can support with the maintenance of good health for the general population. It generally includes eating the food groups in the right proportions, and the Eat Well Guide on the NHS website can be a really good place to start. What that suggests is choosing about five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables per day, making sure you're getting in some fibre rich starchy carbohydrates like the whole grains, brown bread, brown pasta, brown rice, brown flour products. If you've got potato, you could leave the skin on for an extra fibre boost, getting in some good quality protein, whether that comes from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, or even plant-based sauces such as chickpeas, pulses, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds, or soy products. You can also have some unsaturated fats within your diet in smaller amounts like olive oil, avocado, nuts, and seeds, and just remember to stay hydrated to have about six to eight glasses of water per day. Whilst everybody may have slightly different requirements when it comes to nutrition, this Eat Well Guy can be a really good place to make a start.
Are all diets healthy?
The internet is definitely home to a wide range of diets, which many people may have tried before, but one thing just to bear in mind is the best diet is one that you can sustain and which is healthy for you and that you feel good following. Be mindful of any diets out there which cut out major food groups, which make wild sweeping claims about the benefits of it or which are highly restrictive. If you need more advice in terms of which dietary protocol to follow or whether if something is actually healthy for you, I would suggest seeking guidance from your healthcare provider who can point you in the right direction to get more information about a specific dietary pattern for you.