For a healthy and balanced life

You may know a lot of adults who are suffering from various heart diseases. In fact, your own family members may be victims of such ailments. But if you think that such diseases are only for the adults, you are wrong. The world is seeing more and more children suffering from heart diseases!

Although they are certainly serious diseases often requiring surgery, they can be controlled to a certain extent if you make the right lifestyle changes. If you eat right, exercise and generally look after yourself from a young age, you should be able to control these diseases later in life.

The main change you can make in your diet is to control your fat intake. Of course you need fat for the proper functioning of your body, but the thing is to know the difference between good and bad fats. 'Bad fats' are those found in saturated and trans-fats and include those found in full-fat dairy products such as butter, and in fatty meat, processed food such as biscuits and cakes, fast food and those from most take-away joints.

'Good fats' are mono and polyunsaturated ones found in oils such as olive, sunflower, soya and peanut, avocadoes, nuts, seeds and oily fish. It is not that difficult to incorporate these into your meals instead of the unhealthy options you may be consuming.

You could have sandwiches with a healthier spread rather than with butter; choosing wholemeal or brown bread is another sound option. Instead of large amounts of salt as seasoning, fresh or dried herbs, grated ginger or garlic or lime juice can be used. Salty crisps and snacks could be replaced with unsalted nuts such as cashew and peanuts and toasted seeds which are just as tasty and provides health benefits too.

You may love cakes, puddings and biscuits and they won't harm you if taken in moderation. But it would be so much better if you could cut down on them and opt for fresh fruits and vegetables instead.

You may not want to eat the same type of fruits and vegetables every day, so variety is the key here. A fun way to eat vegetables is to have them cut into sticks and dipping them in creams or yoghurt. You can get your mother to cut vegetables like carrots and cucumber into sticks and have fun eating them.

Fatty red meat and processed meat products could also be replaced with healthier oily fish. Fats known as Omega 3s play a leading role in keeping your heart healthy, but people who don't like fish may miss out on them. Besides being important to the growth of your body, another reason not to completely cut down on your fat intake is that this may lead you to crave more of it, which in turn would result in you eating more food of this type.

To keep your energy levels from fluctuating, include the required level of protein in your diet. Otherwise, you may not have the energy for your daily work. It is also good if you can have your meals with the other members of your family. You will enjoy your meals better in the company of your family; it will also prevent you from partaking of huge portions, which you might do if eating alone.

This would lead to feelings of contentment and satisfaction and result in better food digestion too. Improper digestion affects one's well-being as well as skin, nails and hair. Controlling your food intake is only one way. Another method is to lead an active lifestyle. Childhood obesity has been increasing in most parts of the world due to the sedentary lifestyle most children lead these days.

Reading, watching movies on your DVD and working on your computer are all well and good, but spare some time to play with your friends too. You can play games, go bike-riding or swimming or just have a walk or a jog.

Skipping for five minutes a day is very good for the overall well-being of your system and could be done anywhere, even inside your house, and at any time of day. Another activity whch benefits your system is laughing out loud. While you take part in all these activities and lead a healthy life, you can advise your parents and other elders too to follow your lead. Thereby the good health of your entire family will be assured.

Do you take your ‘five a day’?

You may have read or heard about the need to take your ‘five a day’. What exactly is this ‘five a day’?

Doctors and nutritionists have recommended that we all need five portions of fruit and vegetables per day to maintain a healthy and balanced life.

What size is an actual portion in this ‘five a day’ recommendation? It could be a carrot, an apple, seven small tomatoes, a cupful of grapes... It’s always better to consume fresh fruit, but that doesn’t mean that dried, frozen or tinned ones don’t count. A heaped tablespoon of raisins or three tablespoons of tinned fruit salad also count as a portion. So is a medium-sized (about 150ml) glass of pure fruit juice.

All vegetables don’t fall into this group, however. Starchy veggies like potatoes, yams and pumpkin don’t count, but they are full of fibre and therefore definitely good to eat. Vegetables are included in various take-away and instant food. They are also good for you, but you should be a bit wary about taking them as such food is full of salt.

With prices of food so high, it may not be possible for everyone to follow this advice, but there may be some of you who spend a lot of money on fast food. You can certainly opt for healthy and nutritious food instead of the junk you are currently eating.