Text: Bauer Syndication, Good Health / Additional reporting: Sylvia Ong
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Okinawa in Japan has one of the world’s highest concentration of centenarians and one of their secrets is hara hachi bu – to eat until you’re 80 per cent full. To do this, Dr Rick Kausman, author of If Not Dieting, Then What, recommends rating your hunger level on a scale of one to 10 before eating; zero represents starving, five is comfortably full and 10 is very full. Also ask yourself, “Am I really hungry or am I eating because I’m bored?” This can prevent overeating.
We’ve become too scared to include fat in our diet, but it’s the type of fat that’s important, says dietitian Terrill Bruere. Good fats are found in nuts, oily fish, avocado and in sunflower, canola and olive oils. They help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. Unhealthy fats are found in fried foods, cakes, butter and full-fat dairy products. Too much saturated fat contributes to the build-up of fatty material inside your blood vessels, which clogs up your arteries and can lead to a heart attack.
Chlorophyll, the ingredient that gives green vegetables their “greenness”, contains magnesium which helps support good muscle and nerve function, strengthens our immune system and regulates our immune system and regulates blood sugar and blood pressure. Boost your vegetable consumption – half a cup of frozen spinach provides about 20 per cent of the recommended daily magnesium intake. As you grow older, your metabolism runs more slowly and you need to reduce your calorie intake but add more quality per mouthful.