15 Easy Ways to Improve Your Diet Right Now

Published on December 9, 2024

Want to kick your eating habits up a notch but feel bogged down? Think of it this way – it might just be how you’re going about it. Diving into a wholesome diet can be as easy as pie when you’ve got some neat tricks in your pocket. You’re in luck because you’ve stumbled upon a goldmine. Scroll down, and you’ll uncover 15 super simple strategies that’ll rev up your food game, skyrocketing your health and overall life quality in a matter of weeks. Why stick around? Because the nuggets of wisdom below could very well be the breakthrough you’ve been longing for.

What is a healthy diet?

Breast milk is the only food on the face of the Earth that contains all of the needed nutrients for the human body and mind to develop and maintain health. Apart from breastmilk, that only the infants have the privilege to rely on, no other food contains the nutrients that we crave. That is why, we are supposed to follow a healthy, well-balanced diet that offers us just that (1).

A healthy diet offers us all of the needed nutrients by introducing a variety of foods and drinks that we get to enjoy it. A healthy diet is also supposed to satisfy the calorie requirements on a daily level. Usually, what a healthy diet plan includes are much-needed proteins, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, fiber, and healthy, unprocessed foods.

What are the benefits of a healthy diet?

There are many health benefits that are expected to arrive with the help of a healthy diet that contains all of the previously mentioned nutrients. In the following, we will list the major health benefits that we hope will help you make the change in your diet plan.

Weight loss

With a healthy diet, and regular physical activity, of course, you will be able to lose the excess body weight and maintain a healthy weight for once. A healthy diet protects you from the variety of health risks that come with overweight and obesity, starting from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, to osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and depression (2).

Improved memory

A healthy diet has been found as beneficial in the fight against early cognitive decline and the many memory issues that are occurring more and more in the past years. Individuals with a family history of dementia would find this especially beneficial (3).

Better mood

If you are struggling with mood changes, and behavior issues, perhaps it is time to let the healthy diet do its job and improve your mood for good. Along with physical activity, a healthy diet is a recipe for an improved mood (4).

Better diabetes management

Anyone who is, unfortunately, dealing with diabetes, would be happy to learn that by following a healthy diet, they will be able to manage their diabetes symptoms better and improve their overall health and lifestyle.

These are just some of the expected beneficial effects to come with the improvement of your diet. Learning about all of these health benefits should be a motivation enough to improve your own diet as well. So now, let’s share some great and easy ways that you can use to improve your own diet!

15 Easy ways to improve your diet

Eat slowly

Create a habit for yourself to eat your meals at a slow pace. Allow yourself to take the time needed to enjoy in the taste, but also to burn more calories by chewing your food slowly. In addition, eating slowly will help you to stay away from overeating, since you will be allowing your brain to register the information that you are in fact full, and you do not have to proceed with eating to satisfy your hunger (5, 6).

Eat more Greek yogurt

Greek yogurt is the perfect protein source to add to your diet. It can be combined with many different foods such as berries, seeds, muesli, nuts, etc. to create the most delicious breakfast or snack for you to enjoy it. Greek yogurt has double the protein as compared with the regular yogurt, it has a great taste, and it is just what your diet has been missing all this time (7).

Prepare a shopping list

Avoid impulse buying by always preparing and carrying a shopping list with you. That, and of course, never leave the house feeling hungry, not especially when you are about to go grocery shopping. Take the time to create a shopping list that will inform you what healthy foods you may need to buy on your next trip to the supermarket. The shopping list will save you many money, extra calories, and it will allow you the opportunity actually to plan your meals beforehand.

Avoid fruit juices

Fruits and veggies are a great addition to your diet plan, but you ought to consume them fully, not in the form of juices, especially not when these juices have been store-bought (8). Fruit and veggie juices often have many added sugars that you would like to avoid. Plus, consuming the fruits and veggies in their whole form will allow you to satisfy your hunger on the long-run, whereas the juices will only do that for the next couple of minutes. And when you do choose to consume fruit juice, always make sure that it is one that you have prepared at home, instead of bought.

Drink more water

Save some money, and instead of buying sugary drinks and alcohol, buy yourself a bottle of fresh water for a change. Staying hydrated at all times should be priority number one. Drinking more water throughout the day will protect you against dehydration, improve the quality of your skin, increase the number of calories that you burn on a daily level, reduce your appetite, and much more (9, 10, 11). Aim to drink at least eight tall glasses of fresh water on a daily level, for the ultimate results.

Choose whole-grain bread over a refined one

Consuming refined-grains increases your risk of abdominal fat, diabetes, heart disease, etc. On the other hand, consuming whole-grains has been linked to a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, according to recent scientific research (12, 13). Choose from the variety of whole-grain bread to add to your meals and enjoy in the many B vitamins, zinc, iron, magnesium, and manganese that the whole-grains have to offer you.

Use eggs to prepare a power breakfast

Breakfast is considered to be the most important meal in the day, and with multiple good reasons, that is. A good, fulfilling breakfast, especially one that contains great amounts of protein, has been scientifically proven to be able to satisfy your hunger longer, reduce the number of calories that you intake throughout the day, but also reduce the need to intake empty calories as well (14, 15, 16). Eggs are the perfect animal-based protein source that you should not miss out on. Try out the different egg recipes found online to create the perfect breakfast for you and your family to enjoy it.

Choose healthy snacks

There is a variety of healthy foods that you can snack on in between your meals. Instead of sweets, chocolate, and potato chips, choose better snack options such as nuts, fresh fruits and veggies, peanut butter, and popcorn as some of the best healthy snack options. They will satisfy your hunger better, reduce the calorie intake through the following meal, and offer you a great taste for you to enjoy it.

Sleep more

Not getting enough sleep makes you prone to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, concentration issues, heart disease, etc (17). And to think that you are one good night of sleep away from all of that. Insufficient sleep will disrupt your appetite, increasing calorie intake throughout the day, thus increasing the risk of obesity (18). Make an effort to get a couple of nights of quality-sleep for a change. You will feel more energized, plus you will be improving your health and diet without even knowing.

Roast and boil the food over frying it

It is no secret that fried food comes with many health risks (19). So why not try to roast and boil your food for a change? Not only will it taste better, but it will also come with fewer calories and more health benefits. Plus, it can be more satisfying for your hunger, taking boiled potatoes as an example of being the most hunger satisfying food on the face of the Earth (20).

Increase your Omega-3 fatty acids intake

A diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to fight depression and anxiety, improve heart health, eye health, promote brain health, reduce inflammation and much, much more (21, 22, 23)! Use some of the most delicious Omega-3 fatty acids sources such as tuna, salmon, herring, sardines, flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, etc. to gain the health benefits of the Omega-3 fatty acids that you know you deserve.

Rely on supplements

We are happy to be living in a world where high-quality supplements for each vitamin and mineral exist. We should definitely use them as much as possible as an addition to our diet to make sure that we are not struggling with any vitamin or mineral deficiency that can bring major health risks in our lives. Make sure that you buy yourself only the supplements of the purest quality.

Prepare your meals at home

Another great habit that can improve your diet and save you many money is to start cooking at home as often as you can. If that means clearing your daily schedule to make the time to cook the meal that you are about to enjoy it, so be it. Cooking at home has been a scientifically proven way to improve your diet and health altogether. Yet another great idea would be to bring homemade snacks and meals that you can enjoy at the office instead of running to buy some processed food filled with extra calories, sugars, and fats that will only do you harm.

Eat smaller portions

To protect yourself against overeating, choosing smaller plates to serve your food it would be a perfect idea. Science suggests that by choosing larger plates over smaller ones, people tend to intake 30% more food as compared to when their food has been served on smaller plates or bowls. Do not make this mistake ever again – replace your plates and bowls as soon as possible (24).

Take your coffee black

Who does not like to start their morning by drinking a hot cup of coffee? To improve your diet, you are not asked to quit drinking coffee altogether, but you are recommended to change the way that you usually take your coffee. Instead of adding artificial sweeteners, creams, and whatnot, why not try to take it all black and avoid the extra calories and health risks instead? If you mind the taste, we would recommend adding a bit of almond milk to improve it.

Conclusion

As you can see, the secret lays in simplicity. It is your most basic steps that you may need to change in order to improve your diet. Improving your diet will most probably save you many money, all of that while it improves your health and lifestyle. Follow these simple steps to experience the many benefits that a healthy diet has to offer.

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