Much importance is given to children's eating habits, but these both reflect and become the foundation for adult dietary habits. Although people's nutritional needs shift over their lifetimes, certain core nutrients and eating practices hold healthy benefits for everyone. Modeling good eating behavior helps kids incorporate nutritious choices, such as drinking milk instead of soda pop, into daily life. You can revamp your diet by following a few rules for shopping, cooking and eating right.
Basic Habits
Deciding what to eat should help you achieve your recommended daily values, or DVs, of nutrients. The FDA nutrition facts on food labels tell you which foods satisfy which percentage of these DVs. In general, eating more whole grains, such as brown rice or whole-wheat baked items, provides greater nutrition than refined grain products, such as foods made with white rice or white flour. Larger quantities of fruits and vegetables than meats and seafood will strike a healthy balance. Choosing nutritious foods that contain less sugar, such as low-fat milk over cola beverages, and less fat, such as grilled rather than fried foods, are good practices to follow.
Cooking Choices
Adding lots of butter, salt and sugar to foods on the stove or at the table are poor dietary habits. These nutrients can cause weight gain and illness if you get too much of them. The American Heart Association suggests boiling, steaming, poaching, baking, grilling or broiling without added fat, or with small amounts of liquid oils instead of butter. Use lemon or herbs instead of shaking salt over entrees and side dishes. Choose sugar substitute to sweeten beverages, fruits and cereals.
Serving Sizes
Eating whatever is put in front of you can make you gain weight, especially since portions vary among cooks and dining establishments. Control your calorie intake and weight by sticking to suggested serving sizes for cereal and other packaged foods. Eat twice the amount of grains, fruits and vegetables, about ½ cup to 1 cup, than meats and seafood, which you should limit to 3 oz. servings.
Eating Regular Meals
Inconsistent nutrition affect your metabolism, energy level and immune system function. That's why the National Institutes of Health reminds you to eat three meals each day, beginning with breakfast. Eating breakfast helps you get a head start on your DVs of nutrients and makes you more likely to achieve them consistently. Breakfast has also been shown to improve children's performances in school. The Food Research and Action Center cites 1997 data that reveals that kids who eat breakfast make fewer mistakes in math and test taking than kids who do not. The same principles may apply to working adults as well.
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