Dietitian Claire Julsing Strydom shares her 5 healthy eating tips for a slim body and healthy life
Dietitian Claire Julsing Strydom, RD (SA) is involved in various initiatives including school nutrition intervention programs for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. Here are some of her healthy eating tips to help you live a healthier life.
1. A large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables
These foods are at the bottom of the food pyramid for a reason, they contribute fibre, nutrients and antioxidants; they are truly super foods and should be included everyday in order to achieve a balanced diet.
2. Fatty fish
Rich in omega 3 fatty acids which are an essential nutrient, meaning you need to get this nutrient in through your diet, examples include salmon, sardines, pilchards, trout and mackerel.
3. Whole grain carbohydrates
These “good carbs” should be included in your diet each day as they contain B vitamins, magnesium, selenium, iron and dietary fibre, examples include quinoa, bulgur wheat, millet, brown rice or barley.
4. Good fats
Fats in the diet are important for hormone production and are necessary to facilitate the uptake of fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D E and K. Include monounsaturated fats such as nuts, avocado pears, olive and olive oil in portion controlled amounts on a daily basis to make sure that you get enough good fats each day.
5. Low fat or fat free dairy
Calcium is an important nutrient that is often not consumed in quantities high enough to meet nutrient recommendations. Include low fat or fat free dairy daily to up your daily calcium intake.
And the worst food?
Junk food
A typical combo of burger, chips and fizzy drink , why this is bad it that this one meal meets the criteria for all the high risk dietary practices, namely high intake of refined carbohydrates and sugar, high intake of saturated and trans fat, high energy density with a low nutrient value and low intake of fruit and vegetables.
These typical combo meals provide heaps of energy with very few nutrients and this is hugely problematic because it means you are basically putting “bad fuel” into your body. If we expect our body’s to perform optimally we need to optimise the nutrients we put into it.
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