12 benefits of a healthy diet
We all know that healthy eating is important for us. In this blog, we will discuss 12 benefits of a healthy diet. But if you try to figure out why that is actually the case, you will often find that it all remains very vague. Something with weight, something with disease prevention, maybe something with more energy … This vagueness is sometimes a big problem. Because: the clearer your future ‘reward’ is, the more effort you will want to do to actually get to that point. And that means that the benefits of eating healthier are key to your motivation to actually do it! In short: are you trying to eat healthier, but are you afraid that you will not keep it up? Or do you need a push to really change something in your diet? Then take a look at what a good diet can do for you.
Benefits of a healthy diet
Here are the 12 benefits of a healthy diet
1. Less flu and colds
Particularly in winter, half of the Netherlands walks around sneezing and sniffling. Very annoying, especially if that flu-like feeling persists for weeks. However, with a good diet, you can avoid some of that discomfort quite easily.
In principle, your body is perfectly capable of clearing up viruses itself. However, it does need the necessary nutrients for this – and those are exactly the vitamins and minerals that you get enough in with a healthier diet! In other words, the better your diet, the fitter you will get through the flu season.
Not only vitamin C is important in this. For example, B6 also helps to produce enough white blood cells, and you make fewer immune cells if you don’t get enough iron, zinc and copper. With a varied diet you prevent deficiencies of all those substances.
2. Less chance of serious lifestyle diseases
And it is not only the ‘harmless’ flu that has less chance with a good diet. Much more serious lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, can also largely be prevented by eating healthy food.
The development of these diseases is largely due to an excess of sugar in your diet. Also on healthy fats are responsible for particularly heart problems. Those are exactly the nutrients that you get less if your diet is well put together! You can even significantly reduce the risk of certain types of cancer if you eat healthy.
3. Better bowel movements
Do you regularly suffer from flatulence or cramps after eating? Do you suffer from constipation or do you have problems with diarrhea? All of that indicates that your gut is struggling to digest your food. And that is usually a result of that food itself.
The digestion in your intestines is handled by all kinds of bacteria, your intestinal flora. The healthier you eat, the healthier the bacteria that grow well here. If you mainly eat junk food and sugar, this stimulates the growth of intestinal flora that are not doing too well for your health – with the necessary digestive problems as a result.
You will often find that your intestines have to get used to eating healthier, precisely because those poorer intestinal flora do not agree. But after that, the problems with your bowel movements often disappear like snow in the sun.
4. Healthier teeth
Many people dread the mandatory visit to the dentist every six months. What if there is a hole? Or if your tooth meat appears to be once again inflamed?
Good brushing remains important, of course, but good news: a healthier diet can also significantly explain the risk of cavities. You often eat less sugars that affect the enamel. In addition, eating a healthy diet can improve acidity in the mouth, making enamel stronger. That also helps against the development of tooth decay.
And that inflamed gums? The following also applies: a healthier diet with fewer sugars makes it easier for your body to tackle inflammation. This also makes that basis for your teeth stronger.
5. Less chance of eye problems
Your eyes are very vulnerable to deterioration, especially as you get older. Your diet also plays a major role in this. Many eye problems, such as cataracts, are the result of damage caused by free radicals. These are harmful waste products that can be neutralized through your diet.
Healthy food contains antioxidants, which make short work of free radicals. You will find them mainly in fresh fruit and vegetables, green tea and all kinds of spices. Excellent ingredients in a healthy daily menu.
6. Grow old healthier
Do you ever worry about your health later in life? It may seem a long way away, but we all get old – and of course, we prefer to do so as fit and vital as possible.
A healthier diet plays an important role in this! After all, the better you eat, the better your body is able to continue to recover properly, and the less you deteriorate as you get older. For example, sufficient calcium ensures that your bones remain strong at a later age. And if you eat enough protein, your muscles are less likely to break down later in life.
7. A more beautiful skin
External changes can also be minimized with a good diet. Do you suffer from acne and impurities in your skin? Or have you recently spotted the first wrinkles and are you afraid that they will quickly deepen? Then healthy eating really helps.
Your skin functions, among other things, as a discharge route for waste. In other words, the more bad substances you eat, the more rubbish has to go out through your pores. Not surprising that this can lead to blockages and therefore pimples!
Your diet also supplies the nutrients that keep your skin healthy and elastic. If you eat too little fresh vegetables, your skin will lose its resilience relatively faster. As a result, you get wrinkles sooner and they spread faster.
8. A better night’s sleep
We all sleep badly from time to time. But do you actually never wake up feeling refreshed and refreshed in the morning? Do you regularly toss in bed for hours? Or do you often wake up at night and do not rest? Then there is more to it.
Stress is a common cause of poor sleep. Not only your lifestyle and time schedule is an important factor, but also your diet. The right diet can lead to a reduction in the stress hormone cortisol – and thus to a reduction in that rushed feeling that keeps you awake.
In addition, people who eat a lot of sugar often sleep badly. Sugar is always a boost: it gives your entire body a quick boost of energy. Exactly what you don’t need when you’re in bed … Eating healthier, with less sugar, can improve your sleep immediately.
9. More energy
Of course, you will quickly feel a lot more energetic when you make better nights. But even if you sleep well now, you will find that you quickly feel more active and motivated if you change and improve your diet.
This has largely to do with the way in which your food releases energy. If there are a lot of fast sugars in your diet, this happens very quickly: immediately after eating a piece of chocolate you will feel perked up again. But that fast peak also means that your energy level drops again quickly! This way you will be a bit cranky and tired for much of the day looking for your next boost.
Eating healthier releases energy more slowly. This way your energy level remains more constant and you do not suffer from fluctuations, fatigue attacks and other collapses.
10. Better concentration
Do you have to study hard or do you have intensive days ahead at the office? You may be tempted to regularly opt for that quick energy boost of cookies and sugary snacks. Yet it appears that you can maintain a better concentration with a healthier diet.
This not only has to do with preventing those nasty energy dips, it is also because your brain simply runs better on good fuel. Omega 3 fats in particular are of great importance for a healthy brain. A daily handful of nuts, an occasional portion of oily fish and the use of healthy oils will make you smarter.
The reverse also applies. Research shows that people who regularly eat unhealthy junk food will perform a lot worse when they have to think.
11. A happy and cheerful feeling
Of course, how happy you are depending in part on external factors. But your overall state of mind is also largely determined by how well you feel physically. This way you often feel happier if you have exercised or if you have taken a brisk walk. Healthy eating has the same effect.
That has everything to do with your hormone balance. Your diet partly determines which hormones your body can produce. If you eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy fats and antioxidants, your body is better able to produce lucky substances such as dopamine and serotonin. As a result, you get up with a much sunnier feeling!
12. Simply keep your weight
And – ahead – a healthier diet also helps you to maintain your weight. For example, if you ensure that you get enough nutrients, your body does not have to ask for more food – and therefore more calories. And if you avoid fast sugars as much as possible, your meals will be a lot more saturated. This also means that you automatically eat fewer calories.
Why then is this advantage at the very end? Many people start eating healthier to put on weight – and then immediately release the strings once they have reached their weight. That’s a shame! Building a better diet can help you feel so much better – both physically and mentally, and both now and when you get older.
So do you feel tempted to go back to fries and pizza? Or do you notice that you already have a large piece of cake with your tea for the fifth day in a row? Then think again about the above benefits. Because that cake is undoubtedly delicious but isn’t that also true for a day without protesting intestines, or for a night’s rest after which you jump out of bed fit and cheerful?
Healthier eating tips
In short, whether you want to get rid of your minor ailments, lose weight or stay fit in the future: a healthier diet is recommended. But what does that actually mean, a healthy diet?
On our blog, you will find countless other articles with tips on how to build a better diet. Or take a look at our recipe database, where you immediately see that you certainly do not have to compromise on taste if you start eating better!
