Healthy diet: What should you put on your plate?

MANILA, Philippines – What is your idea of healthy diet? With many health fads surfacing on the Internet, it’s hard to determine the keys to having a healthy diet.

Should you eat a lot of protein to build muscles? Can you still eat rice even though you want to lose weight?

In lieu with these questions, Coach Chappy Callanta, who is also Herbalife’s fitness coach, answers “what does it take to have a healthy diet.”

According to the renowned fitness coach, a healthy diet is balanced with enough servings of fruits and vegetables.

We need vegetables for their phytochemicals, which are important for overall health and to fight toxins.

Eggplants are good source of important phytonutrients, which have antioxidant activity. It is also considered as brain food as it contains nasunin, a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger that prevents cell membranes from damage.

Spinach, on the other hand is packed with lutein, which prevents muscle degeneration. It is also a rich source of plant-based Omega-3 and folate, which help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and osteoporosis.

Ideally, you should have at least five kinds of fruits and vegetables each day.

What are other nutrients that should be present in your plate? It should be a diet with enough protein, abundant of healthy fats (omega 3, polyunsatruaded, monounsaturated and saturated) and just the right amount of carbs.

It is a good thing not all kinds of carbohydrates are bad for your health. In order to have the right amount of carbohydrates in our body, we should be able to distinguish bad carbs from good carbs.

Examples of good carbs are whole grains and beans such as barley, quinoa, oatmeal and whole wheat bread.

However, they are not enough because they are not sufficient of protein, which is usually the case in the modern diet.

We need about a gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. This is good, especially if you are looking to build more muscles.

If you work out hard, then that number can jump to a gram of protein per pound of your body weight.

And the most basic of them all – a healthy diet consists of adequate amounts of water as well - two-three liters per day. If you are targeting to lose weight, studies have found out that cold water is a great option because forces your body to use more calories to warm it up.

Above all food items mentioned, you need to have the right attitude when it comes to food.

You shouldn’t be scared of food as we should take advantage of the food that we take in and consume it to support your activities. It’s good for you. It’s just a matter of getting the right amount and right quality of food.