Healthy Eating Tips

1. Include at least 1-2 varied fresh / tinned fish meals per week.

Around 2 serves a week is great and will help protect you from heart disease and possibly cancer. Having more doesn't seem to be better for your health and 2 serves a week leaves room in your diet for other meats and meat alternatives and helps protect our fish stocks.

2. Include several varied lean red meat meals per week. Vegetarians need to eat legumes and/or nuts daily.
Around 3 serves a week is fine, however, having more than this weekly frequency has not been conclusively associated with any adverse health effects. HEC nutrition experts recommend 3 serves a week so that you leave space in your diet for other meats and meat alternatives and also on the grounds of environmental sustainability. Having less may increase your risk of having an inadequate intake of iron and zinc, especially if you do not eat nuts, legumes, eggs, fish, chicken on days when you do not eat red meat. Also, remember that 1 serve of red meat or meat alternative (eggs, nuts, legumes, fish, pork/chicken) is recommended daily in one's diet.

3. Include lean poultry or pork weekly.
Around 2 serves a week is fine, however, having more than this weekly frequency has not been associated so far with any adverse health effects. This recommendation is based on the frequency of intake of long-lived populations in the Mediterranean in the 1960s. HEC nutrition experts also recommend 2 serves a week so that you leave space in your diet for other meats and meat alternatives and also on the grounds of environmental sustainability. Having less than this is also OK.

10 Healthy Eating Tips For Kids

Do you remember when you learned to ride a bike? The most important part was getting the balance right. Once you could balance easily, the pedals could turn smoothly, to drive the wheels and get the bike moving.

The same thing is true when it comes to choosing our food. Once we have learned to carefully balance the amounts and types of foods eaten, all the organs in the body will function smoothly and the body will work efficiently. Following these ten tips will help you stay fit and healthy. It’s as easy as riding a bike, once you’ve got the balance right!

1. Food is Fun… Enjoy your food

Sharing a meal with family and friends at home or at school is a great way to enjoy food. It is fun to see other people’s choice of food - what sandwich fillings do others have? Have you tried having a different filling every day? Check out your lunch box or dinner plate. How many different kinds of fruit and vegetables can you spot?

2. Breakfast is a very important meal

Our bodies always need energy, and after a night’s sleep, energy levels are low. Cars, buses and trains cannot run without fuel. So, whether you are off to school, or out and about at the weekend, start the day with breakfast. Plenty of carbohydrates is just the ticket: try cereal with semi-skimmed milk, fruit or yoghurt, toast or bread, perhaps with lean meats.

3. Eat lots of different foods every day, variety is the recipe for health

You need over 40 different kinds of vitamins and minerals every day for good health. Since there is no single food that contains them all, it is important to balance your daily choices. In fact there are no good or bad foods, so you do not need to miss out on the foods you enjoy. The best way to make sure you get the right balance is to eat a wide variety of foods each day.

4. Which group would you tip for the top? Base your food on carbohydrates

Many people don’t eat enough carbohydrate foods, such as cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes and bread. At least half the calories in your diet should come from these foods, so it is a good idea to include at least one of these at every meal. Try whole-grain bread, pasta and other cereals to give you extra fibre. Have you tried baking your own bread? It’s good fun and smells wonderful!

5. Gimme five! Eat fruits and vegetables with each meal and as tasty snacks!

Fruits and vegetables are among the most important foods for giving us enough vitamins, minerals and fibre. We should all try to eat 5 servings a day. For example, a glass of fruit juice at breakfast, perhaps an apple and banana as snacks and two vegetables at meal times then you have already reached your total. How many different kinds can you spot in the supermarket? Why not try some new ones?

6. Fat facts. Too much saturated fat is not good for your health

Eating too many of those tasty, fatty foods (such as butter, spreads, fried meats and sausages, pies and pastries) might not always be so good for your body. So remember, a big helping of potatoes, but go easy on the butter. Although we need some fats to get all the nutrients we need, it is better for our health if we don’t eat too much of these foods and get knocked off balance. So, if you have a high-fat lunch, choose a low-fat dinner.

7. Snack attack! Eat regularly and choose a variety of snacks

Even if you eat regular meals during the day, there will still be times in between that you feel hungry, especially if you have been very physically active. Snacks can fill the gap, but should not be eaten in place of meals, only as an extra. There are lots of different snacks available. Your choice may be crisps, nuts and other packet snacks, chocolate bars, cakes and biscuits. On other occasions, you may prefer a sandwich, some fresh or dried fruits, or perhaps sticks of vegetables like carrots and celery. Whichever snack you enjoy, remember it is always good to include a variety of different types to keep things in balance.

8. Quench your thirst. Drink plenty of liquids

Did you know that more than half of your weight is just water? So as well as giving your body all the food it needs each day to keep healthy, you need at least 5 glasses of liquids a day. It is particulary important if the weather is very hot or if you have done lots of exercise, to have plenty to drink to prevent dehydration. Usually – but not always – your body will tell you this, by making you feel thirsty. Plain tap water is great of course, but bottled water, fruit juices, tea, soft drinks, milk and so on, can all be okay too.

9. Care for those teeth! Brush your teeth at least twice a day

Brush your teeth at least twice a day. Eating foods high in sugar or starches too often during the day can play a part in tooth decay. So don’t nibble foods and sip drinks all day long! However, the best way to keep a nice smile is to brush your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothepaste. Also, after brushing your teeth at bedtime, don’t eat any food, or drink anything but water!

10. Get moving! Be active every day

Just like a bike may become rusty if it is not used for some time, our muscles and bones need to be kept moving too. Activity is needed to keep your heart healthy and your bones strong. It can also be good fun. Try to include some form of activity every day: it may be just walking to school and running up the stairs. However, games like skipping and football at break times are good fot giving the body a workout. Swimming is a particularly good sport for keeping you healthy.

Maintain Healthy Hair

Hair may also be damaged by conventional medicines and harsh commercial hair products that we use. There are certain nutrients which are essential for healthy hair growth. Feed your hair by having a healthy diet. The condition of your hair depends on the internal state of your body.

Tips to maintain healthy hair:

• Avoid blow - dryers, curling wands and electric heated rollers, as they make hair brittle. Instead, allow your hair to dry naturally.
• Protect your hair from the some elements. Wear a sun hat in summer and a bathing cap when swimming because the sun, salt and chlorine will damage your hair. For extra hair protection, rub a little olive oil onto the ends of your hair before you go swimming.
• Be wary of prescription medicines. The contraceptive pill, diet pills, thyroid drugs, cortisone and antibiotics are just some that can cause brittleness, and even hair loss.
• Massage your head to improve scalp health.
• For a rich conditioning treatment, warm half cup apricot kernel and massage it into your scalp and hair.

Dandruff treatments:

If your suffer from recurring dandruff, try some of these remedies.

• Try to avoid using commercial anti dandruff preparations, not only because their expensive, but overuse of these products can actually worsen the problem.
• Massage the scalp with apple juice or any other juice because its natural fruit acids will help get rid of dandruff.

Hair loss remedies:

• Stress, dieting and prescription medicines are just some of the possible causes of hair loss.
• If you are beginning to suffer from baldness, consider taking mineral silica tablets.
• Silica has a long history of helping hair and nail to grow.

Say NO to Drugs

Saying NO to drugs is so much more important that you realize. In fact, it is one of the most important decisions of your life, and one of the best decisions you will ever make. You should never even start taking drugs, or even just “try” them. If you have friends who do drugs, it is very likely that they will offer them to you. The first thing you need to do is to say NO, as soon as they are offered. The next thing you should do is get out of the environment where the drugs are being taken. If you’re worried about being cool, make up some reason why you need to go.

5 Reasons to Say NO to Drugs

1. Drugs can destroy your life
2. Drugs can destroy your family’s life
3. Drugs can kill
4. Drug addiction is difficult to recover from
5. Drugs can land you in jail and ruin your reputation

Staying in a place where people are doing drugs causes five problems:

• It will be harder for you to continue to say no
• You can get in trouble if they get caught, even if you did not take anything
• You will be pressured more than once to join in (peer pressure)
• There is a chance you will be influenced by drugs in the air (contact high)
• Someone may try to slip drugs into your food or drink without you knowi

No matter how many times you hear it from everyone around you, it is STILL TRUE: JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS! You will surely regret it if you don’t!