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Put these healthy eating tips into practice and help nature without giving up the flavor

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Healthy eating is a habit that goes hand in hand with sustainability, as it is based on the consumption of fresh and nutritious food. Consuming organic food from local producers is a way to have a healthy diet and prioritize the reduction of impacts on the food production chain.

Fruits, vegetables and vegetables can be extremely tasty when prepared with natural spices. All of this makes healthy eating much better than a routine based on the consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods, which always taste the same.

Tips for healthy eating

1. Be vegetarian at least once a week

You may have heard of the Second Without Meat campaign, created by the family of musician Paul McCartney. According to data from the official website of the campaign in Brazil, the average consumption of meat currently has a water footprint of 3800 liters of water per person per day. Each kilo of beef requires 5 kilos of plant foods, which could feed many people, and produces 335 kilos of carbon dioxide (CO2), which are released into the atmosphere, equivalent to driving a car for 1600 kilometers.

Also, not eating meat once a week will be very good for your health. According to a study by the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford, if everyone in England stopped eating meat four days a week, 31,000 deaths from heart disease and 9,000 deaths from stroke would be avoided every year. But beware: there is little point in exchanging meat for animal derivatives such as cheese and butter. To have a healthy diet, increase your consumption of vegetables!

2. Prefer an organic diet

O Rodale Institute, which has an experimental organic agriculture project in the US, celebrated its 30th anniversary by publishing an incredible result: in addition to protecting the soil, organic agriculture uses 45% less energy and generates 40% less greenhouse gases than conventional agriculture, which , by using a lot of pesticides, it causes a lot of damage to our health and the environment. Some studies have linked pesticides to genetic mutations, reduced IQ in children and infertility. Also prefer seasonal fruits, which are more economical and nutritious.

3. Be careful with your pans

The link may not seem clear, but taking care of the pots is a way to eat healthy . If the bottom of the pan is crooked, it uses more energy (a cost comparable to an old refrigerator) because the direction of the stove flame is lost, requiring more time to prepare and heat your food.

When buying new cookware, consider stainless steel or coated and cast iron options, which are more difficult to bend (learn the pros and cons of different types of cookware). To dispose of your old pots, look for specialized posts with our search engine. Also pay attention to the size of the pan, which if it is smaller than the “mouth” of the flame, wastes up to 40% more energy.

4. Be a raw foodie once a week

The proposal of raw food as a healthy eating option is even more daring than being a vegetarian for a day, but it has many advantages. Raw food is the practice of eating only raw foods and its adherents support the idea that this way they get much more efficient nutrition, because some vitamins and minerals are lost when the food is heated.

Of course, for practice, a strict vegetarian diet (ie, excluding meat, eggs and milk - even pasteurization causes loss of nutrients) is the easiest and safest, as raw animal foods can transmit various diseases and must receive a specific preparation so that they can be served raw without harming our health. So, unless you have experience with this type of preparation, it's best not to take any chances. And that doesn't mean that you're going to spend all day eating “bland stuff”. You can even make chocolate cake without putting it in the oven! How about banana ice cream? See how to do it in the article: "Turn overripe bananas into ice cream".

5. Avoid waste

Food waste has a very high water footprint, as 70% of available water is used in food production. In addition, there are other externalities, such as the burning of fuel when transporting these foods. Discover 18 tips to avoid wasting food at home.

6. Eat lentils!

The New Year's darling brings several benefits to our health any day of the year. It protects the heart, helps reduce cholesterol and blood sugar, is a source of iron, phosphorus, B vitamins (including B9 - folic acid, so important for pregnant women) and protein. It also contains tryptophan, which is a substance capable of improving your mood.

7. Eat as a family and call your friends

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You will have fun with everyone and take care of your health and that of your children. Children and teenagers who eat as a family have greater emotional stability. In addition, when dining with several friends, you avoid waste, as you are cooking only once, reducing the number of stoves that would be turned on to feed the same amount of people.