Healthy Diet - the most important rules!

 During our meeting in Istanbul, we participated in a seminar by a dietician, Ms Merve Guney-Coskun, about the most important healthy diet rules.

Here is the summary of what we have learnt:

1. Balance means everything! Understand how many calories you need daily. The only way to maintain your ideal weight is to balance calories you take from foods with the energy you consume. 

2. Enjoy your meal, but in smaller portions: Enjoy tasting delicious foods with friends or family at lunch or any other time. • Eating too fast, • Grabbing something to bite in front of the PC or TV, • Feeling obliged to eat something when the things go up-and-down for you, will eventually cause you to consume excessive calories.

3. Avoid bigger portions:  • Use smaller plates or bowls at home. • Choose smaller portions when dining out. • If you cannot finish your meal, you can share it with animals on the street or have it packaged for home. Always choose fruits instead of desserts. • If you want to eat something sweet, you may want to share your portions with others on the table.

4. Do not skip foods that you must normally have more frequently:  Consume veggies, fruits, wholegrains and dairy products more. Try to consume these foods daily at your meals or as a snack

5. Fill half of your plate with multicolored veggies and fruits:  Look to find a diversity of colors as much as food diversity at your meals.

6. Do not underestimate the power of dairy products:  Make sure to consume milk, yogurt, cheese, ayran, kefir, cacık at least once a day.

7. Choose wholegrains:  • Eat whole-wheat bread instead of white bread, and choose brown rice or whole-wheat rice instead of white rice. These foods will control your blood sugar and prevent you feeling hungry quickly. You will also receive many vital nutrients, from fiber to vitamin B.

8. Eat less of certain foods:  Consume as little as you can of foods that contain saturated fat, sugar and extra salt. Don’t make these items a part of your daily diet.

9. Be careful with the amount of sodium/salt in your foods:  • Try not to use salt in your foods. • Make sure to read labels to check the amount of salt in ready-to-eat foods.

10. Drink more water:  Try to stay away from drinks with high sugar content. Try to drink more water on hot days or if you are doing exerting physical exercise.