Bad nutrition is unfortunately pretty simple! It involves bad eating habits, poor food choices and craving for sugar. The effects of bad eating habits are chronic disease, poor health, and all the misery that goes along with it.
Nutrition Made Easy
Nutrition is truly a science, but it can be broken down into a few important things that everyone can understand and integrate into their lifestyle. Sometimes it helps to point out what NOT to do to help drive home the point about what good nutrition is.
Simple things like trying to stop sugar cravings, will go a long way in making a healthier diet something that you can actually stick to and enjoy.
I will cover what I believe are THE worst nutritional mistakes that you could make (and that most people do make). See if these are among the thing YOU do!
- Eating too many refined carbohydrates (sugar)
- Combining a large amount of fat and sugar in the same meal
- Eating too little protein in your meals
- Eating carbohydrates (sugar) right before bedtime
- Cooking with and eating bad fats
I could have added not using appropriate nutritional supplementation to this list, but I will cover that in another page. The issues on the above list are about bad eating habits and how they can affect your health for the worst.
Bad Nutrition – Broken Down
Bad eating habits are among other things, giving your body the wrong foods, and often at the wrong time. Here are the effects of bad eating habits broken down for you:
Eating too many high glycemic carbs
– This raises your blood sugar too rapidly, and causes insulin to spike up in response. This is a double whammy because both insulin and glucose promote inflammation, and cause damage to your cardiovascular system.
Combining fat and sugar in the same meal
– When fat and sugar are combined in the same meal, there is an even greater insulin response than normal. This insulin spike shuts down fat burning making it harder to lose stored bodyfat.
Eating too little protein in your meals
– You need protein with every meal to balance carbohydrates, satisfy your hunger, and maintain a stable blood sugar level. Protein is critical for important body function and repair as well. Don’t skimp on the protein!
Eating high glycemic carbs right before bedtime
– Sugar causes insulin to spike, and this will interfere with growth hormone production during your sleep cycle. Growth hormone is a “fat burning” hormone, that you don’t want to shut down.
Cooking with and eating bad fats
– This one is obvious if you have read my page on healthy fats. Bad fats are trans fats, and polyunsaturated fats used in cooking. They create free radicals and oxidative stress, damage cell membranes and DNA, and harm your immune system. Avoid them whenever you can!
Bad Eating Habits – Change Them Gradually
Bad nutrition is the result of a lifetime of the effects of bad eating habits. You are not going to change them overnight, and frankly, you don’t have to.
You can gradually change your nutritional habits, and move toward better health, without drastic or uncomfortable changes.
Take one issue at a time and work to change the behavior. When you have comfortably made that change, then move on to the next issue. As you go along things will get easier because you will have less craving for sugar and unhealthy foods.
When you have succeeded in changing all of the habits that result in bad nutrition, you will both look and feel better. That will give you the motivation to keep improving, and after a while bad nutrition will be just a thing of the past!
Testing for Optimal Health and Longevity