4 simple ways to eat healthily

Eat more iron

If you don’t eat enough iron you could be at risk of developing anemia. It’s estimated that as many as 40% of women in their 20’s and 30’s don’t eat enough iron rich food.

If your body doesn’t get enough iron, it won’t be able to carry an adequate amount of oxygen around your body. This can lead to fatigue, shortness of breath, poor concentration, pale skin and weakened nails.

To prevent this, make sure you include plenty of food that is rich in iron, directly into your diet. Foods such as spinach, red meat, eggs, broccoli, wholegrain cereals and baked beans are all great ways to get iron into your body.

Vitamin C will help your body to absorb even more iron from your food, so have a glass of orange juice (not from concentrate) with foods that are rich in iron, eat chopped tomatoes with scrambled eggs and add berries to your wholegrain cereal.

Include dairy

Dairy is as important to a healthy diet plan as fruit and vegetables. It can also help you to lose weight as the fatty acids found in dairy will serve to control how your body metabolises fat and can even help to prevent heart disease

Dairy also contains calcium which is essential for healthy bones. Your bones will start to weaken in your 30’s and so it’s vital you eat calcium rich foods in your 20’s to prevent osteoporosis. You should aim to eat 3 servings of dairy per day, and if you’re watching your weight there are a variety of low fat versions to choose from. Low fat dairy alternatives contain the same amount of calcium as full fat dairy. This is because calcium is stored in the water contained in dairy products and not the creamy part.

Soya products, such as Alpro soya are also a good choice if you are intolerant to the lactose in dairy. Optionally, you can stick to low lactose dairy products such as Swiss and Cottage cheese.

Feed your skin

Some diets can limit your intake of protein, but your skin needs protein to stay healthy. Additionally, foods with high sugar content such as muffins and biscuits can cause your blood sugar levels to rocket, leading to the hardening of collagen and wrinkles.

Protein and vitamin C help to build collagen which is essential to keep your skin supple. So make sure you eat plenty of quorn, chicken, citrus fruits, berries and beans, and have one serving of protein with every meal.  This is easy to achieve if you have milk or a nut based butter at breakfast and tuna, salmon or chicken at lunch.

Silica also helps to make collagen, which is found in porridge, green beans and honeydew melon.

Plan, plan, plan!

If you are too busy to take lunch, you may often find yourself grabbing whatever may be to hand such as processed sandwiches, biscuits and crisps. You may even find yourself missing lunch all together. If you think that by skipping meals you will lose weight, you are mistaken. By doing so, you will be more inclined to binge eat at your next meal.  Instead, you should regulate your appetite by eating small regular meals throughout the day.

By planning what you will eat at the beginning of the week, you are more likely to eat a healthy balanced meal instead of grabbing unhealthy, convenience options. When you make your evening meal, why not make double and freeze it in a Tupperware box. This means you’ll always have a quick grab and go option available- and you know what’s gone into your ready meal, unlike supermarket pre-packaged ready meals.

Also, make sure your fridge is always stocked with fruit and yoghurt so you always have healthy snacks to take wherever you go. This will stop you from eating junk food whilst out and about.

You should make time to eat regularly throughout the day as when we’re hungry, stressed and rushed you are often prone to making poor food choices, such as food high in fat, salt and sugar.