Most people have a deep wish to have a healthier diet. We tend to read articles about healthy eating strategies, join fitness programmes, follow newer and newer diet plans. There is a constant struggle to try it once more, begin something new and have control over our life again. But then we give up – the diet plans are too limiting, too drastic, too hard to stick to. After a while we realize that although we’ve given up on a lot of things, the carbs, sugar, dairy or gluten our eating habits are not getting healthier at all.

Here are some super simple strategies to eating healthier. You can begin right now if you wish, and if you don’t keep to them one day, just start again the next. There’s nothing radical to do. They are easy to follow, so why not giving them a try? 

1. Serve your meals on smaller dishes

 Studies have shown that when people eat food from a large bowl or plate, they serve and eat much more. When people eat from a crowded small plate, they eat less. It’s not that they run out of space for more food; it’s that their brains actually perceived it as more food, which in turn makes them feel sated. This effect has a name — the Delboeuf illusion.

A recent study has found that people generally prefer a plate about 70 percent full of food – regardless of the size of that plate. So with a big plate filled to 70 percent it’s easy to eat too much. People may believe they know when they are full, but studies suggest they eat more with their eyes than with their stomach. 

2. Keep your proportions right

Divide your plate in quarters. Take two of those quarters and fill them with fruits and vegetables. Another quarter is for protein (meat, poultry, fish, seafood, beans, legumes, eggs, dairy). The last quarter is for grains, nuts and seeds (rice, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame seeds).

3. Opt for colour

 Vegetables get their colours from natural chemicals. The more colours you have on your plate, the bigger range of healthy compounds you have in your diet. In addition fruits and vegetables are full of fibre, so they fill you up and are low in calories. Go for a minimum of three colours on your plate. To make it easier let’s classify fruits and vegetables into five colour groups:

 It’s easy to put together a rainbow of vegetables or a colourful fruit salad. Get creative and add at least three colours to your breakfast or dinner. It will make all the difference. 

4. Quash unhealthy snacking

 Snacking habits are hard to break, and there are many signals to our brain that urge us to eat. You know whether you are a bored eater, an anxious eater or a sad eater. Often our emotions prompt us to feel like we are hungry. When you feel the need to snack, think first. Ask yourself if you are really hungry, then do one of these three things:

• Get up and move. Go for a walk outside, walk around, do some exercises, get moving. There is a good chance you will be able to continue without having that snack.
• Drink a glass of water – you might just be thirsty.
• Distract yourself by calling a friend, checking Facebook, reading a newspaper. 

5. Eat like you mean it

 Take small bites. Chew each bite multiple times. Put down your fork or spoon in between. When you are snacking don’t eat out of the bag or box and sit down to eat as if it were a meal. Pay deliberate attention to your food. No TV, no computer. Sit down with others and enjoy their company. Let the meal be an enjoyable experience. Notice the aromas, the colours, the flavours of the food. Be conscious of each bite and savour it. You will find that you’re more satisfied even if you eat less food. It’s been shown that when people eat in this manner, they cut their caloric intake.

A cikk elolvasása után döntsd el, hogy a következő állítások igazak (T), hamisak (F), vagy nem volt róluk szó a cikkben (NM).

1. When people eat from a crowded plate, they tend to eat more.
2. The brain actually perceives the crowded plate as more food, which in turn makes them feel full.
3. Take two quarters and fill them with protein. Another quarter is for fruits and vegetables.
   The last quarter is for grains, nuts and seeds. 
4. The more colourful your plate is, the bigger range of healthy compounds you have in your diet.
5. Our emotions can make us feel like we are hungry.
6. Take small bites and chew each bite 21 times.
7. Be conscious of each bite and savour it. You will be more satisfied even if you eat less food.
8. It’s been shown that when people eat in this manner, they cut down on their caloric intake.

keys/megoldások: 1. F, they tend to eat less; 2. T; 3. F, two quarters for vegetables and fruits and one quarter for protein; 4. NM, the colour of the plate isn’t mentioned, but the food/dish on your plate should be more colourful; 5. T, they often prompt us to feel hungry; 6. NM, the article suggests that you should chew it multiple times but it doesn’t mention how many times; 7. T; 8. T  

If you scoff lots of it, obviously not. But there are a host of medically proven ways in which chocolate — good chocolate, which is to say dark chocolate, with a cocoa percentage of around seventy per cent or more — really is good for us.

Research is continuing all the time, and experts have already found that chocolate is good for the heart, circulation and brain, and it has been suggested that it may be beneficial in such major heath challenges as autism, obesity and  diabetes.

And in fact, the very latest research suggests that eating chocolate could help keep your brain function whirring into old age.

Here are ten scientifically established health benefits of good chocolate.

1. It’s good for the heart and circulation

A recent study found that dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to arteries while also preventing white blood cells from sticking to the walls of blood vessels – both common causes of artery clogging.

2. It reduces risk of stroke

Researchers in Finland have found that chocolate consumption lowers the risk of suffering a stroke – by a staggering 17 per cent average in the group of men they tested.

3. It’s mineral rich

Dark chocolate is packed with beneficial minerals such as potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of dark (70 per cent or more) choc provides 67 per cent of the RDA of iron.

4. It reduces cholesterol

Consumption of cocoa has been shown to reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and raise levels of “good” cholesterol, potentially lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.

5. It’s good for your skin

The flavonols in dark chocolate can protect the skin against sun damage (though you’d probably better still slap on some sun cream).

6. It can help you lose weight

Chocolate can help you lose weight. Really. Neuroscientist Will Clower says a small square of good choc melted on the tongue 20 minutes before a meal triggers the hormones in the brain that say “I’m full”, cutting the amount of food you subsequently consume. Finishing a meal with the same small trigger could reduce subsequent snacking.

7. It’s good for mothers and babies

A Finnish study found that chocolate reduced stress in expectant mothers, and that the babies of such mothers smiled more often than the offspring of non-chocolate-eating parents.

8. It may prevent diabetes

It sounds mad, but cocoa has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. So dark chocolate – in moderation – might delay or prevent the onset of diabetes.

9. Chocolate is good for the brain

Flavanols are thought to reduce memory loss in older people, and the anti-inflamatory qualities of dark chocolate have been found beneficial in treating brain injuries such as concussion.

10. Chocolate makes you feel better

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you’re falling in love. PEA encourages your brain to release feel-good endorphins.

As a chocolate lover I would also add that certain kinds of chocolate can be good for the soul: this is chocolate for which the raw materials have been grown with care by farmers who are properly rewarded for their work; then processed by people who take time and care in their work, and finished by chocolatiers who love what they do. It will not be mass-produced, and it may not be cheap. But it will be good for you, heart and soul.

Source: The Telegraph

A few chocolate facts:

1. White chocolate isn’t technically chocolate as it contains no cocoa.

2. It takes about 400 cocoa beans to make 450 grams of chocolate.

3. M&Ms were created in 1941 as a means for soldiers to enjoy chocolate without it melting.

4. The World’s Largest Chocolate Bar Weighed 5,792 kg.

5. Chocolate can sicken and even kill dogs.

Society teaches us from an early age that being overweight is bad for your health. But for a little over a decade, doctors have been reporting evidence of the “obesity paradox”: cases of overweight or mildly obese patients faring better with several health conditions than their thinner counterparts.

Quartz recently published a feature story exploring the phenomenon that includes insights from several physicians. Carl Lavie, a cardiologist in Jefferson, Louisiana, was one of the first clinicians to get a paper published describing the paradox. Since then, dozens of studies have been released supporting its existence. It’s now a commonly held belief in the medical community that being overweight can protect patients against issues like burns, stroke, hypertension, pneumonia, and heart disease.

As you may have guessed, these findings have stirred up their fair share of controversy. Many scientists have taken a strong stance against any evidence supporting the paradox, saying it can be explained away by other factors. One popular theory is that overweight people are receiving better treatment than thinner people, but when you look at actual studies on the care received they tend to show the opposite.

Even if heavier people are more likely to survive life-threatening conditions like heart disease, they’re also more likely to be diagnosed with them in the first place. But weight isn’t the only factor that influences a person’s chances of having these issues. Add that to the fact that a strong correlation between weight and disease only appears in the morbidly obese and the health benefits of being overweight start to look more convincing.

There are others who say that smokers and sick people, who tend to be thinner but also less healthy, skew the data. While this could be possible, the studies on the issue aren’t concrete enough to say for sure. The data that’s been collected on the obesity paradox, however, is hard to contest.

Katherine Flegal, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has examined hundreds of mortality studies including information on body mass index (BMI). What she found is that patients in the overweight and mildly obese classifications suffered the lowest mortality rates. Her study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, analyzed data from nearly 100 studies looking at close to 3 million participants.

But just because researchers buy into the phenomenon’s validity doesn’t mean they’re any less perplexed by it. The medical field has used weight as a marker for health for a long time, but the obesity paradox suggests that the two may not be as intimately linked as we previously believed. In response to the findings, many doctors are now taking the “Health at Every Size” approach to healthcare. This initiative is built around placing a greater emphasis on healthy behaviors like nutrition and exercise. So don’t use this news as an excuse to switch to an all-ice cream diet.

source: mentalfloss