Written by: Dávid Jakus, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Almost every month, a new diet comes out and tells you what you should eat to get your best shape and live a healthy life. Maybe you have already heard that you should eat superfoods, more protein, or whole grains.
Where should we focus? What is the real key to getting in shape and being healthy? How can we get more energy and power?
Well, the answer is not that easy. There is no best diet, there is no superfood, and there is no magic pill that can provide you a good shape or health.
If we approach it from the point of view of nutrition, then I genuinely believe the most important is the food quality. The food we eat must be full of micronutrients and low in chemicals.
Not every tomato delivers the same amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and pesticides. Yes, the last one has a massive impact on your health and your shape too. Remember, if you are not healthy, you can't have a good shape in the long term.
There are two types of foods:
group: Helping the body to work properly
group: Damaging the proper body working
I know, I know calorie intake matters, but I never heard that "I got fat because I ate too many avocados." People get most of their calories from highly processed food. Highly processed food usually means empty calories. They are low in fiber and micronutrients such as minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. And they are high in artificial ingredients and pesticides.
Hunger is tricky. Every woman knows what comes when they wish for chocolate. That usually means the body needs more magnesium because of the period, and chocolate is a good source of magnesium. There is a big difference in the quantity or quality of starvation. Quantitative starvation means the body needs more calories. Usually, quantitative starvation isn't a problem in developed countries. We need more micronutrients and water-soluble fiber to thrive.
When we go back a few decades, we can see people were lean and had a long life. There weren't weight loss products or artificial ingredients to consume fewer calories, just real food. It is what we need.
"There is no best diet if you can't get good quality ingredients." ‒ Dávid Jakus
I think there isn't any diet camp that doesn't agree that we should eat better quality and reduce artificial ingredients. You can be on keto, paleo, vegan, or any diet; food quality has to be a high priority.
Bio or organic products may sound fancy, but not at all. Perhaps they are not the shiniest products on the shelves, but they have a better impact on our health.
My recommendation is the following:
Step 1. Add more fiber to your diet and feed your microbiome!
We could get many health benefits if we feed our "good" bacteria with fiber. They produce vitamins such as cobalamin (B12), biotin (B7), folic acid (B9), thiamin (B1), and vitamin K. There are more types of fiber, and the best you will get from fruits and vegetables.
Step 2. Try to buy local foods
I love cherry tomatoes, but I buy them when it comes from my country. They deliver the product when it is already ripe. We get more nutrients and better taste. Did you know that with a transport distance of 1,000 km, tomatoes are picked unripe and still green?
Step 3. Visit the food market
We can find almost everything that we need at the food market. We can have more options from more producers. I believe that smaller producers make the best quality. Food isn't just a business for them; it's a passion. The food that we eat builds up our every cell. We need the best quality to bring out the best performance.
Step 4. Avoid highly processed foods!
Highly processed foods may pleasure your taste buds, but this is temporary. Our GI (gastrointestinal) tract won't enjoy these types of food. It will give some hard time to the gut fight against the artificial ingredients. Fiber gives us real happiness, so much so that more than 90% of the "happiness hormone" – called serotonin ‒ is produced in the intestinal tract. Don't forget, real food usually doesn't come in a plastic bag!
Step 5. Make it simple!
We don't need the overpriced superfoods. We need just the basic but in good quality. Eat what you like; just buy the right ingredients. Also, a hamburger cannot be bad if you eat at the right place or make it yourself. You are closer to being healthy and fit if you eat extra veggies instead of the deep-fried potato.
Make it simple, eat real food, consume more veggies, and feel the power of good nutrition!
Dávid Jakus, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dávid Jakus is a Nutritionist, Sports Instructor, Lecturer, and Writer. Sport has always been important in his life. Therefore, he went to the faculty of Physical Education at the University of Szeged to learn more about this topic and become a Sports Instructor. Then he studied more about nutrition and got certification at Precision Nutrition.
Dávid works with elite athletes and helps them to achieve their best performance. He also created a 5-month-long lifestyle-changing program. He was invited to health events related to a healthy lifestyle as a lecturer.
After more than a decade, he can show that a healthy lifestyle, good performance, and body composition change can be easy and manageable.
His motto: "It doesn't matter what you know; it matters what you are able to!"
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