5 Ways To Help Plan A Healthy Meal | Health care

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Whether you are cooking meals for one, for you and a partner, or for an entire family, the tips below will help you form the foundations to healthy and nutritionally balanced meals, every time.

Ensure there is a routine to meal times. This will help avoid long gaps without food. Allow yourself to have a snack in between meals but choose these wisely. Good snack choices include an item of fruit and some nuts, a yoghurt and perhaps a sprinkling of seeds, vegetable crudités and a dip (such as hummus or guacamole), peanut butter on toast. These snacks all release their energy slowly and will help avoid subsequent hunger pangs.
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Compose meals so that 25% is protein, 25% is carbohydrate, and 50% is vegetables or salad. This composition will help to ensure the steady release of energy, and will help keep you feeling fuller for longer. Protein is essential for the building blocks of many structures in the body. Carbohydrates are required for energy, and vegetables or salad items all provide a wide range of nutrients that are needed for the body to function including vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytonutrients.

Choose low fat sources of protein. Good choices include poultry such as chicken or turkey, fish, beans, quinoa, or lentils, as a few examples. These products are all low in saturated fat and cholesterol, whilst many contain healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that are necessary for health. Fat is required in the diet to assist with the absorption and transport of certain nutrients around the body. Protein with meals will help to slow the absorption of carbohydrates to help keep energy levels stable until your next meal.

Choose whole grain carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of energy as it can readily convert them. Avoid refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice and white pasta; these contain fewer nutrients and less fibre. Whole grain products such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta and wholemeal bread typically contain more fibre, B vitamins and vitamin E. Fibre helps to keep us feeling fuller for longer and can also assist with the steady release of energy from food. B vitamins are needed to help release the energy contained within foods.

Consume salad and vegetable items raw. Or, if cooking, cook over a low heat for a short period of time. Raw foods contain many components that help with the breakdown of these foods, in particular, enzymes. These enzymes are destroyed by heating and so consuming foods raw will help our bodies to digest and make use of the health-benefiting nutrients within them.