Starting a new school, changing jobs, or even a change of season can affect your eating habits. However, no matter how your environment changes, as long as you steadfastly adhere to these 15 small habits, your health will never be far away.
1. Take a multivitamin after breakfast. Studies have shown that taking a suitable multivitamin supplement is greatly beneficial to your health. So, why take it after breakfast? First, it can provide the body with its daily needs, giving you energy for work and study. Second, it doesn't overload your kidneys.
2. Drink two glasses of water before each meal. This will keep your body well-hydrated and help control your food portions. A Dutch study showed that drinking two glasses of water before a meal can reduce hunger and food intake, thus aiding in weight loss.
3. Add coffee to milk, not milk to coffee. The first thing to do in the morning is to fill a glass with skim milk. Drink one-fifth of it, then fill the rest with coffee. This way, you can get 25% of your daily vitamin D and 30% of your daily calcium.
4. Drink a large glass of water after eating fast food. Fast food is often excessively high in calories and salt. Although we can't do much about the fat we've consumed, a large glass of water can help dilute the sodium concentration in your body, keeping you a little further from high blood pressure.
5. Don't pass up any opportunity to eat onions. Many people carefully pick onions out of their dishes, trying to avoid them at all costs. This is a big mistake. Onions contain a large amount of heart-protecting flavonoids, so eating onions should be our responsibility. Especially when eating less healthy foods like grilled meat, the onions inside can be your "lifeline."
6. If possible, steep black tea in cold water. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that compared to vegetables like green vegetables or carrots, a serving of black tea contains more antioxidants, which can effectively help you resist wrinkles or cancer. Cold water allows the beneficial substances in the tea to seep out slowly without being destroyed; all you have to do is wait a little longer.
7. Have a snack at 3 PM on the dot. Maybe staying in bed can be an excuse for skipping breakfast, but you can't use any excuse to skip the 3 PM snack. Supplementing with nutrients between lunch and dinner can help you get through the most tiring part of the day. Yogurt, fruit, or cookies are all good choices.
8. Eat oranges with the "white strings" on. Many people remove the "white strings" from their oranges. In fact, these strings are rich in flavonoids and are very beneficial to your health. The slightly bitter and sweet taste is actually quite good when savored carefully.
9. Set a daily water intake goal. A busy workday might make you realize you haven't had any water all morning only when your mouth is dry. Prepare a 1.5-liter bottle at your desk, fill it with the water you need for the day, and make a rule for yourself that you must finish it before you can leave work.
10. If you can't decide which fruit to buy, choose the darker one. Although fruits come in all shapes and colors, when it comes to health, darker fruits are definitely superior because they contain more antioxidants. When you're wavering, choosing dark fruits like plums or black plums is a safe bet.
11. Rinse meat chunks with hot water. Lay a thick layer of paper towels on cut meat to absorb the fat. If you want to be more thorough, you can place the meat chunks in a strainer and rinse them with hot water. This method can remove about half of the fat.
12. Change mixed salads to dipping salads. It's not just grilled meat that's high in calories; sauces can also add a lot of calories to what was originally a healthy salad. So, put the prepared sauce in a small bowl and dip the cut vegetables in it. This way, you'll only need one-sixth of the sauce you originally would have.
13. Some "vegetarian" dishes should be eaten "with meat." Eating too much oil is not good, but not eating any at all is worse. Pumpkins and carrots contain large amounts of beta-carotene, so they shouldn't be eaten too blandly. You can stir-fry them with oil or make a cold salad. If the pumpkin is used in congee, make sure other dishes in your meal contain oil so the nutrients can meet up in your digestive system.
14. Fight the fat war especially at dinner. Some people avoid fatty foods at breakfast and lunch, thinking it's okay to eat more fat at dinner. This idea is wrong. Studies have shown that within a few hours of consuming 50-80 grams of fat in a meal, blood vessel elasticity decreases and blood clotting factors rise sharply. So, even if you've eaten very lightly during the day, don't try to compensate yourself at night.
15. Eat some high-fiber foods before bed. Dr. Judith Wurtman of MIT says, "Eating a low-calorie carbohydrate snack half an hour before bed can help with sleep." Eating cereal is the easiest way to supplement fiber, and most people only consume half of their daily fiber requirement (25-35 grams). Therefore, it's recommended to take this opportunity to supplement before you go to sleep.