Good Nutrition: 10 Signs You Have It

A good way to know you are getting good nutrition from your eating plan is to ask yourself how you honestly look and feel.  A healthy eating plan will include lean proteins, grains, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats that provide enough calories to support your lifestyle.  A balanced diet will not exclude any one food group.

A nutritional eating plan will supply all the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs to feel and look healthy. Committing to an annual physical empowers you to make changes if necessary.  Listed below are 10 signs that tell you that you are on the right track:

1. Healthy Cholesterol Levels
Because of genetics, some people can have more fats in their diet than others, so getting your cholesterol tested by a doctor gives you the confidence that your diet is right for you.

2. Blood Pressure Level
Many items in your diet, such as salt, alcohol, and potassium, can cause a rise or fall in blood pressure.  You cannot detect unhealthy blood pressure entirely by the way you feel, but an annual physical will tell you if you need adjustments in your diet.

3. Healthy Weight 
Being within a few pounds of the recommended height/weight charts lets you know that you are getting the right number of calories from the foods you eat. One of the biggest mistakes dieters make is not eating enough.  If you live an active lifestyle, you cannot ignore the fact your body needs the right amount of calories to fuel your activities.  

4. Healthy Skin and Shiny Hair
Healthy fats in your diet from foods like nuts, avocados, and olives give the skin and hair a healthy glow and shine, while lean proteins like chicken and turkey assist the body in cell growth and repair. 

5. Clear Vision

A diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of processed foods, keeps the eyes healthy.  Foods with high sugar content cause swelling in the eye and impairs vision.  Good nutrition also reduces your risk for developing AMD (age-related macular degeneration) that can lead to blindness.  

6. Mental Alertness
The brain needs fuel to think.  It burns about 10% of a calorie every minute.  If you deprive your body of food by skipping meals, or not eating enough calories, you will feel physically tired and mentally foggy.  Your ability to respond quickly and precisely in everyday situations will be impaired.

7. Restful Sleep
A diet filled with processed foods containing artificial ingredients, sugar, caffeine, salt, and white flour will not supply your body everything it needs to rest properly.  The body will spend a lot of its resting hours processing sugars and empty nutrition.

8. Regular Bowel Movements
Fiber from grains, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables, and adequate amounts of water help the body rid itself of toxins. The longer foods stay in the digestive system, the more calories and toxins can be extracted.  This results in more weight gain and more damage from toxins from processed foods.  Toxins in the colon need to be eliminated daily.   

9. Good Muscle Tone 

Lean proteins, eaten with every meal, provide a steady flow of amino acids in the blood system for the body to repair, build, and maintain healthy muscles.

10. Healthy Bones
Bone cells are constantly being replaced. Many vitamins and minerals must be present in your diet at the same time for the body to absorb the calcium from the foods. A moderate resistance training program three times a week, along with a balanced diet everyday, is the best assurance for strong bones.  

A healthy diet and regular moderate exercise are the two main components for wellness.  The importance of both cannot be ignored.  If you deprive your body of either, you will look and feel it.