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Tips for a Balanced Diet

A balanced diet can help keep you healthy and full of energy.
Learning the habit of eating healthy is essential for long-term good health.

An important part of this process is learning how to balance your diet
with a variety of foods,as well as developing good eating habits.
Nutrition can affect your mood and energy levels, libido and sleep.
Even more, eating the proper foods daily can decrease your chances of
getting lifestyle diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Knowing all this is not quite the same as having the tools to navigate
this new terrain, so here are some tips to ease you into the changes:

Drink Water
Your body is over 75 percent water..Not only is water vital for hydration,
but it plays an important role in flushing out wastes and toxins.
People who are not well hydrated can suffer from fatigue, headaches
and cramps, as well as contributing to the lifestyle diseases of Diabetes
High Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Obesity.

Add Variety
Vary your food options by keeping in mind the major food groups:
Fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, beans and oils should all find
their way into your diet on a regular basis so that you get the right
amounts of vitamins, minerals and nutrients each day.
Your body quickly adapts to things you do the same every day so shake it up!

Control Portion Sizes
Overeating can be partly explained by the increase in portion sizes
over the last two decades. For this reason, keep in mind how much food
is on your plate and how hungry you actually are – It is common for a
main meal to actually contain at least two servings.  This tip is especially important on days when things go wrong..if you are watching portion sizes you only go wrong in small quantities, and that makes it easy to pick up where you left off, making healthier and wiser choices.

Slow Down
Rushing through your meals inhibits your body from digesting your food
properly, and you may not be absorbing all the possible nutrients.
Take your time while eating by slowly and thoroughly chewing all of
your food.  Ghrelin, the signaling hormone for satiety, takes at least
20 minutes to alert your brain that your tummy is full.
Gobbling does not give your body enough time to alert you that is it
satisfied and to stop eating. As a result, you may end up overeating
and taking in more calories than you require.  Don’t eat so fast that you need glasses of liquid to wash the food down – Drinking and eating at the same time is one of the worst things you can do to your digestive system.

Make a Colorful Plate
Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are an indication of the
nutrients, minerals and antioxidants found naturally within them:
green vegetables contain calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc,
and vitamins A, C, E and K. Red and orange fruit and veg are known for their antioxidants.

Limit Sugars
Limit the amounts of foods with added sugars.
Sugary, starchy foods are high in calories and add very little nutrition.
They also cause your energy levels to fluctuate, which will leave you tired.  Beware of hidden sugars in processed foods.

A special word of precaution:
Foods labelled Fat-Free are often overloaded with sugar to improve the
taste after the fats are removed.

Plan Your Meals
Pre-planning your meals will prevent spontaneous eating and bad food choices.
Knowing what your are going to eat ahead of time will help you get into
the habit of choosing healthy foods for each meal as well as save you
time and money.

It is very easy to eat convenience foods and to eat on the run, but with the
right tips and tools you’ll finf it’s actually equally easy to do it
the Healthier Way

 We have tried to make our pages informative and helpful; if you have a question that has not been answered or are searching for a product you couldn’t find here, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the website or on    039 315 5351.  Ask for Michelle

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Every Tuesday we receive freshly-baked Gluten-free bread.  Our baker, Lena, only bakes on orders placed on Mondays.  The bread arrives at our doorstep still hot from the oven by lunchtime every Tuesday.

On a Friday the Kumnandi Organic Veggie Market is here selling fresh organic fruit and veg.

As a service to our customers we order in Fresh tofu once a month.  The tofu is made on the day of collection and is delivered to us as fresh as possible.   The tofu is delivered to us in a large loose batch so remember to bring your container when you collect.