Diets have become popular in recent years. There’s quite a lot of diets to choose from, from keto to a vegan diet, and something as extreme as a high-calorie, for-athletes diet. We all know how much diet is critical to our health, but is there more to dieting than just that?
Many people falsely assume that diet only affects weight. In truth, our diets do far more than just dictate whether we gain, maintain, or lose weight. Our diet affects a lot of aspects of our life, not just our health. It can affect our emotional mood, physical sensation, and even have a significant impact on what we feel throughout the day.
It Actually Affects Your Mood
An interesting discovery in recent times is the science behind how food affects our mood. We all know the emotionally uplifting feeling of eating good food or being able to indulge in our favorite food, but it actually has a biological effect. Studies have shown that having food filled with chemical additives composed of starches and sugars, fats, and flavor enhancers can actually negatively affect our mood. These ultra-processed foods result in bad stomach health, which affects the brain quite negatively as almost 90% of our serotonin receptors are found in the gut.
Helps You Stay Young
The health benefits of following a good diet have long been established, but what isn’t often known is how a good diet can help people look younger. Since the skin is an organ (among the largest ones too), it benefits immensely from good health and eating the right food. Nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, fibers, and a lot more are responsible for keeping skin and hair looking young and fresh- making regular consumption of these nutrients critical if one were so inclined to look young.
Of course, the combination of a good diet and the right exercise works wonders in keeping one’s physical appearance young. This simply emphasizes how important a diverse diet with as many nutrients as possible is, as it can even affect our personal appearance.
Manages Dental Health
Thinking about the contents of the food and drink you consume is important to maintain both healthy teeth and gums. Too much sugar and sweetened food and drinks can obviously lead to tooth decay, but it can also lead to gum-related problems like gingivitis. When left out of control, these gum-related problems can even result in tooth loss. Another thing to remember is that constant consumption of hard food materials also stresses the teeth more than necessary.
While our teeth and gums are definitely hardy, constantly consuming tough and hard-to-chew foods can result in irreversible tooth damage. Experienced cosmetic dentists advise to not chew hard candy because of this reason, and it’s wise to have a diet with a wide variety of textures to reduce the impact on teeth.
Improves Your Memory and Cognitive Functions
“Brain Food” isn’t just a term coined to trick and convince us that certain foods can help our memory. A study has found that foods that have omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E can help in combating the decline in our cognitive function and even dementia. A healthy diet filled with fruits and vegetables helps maintain focus and clarity of mind, helping in focus-intensive tasks.
Avoiding high-carbohydrate food especially before mentally taxing activities (such as work and studies) can also help increase focus and prevent feelings of drowsiness and lethargy. While the effects aren’t immediate and memory improvement through diet is gradual, it still stands to say that diet can affect your cognitive functions.
Promotes Better Digestion
Because all of the food we eat gets processed by our digestive system, being particular about the intake of specific food can also drastically help. Large chunks of food with insoluble molecules require more energy and are less efficient to digest, with the body requiring support through fibers and probiotics. Consuming fiber-rich food, leafy greens, and whole-grain foods are great when it comes to promoting a healthy metabolism.
Eating at the correct intervals and consistent time also does wonders when it comes to digestion. Of course, the regular consumption of probiotics is also advised, as feelings of constipation can quite heavily affect how we go about our day.
The food we eat plays a large role in our overall well-being, both mentally and physically. It’s not just a matter of eating right for weight reasons, but it’s so much more than that. Putting in the effort to maintain a healthy and well-balanced diet is the key to living a healthy and comfortable life.
