The sexy plate model
We often hear about anti-inflammatory diets, super berries, alkaline foods and how hard it is to eat right. A few studies can show that certain foods have a big effect on your health or that it is something you absolutely cannot remove from your diet. So what should you eat and who should you listen to?
You should listen to the hundreds of experts that, without any winning for themselves, have compiled all the research studies of quality and produced the dietary recommendations presented by Livsmedelsverket and called it the Plate model.
Some people state that these recommendations are hopelessly outdated and wrong, but it's not true. The advice is continuously updated and is the same across the world. Maybe the Plate model should be called "the sexy plate model" for a greater coverage.
Your intestinal floras good bacteria will thrive on fibers from greens, fruits and from movement and physical activity. To date, researches have not been able to show the optimal intestinal flora or if there is a connection to disease and obesity.
Tips, eat like this:
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Make sure to eat real and varied food. Vitamin tablets and snacks will not compensate for carelessness between meals. Diets that claim that you should exclude foods are not recommended as we need the variation.
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Make sure to eat vegetables of all colors. The recommendation is 500 grams of fruit and greens per day.
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Reduce your red meat intake. We recommend to eat a maximum of 500 grams of red meat per week and decrease the amount of charcuterie. There are proteins in greens and primarily in legumes so you don't need to worry about protein deficiency.
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It is not good to decrease on carbohydrates. It is our most important source of energy but you should preferably choose slow carbohydrates. A high fiber intake is great for our bowls and the intestinal flora.
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When it comes to weight loss it doesn't matter when you eat, but most people are prone to not snack if they eat a large breakfast, lunch and dinner. To completely stop eating during short or longer periods, fasting, has yet to show positive health effects.
About the authors Jessica & Maria
Challengize health tips are written for us by Jessica Norrbom and Maria Ahlsén, both with PHDs in medicine. Since 2013 they run their own business Fortasana working mainly with diet, training and health from a scientific perspective. Maria and Jessica have written several books and regularly lecture focusing mainly on popular health myths and explain what is actually true from a scientific perspective when it comes to diets, trends and newspaper headlines.