Vital Facts About Healthy Eating
Low carb, slow carb, Atkinson, clean eating—there are so many diet and nutrition trends, it can be mind-boggling to keep up with the latest information about what our bodies need to feel healthy and happy.
The good news is that if you boil all those diets and fads down, they often say a lot of the same things: eat vegetables, avoid added fats and sugars, and drink plenty of water.
With a proliferation of food blogs, online recipes, and shirts proclaiming a love of kale, it’s never been easier or more hip to eat well. Here are 42 vital facts about healthy eating.
Healthy Eating Facts
42. Thirsty Nuts
Many people are opting for a vegan diet to spare animals and to help the planet, and almond milk has become a popular replacement for cow’s milk. What some people don’t know is that almonds can be a major drain on the environment. It takes 1.1 gallons of water just to grow a single almond—that’s 4 gallons of water for 1 gram of protein. In drought-stricken California, where almonds have become one of the major cash crops, the industry is using up 10% of the entire state’s water supply. That’s bad news. However, it still makes sense in the long run, as it takes an estimated 1800 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef, which works out to 27 gallons per gram of protein. Almonds still win!
41. A Healthier Option?
Think you’re reaching for the healthier choice when you pass up a can of soda for a tall glass of fruit juice? Bad news—that fruit juice may have even more sugar than the Coca-Cola you just turned down. In fact, an 8-ounce glass of apple juice contains 115 calories, compared with 95 in a can of Coke. A cup of grape juice has 36 grams of sugar—that’s 6 more than the same volume of Pepsi. Fruit sugars are more natural than the corn syrup in most sodas, but at the end of the day, sugar is sugar.
40. Healthy Diet, Healthy Brain
Eating healthy now could protect your brain later. Diets high in vitamin E, vitamin C, flavonoids, vitamin B12 and fats found in fish have been linked to lower risk of dementia or cognitive impairments like Alzheimer’s disease.
If you want a delicious way to keep that brain healthy, pack that plate with spinach, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds.