6 Reasons for Eating Healthy
By Precious Onuoha
Eating healthy isn’t always easy, but
committing to a healthy diet can be one of
the smartest decisions you ever make. Why?
Not only can eating well make you look and
feel better, it can also save you money on
future health costs.
But even if you intend to “eat healthy,”
knowing exactly what that means can be
challenging. “Following a healthy diet
includes choosing plenty of lean meats, eggs,
vegetables, fruit, whole grain and dairy
products,” says Debra Nessel, a registered
dietitian with Torrance Memorial Medical
Center in Torrance, California.
Eating well also means leaving out or only
rarely consuming foods that are high in
added sugar, saturated fat and sodium. That
includes most fast food, full-calorie sodas,
processed snacks like chips and crackers,
and anything with more milligrams of sodium
than there are calories in a serving.
If you need some help getting motivated,
here are the top reasons to sneak a few
more nutrient-packed foods into your diet.
1. Increase productivity
Like a car, your brain needs quality fuel to
run efficiently. When it comes to your job,
working more efficiently can help you earn
more, since high achievers are usually first in
line for promotions and raises. Nessel says
her clients frequently experience increased
focus shortly after improving their diets.
How much can eating healthy help? One 2012
study published by Population Health
Management found that eating an unhealthy
diet puts you at a 66% increased risk of
productivity loss. Another study in the
Journal of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine found that an unhealthy diet
represented the highest risk for low
productivity out of 19 possible risk factors,
including lack of exercise, chronic pain and
financial instability.
2. Save money on life insurance
Health insurance premiums can no longer be
based on health factors, since everyone is
required to have health coverage. However,
life insurance is elective, and those premiums
are indeed partially based on how healthy you
are .
If you’re shopping for life insurance, you
could be required to hand over your medical
records or be subjected to a health exam so
the life insurance company can assess how
healthy you are. You could face double the
life insurance cost in premiums or be denied
for coverage altogether if you’re obese.
Simply switching to a healthier diet and
dropping a few pounds before you apply for a
policy could significantly lower your costs.
3. Enhance mood
What you eat has an impact on your brain,
including the parts that regulate mood.
Although there’s no single food that acts as a
proven antidepressant, maintaining stable
blood sugar through regular, proper nutrition
will help you feel better overall on most days.
Foods rich in vitamins and minerals, such as
fruits, whole grains and vegetables, have
been associated with an overall lower risk of
depression, as have foods rich in omega-3
fats, such as nuts, salmon and other fatty
fish.
True happiness isn’t just about the absence
of depression; it also includes general well-
being. “I frequently hear clients rave about
their increased energy, more stable moods,
better sleep, decreased joint pain” and
greater ability to focus their thoughts
after switching to a healthier eating pattern,
Nessel says.
Eating healthy can reduce stress too. When
your body is in a chronic state of stress, it
breaks down protein to prepare for battle, but
certain foods have the ability to moderate
the body’s level of cortisol, the stress
hormone. Some studies have found that
consuming foods with omega-3 fatty acids
and magnesium may help reduce cortisol
levels. Eating a protein-rich diet, including
fish and dairy, can help replenish protein
stores and keep cortisol levels low.
4. Regulate weight
Most people know this one, but it still
deserves a place on this list since more than
half of Americans are overweight or obese,
and obesity contributes to nearly 1 in 5
American deaths. Even if it’s only by 5-10%,
reducing your body weight can lower blood
pressure, improve cholesterol levels and
decrease the risk of Type 2 diabetes,
according to the Obesity Action Coalition .
Simple healthy choices such as replacing
soda with water, choosing veggies instead of
chips, and ordering a side salad in place of
fries not only will help you lose weight, it also
can help you save money. The average obese
person spends $2,741 more on health care
per year than a normal-weight counterpart,
according to a 2012 study in the Journal of
Health Economics that looked at data from
2000-2005.
5. Be healthier
Not everybody who is thin is healthy, and not
everyone who is overweight is unhealthy, but
eating right can improve health for even thin
people who are junk food junkies. You can
think of junk food as anything that’s high in
calories and low in micronutrients like
vitamins and minerals. This includes potato
chips, greasy foods like french fries, and
soda.
If you miss out on too much of the vitamins
and minerals that your body needs, you could
put yourself at risk for early death. A 2014
study published in the British Medical Journal
found that eating at least five servings of
fruit and vegetables per day was associated
with lower risk of dying from any health-
related cause.
6. Live longer
The same diseases that make you feel bad
and cost a lot of money may also lower your
life expectancy. A diet of fruit and
vegetables, in combination with exercise, was
associated with extended life expectancy for
women in their 70s, according to a study in
the Journal of the American Geriatrics
Society.
Other studies have shown similar
associations between a long life and calorie
restriction or consumption of a Mediterranean
diet, which includes lots of fruits, vegetables,
and omega-3 fats from fish and olive oil. No
matter how you cut it, a healthy diet can play
an important role in how long you’ll live.
Tips for eating healthy
If switching to a healthy diet were easy,
everyone would do it. So what should you do
if you’re having a hard time choosing the
right foods and sticking to a healthful eating
pattern?
“Small changes over time result in big
payoffs,” Nessel says. That means setting
small, attainable goals each day that will
translate into long-term results. Here are
some of her tips:
Stay hydrated. This will help you reduce
cravings and feel fuller.
Don’t skip meals. Eat at about the same
time each day, if you can.
Get active. Just increasing activity a little
bit may create a mindset to eat better
too.
Preplan around cravings. If you always get
hungry for salt at 3 p.m. or sugar after
dinner, have a healthier alternative ready
to go.
Forgive yourself when you slip up. Beating
yourself up after a slip-up tends to unravel
all of your goals; picking back up as
though you didn’t make a misstep is a
better option.
Keep in mind that good choices, like eating a
healthy diet, happen one at a time. A few
small changes in the right direction can help
improve your life now, and they may fatten
your wallet too.