More and more people are changing their eating habits to be healthier. Healthy eating isn’t just a fad, it’s a whole way of life. People are constantly on the search for healthier diets and ways of eating so they can experience the advantages of healthy eating habits.
Those advantages come in many forms. It isn’t just a brighter smile or the prevention of diseases. If you shape your lifestyle around healthier eating habits, you may see lower overall healthcare costs. Of course, just eating healthy can’t prevent accidents that might send you to an urgent care clinic or hospital, but it can help prevent everyday sorts of diseases and ailments.
If you are thinking about changing your eating habits, it might help motivate you if you take a look at some of the many advantages of healthy eating habits. Many of these advantages are practical, but why stop there? There are also advantages that will simply make you feel good.
Consider improving your diet and you might get to experience these 6 advantages of healthy eating habits.
1. Lower Healthcare Costs
If you eat healthier, you may see lower overall healthcare costs in your life. Eating healthier is actually the most efficient way to lower your healthcare costs if you are paying a lot right now.
Eating healthier can have many beneficial effects that will lower your healthcare costs. You may be less likely to develop diabetes, have lower blood pressure and even sleep better. All of these have ripple effects. Getting good sleep is crucial to your overall health.
You might even find rewards for healthy eating built into your health insurance plan. Some healthcare plans offer discounts and other enticements for people who develop healthier habits, including healthier eating. That is a reduction in your healthcare costs that you’ll see directly in your bank account.
There are other healthcare cost impacts that won’t be as immediately apparent. You won’t see a lack of doctor’s appointments in your billing statement. However, if your healthier eating habits lower your blood pressure and keep your heart healthier, you will spend less time with doctors.
These sorts of advantages of healthy eating habits are felt more than seen. Though they result in, overall, lower healthcare costs, that may be hard to measure. If you suffer from certain conditions now and see an improvement in your health due to a change in eating habits, you might get to compare future lower bills to current high ones. However, for many people eating healthier will lower their healthcare costs in a way that is difficult to precisely measure.
It is, however, an effect that is well-known. The National Institutes of Health estimates that eating more fruits and vegetables could save the nation nearly $40 billion in healthcare costs. Savings related to diabetes could be more than $100 billion.
2. Stronger Eyesight
Let’s talk about some specific health improvements you might see as a result of eating healthier. One of the advantages of healthy eating habits may be stronger eyesight for longer.
Proper eye care starts with what you’re eating. The nutrients and vitamins in food are important for maintaining your eyesight and preventing you from needing to go to an eye care centre.
Certain nutrients and vitamins – like omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, vitamin C and vitamin E – are especially important when it comes to your eyes. These are typically found in green leafy vegetables, oily fish, eggs, nuts, beans, citrus fruits and even oysters and pork.
Getting enough of these kinds of foods in your diet will improve how well you are eating overall. It will also help keep your eyes healthy and your eyesight strong.
One of the hidden advantages of healthy eating habits in this regard is less need for things like glasses and contacts. You should still go to all your child or adult eye exams as scheduled. However, you and your doctor may notice that your eyes are staying very healthy over time.
3. Stronger Teeth
It isn’t just the eyes, either. Your teeth and your dentists will also thank you for eating healthier.
If you want to keep your teeth healthy, you should try to eat calcium-rich foods, phosphorus and vitamin C. These are found in all kinds of foods, but ideally you can incorporate them into your diet through healthier foods.
For example, you might get vitamin C from citrus fruits, spinach, potatoes, tomatoes and broccoli. These are all healthy foods that pack other benefits. For phosphorus, look to things like fish, nuts, beans and eggs. For calcium, you can go for staples like milk, yogurt and cheese. However, calcium can also be found in tofu, almonds and green-leafy vegetables.
All of these foods are healthy options that can have a big impact on how strong your teeth are. Plus, one of the extra advantages of healthy eating habits is that you might have an easier time when you go to the dentist for cleanings. People who are eating healthier tend to have healthier teeth, making those routine cleanings a little less harrowing to get through.
It can be tricky to stick to healthier eating habits when we go out or aren’t cooking at home. However, we should keep in mind the advantages of healthy eating habits even when we go out to eat. Maintaining healthy habits even at a restaurant can help keep our teeth healthy.
Restaurants are starting to catch on to the desire of consumers to have healthier options. About 67% of millennials seek healthy options even when they’re eating out at a restaurant. They are not alone in that. Many demographics are seeking out those healthy options. Next time you go out to eat, ask about healthy options. You are likely to find them!
Of course, simply eating healthy can’t prevent all disease and harm. As with eye care, it is important to still show up for regular cleanings and dental treatment. Food can go a long way for tooth health, but it is not a cure-all. Make sure you are flossing, brushing and seeing your doctor regularly to truly enjoy all the advantages of healthy eating habits.
4. Clearer Skin
The advantages of healthy eating habits can even make you look better. Certain foods are more likely to make you break out and have oily skin, while other foods help keep your skin clearer. And yes, you guessed it, the foods to avoid tend to be less healthy than the ones that promote clearer skin.
Skin conditions come in many forms. For many, it’s acne. Unhealthy foods like sugar, alcohol and processed foods can make you more prone to acne breakouts. However, it is also about moderation. Eating a lot of dairy products can also make you experience more frequent acne.
On the flipside, things like green leafy vegetables, berries, oysters, green tea, pumpkin seed, dark chocolate and plain, old water are better for your skin. These can even help clear up an acne breakout when you experience one.
Of course, skin care isn’t just about acne and breakouts. Skin care is a routine and lifestyle that we should take up every day. It also includes things beyond food, such as proper moisturizers.
When it comes to general skin care, you will probably not be surprised by the news about food. Green leafy vegetables are king, promoting healthy food and fighting free radicals that can break down collagen as you age. Tomatoes may reduce damage from the sun, while hydrating enough with water can allow you to maintain your healthy glow.
5. Fewer Diseases and Health Complications
Overall, one of the advantages of healthy eating habits is that you should experience fewer diseases and health complications. There is no cure all for getting sick. Unfortunately, it is just a fact of life. But healthier eating can often result in less time spent getting sick, faster recoveries and better overall healthy.
Internal medicine and overall health are broad topics, but in general, those with healthier eating habits tend to see better health outcomes. The advantages of healthy eating habits are wide-ranging and include a ton of positive effects. You might notice you have more energy throughout the day, for example.
Some health benefits are harder to see. You won’t know, for example, that you have avoided a diet-related illness, including some types of cancer. However, you might realize that you feel better each day and have an overall higher quality of life.
This is one of the big advantages of healthy eating habits. It isn’t about living forever or never getting sick, but about enjoying a better quality of life each day. You may find a switch to a healthier diet results in a healthier weight and better overall mood as well.
The impacts of a healthy diet can be sneaky. It is hard to know if you are low on certain vitamins like A, B, C and E, even though being deficient in those vitamins can mean a weakened immune system. The impacts of this are felt indirectly when you get sick. Being low in zinc, iron and selenium can also weaken parts of the immune system.
Because these impacts are invisible and hard to track, the best thing you can do is aim for a healthy and balanced diet. The right balance of vitamins and nutrients can keep your immune system strong and promote your overall health.
You can also help to manage conditions you already have by eating healthy. If you already suffer from certain ailments, changing your diet to one that is healthier might improve your quality of life living with that condition.
Managing a chronic illness is not easy, and food is not a cure all. However, a healthy and balanced diet can give you the best possible outcome if you find yourself in this situation.
6. Healthier Overall Appearance
It isn’t strictly about illness and disease though. Healthy eating can also make you look better.
A healthier body is also, often one that is better-looking. That does not mean weight, necessarily. There are also things like sagging eyelids that a change of diet can help improve. Healthy eating often means healthier skin. Where sugar can break down collagen, a healthier diet can help maintain collagen.
Another one of the advantages of healthy eating habits is healthier hair. Our hair can reflect a lot about our overall health. While there are also genetic factors involved, things like vitamins A, B, C and E can impact how healthy your hair looks and feels.
There are many more impacts of a healthy diet on our appearances. For example, if you have chapped lips, you might not be well-hydrated. Drinking enough water is very important for your body and can have noticeable effects on your health and appearance.
You may also notice less puffiness. Reduced inflammation is among the advantages of healthy eating habits. Inflammation accounts for a lot of skin and hair conditions, especially as we age, and unhealthy foods can aggravate inflammation. While processed foods can contribute to inflammation, healthier foods like fruits and vegetables may be able to reduce inflammation and related conditions.
A Higher Overall Quality of Life
There are many, many advantages of healthy eating habits. The list could go on and on.
The overall point, however, is that a switch to a healthier diet can make you look and feel better, and have long-term implications for your health. You may not know that you are preventing a disease by eating more green leafy vegetables, but it is likely you are!
Of course, balance is key with all of this. You can’t just eat bags of spinach and call it good. The healthiest diets are ones that are balanced. Sugar might not be recommended as part of a healthy diet, but many types of fruit have a lot of sugar and are still considered very healthy. This is because of the other vitamins and nutrients they bring to the table.
Figure out what kind of balance and diet is right for you. There is no one-size-fits-all cure when it comes to food. Getting the advantages of healthy eating habits means crafting a plan and lifestyle that works for you.